THE LIFE OF FRANCIS MARION

By W. Gilmore Simms

Author of "Yemassee", "History of South Carolina", etc. 

 "The British soldier trembles When Marion's name is told. " --Bryant. 

 [Note on text: Italicized words or phrases are capitalized. Some obvious errors have been corrected. ]

 [William Gilmore Simms, American (South Carolinian) Writer. 1806-1870. ]

Contents. 

 Chapter 1. Introduction--The Huguenots in South Carolina. 

 Chapter 2. The Marion Family--Birth of Francis Marion--His Youth--Shipwreck. 

 Chapter 3. Marion a Farmer--Volunteers in the Cherokee Campaign. 

 Chapter 4. Cherokee War continues--Marion leads the Forlorn Hope at the Battle of Etchoee. 

 Chapter 5. Marion is returned for the Provincial Congress from St. John's, Berkeley--Made Captain in the Second Regiment--Fort Johnson taken--Battle of Fort Moultrie. 

 Chapter 6. From the Battle of Fort Moultrie to that of Savannah--Anecdote of Jasper--His Death. 

 Chapter 7. From the Battle of Savannah to the Defeat of Gates at Camden. 

 Chapter 8. Organization of "Marion's Brigade"--Surprise of Tories under Gainey--Defeat of Barfield--Capture of British Guard with Prisoners at Nelson's Ferry. 

 Chapter 9. Marion retreats before a superior Force--Defeats the Tories at Black Mingo--Surprises and disperses the Force of Colonel Tynes at Tarcote--Is pursued by Tarleton. 

 Chapter 10. Marion attempts Georgetown--Horry defeats Merritt--Melton defeated by Barfield--Gabriel Marion taken by the Tories and murdered--Marion retires to Snow's Island. 

 Chapter 11. Marion's Camp at Snow's Island--The Character of his Warfare--Of his Men--Anecdotes of Conyers and Horry-- He feasts a British Officer on Potatoes--Quells a Mutiny. 

 Chapter 12. General Greene assumes Command of the Southern Army--His Correspondence with Marion--Condition of the Country--Marion and Lee surprise Georgetown--Col. Horry defeats Gainey--Marion pursues McIlraith--Proposed Pitched Battle between Picked Men. 

 Chapter 13. Watson and Doyle pursue Marion--He baffles and harasses them--Pursues Doyle--His Despondency and final Resolution. 

 Chapter 14. Marion renews his Pursuit of Doyle--Confronts Watson--Is joined by Col. Lee--Invests and takes Fort Watson--Fort Motte taken--Anecdote of Horry and Marion. 

 Chapter 15. Correspondence of Marion and Greene--Anecdote of Colonel Snipes--Marion takes Georgetown--Attempt of Sumter and Marion on Col. Coates--Battle of Quinby Bridge. 

 Chapter 16. Marion moves secretly to Pon-Pon--Rescues Col. Harden--Defeats Major Frazier at Parker's Ferry--Joins the main Army under Greene--Battle of Eutaw. 

 Chapter 17. Retreat of the British from Eutaw--Pursuit of them by Marion and Lee--Close of the Year. 

 Chapter 18. Marion summoned to the Camp of Greene--Defeats the British Horse at St. Thomas--Leaves his Command to Horry, and takes his Seat in the Assembly at Jacksonborough, as Senator from St. John's, Berkeley--Proceedings of the Assembly--Confiscation Act--Dispute between Cols. Mayham and Horry--The Brigade of Marion surprised, during his absence, by a Detachment from Charleston--Marion's Encounter with the British Horse--Conspiracy in the Camp of Greene. 

 Chapter 19. Marion summoned with his Force to that of Greene--Insurrection of the Loyalists on the Pedee--Marches against them--Subdues them--Treats with Gainey--Fanning-- Protects the Tory, Butler, from his Men--Returns to the Country between the Santee and the Cooper--Moves to protect Georgetown from the British Fleet--Takes post at Watboo, on Cooper River--Defeats the British Cavalry under Major Frasier. 

 Chapter 20. The British propose Terms of Pacification-- Rejected by the Civil Authorities--They penetrate the Combahee with their Fleet--Death of Col. Laurens--Anecdote of Marion--Death of Wilmot--The British evacuate Charleston-- Marion separates from his Brigade at Watboo--His Military Genius. 

 Chapter 21. Marion retires to his Farm, which he finds in Ruins--Is returned to the Senate from St. John--His Course on the Confiscation Act--Anecdotes--Is made Commandant at Fort Johnson--His Marriage--A Member of the State Convention in 1794--Withdraws from Public Life--His Death. 

 Appendix A. Notes on the Electronic Text. 

 Appendix B. Song of Marion's Men. By William Cullen Bryant [1794-1878]. 

Note. 

In preparing this biography, the following works have been consulted:

 1. A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion, and a History of his Brigade, &c. By Wm. Dobein James, A. M. Charleston, S. C. 1821. 

 2. The Life of Gen. Francis Marion, &c. By Brig. Gen. P. Horry, and M. L. Weems. Philadelphia. 1833. 

 3. A MS. Memoir of the Life of Brig. Gen. P. Horry. By Himself. 

 4. Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene, &c. By William Johnson. Charleston. 1822. 

 5. Memoirs of the American Revolution, &c. By William Moultrie. New York. 1802. 

 6. Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America (1st and 2d series). By Alex. Garden. 1822 and 1828. 

 7. Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. By Henry Lee, &c. Philadelphia. 1812. 

 8. Memoirs of the American Revolution, &c. , as relating to the State of South Carolina, &c. By John Drayton, LL. D. Charleston. 1821. 

 9. The History of South Carolina, &c. By David Ramsay. Charleston. 1809. 

 10. The History of Georgia, &c. By Capt. Hugh M'Call. Savannah. 1811. 

 11. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces of North America. By Lieut. Col. Tarleton, Commandant of the late British Legion. London. 1797. 

 12. Strictures on Lieut. Col. Tarleton's History, &c. By Roderick Mackenzie, late Lieutenant in the 71st Regiment, &c. London. 1787. 

 13. History of the Revolution of South Carolina from a British Province to an Independent State. By David Ramsay, M. D. Trenton. 1785. 

 14. An Historical Account of the Rise and Progress of the Colonies of South Carolina and Georgia. (Hewatt. ) London. 1779. 

 15. A New Voyage to Carolina, &c. By John Lawson, Gent. , Surveyor-General of North Carolina. London. 1709. 

 16. The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the Independence of the United States of America, &c. By William Gordon, D. D. New York. 1789. 

 17. Five volumes of MS. Letters from distinguished officers of the Revolution in the South. From the Collection of Gen. Peter Horry. 

Preface. 

The facts, in the life of Francis Marion, are far less generallyextended in our country than his fame. The present is an attempt tosupply this deficiency, and to justify, by the array of authenticparticulars, the high position which has been assigned him amongthe master-workers in our revolutionary history. The task has been adifficult, but I trust not entirely an unsuccessful one. Our southernchronicles are meagre and unsatisfactory. South Carolina was too long inthe occupation of the British--too long subject to the ravages of civiland foreign war, to have preserved many of those minor records whichconcern only the renown of individuals, and are unnecessary to thecomprehension of great events; and the vague tributes of unquestioningtradition are not adequate authorities for the biographer, whose lawsare perhaps even more strict than those which govern the historian. Numerous volumes, some private manuscripts, and much unpublishedcorrespondence, to which reference has been more particularly made inthe appendix, have been consulted in the preparation of this narrative. The various histories of Carolina and Georgia have also been made useof. Minor facts have been gathered from the lips of living witnesses. Of the two works devoted especially to our subject, that by the Rev. Mr. Weems is most generally known--a delightful book for the young. Theauthor seems not to have contemplated any less credulous readers, andits general character is such as naturally to inspire us with frequentdoubts of its statements. Mr. Weems had rather loose notions of theprivileges of the biographer; though, in reality, he has transgressedmuch less in his Life of Marion than is generally supposed. But theuntamed, and sometimes extravagant exuberance of his style might wellsubject his narrative to suspicion. Of the "Sketch" by the Hon. JudgeJames, we are more secure, though, as a literary performance, it isquite as devoid of merit as pretension. Besides, the narrative is notthorough. It dwells somewhat too minutely upon one class of facts, tothe neglect or the exclusion of others. I have made both of these workstributary to my own whenever this was possible. 

Woodland, S. C. , May 25, 1844. 

THE LIFE OF FRANCIS MARION

Chapter 1. 

 Introduction--The Huguenots in South Carolina. 

The name of FRANCIS MARION is identified, in the history of SouthCarolina, his parent state, with all that is pleasing and exciting inromance. He is, par excellence, the famous partisan of that region. While Sumter stands conspicuous for bold daring, fearless intrepidityand always resolute behavior; while Lee takes eminent rank as a gallantCaptain of Cavalry, the eye and the wing of the southern liberating armyunder Greene; Marion is proverbially the great master of strategy--thewily fox of the swamps--never to be caught, never to be followed, --yetalways at hand, with unconjectured promptness, at the moment when heis least feared and is least to be expected. His pre-eminence in thispeculiar and most difficult of all kinds of warfare, is not to bedisputed. In his native region he has no competitor, and it is scarcelypossible to compute the vast influence which he possessed and exercisedover the minds and feelings of the people of Carolina, simply throughhis own resources, at a period most adverse to their fortunes, andwhen the cause of their liberties, everywhere endangered, was almosteverywhere considered hopeless. His name was the great rallying cryof the yeoman in battle--the word that promised hope--that cheered thedesponding patriot--that startled, and made to pause in his career ofrecklessness and blood, the cruel and sanguinary tory. Unprovided withthe means of warfare, no less than of comfort--wanting equally in foodand weapons--we find him supplying the one deficiency with a cheerfulcourage that never failed; the other with the resources of a geniusthat seemed to wish for nothing from without. With a forceconstantly fluctuating and feeble in consequence of the most ordinarynecessities--half naked men, feeding upon unsalted pottage, --forced tofight the enemy by day, and look after their little families, concealedin swamp or thicket, by night--he still contrived, --one knows notwell how, --to keep alive and bright the sacred fire of his country'sliberties, at moments when they seemed to have no other champion. In this toil and watch, taken cheerfully and with spirits that neverappeared to lose their tone and elasticity, tradition ascribes to him aseries of achievements, which, if they were small in comparison with thegreat performances of European war, were scarcely less important; andwhich, if they sometimes transcend belief, must yet always delight theimagination. His adventures have given a rich coloring to fable, andhave stimulated its performances. The language of song and story hasbeen employed to do them honor, and our children are taught, in lessonsthat they love, to lisp the deeds and the patriotism of his band. "Marion"--"Marion's Brigade" and "Marion's men", have passed intohousehold words, which the young utter with an enthusiasm much moreconfiding than that which they yield to the wondrous performances ofGreece and Ilium. They recall, when spoken, a long and delightful seriesof brilliant exploits, wild adventures, by day and night, in swampand thicket, sudden and strange manoeuvres, and a generous, unwaveringardor, that never found any peril too hazardous, or any sufferingtoo unendurable. The theme, thus invested, seems to have escaped theordinary bounds of history. It is no longer within the province of thehistorian. It has passed into the hands of the poet, and seems to scornthe appeal to authentic chronicles. When we look for the record wefind but little authority for a faith so confiding, and seemingly soexaggerated. The story of the Revolution in the southern colonies hasbeen badly kept. Documentary proofs are few, bald and uninteresting. A simple paragraph in the newspapers, --those newspapers issued notunfrequently in cities where the enemy had power, and in the control ofEditors, unlike the present, who were seldom able to expatiate upon theachievement which they recorded;--or the brief dispatches of the Captainhimself, whose modesty would naturally recoil from stating more than thesimple result of his performances;--these are usually the sum total ofour authorities. The country, sparsely settled, and frequently overrunby the barbarous enemy, was incapable of that patient industry andpersevering care, which could chronicle the passing event, give placeand date to the brilliant sortie, the gallant struggle, the individualdeed of audacity, which, by a stroke, and at a moment, secures anundying remembrance in the bosoms of a people. The fame of Marion restsvery much upon tradition. There is little in the books to justify thestrong and exciting relish with which the name is spoken and rememberedthroughout the country. He was not a bloody warrior. His battle fieldswere never sanguinary. His ardor was never of a kind to make himimprudent. He was not distinguished for great strength of arm, or greatskill in his weapon. We have no proofs that he was ever engaged insingle combat: yet the concurrent testimony of all who have written, declare, in general terms, his great services: and the very exaggerationof the popular estimate is a partial proof of the renown for which itspeaks. In this respect, his reputation is like that of all other heroesof romantic history. It is a people's history, written in their hearts, rather than in their books; which their books could not write--whichwould lose all its golden glow, if subjected to the cold details of thephlegmatic chronicles. The tradition, however swelling, still testifiesto that large merit which must have been its basis, by reason of whichthe name of the hero was selected from all others for such peculiarhonors; and though these exaggerations suggest a thousand difficultiesin the way of sober history, they yet serve to increase the desire, aswell as the necessity, for some such performance. 

 *****

The family of Marion came from France. They emigrated to South Carolinasomewhere about the year 1685, within twenty years after the firstBritish settlement of the province. They belonged, in the parentcountry, to that sect of religious dissenters which bore the name ofHuguenots; and were among those who fled from the cruel persecutionswhich, in the beginning of the reign of Louis XIV. , followed close uponthe re-admission of the Jesuits into France. The edict of Nantz, whichhad been issued under the auspices of Henri IV. , and by which theHuguenots had been guaranteed, with some slight qualifications, thesecurities of the citizen, almost in the same degree with the Catholicinhabitants, had, under the weak and tyrannous sway of the formermonarch, proved totally inadequate to their protection. Long before itsformal revocation, the unmeasured and inhuman persecutions to which theywere subjected, drove thousands of them into voluntary banishment. Thesubsequent decree of Louis, by which even the nominal securities ofthe Huguenots were withdrawn, increased the number of the exiles, andcompleted the sentence of separation from all those ties which bindthe son to the soil. The neighboring Protestant countries received thefugitives, the number and condition of whom may be estimated by thesimple fact, not commonly known, that England alone possessed "elevenregiments composed entirely of these unhappy refugees, besides othersenrolled among the troops of the line. There were in London twentyFrench churches supported by Government; about three thousand refugeeswere maintained by public subscription; many received grants from thecrown; and a great number lived by their own industry. * Some of thenobility were naturalized and obtained high rank; among others, Ruvigny, son of the Marquis, was made Earl of Galway, and Schomberg received thedignity of Duke. "**

 * Memoires et Observations faites par un Voyageur en Angleterre, 12mo. La Haye, 1698, p. 362. Quoted by Browning in his History of the Huguenots. 

 ** Browning, [William Shergold]: History of the Huguenots. London: Whittaker and Co. 1840. P. 256. Of the Refugees from France, Hume says, "near fifty thousand passed over into England;" and Voltaire writes that "one of the suburbs of London was entirely peopled with French workers of silk. "

 [W. S. Browning was uncle to the poet, Robert Browning. A. L. , 1996. ]

America, the new world, was naturally a land of refuge, and soonreceived her share of these unhappy fugitives. The transition was easyfrom England to her colonies. Every facility was afforded them fortransportation, and the wise policy which encouraged their settlementin the new countries was amply rewarded by the results. Altogether, the Huguenots were a much better sort of people than those who usuallyconstituted the mass of European emigrants. The very desperation oftheir circumstances was a proof of their virtues. They were a people ofprinciple, for they had suffered everything for conscience sake. Theywere a people of pure habits, for it was because of their religionthat they suffered banishment. In little patriarchal groups of sixty, seventy, or eighty families, they made their way to different partsof America; and with the conscious poverty of their own members, weregenerally received with open arms by those whom they found in possessionof the soil. The English, as they beheld the dependent and destitutecondition of the fugitives, forgot, for a season, their usual nationalanimosities; and assigning ample tracts of land for their occupation, beheld them, without displeasure, settling down in exclusive colonies, in which they sought to maintain, as far as possible, the pious habitsand customs of the mother country. One of these communities, comprisingfrom seventy to eighty families, found their way to the banks ofthe Santee in South Carolina. * From this point they gradually spreadthemselves out so as to embrace, in partial settlements, the spacioustract of country stretching to the Winyah, on the one hand, andthe sources of Cooper River on the other; extending upward into theinterior, following the course of the Santee nearly to the point whereit loses its identity in receiving the descending streams of theWateree and Congaree. These settlers were generally poor. They had beendespoiled of all their goods by the persecutions which had driven theminto exile. This, indeed, had been one of the favorite modes by whichthis result had been effected. Doubtless, also, it had been, among thesubordinates of the crown, one of the chief motives of the persecution. It was a frequent promise of his Jesuit advisers, to the vain andbigoted Louis, that the heretics should be brought into the fold of theChurch without a drop of bloodshed; and, until the formal revocation ofthe edict of Nantz, by which the Huguenots were put without the pale andprotection of the laws, spoliation was one of the means, with others, by which to avoid this necessity. These alternatives, however, were ofa kind not greatly to lessen the cruelties of the persecutor or thesufferings of the victim. It does not fall within our province to detailthem. It is enough that one of the first and most obvious measuresby which to keep their promise to the king, was to dispossess theproscribed subjects of their worldly goods and chattels. By this measurea two-fold object was secured. While the heretic was made to suffer, thefaithful were sure of their reward. It was a principle faithfully keptin view; and the refugees brought with them into exile, little beyondthe liberties and the virtues for which they had endured so much. Butthese were possessions, as their subsequent history has shown, beyondall price. 

 * Dalcho, in his Church History, says, "upwards of one hundred families. "

Our humble community along the Santee had suffered the worst privationsof their times and people. But, beyond the necessity of hard labor, theyhad little to deplore, at the outset, in their new condition. They hadbeen schooled sufficiently by misfortune to have acquired humility. Theyobserved, accordingly, in their new relations, a policy equally prudentand sagacious. More flexible in their habits than the English, theyconciliated the latter by deference; and, soothing the unruly passionsof the Indians--the Santee and Sewee tribes, who were still inconsiderable numbers in their immediate neighborhood--they won themto alliance by kindness and forbearance. From the latter, indeed, theylearned their best lessons for the cultivation of the soil. That, uponwhich they found themselves, lay in the unbroken forest. The highlands which they first undertook to clear, as less stubborn, were moststerile; and, by a very natural mistake, our Frenchmen adopted themodes and objects of European culture; the grains, the fruits andthe vegetables, as well as the implements, to which they had beenaccustomed. The Indians came to their succor, taught them thecultivation of maize, and assisted them in the preparation of theirlands; in return for lessons thought equally valuable by the savages, towhom they taught, along with gentler habits and morals, a better tastefor music and the dance! To subdue the forest, of itself, to Europeanhands, implied labors not unlike those of Hercules. But the refugees, though a gentle race, were men of soul and strength, capable of greatsacrifices, and protracted self-denial. Accommodating themselves witha patient courage to the necessities before them, they cheerfullyundertook and accomplished their tasks. We have more than one livelypicture among the early chroniclers of the distress and hardship whichthey were compelled to encounter at the first. But, in this particular, there was nothing peculiar in their situation. It differed in no respectfrom that which fell to the lot of all the early colonists in America. The toil of felling trees, over whose heavy boughs and knotty armsthe winters of centuries had passed; the constant danger from noxiousreptiles and beasts of prey, which, coiled in the bush or crouching inthe brake, lurked day and night, in waiting for the incautious victim;and, most insidious and fatal enemy of all, the malaria of the swamp, of the rank and affluent soil, for the first time laid open to the sun;these are all only the ordinary evils which encountered in America, at the very threshold, the advances of European civilisation. That theHuguenots should meet these toils and dangers with the sinews andthe hearts of men, was to be expected from their past experience andhistory. They had endured too many and too superior evils in the oldworld, to be discouraged by, or to shrink from, any of those which hungupon their progress in the new. Like the hardy Briton, whom, underthe circumstances, we may readily suppose them to have emulated, theyaddressed themselves, with little murmuring, to the tasks before them. We have, at the hands of one of their number, --a lady born and raised inaffluence at home, --a lively and touching picture of the sufferingsand duties, which, in Carolina, at that period, neither sex nor age waspermitted to escape. "After our arrival, " she writes, "we suffered everykind of evil. In about eighteen months our elder brother, unaccustomedto the hard labor we were obliged to undergo, died of a fever. Sinceleaving France, we had experienced every kind of affliction, disease, pestilence, famine, poverty and hard labor! I have been for six monthstogether without tasting bread, working the ground like a slave; andI have even passed three or four years without always having it when Iwanted it. I should never have done were I to attempt to detail to youall our adventures. "*

 * The narrative of Mrs. Judith Manigault, wife of Peter Manigault, as quoted by Ramsay. --Hist. S. C. Vol. I. , p. 4. For a graphic detail of the usual difficulties and dangers attending the escape of the Huguenots from France, at the period of migration, see the first portion of this letter. --

We may safely conclude that there was no exaggeration in this picture. The lot of all the refugees seems to have been very equally severe. Men and women, old and young, strove together in the most menial andlaborious occupations. But, as courage and virtue usually go hand inhand with industry, the three are apt to triumph together. Such wasthe history in the case of the Carolina Huguenots. If the labor andthe suffering were great, the fruits were prosperity. They were more. Honors, distinction, a goodly name, and the love of those aroundthem, have blessed their posterity, many of whom rank with the noblestcitizens that were ever reared in America. In a few years after theirfirst settlement, their forest homes were crowned with a degree ofcomfort, which is described as very far superior to that in theusual enjoyment of the British colonists. They were a more docile andtractable race; not so restless, nor--though this may seem difficultto understand to those who consider their past history--so impatientof foreign control. Of their condition in Carolina, we have a brief butpleasing picture from the hands of John Lawson, then surveyor-general ofthe province of North Carolina. * This gentleman, in 1701, just fifteenyears after its settlement, made a progress through that portion of theHuguenot colony which lay immediately along the Santee. The passageswhich describe his approach to the country which they occupied, thehospitable reception which they gave him, the comforts they enjoyed, the gentleness of their habits, the simplicity of their lives, and theirsolicitude in behalf of strangers, are necessary to furnish the moralof those fortunes, the beginning of which was so severe and perilous. "There are, " says he, "about seventy families seated on this river, WHOLIVE AS DECENTLY AND HAPPILY AS ANY PLANTERS IN THESE SOUTHWARD PARTS OFAMERICA. THE FRENCH BEING A TEMPERATE, INDUSTRIOUS PEOPLE, some of thembringing very little of effects, YET, BY THEIR ENDEAVORS AND MUTUALASSISTANCE AMONG THEMSELVES (which is highly to be commended), HAVEOUTSTRIPT OUR ENGLISH, WHO BROUGHT WITH THEM LARGER FORTUNES, though (asit seems) less endeavor to manage their talent to the best advantage. 'Tis admirable to see what time and industry will (with God's blessing)effect, " &c.... ... "We lay all that night at Mons. EUGEE'S (Huger), andthe next morning set out farther, to go the remainder of our voyage byland. At ten o'clock we passed over a narrow, deep swamp, having leftthe three Indian men and one woman, that had piloted the canoe fromAshley river, having hired a Sewee Indian, a tall, lusty fellow, whocarried a pack of our clothes, of great weight. Notwithstanding hisburden, we had much ado to keep pace with him. At noon we came up withseveral French plantations. Meeting with several creeks by the way, THEFRENCH WERE VERY OFFICIOUS IN ASSISTING US WITH THEIR SMALL DORIES TOPASS OVER THESE WATERS: whom we met coming from their church, BEINGALL OF THEM VERY CLEAN AND DECENT IN THEIR APPAREL; their HOUSES ANDPLANTATIONS SUITABLE IN NEATNESS AND CONTRIVANCE. They are all of thesame opinion with the church of Geneva, ** there being no differenceamong them concerning the punctilios of their Christian faith; WHICHUNION HATH PROPAGATED A HAPPY AND DELIGHTFUL CONCORD IN ALL OTHERMATTERS THROUGHOUT THE WHOLE NEIGHBORHOOD; LIVING AMONGST THEMSELVES ASONE TRIBE OR KINDRED, EVERY ONE MAKING IT HIS BUSINESS TO BE ASSISTANTTO THE WANTS OF HIS COUNTRYMEN, PRESERVING HIS ESTATE AND REPUTATIONWITH THE SAME EXACTNESS AND CONCERN AS HE DOES HIS OWN: ALL SEEMING TOSHARE IN THE MISFORTUNES, AND REJOICE AT THE ADVANCE AND RISE OF THEIRBRETHREN. " Lawson fitly concludes his account of the settlers uponthe Santee, by describing them as "a very kind, loving, and affablepeople"--a character which it has been the happy solicitude of theirdescendants to maintain to the present day. ***

 * Lawson's "Journal of a Thousand Miles' Travel among the Indians, from South to North Carolina", is a work equally rare and interesting. This unfortunate man fell a victim to his official duties. He was confounded, by the savages, with the government which he represented, and sacrificed to their fury, under the charge of depriving them, by his surveys, of their land. He was made captive with the Baron de Graffenreid. The latter escaped, but Lawson was subjected to the fire-torture. 

 ** "The inhabitants [of St. James, otherwise French Santee] petitioned the Assembly, in 1706, to have their settlement made a parish; and, at the same time, expressed their desire of being united to the Church of England, whose doctrines and discipline they professed highly to esteem. The Assembly passed an act, April 9, 1706, to erect the French settlement of Santee into a parish. "--'Dalcho's Historical Account', ch. 9, p. 295. 

 *** See "A new Voyage to Carolina, containing the exact description and natural history of that country, &c. ; and a journey of a thousand miles, travelled through several nations of Indians. By John Lawson, Gent. , Surveyor-General of North Carolina. London, 1709. "--

A more delightful picture than this of Mr. Lawson, could not well bedrawn by the social perfectionist. The rational beauty of the voluntarysystem could not find a happier illustration; and, duly impressed withits loveliness, we shall cease to wonder at the instances of excellence, equally frequent and admirable, which rose up among this little group ofexiles, to the good fortune of the country which gave them shelter, and in attestation of their own virtues. But this happy result was dueentirely to their training. It would be wonderful, indeed, if such aneducation, toil and watch, patient endurance of sickness and suffering, sustained only by sympathy with one another and a humble reliance upondivine mercy, should not produce many perfect characters--men likeFrancis Marion, the beautiful symmetry of whose moral structure leavesus nothing to regret in the analysis of his life. Uncompromising inthe cause of truth, stern in the prosecution of his duties, hardyand fearless as the soldier, he was yet, in peace, equally gentleand compassionate, pleased to be merciful, glad and ready to forgive, sweetly patient of mood, and distinguished throughout by such prominentvirtues, that, while always sure of the affections of followers andcomrades, he was not less secure in the unforced confidence of hisenemies, among whom his integrity and mercy were proverbial. By theirfruits, indeed, shall we know this community, the history of whichfurnishes as fine a commentary upon the benefit of good social trainingfor the young--example and precept happily keeping concert with theordinary necessities and performances of life, the one supported by themanliest courage, the other guided by the noblest principle--as any uponrecord. *

 * It is one of the qualifications of the delight which an historian feels while engaged in the details of those grateful episodes which frequently reward his progress through musty chronicles, to find himself suddenly arrested in his narrative by some of those rude interruptions by which violence and injustice disfigure so frequently, in the march of history, the beauty of its portraits. One of these occurs to us in this connection. Our Huguenot settlers on the Santee were not long suffered to pursue a career of unbroken prosperity. The very fact that they prospered-- that, in the language of Mr. Lawson, "they outstript our English, " when placed in like circumstances--that they were no longer desolate and dependent, and had grown vigorous, and perhaps wanton, in the smiles of fortune--was quite enough to re-awaken in the bosoms of "our English" the ancient national grudge upon which they had so often fed before. The prejudices and hostilities which had prevailed for centuries between their respective nations, constituted no small part of the moral stock which the latter had brought with them into the wilderness. This feeling was farther heightened, at least maintained, by the fact that France and England had contrived to continue their old warfare in the New World; and, while French emissaries were busy in the back parts of the colony, stimulating the Creeks and Cherokees to hostility, it was perhaps natural enough that the English, whose frontiers were continually ravaged in consequence, should find it easy to confound the "parley- vous", their enemies, with those, their neighbors, who spoke the same unpopular language. It is not improbable, on the other hand, that the Huguenot settlers were a little too exclusive, a little too tenacious of their peculiar habits, manners, and language. They did not suffer themselves to assimilate with their neighbors; but, maintaining the policy by which they had colonized in a body, had been a little too anxious to preserve themselves as a singular and separate people. In this respect they were not unlike the English puritans, in whom and their descendants, this passion for homogeneousness has always been thought a sort of merit, appealing very much to their self-esteem and pride. In the case of the French colonists, whether the fault was theirs or not, the evil results of being, or making themselves, a separate people, were soon perceptible. They were subjected to various political and social disabilities, and so odious had they become to their British neighbors, that John Archdale, one of the proprietors, a man like Wm. Penn (and by Grahame, the historian, pronounced very far his superior), equally beloved by all parties, as a man just and fearless, was, when Governor of the colony, compelled to deny them representation in the colonial Assembly, under penalty of making invalid all his attempts at proper government. Under this humiliating disability the Huguenots lived and labored for a considerable period, until the propriety of their lives, the purity of their virtues, and their frequently-tried fidelity in the cause of the country, forced the majority to be just. An act, passed in 1696, making all aliens, THEN inhabitants, free--enabling them to hold lands and to claim the same as heirs--according liberty of conscience to all Christians (except Papists), &c. --placed our refugees on a footing of equality with the rest of the inhabitants, and put an end to the old hostilities between them. --

When our traveller turned his back upon this "kind, loving, and affablepeople, " to pursue his journey into North Carolina, his first forwardstep was into a howling wilderness. The Santee settlement, though butforty miles distant from Charleston, was a frontier--all beyond waswaste, thicket and forest, filled with unknown and fearful animals, and

 "sliding reptiles of the ground, Startlingly beautiful, "--

which the footstep of man dreaded to disturb. Of the wild beasts bywhich it was tenanted, a single further extract from the journal ofMr. Lawson will give us a sufficient and striking idea. He has leftthe Santee settlements but a single day--probably not more thanfifteen miles. His Indian companion has made for his supper a bountifulprovision, having killed three fat turkeys in the space of half an hour. "When we were all asleep, " says our traveller, "in the beginning of thenight, we were awakened with the dismallest and most hideous noise thatever pierced my ears. This sudden surprisal incapacitated us of guessingwhat this threatening noise might proceed from; but our Indian pilot(who knew these parts very well) acquainted us that it was customary tohear such musick along that swamp-side, there being endless numbersof panthers, tygers, wolves, and other beasts of prey, which take thisswamp for their abode in the day, coming in whole droves to hunt thedeer in the night, making this frightful ditty till day appears, thenall is still as in other places. " (Page 26. )

Less noisy, except in battle, but even more fearful, were the half-humanpossessors of the same regions, the savages, who, at that period, inalmost countless tribes or families, hovered around the habitationsof the European. Always restless, commonly treacherous, warring orpreparing for war, the red men required of the white borderer thevigilance of an instinct which was never to be allowed repose. Thisfurnished an additional school for the moral and physical training ofour young Huguenots. In this school, without question, the swamp andforest partisans of a future day took some of their first andmost valuable lessons in war. Here they learned to be watchful andcircumspect, cool in danger, steady in advance, heedful of everymovement of the foe, and--which is of the very last importance in sucha country and in such a warfare as it indicates--happily dextrous inemergencies to seize upon the momentary casualty, the sudden chance--toconvert the most trivial circumstance, the most ordinary agent, intoa means of extrication or offence. It was in this last respectparticularly, in being quick to see, and prompt to avail themselves ofthe happy chance or instrument, that the partisans of the revolutionin the southern colonies, under Marion and others, asserted their vastsuperiority over the invader, and maintained their ground, and obtainedtheir final triumph, in spite of every inequality of arms and numbers. 

Chapter 2. 

 The Marion Family--Birth of Francis Marion--His Youth-- Shipwreck. 

We have dwelt upon the Huguenot Settlement in Carolina, somewhat morelargely than our immediate subject would seem to require. Our apologymust be found in the obvious importance and beauty of the fact, couldthis be shown, that the character of Francis Marion was in truth aremarkable illustration, in all its parts, of the moral nature whichprevailed in this little colony of exiles: that, from the harmonyexisting among them, their purity of conduct, propriety of sentiment, the modesty of their deportment and the firmness of their virtues, he most naturally drew all the components of his own. His hardihood, elasticity, great courage and admirable dexterity in war, were also thenatural results of their frontier position. We do not pretend that hisacquisitions were at all peculiar to himself. On the contrary, we takefor granted, that every distinguished person will, in some considerabledegree, betray in his own mind and conduct, the most striking of thosecharacteristics, which mark the community in which he has had his earlytraining; that his actions will, in great measure, declare what sortof moral qualities have been set before his eyes, not so much by hisimmediate family, as by the society at large in which he lives; that hewill represent that society rather than his immediate family, as itis the nature of superior minds to rush out of the narrow circles ofdomestic life; and that his whole after-performances, even where he mayappear in the garb and guise of the reformer, will indicate innumerous vital respects, the tastes and temper of the very people whosealteration and improvement he seeks. The memoir upon which we are aboutto enter, will, we apprehend, justify the preliminary chapter whichhas been given to the history of the Huguenots upon the Santee. GabrielMarion, the grandfather of our subject, was one of those who left Francein 1685. His son, named after himself, married Charlotte Cordes, bywhom he had seven children, five of whom were sons and two daughters. *Francis Marion was the last. He was born at Winyah, near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1732; a remarkable year, as, in a sister colony(we are not able to say how nearly at the same time), it gave birthto GEORGE WASHINGTON. This coincidence, which otherwise it might seemimpertinent to notice here, derives some importance from the fact thatit does not stand alone, but is rendered impressive by others, to beshown as we proceed; not to speak of the striking moral resemblances, which it will be no disparagement to the fame of the great Virginian totrace between the two. 

 * Weems speaks of six children only, naming all the sons and one of the daughters. Of her, he frankly says, "I have never heard what became; but for his four brothers, I am happy to state, that though not formidable as soldiers, they were very amiable as citizens. " James tells us of two daughters, not naming either, but describing them as "grandmothers of the families of the Mitchells, of Georgetown, and of the Dwights, formerly of the same place, but now of St. Stephen's parish. " Such particularity might be presumed to settle the question. --

The infancy of Marion was unpromising. At birth he was puny anddiminutive in a remarkable degree. Weems, in his peculiar fashion, writes, "I have it from good authority, that this great soldier, athis birth, was not larger than a New England lobster, and might easilyenough have been put into a quart pot. " It was certainly as littlesupposed that he should ever live to manhood, as that he should thenbecome a hero. But, by the time that he had reached his twelfth year, his constitution underwent a change. His health became good. The bracingexercises and hardy employments of country life invigorated his frame, and with this improvement brought with it a rare increase of energy. He grew restless and impatient. The tendency of his mind, which was solargely developed in the partisan exercises of after years, now began toexhibit itself. Under this impulse he conceived a dislike to the staidand monotonous habits of rural life, and resolved upon seafaring asa vocation. Such, it may be remarked, was also the early passion ofWashington; a passion rather uncommon in the history of a southernfarmer's boy. In the case of Washington the desire was only overcome atthe solicitations of his mother. The mother of Marion, in like manner, strove to dissuade her son from this early inclination. She did notsucceed, however, and when scarcely sixteen, he embarked in a smallvessel for the West Indies. The particulars of this voyage, with theexception of the mode in which it terminated, have eluded our inquiry. We have looked for the details in vain. The name of the vessel, thecaptain, the port she sailed from, have equally escaped our search. Tothe wanton destruction of private and public records by the British, together with the heedless improvidence of heads of families in theSouth, we owe this poverty of historical resource. The voyage must havebeen taken somewhere about the year 1747-8. At that period there wereperils of the sea to which the mariner is not often exposed at thepresent day. The waters of the Gulf of Mexico, in particular, werecovered with pirates. The rich produce of New Spain, the West Indies, and the Southern Colonies of the English, were rare temptations. Theprivateers of Spain and France, a sort of legalized pirates, hung aboutthe ports of Carolina, frequently subjecting them to a condition ofblockade, and sometimes to forced contributions. In the occasionalabsence of the British armed vessels appointed for the protection ofthese ports, the more enterprising and spirited among their citizensfrequently fitted out their own cruisers, drawing them, for thispurpose, from the merchant service; manning them in person, andrequiting themselves for their losses of merchandise by the occasionalcapture of some richly laden galleon from New Spain. No doubt theimagination of young Marion was fired by hearing of these exploits. The sensation produced in the community, by the injuries done to itscommerce, in all probability gave the direction to his already excitedand restless disposition. It does not appear, however, that Marion'sfirst and only voyage was made in an armed vessel. Such, we may wellsuppose, would have been his desire; but the period when he set forth toprocure service upon the seas, may not have been auspicious. He may havereached the seaport a moment too soon or too late, and the opportunitiesof this kind were necessarily infrequent in a small and frontier city, whose commerce lay mostly in the hands of strangers. His small sizeand puny appearance must have operated very much against his hopes ofobtaining employment in a service which particularly calls for manhoodand muscle. In what capacity, or in what sort of vessel he obtained aberth, we are left wholly to conjecture. Choosing the sea as a vocation, and laudably resolved on acquiring a proper knowledge of his business(as from what we know of his character, we may suppose was the case), he most probably went before the mast. His first and only voyage wasunfortunate. The ship in which he sailed was no doubt equally frail andsmall. She foundered at sea, whether going or returning is not said;in consequence, we are told, of injuries received from the stroke ofa whale, of the thornback species. So suddenly did she sink, that hercrew, only six in number, had barely time to save themselves. Theyescaped to the jolly boat, saving nothing but their lives. They tookwith them neither water nor provisions; and for six days, hopeless ofsuccor, they lay tossing to and fro, upon the bald and cheerless ocean. A dog, which swam to them from the sinking vessel, was sacrificed totheir hunger. His raw flesh was their only food, his blood their onlydrink, during this distressing period. Two of their number perishedmiserably. * The survivors, on the seventh day, were found and taken upby a passing vessel, nourished carefully and finally restored to theirhomes. 

 * Weems represents the captain and mate, as throwing themselves overboard in a state of phrenzy, and there is nothing improbable or unnatural in the statement. Privation of food, the use of salt water, and exposure in an open boat to a burning sun, might very well produce such an effect. The only difficulty, however, consists in the simple fact that we have no other authority for the statement. James is silent on the point, and contents himself with simply stating the death of two of the crew. Weems, however, adds that of two others, whose end receives, as usual, quite a dramatic finish at his hands. He suffers none to live but "little Marion", and, in the exuberance of his imagination, actually goes so far as to describe the particular food, "chocolate and turtle broth", by which the youthful hero is recruited and recovered. By this he designs to show, more emphatically, the immediate interposition, in his behalf, of an especial providence. The truth is, that any attempt at details where so little is known to have been preserved, must necessarily, of itself, subject to doubt any narrative not fortified by the most conclusive evidence. Unfortunately for the reverend historian, his known eccentricities as a writer, and fondness for hyperbole, must always deprive his books--though remarkably useful and interesting to the young--of any authority which might be claimed for them as histories. As fictions from history, lively and romantic, they are certainly very astonishing performances; have amused and benefited thousands, and entitle the writer to a rank, in a peculiar walk of letters, which has not yet been assigned him. --

Francis Marion was one of these survivors. The puny boy lived throughthe terrors and sufferings under which the strong men perished. Sointense were their sufferings, so terrible the trial, that it will notgreatly task the imagination to recognize in the preservation of theyouth, --looking to his future usefulness--the agency of a specialprovidence. The boy was preserved for other times and fortunes; and, in returning to his mother, was perhaps better prepared to heed herentreaties that he should abandon all idea of an element, from whichhis escape had been so hazardous and narrow. It was well for himselfand country that he did so. It can scarcely be conjectured that hisachievements on the sea would have been half so fortunate, or half sohonorable to himself and country, as those which are now coupled withhis name. 

Returning to his home and parents, young Marion sunk once more into thehumble condition of the farmer. His health and strength had continued toimprove. His adventures by sea had served, seemingly, to complete thatchange for the better, in his physical man, which had been so happilybegun on land; and, subduing his roving inclinations, we hear of himonly, in a period of ten years, as a tiller of the earth. In thisvocation he betrayed that diligent attention to his duties, that patienthardihood, and calm, equable temper, which distinguished his deportmentin every part of his career. He is represented as equally industriousand successful as a farmer. The resources of his family seem to havebeen very moderate. There were several children, and before Franciswas yet twenty-five years of age, he lost his father. In 1758 he wasplanting with his mother and brother Gabriel, near Friersons Lock on theSantee Canal. In 1759 they separated. Gabriel removed to Belle Isle--theplace where the mortal remains of Francis Marion now repose--while thelatter settled at a place called Pond Bluff in the Parish of St. John. *This place he continued to hold during life. It is still pointed out tothe traveller as Marion's plantation, and is the more remarkable, as itlies within cannon shot of the battle ground of Eutaw, which his valorand conduct contributed to render so justly famous in the history of hisnative state. During this long period of repose--the interval betweenhis shipwreck, and removal to Pond Bluff, --we are only left toconjecture his employments. Beyond his agricultural labors, we maysuppose that his chief tasks were the cultivation of his mind, by closeapplication to those studies which, in the condition of the country, sparsely settled, and without teachers, were usually very inadequatelyurged. It does not appear that his acquisitions in this respect weremore valuable than could be afforded at the present day by the simplestgrammar-school of the country. Here again we may trace the resemblancebetween his career and that of Washington. Equally denied the advantagesof education, they equally drew from the great mother-sources ofnature. Thrown upon their own thoughts, taught by observation andexperience--the same results of character, --firmness, temperance, goodsense, sagacious foresight, and deliberate prudence--became conspicuousin the conduct and career of both. In the fortunes of neither--in theseveral tasks allotted to them, --in their various situations, --did theirdeficiencies of education appear to qualify their successes, or diminishthe respect and admiration of those around them, --a singular fact, asindicative equally of the modesty, the good sense, and the superiorintrinsic worth of both of these distinguished persons. In the caseof Marion, his want of education neither lessened his energies, hisconfidence in himself, nor baffled any of his natural endowments. On thecontrary, it left his talents free to their natural direction. These, itis probable, were never of a kind to derive, or to need, many advantagesfrom a very superior or scientific education. His mind was ratherpractical than subtile--his genius prompted him to action, rather thanto study, --and the condition and necessities of the country, calling forthe former rather than the latter character, readily reconciled him to adeficiency the importance of which he did not feel. 

 * Pond Bluff now lies at the bottom of Lake Marion. --A. L. , 1996. 

Chapter 3. 

 Marion a Farmer--Volunteers in the Cherokee Campaign. 

From the readiness with which young Marion yielded himself to theentreaties of his mother, and resumed the occupations of agriculture, and from the quiet and persevering industry with which he pursued themfor a period of nearly or quite ten years, it might be supposed thatthe impatience and restlessness of mood, which had formerly led himto revolt at the staid drudgery of rural life, had been entirelyextinguished in his bosom. But such was not the case. It was onlysubdued, and slumbering for a season, ready to awaken at the firstopportunity, with all the vigor and freshness of a favorite passion. That opportunity was at hand. Events were in progress which were tobring into the field, and prepare by the very best sort of training, forthe most noble trials, the great military genius of the Partisan. At theopening of the year 1759, the colony of South Carolina was on the eveof an Indian war. The whole frontier of the Southern Provinces, from Pennsylvania to Georgia, was threatened by the savages, and thescalping-knife had already begun its bloody work upon the weak andunsuspecting borderers. The French had been conquered upon the Ohio. Forts Frontenac and Duquesne had fallen. British and Provincial valor, aided by strong bodies of Cherokee warriors, had everywhere placed theflag of Britain above the fortresses of France. With its elevation, theIndian allies of the French sent in their adhesion to the conquerors;and, their work at an end, the Cherokee auxiliaries of Britain preparedto return to their homes, covered with their savage trophies, andadequately rewarded for their services. It happened, unfortunately, that, while passing along the frontiers of Virginia, the Cherokees, manyof whom had lost their horses during the campaign, supplied themselvesrather unscrupulously from the pastures of the colonists. Withinconsiderate anger, the Virginians, forgetting the late valuableservices of the savages, rose upon their footsteps, slew twelve orfourteen of their warriors, and made prisoners of as many more. Thisrash and ill-advised severity aroused the nation. The young warriorsflew to arms, and pouring their active hordes upon the frontiersettlements, proceeded to the work of slaughter, without pausing todiscriminate between the offending and the innocent. The emergency waspressing, and Governor Lyttleton, of South Carolina, called out themilitia of the province. They were required to rendezvous at theCongarees, about one hundred and forty miles from Charleston. To thisrendezvous Francis Marion repaired, in a troop of provincial cavalrycommanded by one of his brothers. * But he was not yet to flesh hismaiden valor upon the enemy. The prompt preparation of the Carolinianshad somewhat lessened the appetite of the savages for war. Perhaps theirown preparations were not yet sufficiently complete to make them hopefulof its issue. The young warriors were recalled from the frontiers, anda deputation of thirty-two chiefs set out for Charleston, in order topropitiate the anger of the whites, and arrest the threatened invasionof their country. Whether they were sincere in their professions, orsimply came for the purpose of deluding and disarming the Carolinians, is a question with the historians. It is certain that Governor Lyttletondoubted their sincerity, refused to listen to their explanations, and, carrying them along with him, rather as hostages than as commissionersin sacred trust, he proceeded to meet the main body of his army, alreadyassembled at the Congarees. The treatment to which they were thussubjected, filled the Cherokee deputies with indignation, which, withthe usual artifice of the Indian, they yet contrived to suppress. Butanother indiscreet proceeding of the Governor added to the passion whichthey felt, and soon baffled all their powers of concealment. In resumingthe march for the nation, he put them into formal custody, placeda captain's guard over them, and in this manner hurried them to thefrontiers. Whatever may have been the merits of this movement as a meremilitary precaution, it was of very bad policy in a civil point of view. It not only degraded the Indian chiefs in their own, but in the eyes oftheir people. His captives deeply and openly resented this indignityand breach of faith; and, brooding in sullen ferocity over the disgracewhich they suffered, meditated in silence those schemes of vengeancewhich they subsequently brought to a fearful maturity. But though thusimpetuous and imprudent, and though pressing forward as if with the mostdetermined purposes, Lyttleton was in no mood for war. His policy seemsto have contemplated nothing further than the alarm of the Indians. Neither party was exactly ripe for the final issue. The Cherokees neededtime for preparation, and the Governor, with an army ill disciplined andimperfectly armed, found it politic, when on the very confines ofthe enemy's country, to do that which he might very well have donein Charleston--listen to terms of accommodation. Having sent forAttakullakullah, the wise man of the nation, who had always been thestaunch friend of the whites, he made his complaints, and declared hisreadiness for peace;--demanding, however, as the only condition onwhich it could be granted, that twenty-four men of the nation should bedelivered to him, to be disposed of as he should think proper, by deathor otherwise, as an atonement for that number of Carolinians, massacredin the late foray of the savages. A treaty was effected, but with somedifficulty, on these terms. Compliance with this requisition was notso easy, however, on the part of the Cherokee chiefs. The moment it wasunderstood, the great body of their people fled to the mountains, and the number of hostages could be secured only by the detentionof twenty-two of those chiefs already in the Governor's custody. Thecaptives were placed, for safe keeping, at the frontier fort of PrinceGeorge. 

 * Judge James' Life of Marion, p. 17. --

But the natural sense of the savage is not inferior to that by whichthe laws of the civilized are prescribed, in their dealings with oneanother. The treaty thus extorted from their leaders, while in a stateof duress, was disregarded by the great body of the nation. They watchedtheir opportunity, and, scarcely had the Governor disbanded his forces, when the war-whoop resounded from the frontiers. 

Fort Prince George was one of the most remote of a chain of militaryposts by which the intercourse was maintained between the several whitesettlements of the seaboard and the interior. It stood on the banks ofthe Isundiga River, about three hundred miles from Charleston, withingunshot of the Indian town of Keowee. This post, to which the Cherokeehostages were carried, was defended by cannon, and maintained by a smallforce under Colonel Cotymore. It was in this neighborhood, and, as itwere in defiance of this force, that the war was begun. Fourteen whiteswere massacred at a blow, within a mile of this station. This wasfollowed up by a stratagem, by which Occonostota, one of the principalwarriors, aimed to obtain possession of the fort. Pretending to havesomething of importance to communicate to the commander, he dispatcheda woman who had usually obtained access to the station, to solicit aninterview with him. This was to take place on the banks of the river. Meanwhile the savage prepared his ambush. Cotymore imprudently assentedto the meeting, and, attended by Lieutenants Bell and Foster, walkeddown towards the river, from the opposite side of which Occonostotaaddressed him. While they spoke, the Indian was seen to wave a bridleover his head. This was the signal agreed upon with the ambushedwarriors. At this signal they rose and poured in their fire. Cotymorewas slain on the spot, and his companions wounded. But the savagesfailed to get possession of the fort. Suspecting a concerted movementamong the hostages, by which they would cooperate with the assailing foewithout, the officer in command of the fort gave orders to secure themwith irons. The attempt to obey these orders ended in a bloody tragedy. The Indians resisted with arms, and, stabbing three of the soldiers, soexasperated the rest, already excited by the murder of their captain, that they fell upon the miserable wretches and butchered them to a man. 

This unhappy event, completing what the indiscreet severities ofGovernor Lyttleton had begun, united the whole nation of Cherokees inwar. There had been a strong party favorable to peace, and friendly tothe whites. This unfortunate proceeding involved the loss of this party. The hostages were among their chief men, and scarcely a family in thenation but lost a relative or friend in their massacre. They were nowunanimous for battle; and, numerous parties rushing simultaneously downupon the frontiers, baffled the courage and prevented the flight of thefugitives. They fell without distinction upon men, women and children. "Such as fled to the woods and escaped the scalping-knife, perishedof hunger.... Every day brought fresh accounts to the capital of theirravages, murders and desolations. But while the back settlers looked totheir governor for relief, the small-pox raged to such a degree intown that few of the militia could be prevailed upon to leave theirdistressed families to serve the public. "* Lyttleton, meanwhile, by whomall the mischief was occasioned, was made Governor of Jamaica, and thecharge of the colony devolved on William Bull, a native--"a man ofgreat integrity and erudition. " In the almost hopeless condition of theprovince, her sisters, North Carolina and Virginia, raised seven troopsof rangers for the frontiers; and Colonel Montgomery, afterwards Earl ofEglintoun, was dispatched from Canada, with a battalion of Highlandersand four companies of Royal Scots. Before the end of April, 1760, thecamp of rendezvous for a new invasion of the Cherokee territories wasestablished at Monk's Corner. Meanwhile, the health of Carolina hadundergone some improvement, and the gentlemen of the country were notidle. They turned out in force as volunteers, and under the spiriteddirection of Governor Bull, the whole disposable force of the provincewas put in requisition. Among these, it is not so sure, but is believed, that Francis Marion once more made his appearance as a volunteer. Fromwhat we know of his character, his temperament, and that unsatisfiedcraving which he seems to have shown from the beginning for suchexcitements, it is reasonable to infer his presence in the field. But, though asserted by tradition, we confess that the records are silenton the subject. Unsatisfactory as at that period they generally are, onthis point they are particularly so; and but that his share in thiswar, before its final conclusion, was not only unquestionable butconspicuous, we should pass over the campaign of Montgomery, with asimple reference to its results. 

 * Hewatt's Hist. S. C. --

The Cherokees, meanwhile, were not unobservant of the preparations andapproaches of the Carolinians. They gathered themselves up for defence, and in silence matured their half civilized, half primitive modes ofwarfare. This people, at the period of which we write, were a people ofvery superior endowments and resources to any of the neighboring savagenations. If less warlike, in the simple sense of the word, than theirrivals the Creeks, they were really more to be feared, as it was inconsequence of their superior civilisation that they had lost someof their brute ferocity. If they were less reckless, they were betterskilled; if less frantic in their fury, they coupled it with a waryvindictiveness which rendered the blow more fatal when it fell. Theadvances which they had made in civilisation had naturally increasedtheir numbers; while the novel tastes by which their wandering habitswere diminished, had necessarily added to their love of country, inadding to the resources and improvements by which its comforts anddelights were increased. Thus, neither degraded by the lowest conditionin which we find the human animal, nor enervated by the superiorluxuries to which he may attain, the Cherokee was perhaps at this timein possession of his greatest vigor; not very remote, in his moral andphysical condition, from the Roman when he overcame his Etrurian andSabine neighbors. The Cherokees occupied a country equally broad andbeautiful. It lay in fertile valleys, green meadows, sunny slopes, andmighty forests, along the sides of lofty summits, that circled theirextensive territory with natural fortresses of giant grandeur. Spreadingfrom the Broad, or Cherokee river, beyond the Tennessee and theSavannah, it comprised every variety of soil and surface, and whileadapted in a high degree to the hands of the agriculturist, seemedalmost as easily made secure against the footsteps of invasion. Itsapparent securities had made them insolent. Their mountain recesses hadnever known the presence of this foe. Their fruits and fields, theirvillages and towns, with the exception of a district that lay upon theAtlantic slopes, were generally fenced in, and admirably protected, by wild and rugged masses of rocky mountains, natural defences, impenetrable, unless through certain passes which a few determinedhearts might easily make good against twenty times their number. Butthe numerical force of this great aboriginal people, seemed of itselfsufficiently strong to promise security to their country. At the timeof Montgomery's invasion they had no less than sixty-four towns andvillages. In an emergency, they could send six thousand warriorsinto the field. Many of these were armed with the weapons of Europeanwarfare--were accustomed to that warfare, and were thus doubly preparedto encounter the enemy in whose ranks they had received theirbest military lessons. Such a force very far exceeded that of theCarolinians. Mustering but two thousand men, Col. Montgomery found itadvisable to urge his march upon the nation with equal celerity andcaution. Having reached a place called Twelve-mile River, within twentymiles of the Indian town of Estatoee, he advanced by night upon it, secretly, and with a view to its surprise. In his march, surrounding thetown of Little Keowee, not a warrior of the Cherokees escaped the sword. His success was less complete at Estatoee. The Indians, apprised of hisapproach, with few exceptions, succeeded in making their escape; but thetown, consisting of more than two hundred houses, and well stored withcorn, hogs, poultry and ammunition, perished in the flames. Shugaw Townand every other settlement in the "Lower Nation", shared the samefate. The lightning-like rapidity of the march had taken the savageseverywhere, in this part of the country, by surprise. They fled ratherthan fought, and while they lost everything in the shape of property, but few of them were slain. They sought for shelter among their morenumerous and better protected brethren of the mountains; a peopleneither so easily approached, nor so easily overcome. 

Montgomery, having finished this part of his work so successfully, hurried on to the relief of Fort Prince George, which, from the timewhen their Chiefs were so cruelly butchered within its walls, hadbeen closely invested by a formidable force of Cherokees. The fortwas relieved. The Indians fled at his approach; and, thinking that thesevere chastisement which he had inflicted upon them, had inclined theirhearts to peace, the General of the Carolinians paused in his progress, to give them an opportunity to sue for it, as the former friends andallies of the English. But he had mistaken the stubborn nature of hisfoe. They were not sufficiently humbled, and it was resolved to marchupon the "middle settlements". To this task, that which had beenperformed was comparatively easy. They were now to enter upon adifferent country, where the Indians were better prepared for them--nay, where they HAD prepared for them, --in all probability, to the neglect ofthe lower towns. Toilsome and full of peril was this march. Dismal anddense was the wilderness which they were now to penetrate. Rugged paths, narrow passes, gloomy thickets and dark ravines, encountered themin their hourly progress, calling for constant vigilance and themaintenance of all their courage. Rivers, fordable in unfrequentplaces and overlooked by precipitous banks on either side, crowned mostcommonly by dense and intricate masses of forest, through which andwithout a guide, our little army was compelled to pass, --presentedopportunities for frequent ambush and attack, in which, very inferiorforces, if properly commanded, might, with little danger to themselves, overwhelm and utterly destroy an advancing enemy. It was in such aregion that the Cherokees made their first and formidable stand. Withinfive miles of Etchoee, the nearest town of the middle settlements, thearmy of Montgomery approached a low valley, clothed with a thicketso dense that the soldiers could scarcely discern objects three pacesahead. Through this thicket ran a muddy river, enclosed between steepbanks of clay. This passage, where but few men could act in unison, wasthat through which it became necessary that the army should proceed. It was the very spot, which, over all others, a sagacious warriorwould choose in which to place an ambush, or meet a superior assailant. Montgomery knew his enemy, and prepared for the encounter. CaptainMorrison, commanding a company of rangers, native marksmen and wellacquainted with the forest--was sent forward to scour the thicket. Hisadvance was the signal for battle. Scarcely had he entered upon thedismal passage when the savages rose from their hiding-places and pouredin a severe fire. Morrison, with several of his men, perished atthe first discharge. They were sustained by the light Infantry andGrenadiers, who boldly advanced upon the wood in the face of theinvisible foe. A heavy fire followed on both sides, the Cherokees, eachwith his eye upon his man, the Carolinians aiming at the flash of theenemy's guns. The pass was disputed by the savages with a degree ofconduct and courage, which left the issue doubtful. The necessity wasapparent for extraordinary effort. The Royal Scots, who were in therear, were now pushed forward to take possession of a rising ground onthe right, while the Highlanders were marched forward to the immediatesupport of the Infantry and Grenadiers. This movement had the effect ofbringing the enemy into close action. The bayonet stirred and laidbare the thicket. The woods resounded with the shouts and yells ofthe Cherokees, but they no longer fell with terror upon the ear ofthe whites. They had grown familiar. The savages yielded slowly as thebayonet advanced. Suffering severely as they fled, they yet displayedthe native obstinacy of their race, --turning upon the pursuer when theycould, availing themselves of tree or thicket to retard, by shot orstroke, the assailants; and, even in flight, only so far keeping aheadof the bayonet as to avoid its stroke. As he beheld this, Montgomerychanged the head of his army, and advanced upon the town of Etchoee, which it had been their purpose to defend, and from which they nowstrove to divert him. This movement alarmed them for their wives andchildren. Their retreat became a flight; and, satisfied with havinginflicted upon them this measure of punishment, the British Generalprepared to march back to Fort Prince George. 

This decision was the result of his exigencies. The situation of hisarmy was neither a safe nor an agreeable one. The victory was withthe Carolinians, yet the affair was very far from decisive in itsconsequences. The enemy had only retired from one advantageous positionto another. They waited his approach only to renew a conflict in whicheven victory might be without its fruits. To gain a battle, unless afinal one, was, with a force so small as his, a matter of very doubtfuladvantage. He was already encumbered with his wounded, to furnish horsesfor whom, he was compelled to discard, and to destroy, a large quantityof the provisions necessary for the army. What remained was measuredwith a nice reference to their absolute wants on the return march toPrince George. Under these suggestions of prudence the retreat wasbegun. It was conducted with admirable regularity. The Cherokees, meanwhile, hung upon the retiring footsteps of the invaders, annoyingthem to the utmost of their power. Sixty miles of mountainous countrywere traversed in this manner, and under various hardships, with askill and intrepidity which confer the highest credit upon the Englishcaptain. A large train of wounded was brought to the frontier withoutthe loss of a man. 

We have admitted an uncertainty as to the presence of Marion in thiscampaign. It would be impertinent and idle, therefore, to speculate uponhis performances, or the share which he might have taken in its events. Tradition simply assures us that he distinguished himself. That, ifpresent, he did his duty, we have no question; and, enduring withbecoming resolution the worst severities of the march, proved himselfpossessed of the first great requisite for soldiership in Indianwarfare. 

Chapter 4. 

 Cherokee War continues--Marion leads the Forlorn Hope at the Battle of Etchoee. 

The Cherokees were very far from being subdued or satisfied. The snakehad been "scotched not killed", and stung, rather than humbled by thechastisement they received, they prepared to assume the offensive withsudden vigor. Concentrating a numerous force upon the distant garrisonof Fort Loudon, on the Tennessee river, they succeeded in reducing it byfamine. Here they took bloody revenge for the massacre of their chiefsat Prince George. The garrison was butchered, after a formal surrenderupon terms which guaranteed them protection. This wholesale andvindictive barbarity, while it betrayed the spirit which filled thesavages, had the still farther effect of encouraging them in a warfarewhich had so far gratified very equally their appetites for blood andbooty. In addition to this natural effect, the result of their own wildpassions, there were other influences, from without, at work among them. Certain French emissaries had crept into their towns and were busilyengaged, with bribes and arguments, in stimulating them to continuedwarfare. This, in all probability, was the secret influence, which, overall, kept them from listening, as well to their own fears, as to theurgent suggestions of the British authorities, for peace. Hitherto, theCherokees had given no ear to the temptations of the French, whom theyconsidered a frivolous people, and whose professions of faith they werevery likely to have regarded with distrust. But the labors of theiremissaries at this juncture, harmonizing with the temper of the nation, were necessarily more than usually successful. One of these emissaries, Louis Latinac, an officer of considerable talent, proved an ableinstigator to mischief. He persuaded them, against the better reason oftheir older chiefs, to the rejection of every overture for peace. Theirsuccesses at Fort Loudon were, perhaps, sufficient arguments for thecontinuance of war, but there were others not less potent. The king ofFrance was now to be their ally in place of him of Great Britain. Theone "great father" was no less able than the other to minister to theirappetites and necessities. His arms and ammunition replaced those whichhad been withdrawn by the latter; and we may suppose that the liberalityof the new allies was such as to admit of very favorable comparisonand contrast with that which they had experienced at the hands ofthe British. Their very excesses in the war were favorable to itscontinuance; as they might very well doubt the binding force of treatiesbetween parties, the bad faith of whom had been written so terriblyin blood. At a great meeting of the nation, at which Louis Latinac waspresent, he, with something of their own manner, seizing suddenly upon ahatchet, struck it violently into a block of wood, exclaiming, as he didso, "Who is the warrior that will take this up for the king of France?"Salouee, a young chief of Estatoee, instantly tore the weapon from thetree. He declared himself for instant and continued war. "The spiritsof our slain brothers, " was his cry, "call upon us to avenge theirmassacre. He is a woman that dares not follow me!"

Such being the spirit of the savages, the Carolinians had no alternativebut to resume their arms. Col. Montgomery having gone to England, thecommand devolved upon Colonel Grant, and the Highlanders were once moreordered to the relief of the province. The Carolinians were now somewhatbetter prepared to cooperate with their allies. A native regiment oftwelve hundred men was raised, and the command given to Col. Middleton, a brave and accomplished provincial officer. 

To this regiment Marion was attached, under the immediate commandof Moultrie. Many of his associates in this Cherokee war becamesubsequently, like himself, distinguished in the war with Great Britain. Among these may be mentioned the names of Moultrie, * Henry Laurens, Andrew Pickens and Isaac Huger. These were all officers, even in thatearly day, and Marion himself held a lieutenancy--some proof that, however little we may know of the circumstances by which he secured theconfidence of his neighbors, he was already in full possession of it. How much of the future acts and successes of these brave men was dueto the exercises and events of this Cherokee war, may reasonablybe conjectured by every reader who knows the value of a sternapprenticeship to a hazardous profession. Its successive campaignsagainst no inferior enemy, and under circumstances of peril andprivation of no common order, were such as must have afforded themfrequent opportunity of making themselves familiar equally with theexigencies and responsibilities of command. 

 * Moultrie in his Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 223, would seem to settle the question in the negative, whether Marion was or was not in the preceding campaign. He says, "General Marion and myself ENTERED THE FIELD OF MARS TOGETHER, in an expedition against the Cherokee Indians, under the command of Colonel James Grant, in 1761, when I had the honor to command a light infantry company in a provincial regiment; he was my first lieutenant. He was an active, brave and hardy soldier, and an excellent partisan officer. " This is very far however from being conclusive, inasmuch as we have seen that Marion 'entered the field of Mars' two years before, under the command of his brother, in the first campaign of Lyttleton against the Indians. This latter fact is settled beyond all question. --

To the united forces of Colonels Grant and Middleton, were added acertain number of Chickasaw and Catawba Indians; making a total oftwenty-six hundred men. This army reached Fort Prince George on the 29thof May, 1761. On the 7th of June following, it took up the line of marchfor the enemy's country. The advance was conducted with caution, butwithout molestation, until it reached the place where Montgomery, inthe previous campaign, had encountered the Indians, near the town ofEtchoee. Here the Cherokees were again prepared to make a stand, and todispute a pass which, above all others, seemed to be admirably designedby nature for the purposes of defence. Their position was not exactlywhat it had been on the previous occasion, but its characteristicadvantages were the same. Hitherto, the Indians had shown considerablejudgment in the selection of their battle-grounds, and in the generalemployment of their strength. This judgment they probably owed ingreat part to their present adversaries. Quick in their instinct, and surprisingly observant, they had soon learned the use of Europeanweapons. The various lessons of European tactics, the modes of attackand defence, were, in their united struggles with the French, equallyopen to their study and acquisition. They had not suffered these lessonsto escape them. But they probably owed something of their skill in thepresent war to the active counsels of the French emissaries. The factis not recorded by the historian, but there is no reason to suppose thatthe officers who counselled the war, would withhold themselves when theopportunity offered, from giving directions in the field. The Frenchhad frequently distinguished themselves, by leading on forces entirelycomposed of Indians. The practice was common. Even at the defeat ofBraddock, the French troops bore but a small proportion to their Indianallies. There is no reason to suppose that Louis Latinac was not presentat one or both of the bloody fields of Etchoee. 

The provincial army marched in good order upon the suspected position. The Indian auxiliaries, who were in the van, first discovered signs ofan enemy. The Cherokees were in possession of a hill, strongly posted, and in considerable force, upon the right flank of the army. Findingthemselves discovered, they opened their fire upon the advanced guard, and followed it up with a gallant charge. But the van being vigorouslyand promptly supported, they were driven back, and resumed theirposition upon the hill. Under this hill the line of march lay for aconsiderable distance. To attempt, therefore, to continue the marchbefore dislodging the enemy in possession of it, would be to exposethe troops to a protracted fire, the more murderous, as it would bedelivered by a foe in a position of perfect security. The advanced guardwas ordered upon this duty, and from this body a forlorn-hope of thirtymen was chosen, to force the perilous entrance to the foe. The commandof this devoted corps was assigned to Francis Marion, still a lieutenantunder the command of Moultrie, in the provincial regiment of Middleton. The ascent of the hill was by means of a gloomy defile, through whichthe little band, headed gallantly by their leader, advanced with duerapidity; a considerable body of the army moving forward at the sametime in support of the advance. Scarcely had the detachment penetratedthe defile, when the war-whoop gave the signal. The savages, stillconcealed, poured in a deadly fire, by which no less than twenty-one ofthis fated band were prostrated. * Fortunately their leader was notamong them. He seems, like Washington, to have been the special careof Providence. The residue were only saved from destruction by theproximity of the advance, whose hurried approach, while giving themsafety, brought on the main action. The battle was fought with greatcarnage on both sides. The Cherokees were not only well posted, butthey were in great numbers. Repeatedly dislodged by the bayonet, they asrepeatedly returned to the attack; and, driven from one quarter, ralliedupon another, with a tenacious and unshaken valor becoming in men whowere defending the passes to the bosom of their country. From eightin the morning until noon, the fight was continued, not only withoutintermission, but seemingly without any decisive results on either side. But, at length, the patient resolution of the whites prevailed; and, about two o'clock in the day, the field was yielded by the reluctantCherokees to their superior foes. This victory determined the fate ofEtchoee, a town of considerable size, which was reduced to ashes. 

 * Weems, p. 21. Horry's MS. Memoir, p. 58. --

The result of this fierce engagement seems to have broken the spirit ofthe nation. They had chosen the position of greatest strength to maketheir stand, and brought to the struggle their best spirits and bravestwarriors. In the issue, they had shown, by their dogged and determinedvalor, the great importance which it carried in their eyes. The dayonce decided against them, they appeared to be equally without heart andhope; they no longer appeared in arms--no longer offered defence--andthe army of the Carolinians marched through the heart of the nation, searching its secret settlements, and everywhere inflicting the severestpenalties of war. The rest of the campaign was an easy progress, andterrible was the retribution which it brought with it. No less thanfourteen of their towns, in the middle settlements, shared the fate ofEtchoee. Their granaries were yielded to the flames, their cornfieldsravaged, while the miserable fugitives, flying from the unsparing sword, took refuge, with their almost starving families, among the barrenmountains, which could yield them little but security. A chastisement soextreme was supposed to be necessary, in order to subdue for ever thatlively disposition for war, upon the smallest provocation, which, oflate years, the Cherokees had manifested but too frequently; but it maybe doubted whether the means which were employed for administering thisadmonitory lesson, were of the most legitimate character. We must alwayscontinue to doubt that humanity required the destruction of towns andhamlets, whose miserable walls of clay and roofs of thatch could giveshelter to none but babes and sucklings--women with their young--thosewho had never offended, and those who could not well offend--theinnocent victims to an authority which they never dared oppose. Thereckless destruction of their granaries--fields yet growing withgrain--necessarily exposed to the worst privations of famine only thoseportions of the savage population who were least guilty. The warriorand hunter could readily relieve himself from the gnawing necessities ofhunger. He could wander off to remote tribes, and, armed with rifle orbow, could easily secure his game, sufficient for his own wants, fromthe contiguous forest. But these were resources inaccessible to theweak, the old, the timid, and the imbecile. Surely, it was a cruelmeasure of war, and if necessary to the safety of the whites, rendersstill more criminal the wanton excesses of the latter, by which it wasoriginally provoked. It is pleasing to be able to show that Marion felt, in this matter, as became that rare humanity which was one of the mostremarkable and lovely traits in his character, --the more remarkable, indeed, as shining out among endowments which, in particular, designatedhim for a military life--a life which is supposed to need for itsstimulus so much that is sanguinary, if not brutal, in one's nature. It is recorded of him, that the severities practised in this campaignfilled him, long after, with recollections of sorrow. Writing to afriend, * he gives a brief description of the calamities of the war, interms equally touching and picturesque. "We arrived, " he writes, "atthe Indian towns in the month of July. As the lands were rich, and theseason had been favorable, the corn was bending under the double weightof lusty roasting ears and pods of clustering beans. The furrows seemedto rejoice under their precious loads--the fields stood thick withbread. We encamped the first night in the woods, near the fields, wherethe whole army feasted on the young corn, which, with fat venison, madea most delicious treat. 

 * In a letter quoted by Weems. [The poetic language here suggests the possibility that this letter may be one of Weems' inventions. --A. L. , 1996. ]--

"The next morning we proceeded, by order of Colonel Grant, to burn downthe Indian cabins. Some of our men seemed to enjoy this cruelwork, laughing very heartily at the curling flames as they mounted, loud-crackling, over the tops of the huts. But to me it appeared ashocking sight. "Poor creatures!" thought I, "we surely need not grudgeyou such miserable habitations. " But when we came, ACCORDING TO ORDERS, to cut down the fields of corn, I could scarcely refrain from tears. Forwho could see the stalks that stood so stately, with broad green leavesand gaily-tasselled shocks, filled with sweet milky fluid, and flour, the staff of life--who, I say, without grief, could see these sacredplants sinking under our swords, with all their precious load, to witherand rot untasted, in their mourning fields!

"I saw everywhere around the footsteps of the little Indian children, where they had lately played under the shelter of the rustling corn. No doubt they had often looked up with joy to the swelling shocks, and gladdened when they thought of their abundant cakes for the comingwinter. When we are gone, thought I, they will return, and peepingthrough the weeds with tearful eyes, will mark the ghastly ruin pouredover their homes, and the happy fields where they had so often played. 'Who did this?' they will ask their mothers. 'The white people, theChristians did it!' will be the reply. "

"It would be no easy matter, " says Hewatt, the earliest regularhistorian of Carolina, "to describe the hardships which this little armyendured, in the wilderness, from heat, thirst, watching, danger, andfatigue. Thirty days did Colonel Grant continue in the heart of theCherokee territories, and upon his return to Fort Prince George, thefeet and legs of many of his army were so mangled, and their strengthand spirits so much exhausted, that they were unable to march farther. "But the chastisement which the Indians had received, secured the objectfor the attainment of which it was inflicted. The Cherokees sued forpeace, and Marion once more retired to the obscurity of rural life; wemay well believe with a human sense of satisfaction, that the painfulduty upon which he had been engaged was at length over. Unhappily, thedetails of the war, beyond those which we have given, do not enableus to ascertain the extent of his services. We are simply told that hebehaved well, with skill and spirit. More than this perhaps it wouldbe unreasonable to expect from any degree of talent, in the subordinatesituation which he at that time occupied. 

Chapter 5. 

 1775. Marion is returned for the Provincial Congress from St. John's, Berkeley--Made Captain in the Second Regiment --Fort Johnson taken--Battle of Fort Moultrie. 

Engaged in rural and domestic occupations we hear no more of Marion, except as a citizen and farmer, until the beginning of the year 1775. Inthe latter capacity he is reputed to have been successful; and betweenthe labors and sports of the field, the more violent humors of youthseem to have been dissipated in exercises which are seldom followed byreproach. He was very fond of angling and hunting, and with rod or gun, his leisure was employed in a way that would not have displeased thegentle Isaak Walton. These constituted his chief pastimes for thefourteen years that had elapsed since his Cherokee campaigns. Hisconnection with public events had long since ceased; but, from allaccounts, he still continued, in some degree, to fill the eyes of hiscountrymen. His firmness and purity of character, his gentle temper, known bravery, and the conduct which he had already manifested in war, had secured to him the confidence and the affections of his neighbors. He had attained that place in their esteem which naturally brought himconspicuously before their eyes in the moment of emergency. Emergencieswere now approaching of a kind well calculated to bring into the fieldall the energies, with all the patriotism of the country. The greatstruggle was at hand between the colonies and that mighty empire bywhich they had been established. Of the part taken by South Carolinain this conflict, history has already sufficiently informed us. Hermovements were made without reserve--her resolves taken promptly, andsteadily maintained with her best blood and treasure. Her battles wereamong the boldest and bloodiest, as they were among the first and lastof the revolution. Of the political steps by which she committed herselfto that event, it does not need that we should enter into details. Thesebelong rather to general history than to biography. It will be enough toexhibit those particulars only, of her progress, in which the subjectof our memoir was more immediately interested. That he took an early anddeep concern in the contest may be inferred from his character. That heshould not have become an active politician may also be inferred fromhis known modesty, and the general reserve of his deportment in society. He was no orator, and no doubt felt quite as awkward in debate asWashington. But his opinions were well known; he was not the personabout whose ways of thinking, in trying times, his neighbors couldentertain either doubt or discussion. He formed his opinions as promptlyas he fought for them, and his character was above concealment. We findhim accordingly, in 1775, returned to the Provincial Congress ofSouth Carolina, as a member from St. John, Berkeley. * This Congressdistinguished itself by committing the people of South Carolina tothe final destinies of the Revolution. It adopted the American Bill ofRights, as declared by the Continental Congress--adopted the famous"act of association", recommended by the same federative body to allthe colonies, by which the subscribers bound themselves to refuse and toprevent the importation of goods, wares and merchandise, from the mothercountry; established committees of safety throughout the province, and, in short, in possession of almost dictatorial powers, did not hesitateto use them for the public welfare. It was at particular pains to infusea martial spirit among the people; and, influenced by this spirit, andunder the immediate suggestion, and by direct participation, of thisassembly, certain overt acts of treason were committed. The publicarmory in Charleston was broken open by night, and eight hundred standof arms, two hundred cutlasses, besides cartouches, flints, matches andother necessary materials of war, were withdrawn without discovery. Oneparty possessed itself of the public powder at Hobcau; another emptiedCochran's Magazine, while a third, as above stated, relieved the statearmory of its contents. In all these proceedings, the members of theProvincial Congress displayed the energies of men, who, having once settheir hands to the plough, have resolved not to be turned away from it. Under that bolder policy which, by provoking the danger, compels thetimid to a part in it from which they might otherwise shrink in terror, they were personally engaged in these acts of treason. We may reasonablyconclude that, however silent as a member, Francis Marion was not theperson to forbear taking active part in the more hazardous duties whichdistinguished the doings of the body to which he belonged. There was agenerous impulse in his character, which hurried him into performance, whenever work was to be done, or daring became necessary. He couldapproach such duties with a degree of cheerfulness, which to theordinary mind, thoughtful only of the consequences and responsibilitiesof action, seemed to partake of levity and recklessness. There was, indeed, an element of playfulness, we had almost said fun, in hischaracter; a quiet and unobtrusive humor, which enlivened his utterance, and softened, with a gentle aspect, a countenance that might otherwisehave been esteemed severe. We have no doubt that the native courage, andthe elastic spirit of his temperament made him an active participantin all those deeds of decision, which the deliberations of the body towhich he belonged, deemed it necessary should be done. We can verywell imagine him conspicuous among those masked and midnight bands, commissioned to do mischief for the public good, by which the arsenalswere stripped of their contents, and the tea-chests tumbled into Cooperriver. **

 * "For St. John's, Berkeley County--James Ravenel, Daniel Ravenel, JOB MARION, John Frierson, Esqrs. , Mr. Gabriel Gignilliat, MR. FRANCIS MARION. " Journals of the Provincial Congress of South Carolina. 

 ** It is not so generally known that South Carolina did her part, as well as Massachusetts, in destroying teas and stamped paper. --

The Provincial Congress having thus committed the country, withoutdoubt, to the destinies of war, and having, to some extent, providedagainst its consequences, adjourned to re-assemble on the 20th June, 1775. But this interval was shortened by the occurrence of eventsequally unexpected and important. The battle of Lexington, in themeantime, had taken place, and any hopes which might have beenentertained, of a final reconciliation between the two countries, without a trial of strength, was fairly dismissed from every reflecting, if not every loyal mind. Instead of the 20th of June, the ProvincialCongress was brought together on the first day of that month. *

 * A letter from ISAAC MARION, one of the brothers of our subject, who dwelt at Little River, the Northern boundary of the province, is worthy of quotation, as serving to show that he was animated with the same public spirit that possessed his more distinguished kinsman. It was written to accompany the express, which brought the news of the battle of Lexington. A letter to him, from R. Howe, of N. C. , forwarding the express, remarking, "I know you stand in no need of being prompted when your country requires your service"--would seem to show that he too had shared in the reputation of his brother. The following is the letter of Isaac Marion, addressed to the Committee of Safety of Little River. 

 Boundary, May 9, 1775, Little River. 

 Gentlemen of the Committee;--I have just now received an express, from the Committee of the Northern Provinces, desiring I would forward the enclosed packet to the Southern Committees. As yours is the nearest, I request FOR THE GOOD OF YOUR COUNTRY, AND THE WELFARE OF OUR LIVES, LIBERTIES, AND FORTUNES, you'll not lose a moment's time, but dispatch the same to the Committee of Georgetown, to be forwarded to Charleston. In meantime, am, gentlemen, Your obliged humble servant, &c. Isaac Marion. To Danness, Hawkins and others. --

The members of this body, assembling according to summons, proceeded, with the utmost vigor, to the consideration of the subjects before them. They approached their tasks with equal speed and solemnity. Their laborswere commenced with Divine Service, and an act of association was thenpassed, though not without considerable opposition. This act ran asfollows:--

"The actual commencement of hostilities against this Continent by theBritish troops, in the bloody scene of the 19th of April last, nearBoston--the increase of arbitrary imposition from a wicked and despoticministry--and the dread of insurrections in the Colonies--are causessufficient to drive an oppressed people to the use of arms. We, therefore, the subscribers, inhabitants of South Carolina, holdingourselves bound by that most sacred of all obligations, the duty of goodcitizens to an injured country, and thoroughly convinced, that, underour present distressed circumstances, we shall be justified before Godand man, in resisting force by force--do unite ourselves, under everytie of religion and honor, and associate as a band in her defence, against every foe--hereby solemnly engaging, that, whenever ourContinental and Provincial Councils shall deem it necessary, we will goforth, and be ready to sacrifice our lives and fortunes to secureher freedom and safety. This obligation to continue in force, until areconciliation shall take place between Great Britain and America, uponConstitutional principles--an event which we most ardently desire. And, we will hold all those persons inimical to the liberty of the Colonies, who shall refuse to subscribe to this association. "*

 * Drayton's Memoirs, Vol. 1, p. 28. --

This open declaration was followed up with measures equally fearlessand decisive. On the fourth day of the session, the Provincial Congressresolved to raise fifteen hundred infantry, rank and file, in tworegiments; and four hundred and fifty horse, constituting anotherregiment. The troops so to be raised, were to be subjected to militarydiscipline, and to the articles of war, in like manner with the British. On the fourteenth day of their session, a million of money was voted, and a council of safety was elected, vested with the executive powerof the colony. Among other acts of this body, non-subscribers to theassociation were made amenable to the General Committee, and punishableACCORDING TO SOUND POLICY. Absentees having estates, were, with certainexceptions, required to return; and it was further resolved that nopersons ought to withdraw from the service of the Colony, without givinggood and sufficient reasons to the Provincial Congress. Military dutywas performed day and night, as in a state of actual warfare, by themilitia companies in rotation; and thus, having placed the province in astate of preparation, with arms in the hands of the people, and givento the newly arrived Governor, Lord William Campbell, a reception whichboded small repose to his authority, the Provincial Congress adjourneditself on the 22d day of June, leaving their authority, in great part, to the Council of Safety and General Committee. 

It has been seen that the only share which Marion had in the proceedingsof this body, was that of an assenting member. He was not endowedwith those talents which could have rendered him conspicuous in adeliberative assembly. But he is not the less entitled to his sharein the merit of those proceedings, which so admirably declared andillustrated the patriotism and the spirit of the province; and one ofthe last, decisive measures of the Provincial Congress, happily enabledhim to appear in the character upon which he was more likely to conferdistinction, than that of the orator. He was elected a captain in theSecond Regiment, of which William Moultrie, formerly his captain in theCherokee campaign, was made Colonel. The duties of this appointment wereimmediately begun, with a promptness at once due to the necessities ofthe case, and his own character. As a proof of the zeal by which thenewly made officers were distinguished, we find them seeking recruitsso early as the 20th of June, and while the body to which they belongedwere still engaged in the most laborious duties of the session. *

 * Drayton's Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 265. NOTE. --

Marion's commission was made out on the 21st June. Weems, in his lifeof our subject, gives us some pictures, equally lively and ludicrous, of his progress in the business of recruiting, upon which, in connectionwith his friend, Captain Horry, he at once begun. This gentlemanreceived his appointment as captain at the same time, and in the sameregiment, with Marion. The Provincial Congress had voted a million ofmoney, by which to carry out their measures, but this was yet to beprocured, and, as it appears, rather more upon the credit of individualsthan that of the colony. But money, in times of danger, seems to havean instinct of its own, by which it hides itself readily from sight andtouch. It was no easy matter for our captains to obtain the requisitesums. But faith and zeal did more for them, and for the cause, than goldand silver; and with very inadequate supplies, but in fresh and showyuniforms, our young officers set forth on the recruiting service. Theirroute lay in the several neighborhoods of Georgetown, Black River, andthe Great Pedee. In these parts both of them were known. Here, indeed, Marion was already a favorite. Accordingly, they succeeded beyond theirexpectations, and were soon enabled to complete the full number fortheir two companies, of fifty men each. Another circumstance, apart fromtheir personal popularity, probably facilitated their objects. Some ofthe settlements into which they penetrated were originally foundedby the Irish. The bitter heritage of hate to the English, which theybrought with them to America, was transmitted with undiminished fervorto their descendants. It was easy to show that the power which hadtrampled upon the affections of their fathers, and tyrannized over theirrights in the old world, was aiming at the same objects in the caseof their children in the new. At one remove only from the exiled andsuffering generation, the sons had as lively a recollection of thetyrannies of Britain as if the experience had been immediately theirown. To this cause our recruiting officers owed some of their successin the present expedition. Some of the bravest fellows of the secondregiment were picked up on this occasion. It was the spirit which theybrought, and to which the genius of Marion gave lively exercise, thatimparted a peculiar vitality at all times to his little brigade. Amongthese gallant young men there were two in particular, of whom traditionin Carolina will long retain a grateful recollection; these were Jasperand Macdonald. Of these two, both of whom sealed their patriotism withtheir blood, we shall yet have something further to deliver. 

While the friends of liberty were thus active, the adherents of thecrown, in the colony, were not less so. These, in many parts of thecountry, were equally numerous and influential. They possessed, indeed, certain advantages in the discussion, which, in some degree, served tocounterbalance the impelling and stimulating influences which alwaysbelong to a 'mouvement' party. They carried with them the PRESTIGEof authority, of the venerable power which time and custom seemed tohallow; they appealed to the loyalty of the subject; they dwelt upon thedangers which came with innovation; they denounced the ambition ofthe patriot leaders; they reminded the people of the power of GreatBritain--a power to save or to destroy--which had so frequently and sosuccessfully been exerted in their behalf in their numerous and bloodyconflicts with the Indians, and which might be brought, with suchfearful emphasis, upon their own heads. They reminded the people thatthe Indians were not exterminated, that they still hung in numeroushordes about the frontiers, and that it needed but a single word fromthe Crown, to bring them, once more, with tomahawk and scalping-knife, upon their defenceless homes. Already, indeed, had the emissaries ofGreat Britain taken measures to this end. The savage was already shakingoff his apathy, scenting the carnage from afar, and making ready forthe onset. The assurance, that such was the case, was doing the workof numerous arguments among the timid and the exposed. Such were thesuggestions, appealing equally to their fears and gratitude, which theleading loyalists addressed to the people. They were supported by othersuggestions, scarcely less potent, which naturally flowed from their ownthoughts. Why should they dare the conflict with Great Britain? Therewas no such reason for it as in the case of the northern colonies. Theyhad known her chiefly by benefactions; they did not conflict with herin shipping or in manufactures; and the arguments for discontent andresistance, as urged by the patriot leaders, did not reach them withsufficient force. What was the tax on tea, of which they drank little, and the duty on stamps, when they had but little need for legal papers?And why should not taxes follow protection, which Great Britain had notoften withheld in the need of a favorite colony, as South Carolinahad unquestionably been? Let us do justice to this people. Theloyalists--or, as they were more commonly called, and as we shallhereafter be compelled to call them, the Tories--were, probably, inthe majority of cases, governed by principle, by a firm and settledconviction, after deliberate examination of the case. That they mighthave thought otherwise, nay, would gradually have adopted the opinionsof the patriots, is not improbable, had more time been allowed them, and had the course of the latter been more indulgent and considerate. Unfortunately, this was not the case; and the desire to coerce wherethey could not easily convince, had the effect of making a determinedand deadly, out of a doubtful foe. This was terribly proved by the afterhistory. To this cause we may ascribe, in some degree, the terrors ofthat sanguinary strife, in which, to use the language of a distinguishedofficer, they "pursued each other rather like wild beasts than men. "* Weshall see something of this history as we proceed in ours. 

 * Letter of General Greene. See Johnson's Greene. --

There was yet another circumstance which tended, in some degree, to givecourage to the Tories. It was the somewhat temporizing policy of thepatriots. There was still a feeling of doubt, a hesitancy, on the partof the latter, as the prospects grew stronger of a final breach withGreat Britain. There were many who still clung to the hope that thedifferences of the two nations might yet be reconciled; and though themeans of such reconciliation did not make themselves obvious, they yetfondly cherished the conviction that something might turn up, at thelast moment, to prevent the absolute necessity of bloodshed. Thisportion of the patriots necessarily influenced the rest; those who, looking beyond the moment, saw the true issue, and properly regarded thedeclared objects of difference as pretexts which must suffice when thebetter reasons might not be expressed. They dared not openly broach theidea of national independence, which, there is very little questionthat the noblest of the American patriots everywhere, though secretly, entertained from the beginning. The people were not prepared for sucha revelation--such a condition; and appearances were still to bemaintained. Their proceedings, accordingly, still wore, however loosely, a pacific aspect. Though actively preparing for war, the professions ofthe patriots declared their measures to be precautionary only--a refuge, an alternative, in the event of greater oppression. They still spoke thelanguage of loyalty, still dealt in vague assurances of devotion tothe crown. But such professions deceived nobody, and least of all theloyalists. They derived courage from the reluctance of the patriotsto embark in a struggle, for the fruits of which, if successful, theyevidently longed. They were not less active--nay, in the interior, theywere even more active--than their opponents; had already taken arms, andgained advantages, which nothing but decisive movements on the part ofthe people along the seaboard could possibly induce them to forego. This necessity was apparent for other reasons. In consequence of thetemporizing policy already mentioned, the crown was still in possessionof most of the shows of power in and about Charleston. The royalgovernor was still in the city, and in some degree exerting hisauthority. Fort Johnson, on James' Island, was suffered to remain inthe hands of the king's troops for more than three months after theProvincial Congress had ordered a levy of troops, and had resolved ontaking up arms. Two British armed vessels, the Tamar and Cherokee, layin Rebellion Roads, opposite Sullivan's Island. This force was quitesufficient, under existing circumstances, to have destroyed the town. But the royal leaders were not prepared for this issue; they shared thereluctance of the patriots to begin a conflict, the issues of which wereso extreme. Their policy, like that of the patriots--influencing it, andpossibly influenced by it--was equally halting and indecisive. It wassufficiently satisfactory if, by the presence of such a force, thecitizens should be overawed and kept from action. 

This condition of things could not continue. The very nature of themovement was adverse to indecision. It needed but a first step--afirst stroke--and this was to be taken by the patriots. They brookedimpatiently the humiliating position in which the city stood, controlledby an inferior enemy; and it was resolved that Fort Johnson shouldbe subdued. It was on this occasion that Marion first drew his swordagainst the British. He was one of those Captains who, with theircompanies, were dispatched on this expedition. The command was given toCol. Moultrie. A strong resistance was expected, as, but a short timebefore, the garrison had been reinforced from the armed vessels. Atmidnight on the fourteenth of September, 1775, the detachment crossedto James' Island. The disembarkation was effected with delay anddifficulty, occasioned by the inadequate size and number of the boats. The forlorn hope, consisting of a detachment from the grenadiers ofCapt. Pinckney, joined by the Cadets, and led by Lieut. Mouatt, were toscale the walls of the fort on its south bastion; Col. Moultrie withthe rest of Pinckney's Grenadiers, and Marion's Light Infantry, were toenter or force the gates over the ravelin; while Capt. Elliott, withhis grenadiers, penetrated the lower battery over the left flank. Itwas broad daylight before the landing was effected; and on making theassault they were surprised by an easy victory. The fort was abandoned. The enemy had probably been apprised of the attack. A detachmentfrom the ships had landed some hours before--had dismantled the fort, dismounted the cannon, and withdrawn the garrison; retreating in safetyto the ships. A gunner and three men only, fell into the hands ofthe provincials. The very day that this event occurred, Lord WilliamCampbell, the Governor, fled to the Tamar sloop of war. His flightwas no doubt hastened by a proceeding so decisive. That evening hedispatched his secretary to Fort Johnson, which he was not permittedto enter. He was met at the water-side by Capt. Pinckney, of whom hedemanded, in the name of the Governor, by what authority he had takenand held possession of the fortress. The answer to this demand broughtup the vessels of war, which, on the seventeenth of September, presentedthemselves within point blank shot of the fort. Up to this time, butthree of the dismantled cannon had been remounted and put in orderfor action. With these, the provincials prepared for battle, relying, however, less upon their cannon than upon their ability to oppose thelanding of any body of men. But the demonstration of the squadron waswithout fruits. They hauled off without a shot, and resumed their formerless offensive position. 

Here, however, the popular leaders were not disposed to suffer them toremain. Still they hesitated at coming to blows. They adopted a middlecourse, which, in such cases, is generally the worst. They ordered thatthe ships should not be victualled or supplied with water from the city, except from day to day. This produced a threat from Captain Thornboroughthat, unless supplied as before, he should prevent the ingress, ordeparture, of any vessel from the harbor. A menace of this kind, to havebeen properly met, should have been answered from the eighteen poundersof Fort Johnson. And, but for the reluctance of several highly esteemedpatriots, such would have been the mode of answer. This temporizingpolicy continued to prevail until the 9th November, 1775, when theProvincial Congress resolved, "by every military operation, to opposethe passage of any British Armament. " Such were the orders issued to theofficer commanding at Fort Johnson. This fort had now been in possessionof the popular party for nearly two months. It was in some degreeprepared for use. It was well manned with a portion of those bravefellows who afterwards fought the good fight of Fort Sullivan. Theywould have done as good service here. The resolution of the Provinceonce adopted, it was communicated as well to the commanders of theBritish vessels, as to the officers of the fort. There was still an openpassage, through Hog-Island channel, by which the British vessels mightapproach the town without incurring any danger from the Fort. Thispassage it was determined to obstruct; and an armed schooner, called theDefence, fitted up for the occasion, was ordered to cover and protecta party which was employed to sink a number of hulks in that narrowstrait. This drew upon them the fire of the British. It was returned bythe "Defence", but with little injury to either side. The garrison atFort Johnson endeavored to take part in this little action, but thedistance was too great for any decisive results from its fire. Some ofthe shots took effect, but after a few rounds the fire was discontinued. Meanwhile, the alarm was beat in Charleston, where the troops stood totheir arms, and every heart throbbed with the expectation of a close andbloody fight. But the time was not yet. Indecisive in itself, thisbrief combat was of great importance in one point of view. It was thebeginning of the game. The blow for which all parties had been waiting, was now fairly struck. The sword had been drawn from the scabbard, not again to be sheathed, till the struggle was concluded. The localCongress proceeded vigorously. Ships were impressed for the purpose ofwar, new troops were enlisted and armed, and bills of credit issued. The British vessels, meanwhile, became more than ever troublesome, and, carrying out the menace of Captain Thornborough, proceeded tothe seizure of all vessels within their reach, whether going fromor returning to the port. It became necessary to drive them from theroadstead. To effect this, Col. Moultrie, with a party of newly raisedProvincials and the Charleston Artillery, took post on Haddrill's Point, and, mounting a few pieces of heavy artillery, opened upon them with awell-directed fire, which drove them out to sea. This step was followedby one of preparation. The fortifications at Fort Johnson and Haddrill'sPoint were completed--the city was fortified--a new fort was raisedon James', and another begun on Sullivan's Island. The militia werediligently trained, the provincial troops augmented and disciplined, and all means within the power of the Colony were put in requisition toprepare it for defence. Among other preparations, a military post wasestablished at the town of Dorchester, and strongly fortified. Thispost was nearly at the head of navigation, on Ashley river, about twentymiles from Charleston. Though now utterly desolate, Dorchesterwas, prior to the Revolution, a town of considerable population andimportance. Its abandonment may be ascribed to the Revolution, duringwhich it was maintained as a military post by the Americans orBritish. To this place the public stores and records were in great parttransferred from Charleston, as to a place of safe-keeping. The commandwas given to Marion. While in this command we do not find the occurrenceof any events of importance. A couple of his original letters, datedfrom this post, lie before us. They refer only to ordinary events, butcontain some expressions which denote the ardency of his patriotism, and the disappointments to which it was not unfrequently subjected inconsequence of the apathy of others. Referring to the reluctance shownby many, of whom the utmost patriotism was expected, to rally around theflag of the country, he exclaims--in a partial perversion of Scripturelanguage, but without irreverence, "Tell this not in the streets ofCharleston, " &c. 

From this post Marion was removed to Charleston, very probably at hisown solicitation. Events were ripening in that quarter, of a naturecalculated to give becoming employment to a mind always active, anddesiring nothing more than to serve his country. From Charleston, he wasdispatched to Fort Johnson, where he was busily employed in completingthe defences of that place. Weems preserves an anecdote of him, while incommand of this fort, in January, 1776, which pleasantly describes thequiet and not unamiable sort of humor in which Marion was frequentlysaid to indulge. While exceedingly busy in his preparations for defence, there came to him a thoughtless young officer, who loved the cockpitmuch better than consisted entirely with his duties. Christmas and NewYear's Holidays were famous at that early period, for the exercise ofthis cruel sport in some parts of Carolina. To obtain leave of absence, however, on any holiday pretence, the young officer very well knewwas impossible. Approaching his Commander with a lie in his mouth, heobtained the desired permission, in order to receive the last blessingof a dying father; and, exulting in the unworthy artifice, he hurriedto Dorchester, which, on that occasion, was to be the scene of hisrecreation. During his absence, Marion arrived at the truth of thestory, but said nothing. When the youth returned, which he did after twoweeks' absence, he proceeded to the marquee of his Commander, to reporthimself, and began a tedious apology for having stayed, so long. Mariongently interrupted him, and, with a smile, in the presence of all theofficers, replied--"Never mind it, Lieutenant--there's no harm done--wenever missed you. " The effect of this sarcasm is said to have beenadmirable; and to have resulted in the complete reform of the offender, who, from being a trifling, purposeless, and unscrupulous young man, grew considerate equally of his duties and his word, and, by a career ofindustry, sobriety and modesty, made ample amends, in future days, forall the errors of the past. 

With the formation of new regiments, under the resolves of theCouncil of Safety, Marion was promoted to a Majority. This appointmentmaterially enlarged the sphere of his duties. But he was one of thoseremarkable men, who, without pretension, prove themselves equal to anytrust which may be imposed upon them. Without the presence of an actualenemy, he addressed himself to the task of preparing his men for theencounter with them. He was constantly on parade, at the drill, closelyengaged in the work of training, in which business, while very gentle, he was very exact; and, in such a degree had he improved the officersand men immediately under his charge, that they were very soon regardedas a model for all the rest. He was called the "architect of the SecondRegiment". Weems, speaking for Col. Horry, says, "Indeed, I am notafraid to say that Marion was the ARCHITECT of the Second Regiment, and laid the foundation of that excellent discipline and confidence inthemselves, which gained them such reputation whenever they were broughtto face their enemies. " The value of this training was very soon to besubjected to the most thorough of all possible tests. He was orderedwith his Regiment, under command of Col. Wm. Moultrie, to take post atFort Sullivan, on the island of that name, which stands at the entranceof Charleston harbor, and within point blank shot of the channel. Thedifficulties and deficiencies of this post, furnished some admirablepreparatory lessons for the great conflict which was to follow. Theyimposed the necessity of diligent industry and hard labor, equallyon men and soldiers. This was one of the famous schools of Romandiscipline. Fort Sullivan, better known as Fort Moultrie--was yet to bebuilt. When the Second Regiment entered it, it was little more than anoutline. Its shape was described upon the sand, and the palmetto raftslay around it, waiting to be moulded into form. The structure was aninartificial one--a simple wall, behind which young beginners mighttrain guns to do mischief to a veteran enemy in front. Its form wassquare, with a bastion at each angle, sufficiently large, when finished, to cover a thousand men. It was built of logs, laid one upon another inparallel rows, at a distance of sixteen feet, bound together at frequentintervals with timber, dovetailed and bolted into the logs. The spacesbetween were filled up with sand. The merlons were walled entirelyby palmetto logs, notched into one another at the angles, well boltedtogether and strengthened with pieces of massy timber. Such was the planof the work; but, with all the diligence of the officers, and all theindustry of the men, it remained unfinished at the perilous moment whena powerful British fleet appeared before its walls. The defence wasconfided to Col. Moultrie. The force under his command was four hundredand thirty-five men, rank and file, comprising four hundred and thirteenof the Second Regiment of Infantry, and twenty-two of the FourthRegiment of Artillery. The whole number of cannon mounted on thefortress was thirty-one, of these, nine were French twenty-sixes; sixEnglish eighteens; nine twelve and seven nine pounders. *

 * Weems, in his Life of Marion, represents the cannon as made up principally of TWENTY-FOUR and THIRTY-SIX pounders; but the official accounts are as I have given them. See Drayton's Memoirs, vol. 2, pp. 290-1. --

General Charles Lee, who had been dispatched by the ContinentalCongress, to take command of the Army of the South, would have abandonedthe fortress even before the appearance of the enemy. He was unwilling, in such a position, to abide the conflict. He seems, naturally enoughfor an officer brought up in a British Army, to have had an overweeningveneration for a British fleet, in which it is fortunate for the countrythat the Carolinians did not share. In the unfinished condition of thefort, which really presented little more than a front towards thesea, his apprehensions were justifiable, and, could the fort havebeen enfiladed, as the British designed, it certainly would have beenuntenable. From the moment of his arrival, to the very moment when theaction was raging, his chief solicitude seems to have been to ensure thedefenders of the fortress a safe retreat. It is to their immortal honorthat this mortifying measure was unnecessary. 

On the 20th of June, 1776, a day ever memorable in the annals ofCarolina, the British ships of war, nine in number, *1* commanded by SirPeter Parker, drew up abreast of the fort, let go their anchors, withsprings upon their cables, and commenced a terrible bombardment. Thefamous battle which followed makes one of the brightest pages inour history. Its events, however, are too generally known to make itnecessary that we should dwell upon them here. A few, however, belongproperly and especially to our pages. The subject of this memoir wasa conspicuous sharer in its dangers and in its honors. The fire of theenemy was promptly answered, and with such efficiency of aim as to belong remembered by the survivors. Having but five thousand pounds ofpowder, with which to maintain a conflict that raged for eleven hours, with unabated violence, it became necessary, not only that the dischargefrom the fort should be timed, but that every shot should be made todo execution. In order to do this the guns were trained by thefield-officers in person; hence, perhaps, the terrible fatality of theirfire. The Bristol, 50 gun ship, Commodore Sir Peter Parker, lost 44men killed and thirty*2* wounded. Sir Peter himself lost an arm. TheExperiment, another 50 gun ship, had 57 killed and 30 wounded. *3* Tothese two vessels in particular, the attention of the fort was directed. The words, passed along the line by officers and men, were--"Look to theCommodore--look to the fifty gun ships. "*4* The smaller vessels sufferedcomparatively little. Their loss of men was small. The injury tothe vessels themselves was greater, and one of them, the Acteon, runaground, and was subsequently burnt. The Carolinians lost but twelve menkilled and twice that number wounded. One of the former was the bravefellow Macdonald, of whom we have already spoken. When borne from theembrasure where he received his mortal wound, he cried out to thosearound him--"Do not give up--you are fighting for liberty and country. "The want of powder was severely felt. But for this, judging from theeffects of the fire from the fort, the British Commodore must havestruck, or his fleet must have been destroyed. So slow, at one time, were the discharges--so great the interval of time between them, --thatthe British were of opinion that the place was abandoned. But a newsupply of powder was obtained by Marion, who, with a small party, leaving the fort, proceeded to the armed schooner Defence, lying in StopGap Creek, and seized upon her powder, by which the fire was kept upuntil a supply of five hundred weight was received from the city. *5*This caused a renewal of the conflict in all its fury. The garrisonfought with a coolness which would have done honor to veterans. Theday was very warm, and the men partially stripped to it. Moultrie says, "When the action begun (it being a warm day), some of the men took offtheir coats and threw them upon the top of the merlons. I saw a shottake one of them and throw it into a small tree behind the platform. Itwas noticed by our men, and they cried out, "look at the coat!" A littleincident that speaks volumes for their coolness. Moultrie himself andseveral of his officers smoked their pipes during the action, onlyremoving them when it became necessary to issue orders. In the hottestfire of the battle the flag of the fort was shot away, and fellwithout the fort. Jasper, with whom we have already brought the readeracquainted as one of Marion's men, instantly sprang after it upon thebeach, between the ramparts and the enemy, and binding it to a spongestaff, restored it to its place, and succeeded in regaining his own insafety. We shall hear more hereafter, of this gallant fellow. *6* Thecoolness--nay the cavalier indifference--displayed by the Caroliniansthroughout the combat, is not its least remarkable feature. There issomething chivalric in such deportment, which speaks for larger couragethan belongs to ordinary valor. Mere bull-dog resolution and enduranceis here lifted, by a generous ardor of soul, into something other than apassive virtue. The elasticity of spirit which it shows might be trainedto any performance within the compass of human endowment. 

 *1* Two ships of fifty guns; five of twenty-eight; 1 of twenty-six and a bomb-vessel. Moultrie, vol. 1 pp. 174-5. 

 *2* Weems says 100. *3* British account. 

 *4* Moultrie, Memoirs, Vol. 1, NOTE, p. 177. 

 *5* MS. Life of Brig. -Gen. Peter Horry, p. 21. 

 *6* Gen. Horry (then a captain) thus relates the incident: "I commanded an eighteen pounder in the left wing of the fort. Above my gun on the rampart, was a large American flag hung on a very high mast, formerly of a ship; the men of war directing their fire thereat, it was, from their shot, so wounded, as to fall, with the colors, over the fort. Sergeant Jasper of the Grenadiers leapt over the ramparts, and deliberately walked the whole length of the fort, until he came to the colors on the extremity of the left, when he cut off the same from the mast, and called to me for a sponge staff, and with a thick cord tied on the colors and stuck the staff on the rampart in the sand. The Sergeant fortunately received no hurt, though exposed for a considerable time, to the enemy's fire. Governor Rutledge [after the battle], as a reward, took his small sword from his side, and in presence of many officers, presented it to Sergeant Jasper, telling him to wear it in remembrance of the 28th June, and in remembrance of him. He also offered Jasper a Lieutenant's commission, but as he could neither read nor write, he modestly refused to accept it, saying, 'he was not fit to keep officers' company, being only bred a Sergeant. '"--MS. Life of Brig. -Gen. Peter Horry, pp. 19- 20. --

Tradition ascribes to the hand and eye of Marion, the terrible effectof the last shot which was fired on this bloody day. It was aimed at theCommodore's ship, which had already received something more than her dueshare of the attention of the fort. This shot, penetrating the cabinof the vessel, cut down two young officers who were drinking, we maysuppose, to their fortunate escape from a conflict which seemed alreadyover--then ranging forward, swept three sailors from the maindeckinto eternity, and finally buried itself in the bosom of the sea. Thiscurious particular was derived from five sailors who deserted from thefleet that very night. 

Chapter 6. 

 1777-8-9. From the Battle of Fort Moultrie to that of Savannah-- Anecdote of Jasper--His Death. 

The battle of Fort Sullivan was of immense importance, not merely toCarolina, but to all the confederated colonies. It saved the former, for three years, from the calamities of invasion; a respite of the lastvalue to a country so greatly divided in public feeling and opinion. The battle preceded the declaration of Independence, and, though notgenerally known to have taken place before that decisive measure wasresolved upon, it came seasonably to confirm the patriots in thoseprinciples which they had so solemnly and recently avowed. Its farthereffect was to dissipate that spell of invincibility, which, in the mindsof the Americans, seemed to hover about a British armament;--to heightenthe courage of the militia, and to convince the most sceptical, that itneeded only confidence and practice, to make the American people as goodsoldiers as any in the world. The Carolina riflemen were not a littleelated to discover that they could handle twenty-six pounders asefficiently as the smaller implements of death, to which their handswere better accustomed. To the defenders of the fortress, their victorybrought imperishable laurels. They had shown the courage and the skillof veterans, and their countrymen gloried in the reputation in whichthey necessarily shared. Moultrie received the thanks of Congress, of the Commander-in-Chief, and of his fellow citizens. The fort wasthenceforth called by his name, and he was made a Brigadier-General. HisMajor, Marion, necessarily had his share in these public honors, and wasraised by Congress to the rank of Lieut. -Colonel in the regular service. Two days after the battle, General Lee reviewed the garrison at FortMoultrie, and thanked them "for their gallant defence of the fortagainst a fleet of eight men-of-war and a bomb, during a cannonadeof eleven hours, and a bombardment of seven. " At the same time, Mrs. Barnard Elliott presented an elegant pair of embroidered colors tothe Second Regiment, with a brief address, in which she expressed herconviction that they would "stand by them as long as they can wave inthe air of liberty. " It was in fulfilling the pledge made by GeneralMoultrie, on this occasion, in behalf of the regiment, that the braveJasper lost his life before the walls of Savannah. 

The three years' respite from the horrors of war, which this victorysecured to Carolina, was not, however, left unemployed by her citizensoldiery. The progress of events around them kept their services inconstant requisition. While a part of them, in the interior, werecompelled to take arms against the Cherokee Indians, the troops of thelower country were required against the Tories in Florida and Georgia. Governor Tonyn of the former, an active loyalist, proved a formidableannoyance to the patriots of the latter province. Florida, under hisadministration, was the secure refuge and certain retreat for all themalcontents and outlaws of the neighboring colonies. He gave them ampleencouragement, put arms into their hands, and even issued letters ofmarque against the property of the colonists, in anticipation of the actfor that purpose, in the British parliament. General Lee marched uponFlorida with the Virginia and North Carolina troops. He was subsequentlyjoined by those of South Carolina; but, owing to his own ill-advised andimprovident movements, the expedition was a total failure. * This resultnecessarily gave encouragement to the Tories; and, though in too smallnumbers to effect any important objects without the cooperation of aBritish force, they were yet sufficiently active to invite the presenceof one. They formed themselves into little squads, and, moving throughthe country with celerity, pursued their marauding habits at littlerisk, as they sought only unsuspecting neighborhoods, and promptly fledto the fastnesses of Florida on the approach of danger. To direct andproperly avail themselves of these parties, the British commanders inAmerica addressed their attention to Georgia. The infancy of that colonynecessarily led them to hope for an easy conquest in attempting it. In February, 1777, General Howe, then commanding the troops in NorthCarolina and Georgia, was advised of the approach of Colonel Fuser, tothe invasion of Georgia. He hurried on immediately to prepare Savannahfor defence; while Marion, with a force of 600 men, in several vessels, provided with cannon and ammunition, was dispatched, by the inlandpassage, to his assistance. Marion left Charleston on the 28th ofFebruary, but his approach had no farther effect than to precipitate theflight of the enemy, who, meeting with a stout opposition from ColonelElbert, at Ogechee ferry, had already desisted from farther advance. The British attempts on Georgia were deferred to a later period. But theloyalists were busy, particularly that portion of them, which took thename of Scopholites, after one Scophol, a militia Colonel, whom Moultriedescribes as an "illiterate, stupid, noisy blockhead". He proved not theless troublesome because of his stupidity. 

 * Drayton's Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 336. --

Marion was more or less employed during this period, in varioussituations. He was never unemployed. We find him at length in command ofthe fort which he had formerly contributed to defend and render famous. He was placed in charge of the garrison at Fort Moultrie. The value ofthis fort was estimated rather according to its celebrity, than its realusefulness. Subsequent events have shown that its capacity was not greatin retarding the approach of an enemy's fleet to the city. It was theerror of Sir Peter Parker--obeying an old but exploded military maxim, not to leave an armed post of the enemy in his rear--to pause beforea fortress, the conquest of which could in no wise contribute to hissuccess, --and defeat before which, must necessarily endanger his finalobjects. It was still the impression of the Carolinians that FortMoultrie must be assailed as a preliminary step to the conquest ofCharleston, and the post, as one of the highest honor and danger, wasconferred upon Marion. * It was not known, indeed, at what moment thegallantry of the garrison might be put to the proof. The British wereknown to be making large marine and military preparations at New York, intended, as it was generally understood, for the south. Charlestonor Savannah, were supposed indifferently to be the places of itsdestination. It might be very well supposed that the enemy would seek, at the former place, to recover those honors of war of which its gallantdefenders had deprived him. 

 * When the British under Prevost, were in possession of the neighboring islands, Moultrie writes, "we were apprehensive the enemy would attempt to surprise Fort Moultrie; we, therefore, always kept a strong garrison there under General Marion. "--

But, any doubt as to the destination of the British fleet was soonremoved. In December, 1778, thirty-seven sail appeared before Savannah, and four thousand British regulars were disembarked. The American forceleft in defence of Savannah was a feeble one, of six or seven hundredmen, under General Howe. General Howe was but little of a soldier. Instead of withdrawing this force, he suffered it to be sacrificed. Badly posted, he was surprised, and his troops beaten and dispersed withlittle difficulty. Savannah fell at once into the hands of the enemy, and the whole colony very shortly after. General Prevost was in commandof the British. Opposed to him was Major-General Lincoln, of theContinental army. While Prevost occupied the posts of Savannah, Ebenezer, Abercorn, and other places, he was active in pushing selectparties forward to Augusta, and other commanding points in theinterior. The force under Lincoln did not enable him to offer any activeopposition to their progress. His headquarters were at Purysburg, on theSavannah river, but a few miles from Abercorn, where Colonel Campbelllay with the main body of the enemy. General Ashe, of the Americans, occupied the post at Brier Creek, and, thus placed, the opposingcommanders seemed disposed for a while to rest upon their arms, waitingevents and reinforcements. 

It was while the second South Carolina regiment lay at Purysburg, thatan adventure occurred, which has so often been repeated in connectionwith the name and life of Marion, that we should scarcely be excusedfrom introducing it here, as properly in place in this memoir. Weemsasserts that Marion was present at this time with his regiment atPurysburg. It is impossible to say whether he was or not. It is notimprobable that he was with his regiment, and yet the weight of evidenceinclines us to the opinion that he was still at Fort Moultrie. It isnot unlikely, however, that, when the direction of the British fleet wasknown, and it was ascertained that Savannah and not Charleston was itsobject, he immediately joined his regiment at Purysburg, leaving FortMoultrie in the charge of some less distinguished officer. At allevents the point is not of importance to the anecdote we have to relate. Personally, Marion had nothing to do with it. It was only because theactors in the adventure belonged to his regiment, and were of "Marion'smen", that tradition has insisted on associating his name with theirs. It is not for us to have it otherwise. The reader is already somewhatacquainted with the name of William Jasper--perhaps Sergeant Jasperis the better known. This brave man possessed remarkable talents for ascout. He could wear all disguises with admirable ease and dexterity. Garden styles him "a perfect Proteus". * He was equally remarkable forhis strategy as for his bravery; and his nobleness and generosity were, quite as much as these, the distinguishing traits of his character. Suchwas the confidence in his fidelity and skill that a roving commissionwas granted him, with liberty to pick his associates from the Brigade. Of these he seldom chose more than six. "He often went out, " saysMoultrie, "and returned with prisoners, before I knew that he was gone. I have known of his catching a party that was looking for him. He hastold me that he could have killed single men several times, but he wouldnot; he would rather let them get off. He went into the British lines atSavannah, as a deserter, complaining, at the same time, of our ill-usageof him; he was gladly received (they having heard of his character) andcaressed by them. He stayed eight days, and after informing himself wellof their strength, situation and intentions, he returned to us again;but that game he could not play a second time. With his little party hewas always hovering about the enemy's camp, and was frequently bringingin prisoners. "** We have seen what reason was alleged by this bravefellow for not accepting the commission tendered to him by GovernorRutledge, for his gallantry in the battle of Fort Moultrie. Thenature of his services was no less a reason why he should reject thecommission. The fact that he seldom allowed himself a command of morethan six men declared sufficiently the degree of authority to which hethought his talents were entitled. 

 * "He was a perfect Proteus, in ability to alter his appearance; perpetually entering the camp of the enemy, without detection, and invariably returning to his own, with soldiers he had seduced, or prisoners he had captured. "

 ** Moultrie's Mem. , vol. 2, p. 24. --

It was while in the exercise of his roving privileges that Jasperprepared to visit the post of the enemy at Ebenezer. At this post he hada brother, who held the same rank in the British service, that he heldin the American. This instance was quite too common in the historyof the period and country, to occasion much surprise, or cause anysuspicion of the integrity of either party. We have already consideredthe causes for this melancholy difference of individual sentiment inthe country, and need not dwell upon them here. William Jasper lovedhis brother and wished to see him: it is very certain, at the same time, that he did not deny himself the privilege of seeing all around him. TheTory was alarmed at William's appearance in the British camp, butthe other quieted his fears, by representing himself as no longer anAmerican soldier. He checked the joy which this declaration excitedin his brother's mind, by assuring him that, though he found littleencouragement in fighting for his country, "he had not the heart tofight against her. " Our scout lingered for two or three days in theBritish camp, and then, by a 'detour', regained that of the Americans;reporting to his Commander all that he had seen. He was encouraged torepeat his visit a few weeks after, but this time he took with him acomrade, one Sergeant Newton, a fellow quite as brave in spirit, andstrong in body as himself. Here he was again well received by hisbrother, who entertained the guests kindly for several days. Meanwhile, a small party of Americans were brought into Ebenezer as captives, overwhom hung the danger of "short shrift and sudden cord". They were ontheir way to Savannah for trial. They had taken arms with the British, as hundreds more had done, when the country was deemed reconquered; but, on the approach of the American army, had rejoined their countrymen, andwere now once more at the mercy of the power with which they had brokenfaith. "It will go hard with them, " said the Tory Jasper to his Whigbrother; but the secret comment of the other was, "it shall go hard withme first. " There was a woman, the wife of one of the prisoners, who, with her child, kept them company. William Jasper and his friend weretouched by the spectacle of their distress; and they conferred together, as soon as they were alone, as to the possibility of rescuing them. Their plan was soon adopted. It was a simple one, such as naturallysuggests itself to a hardy and magnanimous character. The prisonershad scarcely left the post for Savannah, under a guard of eight men, asergeant and corporal, when they took leave of their host, and set forthalso, though in a different direction from the guard. Changing theircourse when secure from observation, they stretched across the countryand followed the footsteps of the unhappy captives. But it was only inthe pursuit that they became truly conscious of the difficulty, nay, seeming impossibility, of effecting their object. The guard wasarmed, and ten in number; they but two and weaponless. Hopeless, theynevertheless followed on. Two miles from Savannah there is a famousspring, the waters of which are well known to travellers. The conjecturethat the guard might stop there, with the prisoners, for refreshment, suggested itself to our companions; here, opportunities might occur forthe rescue, which had nowhere before presented themselves. Taking anobscure path with which they were familiar, which led them to the spotbefore the enemy could arrive, they placed themselves in ambush in theimmediate neighborhood of the spring. They had not long to wait. Theirconjecture proved correct. The guard was halted on the road opposite thespring. The corporal with four men conducted the captives to the water, while the sergeant, with the remainder of his force, having made themground their arms near the road, brought up the rear. The prisonersthrew themselves upon the earth--the woman and her child, near itsfather. Little did any of them dream that deliverance was at hand. Thechild fell asleep in the mother's lap. Two of the armed men kept guard, but we may suppose with little caution. What had they to apprehend, within sight of a walled town in the possession of their friends? Twoothers approached the spring, in order to bring water to the prisoners. Resting their muskets against a tree they proceeded to fill theircanteens. At this moment Jasper gave the signal to his comrade. In aninstant the muskets were in their hands. In another, they had shot downthe two soldiers upon duty; then clubbing their weapons, they rushed outupon the astonished enemy, and felling their first opponents each at ablow, they succeeded in obtaining possession of the loaded muskets. Thisdecided the conflict, which was over in a few minutes. The survivingguard yielded themselves to mercy before the presented weapons. Such anachievement could only be successful from its audacity and the operationof circumstances. The very proximity of Savannah increased the chancesof success. But for this the guard would have taken better precautions. None were taken. The prompt valor, the bold decision, the coolcalculation of the instant, were the essential elements which securedsuccess. The work of our young heroes was not done imperfectly. Theprisoners were quickly released, the arms of the captured British putinto their hands, and, hurrying away from the spot which they havecrowned with a local celebrity not soon to be forgotten, they crossedthe Savannah in safety with their friends and foes. This is not the lastachievement of the brave Jasper which we shall have occasion to record. The next, however, though not less distinguished by success, wasunhappily written in his own blood. 

The campaign which followed was distinguished by several vicissitudes, but the general result was the weakening and dispiriting of the Americanforces. Brigadier General Ashe was surprised in his camp and utterlydefeated, and the British army not only penetrated into Georgia, butmade its appearance at Beaufort in South Carolina. Here it was met byMoultrie in a spirited encounter, which resulted in a drawn battle. Meanwhile, General Lincoln found the militia refractory. They refusedto submit to the articles of war, and desired to serve only under thoselaws by which the militia was governed. Chagrined with this resistance, Lincoln transferred the militia to Moultrie, and, at the head ofabout 2000 troops of the regular service, he marched up the country toAugusta, proposing by this course to circumscribe the progress of theenemy in that quarter. Taking advantage of this movement, by which theregular troops were withdrawn from the seaboard, the British General, Prevost, immediately crossed the Savannah with the intention ofsurprising Moultrie, who, with 1200 militia-men, lay at Black Swamp. But Moultrie, advised of his enemy, retired to Coosawhatchie, where heplaced his rear guard; his headquarters being pitched on the hill, eastof Tuliffinnee, two miles in advance, and on the route to Charleston. Here the rear-guard, under Colonel Laurens, engaged the enemy'sadvance, and was driven before it. Moultrie gradually retired as Prevostadvanced, and the contest which followed between the two, seemed to bewhich should reach Charleston first. The defenceless condition of thatcity was known to the British General, whose object was to take it by'coup de main'. Moultrie erred in not making continued fight in theswamps and strong passes, the thick forests and intricate defiles, whichwere numerous along the route of the pursuing army. His policy seems tohave been dictated by an undue estimate of the value of the city, andthe importance of its safety to the state. But for this, even an armyso much inferior as his, could have effectually checked the enemy longbefore the city could have been reached. Moultrie continued in advanceof Prevost, and reached Charleston a few hours before him; just inseason to establish something like order, and put the place in atolerable state of defence. The fire from the lines arrested the Britishadvance. The place was summoned, and defiance returned. Night followed, and the next morning the enemy had disappeared. His object had beensurprise. He was unprepared for the assault, having no heavy artillery, and his departure was hastened by intercepted advices from Lincoln andGovernor Rutledge, which announced to the garrison the approach ofthe regular troops and the country militia. Prevost retired to theneighboring islands, and established himself in a strong fort atStono ferry. Here he was attacked by General Lincoln in a spirited butunsuccessful affair, in which the latter was compelled to retreat. The attack of Lincoln was followed by one of Moultrie, in galleys. Thesituation of the British became unpleasant, and they did not wait arepetition of these assaults, but retreated along the chain of islandson the coast, until they reached Beaufort and Savannah. Both of theseplaces they maintained; the latter with their main army, the formerwith a strong body of troops, apart from their sick, wounded andconvalescent. Here they were watched by General Lincoln, in a camp ofobservation at Sheldon, until the appearance of a French fleet on thecoast led to renewed activity, and hopes, on the part of the Americans, which were destined to bitter disappointment. 

Marion was certainly with his regiment at Sheldon, and when it becameprobable that there was some prospect of battle, we find him at FortMoultrie, when Prevost was in possession of the contiguous islands. Buta junction of the French and American forces, necessarily compelling theconcentration of the whole of the southern invading army at Savannah, lessened the necessity of his remaining at a post which stood in nomanner of danger. 

Early in September, 1779, the French admiral, Count D'Estaign, witha fleet of twenty sail, appeared upon the coast. As soon as this wascertainly known, General Lincoln put his army in motion for Savannah. But the French forces had disembarked before his arrival, and theimpatience and imprudence of their admiral did not suffer him to waitthe coming of the American. He was a rash man, and, as it appears, on bad terms with his subordinate officers, who were, indeed, notsubordinate. * He proceeded to summon the place. The answer to his demandwas, a request of twenty-four hours for consideration. By a singularerror of judgment the French admiral granted the time required. Hisonly hope had been in a 'coup de main'. He had neither the time nor thematerial necessary for regular approaches; nor, had he acted decisively, do these seem to have been at all necessary. The place was not tenableat the period of his first summons. The prompt energies of the Britishcommander soon made it so. Instead of considering, he consumed thetwenty-four hours in working. The arrival of Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, with a small command, from Sunbury, and the force of Lieutenant-ColonelMaitland, from Beaufort, soon put the fortress in such a condition ofdefence as to enable its commander to return his defiance to the renewedsummons of the combined armies. There seems to have been but one opinionamong the Americans as to the mistake of D'Estaign, in granting therequired indulgence. Weems, speaking for General Horry, says, "I neverbeheld Marion in so great a passion. I was actually afraid he would havebroken out on General Lincoln. 'My God!' he exclaimed, 'who ever heardof anything like this before? First allow an enemy to entrench, andthen fight him! See the destruction brought upon the British atBunker's Hill--yet our troops there were only militia; raw, half-armedclodhoppers, and not a mortar, or carronade, not even a swivel--onlytheir ducking-guns! What, then, are we to expect from regulars, completely armed, with a choice train of artillery, and covered by abreastwork. '"

 * Major-General T. Pinckney's account of the siege of Savannah, quoted by Garden. --

The anticipations of Marion were fully realized. When the junction ofthe French and American armies was effected, it was determined to reducethe place by siege. Batteries were to be erected, and cannon broughtfrom the ships, a distance of several miles. Meanwhile, the works ofthe besieged were undergoing daily improvements, under an able engineer. Several hundred negroes were busy, day and night, upon the defences, stimulated, when necessary, to exertion, by the lash. On the 4th ofOctober the besiegers opened with nine mortars and thirty-seven piecesof cannon from the land side, and sixteen from the water. They continuedto play for several days, with little effect, and the anxiety of theFrench admiral to leave the coast, at a season of the year when it isparticularly perilous to shipping to remain, determined the besiegersto risk everything upon an assault. The morning of the 9th October wasfixed upon for the attack. The American army was paraded at one o'clockthat morning, but it was near four before the head of the French columnreached the front. "The whole army then marched towards the skirt of thewood in one long column, and as they approached the open space, was tobreak off into the different columns, as ordered for the attack. But, bythe time the first French column had arrived at the open space, the dayhad fairly broke; when Count D'Estaign, without waiting until the othercolumns had arrived at their position, placed himself at the head of hisfirst column, and rushed forward to the attack. "* This was creditableto his gallantry, if not to his judgment. But it was valor thrown away. "The column was so severely galled by the grape-shot from the batteries, as they advanced, and by both grape-shot and musketry, when they reachedthe abbatis, that, in spite of the efforts of the officers, it gotinto confusion, and broke away to their left, toward the wood in thatdirection; the second and third French columns shared, successively, the same fate, having the additional discouragement of seeing, as theymarched to the attack, the repulse and loss of their comrades who hadpreceded them. Count Pulaski, who, with the cavalry, preceded the rightcolumn of the Americans, proceeded gallantly, until stopped by theabbatis; and before he could force through it received his mortalwound. "** The American column was much more successful. It was headed byColonel Laurens, with the Light Infantry, followed by the Second SouthCarolina Regiment, of which Marion was second in command, and the firstbattalion of Charleston militia. This column pressed forward, in theface of a heavy fire, upon the Spring Hill redoubt, succeeded in gettinginto the ditch, and the colors of the second regiment were planted uponthe berm. But the parapet was too high to be scaled under such a fireas proceeded from the walls, and, struggling bravely but vainly, theassailants were, after suffering severe slaughter, driven out of theditch. This slaughter was increased in the effort to retain and carryoff in safety the colors of the regiment. 

 * Major-General Thomas Pinckney, in a letter quoted by Garden. 

 ** Major-General Thomas Pinckney. See Garden. --

These colors, as we have seen, were the gift of a lady. Moultrie, inthe name of the regiment, had promised to defend them to the last. Thepromise was faithfully remembered in this moment of extremity. One ofthem was borne by Lieutenant Bush, supported by Sergeant Jasper; theother by Lieutenant Grey, supported by Sergeant M'Donald. Bush beingslightly wounded early in the action delivered his standard to Jasper, for better security. Jasper a second time and now fatally wounded, restored it to the former. But at the moment of taking it, Bush receiveda mortal wound. He fell into the ditch with his ensign under him, andit remained in possession of the enemy. The other standard was morefortunate. Lieutenant Grey, by whom it was borne, was slain, butM'Donald plucked it from the redoubt where it had been planted, themoment the retreat was ordered, and succeeded in carrying it offin safety. The repulse was decisive. The slaughter, for so brief anengagement, had been terrible, amounting to nearly eleven hundred men;637 French, and 457 Americans. Of the former, the Irish Brigade, and ofthe latter the 2d South Carolina Regiment, particularly distinguishedthemselves and suffered most. The loss of the British was slight; theassailants made no impression on their works. "Thus was this fine bodyof troops sacrificed by the imprudence of the French General, who, being of superior grade, commanded the whole. * In this battle Jasper wasmortally wounded. He succeeded in regaining the camp of the Americans. The fatal wound was received in his endeavor to secure and save hiscolors. " Another distinguished personage who fell in this fatal affair, was Col. Count Pulaski, a brave and skilful captain of cavalry, better known in history for his attempt upon the life of StanislausPoniatowski, King of Poland. 

 * Major-General T. Pinckney. --

Chapter 7. 

 From the Battle of Savannah to the Defeat of Gates at Camden. 

The failure of the combined forces of France and America before thewalls of Savannah, left the cause of the latter, in the South, inmuch worse condition than before. The event served to depress theCarolinians, and in the same degree, to elevate and encourage the enemy. The allies withdrew to their ships, and, shortly after, from the coast. General Lincoln, with the American army, retreated to the heightsof Ebenezer, and thence to Sheldon. Proceeding from this place toCharleston, he left Marion in command of the army. On the thirty-firstof January, 1780, he writes to the latter as follows: "The state ofaffairs is such as to make it necessary that we order our force to apoint as much and as soon as possible. No troops will be kept in thefield except two hundred Light Infantry and the Horse (Washington's). You will therefore please to select from the three regiments withyou, two hundred of your best men, and those who are best clothed, andorganize them into corps, with proper officers. All the remainder, withthe baggage of the whole (saving such as is absolutely necessary forlight troops), will march immediately for this town. You will pleasetake command of the light infantry until Lieut. Col. Henderson arrives, which I expect will be in a few days. After that, I wish to see you assoon as possible in Charleston. "

In the February following, Marion was dispatched to Bacon's Bridge onAshley river, where Moultrie had established a camp for the receptionof the militia of the neighborhood, as well as those which had beensummoned from the interior. It was to Marion that Lincoln chiefly lookedfor the proper drilling of the militia. In his hands they lost the rudeand inefficient character, the inexpert and spiritless manner, which, under ordinary commanders, always distinguish them. Feeling sure oftheir Captain, he, in turn, rendered them confident of themselves. Speaking of Marion's "PATIENCE with the militia"--a phrase of greatimportance in this connection--Horry, in his own memoirs, which nowlie before us, adds, "No officer in the Union was better calculatedto command them, and to have done more than he did. "* Lincoln knew hisvalue. The admirable training of the Second South Carolina Regiment hadalready done high honor to his skill as a disciplinarian. He discoveredthe secret which regularly bred military men are slow to discern, that, without patience, in the training of citizen soldiers for immediateservice, they are incorrigible; and patience with them, on the part ofa commanding officer, is neither inconsistent with their claims nor withtheir proper efficiency. 

 * MS. Memoir of Gen. Horry, p. 55. --

The accumulation of troops at Bacon's Bridge was made with the view tothe defence of Charleston, now threatened by the enemy. Many concurringcauses led to the leaguer of that city. Its conquest was desirable onmany accounts, and circumstances had already shown that this was not amatter of serious difficulty. The invasion of Prevost the year before, which had so nearly proved successful; the little resistance which hadbeen offered to him while traversing more than one hundred miles ofcountry contiguous to the Capital; and the rich spoils which, on hisretreat, had been borne off by his army, betrayed at once the wealthand weakness of that region. The possession of Savannah, where BritishGovernment had been regularly re-established, and the entire, if nottotally undisturbed control of Georgia, necessarily facilitated theinvasion of the sister province. South Carolina was now a frontier, equally exposed to the British in Georgia, and the Tories of Floridaand North Carolina. The means of defence in her power were now far fewerthan when Prevost made his attempt on Charleston. The Southern armywas, in fact, totally broken up. The Carolina regiments had seen hardservice, guarding the frontier, and contending with the British inGeorgia. They were thinned by battle and sickness to a mere handful. TheVirginia and North Carolina regiments had melted away, as the term forwhich they had enlisted, had expired. The Georgia regiment, capturedby the British in detail, were perishing in their floating prisons. Theweakness of the patriots necessarily increased the audacity, with thestrength, of their enemies. The loyalists, encouraged by the progress ofPrevost, and the notorious inefficiency of the Whigs, were now gatheringin formidable bodies, in various quarters, operating in desultorybands, or crowding to swell the columns of the British army. All thingsconcurred to encourage the attempt of the enemy on Charleston. Itspossession, with that of Savannah, would not only enable them tocomplete their ascendency in the two provinces to which these citiesbelonged, but would probably give them North Carolina also. Virginiathen, becoming the frontier, it would be easy, with the cooperationof an army ascending the Chesapeake, to traverse the entire South withtheir legions, detaching it wholly from the federal compact. Such wasthe British hope, and such their policy. There was yet another motivefor the siege of Charleston, considered without reference to collateralor contingent events. Esteemed erroneously as a place of greatsecurity--an error that arose in all probability from the simple factof the successful defence of Fort Moultrie--it was crowded with valuablemagazines. As a trading city, particularly while the commerce of theNorth remained interrupted, it had become a place of great business. Itwas a stronghold for privateers and their prizes, and always containedstores and shipping of immense value. 

The temptations to its conquest were sufficiently numerous. Tenthousand choice troops, with a large and heavy train of artillery, wereaccordingly dispatched from New York for its investment, which wasbegun in February, 1780, and conducted by the Commander-in-Chief ofthe British forces, Sir Henry Clinton, in person. He conducted hisapproaches with a caution highly complimentary to the besieged. Thefortifications were only field works, and might have been overrun inless than five days by an audacious enemy. The regular troops within thecity were not above two thousand men. The citizen militia increased thenumber to nearly four thousand. For such an extent of lines as encircledthe place, the adequate force should not have been less than that ofthe enemy. The fortifications, when the British first landed their'materiel', were in a dilapidated and unfinished state, and, at thattime, the defenders, apart from the citizens, scarcely exceeded eighthundred men; while the small pox, making its appearance within thewalls, for the first time for twenty years--an enemy much more dreadedthan the British, --effectually discouraged the country militia fromcoming to the assistance of the citizens. Under these circumstances, theconquest would have been easy to an active and energetic foe. But SirHenry does not seem to have been impatient for his laurels. He waswilling that they should mature gradually, and he sat down to a regularand formal investment. 

It was an error of the Carolinians, under such circumstances, to riskthe fortunes of the State, and the greater part of its regular militarystrength, in a besieged town; a still greater to do so in defiance ofsuch difficulties as attended the defence. The policy which determinedthe resolution was a concession to the citizens, in spite of allmilitary opinion. The city might have been yielded to the enemy, and theState preserved, or, which was the same thing, the troops. The loss offour thousand men from the ranks of active warfare, was the great andsubstantial loss, the true source, in fact, of most of the miseries andcrimes by which the very bowels of the country were subsequently tornand distracted. 

It was the great good fortune of the State that Francis Marion was notamong those who fell into captivity in the fall of Charleston. He hadmarched into the city from Dorchester, when his active services wereneeded for its defence; but while the investment was in progress, and before it had been fully completed, an event occurred to him, anaccident which was, no doubt, very much deplored at the time, by whichhis services, lost for the present, were subsequently secured for thecountry. Dining with a party of friends at a house in Tradd-street, thehost, with that mistaken hospitality which has too frequently changeda virtue to a vice, turned the key upon his guests, to prevent escape, till each individual should be gorged with wine. Though an amiable man, Marion was a strictly temperate one. He was not disposed to submit tothis too common form of social tyranny; yet not willing to resent thebreach of propriety by converting the assembly into a bull-ring, headopted a middle course, which displayed equally the gentleness andfirmness of his temper. Opening a window, he coolly threw himself intothe street. He was unfortunate in the attempt; the apartment was onthe second story, the height considerable, and the adventure cost hima broken ankle. The injury was a severe and shocking one, and, for thetime, totally unfitted him for service. He left the city in a litter, while the passage to the country still remained open for retreat, inobedience to an order of General Lincoln for the departure of all idlemouths, "all supernumerary officers, and all officers unfit for duty. "Marion retired to his residence in St. John's parish. Here, suffering inmind and body, he awaited with impatience the progress of events, with which, however much he might sympathize, he could not share. Hishumiliation at this unavoidable but melancholy inaction, may be imaginedfrom what we know of his habits and his patriotism. 

The siege of Charleston, in consequence of the firm bearing of thebesieged, and the cautious policy of the British Government, wasprotracted long after the works had been pronounced untenable. It wasyielded unwillingly to the conqueror, only after all resistance hadproved in vain. It fell by famine, rather than by the arms of the enemy. The defence was highly honorable to the besieged. It lasted sixweeks, in which they had displayed equal courage and endurance. Theconsequences of this misfortune leave it somewhat doubtful, whetherthe determination to defend the city to the last extremity, was not theresult of a correct policy; considering less its own loss, and thatof the army, than the effect of the former upon the rustic population. Certainly, the capture of the army was a vital misfortune to thesouthern States; yet the loss of the city itself was of prodigiouseffect upon the scattered settlements of the country. The character andresolve of the capital cities, in those days, were very much the sourcesof the moral strength of the interior. Sparsely settled, with unfrequentopportunities of communion with one another, the minds of the forestpopulation turned naturally for their tone and direction to the capitalcity. The active attrition of rival and conflicting minds, gives, inall countries, to the population of a dense community, an intellectualsuperiority over those who live remote, and feel none of the constantmoral strifes to which the citizen is subject. In South Carolina, Charleston had been the seat of the original 'movement', had incurredthe first dangers, achieved the first victories, and, in all publicproceedings where action was desirable, had always led off in the van. To preserve intact, and from overthrow, the seat of ancient authorityand opinion, was surely a policy neither selfish nor unwise. Perhaps, after all, the grand error was, in not making the preparations fordefence adequate to the object. The resources of the State were small, and these had been diminished wofully in succoring her neighbors, andin small border strifes, which the borderers might have been taughtto manage for themselves. The military force of the State, under anycircumstances, could not have contended on equal terms with the tenthousand well-appointed regulars of Sir Henry Clinton. The assistancederived from Virginia and North Carolina was little more than nominal, calculated rather to swell the triumph of the victor than to retard hissuccesses. 

If the movements of the British were slow, and deficient in militaryenterprise, where Sir Henry Clinton commanded in person, such couldnot be said of them, after the conquest of Charleston was effected. Thecommander-in-chief was succeeded by Earl Cornwallis, and his career wascertainly obnoxious to no such reproaches. We shall have more seriouscharges to bring against him. Of the gross abuse of power, wantontyrannies, cruel murders, and most reckless disregard of decencyand right, by which the course of the British was subsequentlydistinguished, we shall say no more than will suffice to show, in whatdangers, through what difficulties, and under what stimulating causes, Francis Marion rose in arms, when everything appeared to be lost. 

Charleston in possession of the enemy, they proceeded with wonderfulactivity to use all means in their power, for exhausting the resources, and breaking down the spirit of the country. Their maxim was that ofhabitual tyranny--"might is right". They seemed to recognize no otherstandard. The articles of capitulation, the laws of nations, privatetreaty, the dictates of humanity and religion, were all equally setat naught. The wealth of private families, --slaves by thousands, --werehurried into the waists of British ships, as the legitimate spoils ofwar. The latter found a market in the West India islands; the prisonersmade by the fall of Charleston were, in defiance of the articles ofcapitulation, crowded into prison-ships, from whence they were onlyreleased by death, or by yielding to those arguments of their keeperswhich persuaded them to enlist in British regiments, to serve in othercountries. Many yielded to these arguments, with the simple hope ofescape from the horrors by which they were surrounded. When artsand arguments failed to overcome the inflexibility of these wretchedprisoners, compulsion was resorted to, and hundreds were forced fromtheir country, shipped to Jamaica, and there made to serve in Britishregiments. * Citizens of distinction, who, by their counsel or presence, opposed their influence over the prisoners, or proved themselvessuperior to their temptations, were torn from their homes withoutwarning, and incarcerated in their floating dungeons. Nothing wasforborne, in the shape of pitiless and pitiful persecution, to break thespirits, subdue the strength, and mock and mortify the hopes, alike, ofcitizen and captive. 

 * Moultrie's Memoirs, Vol. 2, 'Correspondence'. --

With those who kept the field the proceedings were more summary, if notmore severe. The fall of Charleston seems necessarily to have involvedthe safety of the country from the Savannah to the Pedee. In a few weeksafter the capture of the city, the British were in peaceable possessionof the space between these limits, from the seaboard to the mountains. They had few opponents--an isolated body of continentals, a small squadof militia, for the first time drilling for future service, or a littletroop of horse--and these were quickly overcome. On these occasions theBritish were generally led by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton. This officeracquired for himself an odious distinction in his progress through theSouth in the campaigns which followed. He was rather an active than askilful commander. Rapid in his movements, he gave little heed to thejudicious disposition of his troops, and aiming more at impressing thefears of his enemy, than overcoming him by science, his chief successeswere the result of the panic which his surprises and his butcheriesinspired. He seems never to have been successful against an equal andresolute foe. But, as courage and activity are, perhaps, after all, and before all, the most necessary requisites for a soldier, Tarleton'sservices were inappreciable to the invading army. In one month after itsarrival, his legion was mounted and began its career of slaughter. Whileyet the city was sustaining the siege, he penetrated the country, inpursuit of those bands of militia horse, which, by direction of theAmerican commander, still kept the open field. On the 18th of March, he surprised a company of militia at Salkehatchie Bridge, killed andwounded several and dispersed the rest. Five days after, anotherparty at Pon-Pon shared the same fortune. He was not so successful atRantowles on the 23d of the same month, where in a rencounter with Col. Washington, his dragoons were roughly handled, and retreated with loss. He avenged himself, however, on Washington, in less than a month after, by surprising him at Monk's Corner. Col. White soon after took commandof the southern cavalry, and obtained some trifling successes, butsuffered himself to be surprised at Lenud's ferry on the Santee. Theseevents all took place prior to the surrender of the city. The activityof Tarleton, with the general remissness, and want of ordinary militaryprecautions on the part of the militia which opposed itself to him, madehis progress easy, and thus enabled him to cut off every party that wasembodied in the field. He was now to succeed in a much more importantand much more bloody enterprise. A Continental force from Virginiaof four hundred men, under Col. Beaufort, * had been dispatched to therelief of Charleston. Beaufort had reached Camden before he was apprisedof the surrender of that city. This event properly determined him toretreat. Earl Cornwallis, meanwhile, had taken the field with a force oftwenty-five hundred men, and was then in rapid progress for the Santee. Hearing of the advance of Beaufort, he dispatched Tarleton in quest ofhim, with a select body of infantry and cavalry, in all, seven hundredmen. Beaufort was overtaken near the Waxhaw settlements, and summoned tosurrender. This person does not seem to have been designed by nature formilitary operations. He halted at the summons, hesitated awhile, senthis wagons ahead, consulted with his officers, and did little ornothing farther, either for flight or conflict. While thus halting andhesitating he was attacked by the impetuous Tarleton, offered a feebleresistance, unmarked by conduct or spirit, suffered the enemy to gainhis rear, and finally grounded his arms. He either did this too soon ortoo late. His flag was disregarded in the flush of battle, the bearerof it cut down by the hand of Tarleton, and the British infantry, withfixed bayonets, rushed upon the inactive Americans. Some of Beaufort'smen, seeing that their application for quarter was disregarded, resolvedto die like men, and resumed their arms. Their renewed fire provoked themassacre of the unresisting. A terrible butchery followed. The Britishgave no quarter. From that day, "Tarleton's Quarters", implying themerciless cutting down of the suppliant, grew into a proverbial phrase, which, in the hour of victory, seemed to embitter the hostility withwhich the American strove to avenge his slaughtered comrades. 

 * Generally given as Buford in other documents. Simms also states "the Warsaw settlements" in the original text, but Waxhaw is correct. According to local tradition, the mother of Andrew Jackson, the future president, was one of those who aided the survivors. Jackson himself later served, at the age of 13, in Davie's cavalry, as a messenger, and was the only member of his family to survive the war. --A. L. , 1996. --

The defeat of Beaufort, with the only regular force remaining in theState, following so close upon the fall of Charleston, paralyzedthe hopes of the patriots. The country seemed everywhere subdued. Anunnatural and painful apathy dispirited opposition. The presence of aBritish force, sufficient to overawe the neighborhood, at conspicuouspoints, and the awakened activity of the Tories in all quarters, nolonger restrained by the presence in arms of their more patrioticcountrymen, seemed to settle the question of supremacy. There was notonly no head against the enemy, but the State, on a sudden, appeared tohave been deprived of all her distinguished men. Moultrie and others whomight have led, were prisoners of war. Governor Rutledge, a noble spiritand famous orator--the Patrick Henry of Carolina, --had withdrawn to theNorth State, to stimulate the energies of the people in that quarter andgain recruits. His example was followed by Sumter, Horry and others, --byall, in fact, who, escaping captivity, were in condition to fly. Theprogress of Cornwallis and Tarleton left mere distinction, unsupportedby men, with few places of security. Marion, meanwhile, incapable ofpresent flight, was compelled to take refuge in the swamp and forest. He was too conspicuous a person, had made too great a figure in previouscampaigns, and his military talents were too well known and too highlyesteemed, not to render him an object of some anxiety as well to friendsas foes. Still suffering from the hurts received in Charleston, withbloody and malignant enemies all around him, his safety depended on hissecrecy and obscurity alone. Fortunately he had "won golden opinionsfrom all sorts of people. " He had friends among all classes, who didnot permit themselves to sleep while he was in danger. Their activitysupplied the loss of his own. They watched while he slept. They assistedhis feebleness. In the moment of alarm, he was sped from house to house, from tree to thicket, from the thicket to the swamp. His "hair-breadth'scapes" under these frequent exigencies, were, no doubt, among the mostinteresting adventures of his life, furnishing rare material, could theybe procured, for the poet and romancer. Unhappily, while the chroniclesshow the frequent emergency which attended his painful condition, theyfurnish nothing more. We are without details. The melancholy baldnessand coldness with which they narrate events upon which one would like tolinger is absolutely humbling to the imagination; which, kindled by thesimple historical outline, looks in vain for the satisfaction ofthose doubts and inquiries, those hopes and fears, which the provokingnarrative inspires only to defraud. How would some old inquisitiveFroissart have dragged by frequent inquiry from contemporaneouslips, the particular fact, the whole adventure, step by step, item byitem, --the close pursuit, the narrow escape, --and all the long train oflittle, but efficient circumstances, by which the story would have beenmade unique, with all its rich and numerous details! These, the readermust supply from his own resources of imagination. He must conjecturefor himself the casual warning brought to the silent thicket, by thedevoted friend, the constant woman, or the humble slave; the midnightbay of the watch dog or the whistle of the scout; or the sudden shot, from friend or foe, by which the fugitive is counselled to hurry tohis den. A thousand events arise to the imagination as likely to haveoccurred to our partisan, in his hours of feebleness and danger, fromthe rapid cavalry of Tarleton, or the close and keen pursuit of therevengeful Tories. To what slight circumstances has he been indebtedfor his frequent escape! What humble agents have been commissioned byProvidence to save a life, that was destined to be so precious to hiscountry's liberties!

How long he remained in this situation is not exactly known, --probablyseveral months. As soon as he was able to mount his horse, he collecteda few friends, and set out for North Carolina. A Continental force wason its way from Virginia under Baron De Kalb. His purpose was tojoin it. It was while on this route, and with this object, that heencountered his old friend and long tried associate in arms, Col. P. Horry. *

 * There were two Horrys, brothers, both of whom were very brave and distinguished adherents of our partisan. Peter Horry held a captain's commission in the same regiment with Marion, at the battle of Fort Moultrie. Hugh Horry was the particular favorite of his General. A life of Marion, purporting to be in part by the former, but really composed entirely by the Rev. M. L. Weems, from facts furnished by Horry, is already well known to the public. A MS. Life of Peter Horry is now before me, and has furnished me with several illustrations of the war, during this narrative. Both of these brothers served under Marion, to the close of the war, with equal courage and fidelity. --

Horry describes his ankle, at this meeting, as still "very crazy"--somuch so that it required his help and that of Marion's servant to lifthim from his horse. But his spirits were good. He was still cheerful, and possessed that rare elasticity of character which never loses itstone under privations and disappointments. Weems, who, we are compelledto admit, very frequently exercised the privilege of the ancienthistorian, of putting fine speeches into the mouth of his hero, tells usthat he jeered at the doleful expressions of his companion, Horry, who, discussing the condition of the country, lamented that their "happy dayswere all gone. " "Our happy days all gone, indeed!" answered Marion--"onthe contrary, they are yet to come. The victory is still sure. Theenemy, it is true, have all the trumps, and if they had but the spiritto play a generous game, they would certainly ruin us. But they haveno idea of that game. They will treat the people cruelly, and that onething will ruin them and save the country. " Weems, speaking forHorry, describes in ludicrous terms, their journey through NorthCarolina, --through a region swarming with Tories, but, fortunately forour travellers, who were venomous without being active. Our fugitiveswere without money and without credit, and "but for carrying a knife, or a horse fleam, or a gun-flint, had no more use for a pocket than aHighlander has for a knee-buckle. As to hard money we had not seen adollar for years. " In this resourceless condition--a condition, which, it may be well to say in this place, continued throughout the war, theymade their way with difficulty until they joined the Continental army. Gates had superseded De Kalb in its command, and was pressing forward, with the ambition, seemingly, of writing a dispatch like Caesar's, announcing, in the same breath, the sight and conquest of his enemy. Marion and his little troop of twenty men, made but a sorry figure inthe presence of the Continental General. Gates was a man of moderateabilities, a vain man, of a swelling and ostentatious habit, whosejudgment was very apt to be affected by parade, and the external show ofthings. Some of his leading opinions were calculated to show that he wasunfit for a commander in the South. For example, he thought little ofcavalry, which, in a plain country, sparsely settled, was among thefirst essentials of success, as well in securing intelligence, as inprocuring supplies. It was not calculated therefore to raise the troopof our partisan in his esteem, to discover that they were all goodriders and well mounted. Marion, himself, was a man equally modest inapproach and unimposing in person. His followers may have provoked thesneer of the General, as it certainly moved the scorn and laughter ofhis well-equipped Continentals. We have a description of them from thepen of an excellent officer, the Adjutant General of Gates' army. Hesays, "Col. Marion, a gentleman of South Carolina, had been with thearmy a few days, attended by a very few followers, distinguished bysmall leather caps, and the wretchedness of their attire; their numberdid not exceed twenty men and boys, some white, some black, and allmounted, but most of them miserably equipped; their appearance was infact so burlesque, that it was with much difficulty the diversion of theregular soldiery was restrained by the officers; and the Generalhimself was glad of an opportunity of detaching Col. Marion, at his owninstance, towards the interior of South Carolina, with orders to watchthe motions of the enemy and furnish intelligence. "*

 * Narrative of the Campaign of 1780, by Col. Otho Williams. --

From such small and insignificant beginnings flow greatness andgreat performances. We, who are in possession of all the subsequentevents--who see this proud, vain Commander, hurrying on with therapidity of madness to his own ruin--can but smile in the perusalof such a narrative, not at the rags of Marion's men, but at theundiscerning character of those who could see, in the mean equipment, the imperfect clothing, the mixture of man and boy, and white and black, anything but a noble patriotism, which, in such condition, was stillcontent to carry on a war against a powerful enemy. The very rags andpoverty of this little band, which was afterwards to become so famous, were so many proofs of their integrity and virtue, and should haveinspired respect rather than ridicule. They were so many guaranteesof good service which they were able and prepared to render. It was indefiance of the temptations and the power of the foe, that these menhad taken the field against him, and had Gates been a wise commander, hewould have seen even through their rags and destitution, the small butsteady light of patriotism; which, enkindled throughout the State by theexample of Marion, Sumter, and a few others, was to blaze out finallyinto that perfect brightness before which the invader was to shrinkconfounded. 

Gates was wise enough to take counsel of Marion, if nothing more; andeven this might not have been done, but for the suggestions of GovernorRutledge, who, at that time in the camp of the Continentals, might verywell have informed him of the value of the man whose followers inspiredonly ridicule. It was with Marion that the plan was concerted, and notimprobably at his suggestion, for moving into the very heart of theState. This, subsequently, was the policy of Greene, and had Gatesadopted the deliberate caution of that commander, his successes wouldunquestionably have been the same. The object of such a movement wasto give an opportunity to the native patriots to rally--to compel theBritish to concentrate their scattered forces, call in their detachedparties, and thus circumscribe their influence, within the State, to theplaces where they still remained in force. To effect these objects, theFabian maxims of warfare should have been those of the American General. Few of his militia had ever seen an enemy. He had but recently joinedhis troops, knew nothing of them, and they as little of him. Theirmarch had been a fatiguing one. Time and training were necessarypre-requisites for their improvement and his success. Unhappily, thesewere the very agents with which the vanity of the unfortunate commandermade him most willing to dispense. The victory at Saratoga had spoiledhim for ever, and thinking too much of himself, he committed the nextgreat error of a military man, of thinking too lightly of his foe. Itwould be idle and perhaps impertinent, to suggest that if Marion hadbeen suffered to remain with him, the issue of this march might havebeen more fortunate. Gates was quite too vain-glorious to listen andMarion quite too moderate to obtrude his opinions; and yet Marion was aman of equal prudence and adroitness. He could insinuate advice, sothat it would appear to self-conceit the very creature of its ownconceptions. Had Marion remained, could Gates have listened, we are verysure there would have been no such final, fatal disaster as suddenlystopped the misdirected progress of the Continental army. There wouldhave been some redeeming circumstances to qualify the catastrophe. Allwould not have been lost. At all events, with Marion at their head, themilitia would have fought awhile, --would have discharged their pieces, once, twice, thrice, before they fled. They would have done for theborn-leader of militia, what they refused to do for a commander whoneither knew how to esteem, nor how to conduct them. 

It was while Marion was in the camp of Gates, that a messenger fromthe Whigs of Williamsburg, then newly risen in arms, summoned him to betheir leader. It was in consequence of this invitation, and notbecause of the awkwardness of his position there, that he determined topenetrate into South Carolina, in advance of the American army. Such aninvitation was not to be neglected. Marion well knew its importance, andat once accepted the commission conferred upon him by Governor Rutledge. He took leave of Gates accordingly, having received, as is reported, certain instructions from that unhappy commander, to employ his men inthe destruction of all the scows, boats, ferry-flats and barges onthe route, by which the enemy might make his escape. The fancy of theAmerican General already beheld the army of Lord Cornwallis in fullflight. His great solicitude seems to have been how to secure hiscaptives. He had, strangely enough for a military man, never takencounsel of the farm-yard proverb, which we need not here repeat for thebenefit of the reader. * With the departure of Marion, his better geniusleft him, --the only man, who, in command of the militia, might havesaved him from destruction. Leaving our partisan, with his little squad, to make his way cautiously through a country infested with Tories, wefollow for the present the progress of the Continental army. On thenight of the fifteenth of August, 1780, the Americans moved fromRugely's Mills. At midnight, without dreaming of an enemy, theyencountered him. The first intelligence communicated to either army ofthe presence of the other, was from the fire of the British advance uponthe Americans. The two armies recoiled and lay upon their arms therest of the night. So far the affair was indecisive. The Americans hadsustained themselves in the face of some disadvantages, chiefly theresult of their leader's imprudence. A night march of raw militia inthe face of a foe, and in column of battle, was itself an error which asagacious commander would never have made. It is not to be denied, thatthe Americans were not satisfied with their situation. Some of theirofficers openly declared their discontent. But it was too late for aretrograde movement, nor is it likely, feeling as he did and sanguine ashe was, that Gates would have believed any such movement necessary. Theground was equally unknown to both commanders; but Cornwallis had oneadvantage: he was in the command of veterans, who are generally coolenough in such situations to look about them, and make the most of theirexigencies. The American line was soon formed and in waiting for thedawn and the enemy. The first Maryland division, including the Delawaresunder De Kalb, was posted on the right; the Virginia militia underStevens on the left; the North Carolinians, led by Caswell in thecentre; and the artillery, in battery, upon the road. Both wings restedon morasses, and the second Maryland brigade was posted as a reserve, afew hundred yards in the rear of the first. The British formed a singleline, with each wing covered and supported by a body in reserve. Theywere much less numerous than the Americans, but they were picked men, the choice of the regiments in Charleston and Camden. The Americanmilitia, of which the greater part of Gates' army consisted, hadnever felt an enemy's fire. The Maryland and Delaware troops were goodsoldiers, well trained and in confidence of their leaders. With thebreak of day, and the advance of the American left, the action began. This division of the army consisted of Virginia militia under Stevens. Handled with unexpected severity by the British fire, they yieldedbefore it and fled in panic, many of them without even discharging theirpieces. The wretched example was followed by the North Carolina militia, with the exception of a single corps, commanded by Major Dixon. Thecavalry under Armand, a foreign adventurer, broke at nearly the samemoment; and a charge of the British cavalry, happily timed, put anend to all hope of rallying the terror-stricken fugitives. The devotedContinentals alone kept their ground and bore the brunt of the action. They were led by the veteran De Kalb--the Commander-in-Chief havinghurried from the field in a vain attempt to bring the militia back. Theartillery was lost, the cavalry dispersed;--the regulars, numbering butnine hundred men, were required to bear the undivided pressure of twothousand of the best troops in the British service. With the examplebefore them, the desertion of their General, and their own perfectisolation, they would have been justified by the necessity of the case, in instant flight. But, as if the cowardice of their countrymen hadstung them into a determination to show, at all hazards, that they, atleast, were made of very different stuff, they not only resistedthe attack of the enemy, but carried the bayonet into his ranks. Thecombatants rushed and reeled together with locked weapons. But thisstruggle could not last. The conflict was prolonged only until theBritish cavalry could return from pursuing the fugitives. Their sabresgave the finishing stroke to the affair. De Kalb had fallen under elevenwounds, and nothing remained, but flight, to save this gallant bodyfrom the mortification of surrender on the field of battle. It was noconsolation to Gates, while fleeing to North Carolina, to be overtakenby messengers from Sumter, announcing a gallant achievement of thatbrave partisan, by which forty wagons of booty and nearly three hundredprisoners had fallen into his hands. Such tidings only mocked his owndisaster. He could only, in reply, relate his own irretrievable defeat, point to his fugitives, and counsel Sumter to immediate retreat fromhis triumphant and now returning enemy. Unhappily, ignorant of Gates'disaster, and of a bold, incautious temper, Sumter was approaching, rather than hastening from, danger. His flight, when he did retire, wasnot sufficiently rapid, nor sufficiently prudent. He was one ofthose men who too quickly feel themselves secure. He was surprised byTarleton, but two days after, his troops utterly dispersed, he, too, afugitive like Gates, with all the fruits of his late victory taken fromhis grasp. In almost every instance where the Americans suffered defeat, the misfortune was due to a want of proper caution--an unobservance ofsome of the simplest rules of military prudence. In a brilliant sortie, a manful charge, a sudden onslaught, no troops could have surpassedthem--nay, we find as many examples of the sternest powers of humanendurance, under the severest trials of firmness, in their militaryhistory, as in that of any other people. But to secure what theyhad won--to be consistently firm--always on their guard and beyondsurprise, --were lessons which they were slow to acquire--which theylearned at last only under the heaviest penalties of blood. Marion wasone of the few Captains of American militia, that never suffered himselfto be taken napping. 

 * As farm-yards are becoming rare, it may benefit future readers to know that this proverb is almost certainly, "Don't count your chickens before they hatch. "--A. L. , 1996. --

Chapter 8. 

 Organization of "Marion's Brigade"--Surprise of Tories under Gainey--Defeat of Barfield--Capture of British Guard with Prisoners at Nelson's Ferry. 

The people of Williamsburg, by whom Marion was summoned from the campof Gates, were sprung generally from Irish parentage. They inherited, in common with all the descendants of the Irish in America, a heartydetestation of the English name and authority. This feeling renderedthem excellent patriots and daring soldiers, wherever the British Lionwas the object of hostility. Those of whom we are now to speak, thepeople of Williamsburg, were men generally of fearless courage, powerfulframe, well-strung nerves, and an audacious gallantry that led themto delight in dangers, even where the immediate objects by no meansjustified the risk. They felt that "rapture of the strife", in whichthe Goth exulted. In addition to these natural endowments for a bravesoldiery, they were good riders and famous marksmen--hunters, thatknew the woods almost as well by night as by day--could wind aboutand through the camp of an enemy, as free from suspicion as thevelvet-footed squirrel, who, from the lateral branches of the pine, looks over their encampment. They possessed resources of knowledge andingenuity, while in swamp and thicket, not merely to avoid the danger, but, in not unfrequent instances, to convert it to their own advantage. Nothing but the training and direction of such a mind as Marion'swas needed to make, of these men, the most efficient of all partisansoldiery. The formation of the brigade of which he now prepared to takecommand, has a history of its own which is worth telling. The fame whichit subsequently acquired in connection with its leader's name, and whichthe local traditions will not willingly let die, will justify us in thenarration. Some few preliminary facts are necessary. 

The fall of Charleston, and the dispersion or butchery of those partieswhich had kept the field after that event, necessarily depressed thespirits and discouraged the attempt of the scattered patriots who stillyearned to oppose the invaders. The captivity of many of the leadersto whom they were accustomed to look for counsel and direction, andthe flight of others, served still further to dissipate any hopes orpurposes which they might have had of concentration. Thousands fled tothe North, and embodied themselves under Washington and other AmericanGenerals, despairing of the cause at home. Everything appeared to belost, and a timely proclamation of Sir Henry Clinton, a few days afterthe surrender of Charleston, tended yet more to subdue the spirit ofresistance. The proclamation proffered "pardon to the inhabitants"with some few exceptions, "for their past treasonable offences, and areinstatement in their rights and immunities heretofore enjoyed, exemptfrom taxation, except by their own legislature. " This speciousoffer, made at a moment when his power was at its height, everywhereunquestioned and unopposed, indicated a degree of magnanimity, whichin the case of those thousands in every such contest, who love reposebetter than virtue, was everywhere calculated to disarm the inhabitants. To many indeed it seemed to promise all for which they had beencontending. It offered security from further injury, protection againstthe Tories who were using the authority of the British for their ownpurposes of plunder and revenge, a respite from their calamities, anda restoration of all their rights. With the immunities thus proffered, with the further conviction that further struggle against Britishpower was hopeless, with the assurance, indeed, which was industriouslyconveyed to them from all quarters, that Congress, not able to assist, had resolved upon yielding the provinces of South Carolina and Georgiato the enemy, as considerations for the independence of the othercolonies--they accepted the terms thus offered them by the Britishcommander, and, in great numbers, signed declarations of allegiance, received protection as subjects of the crown, or, as prisoners of war, were paroled to their plantations. Could the British have persevered inthis policy, had they kept faith with the inhabitants, they might muchlonger have held possession of the country. But, either they were notsincere in their first professions, or their subsequent necessitiescompelled them to adopt a less rational policy. Twenty days had notelapsed from the publication of the first proclamation when it wasfollowed by another, which so entirely qualified and impaired thecharacter of the former, as to revolt the people whom it had invited, and to impress them with the conviction that they had been imposedupon--that the first measure was a mere decoy, --a trap involving theirpledges, yet withholding the very securities for which they had beengiven. This second proclamation, premising that it was necessary for allgood citizens to uphold his Majesty's Government, proceeded to dischargefrom protection and parole all persons to whom such papers had beenaccorded. All persons not absolutely prisoners of war, taken in arms, were to be reinstated in their former positions as citizens--but, ascitizens of the British Empire. In this relation the farther inferenceswere inevitable. They were now actually to support his Majesty'sGovernment. The proclamation ended with the usual penalties--all whoneglected to return to their allegiance were to be treated as rebels. 

The policy thus adopted by the British commander soon made them so. Theobject of the Carolinians, in taking protections and paroles, was toavoid further warfare. The second proclamation of the British Generalrequired them to take up arms for his Majesty, and against theircountrymen. This was a hopeful plan by which to fill the Britishregiments, to save farther importations of Hessians, farther costof mercenaries, and, as in the case of the Aborigines, to employ theAnglo-American race against one another. The loyalists of the South wereto be used against the patriots of the North, as the loyalists of thelatter region had been employed to put down the liberties of the former. It was a short and ingenious process for finishing the rebellion; and, could it have entirely succeeded, as in part it did, it would haveentitled Sir Henry Clinton to very far superior laurels, as a civilian, than he ever won as a soldier. The value of the Americans, as soldiers, was very well known to the British General. Some of the most sanguinarybattles of the Revolution were those in which the combatants on bothsides were chiefly natives of the soil, upon which a portion of thembut too freely shed their blood in a sincere desire to bolster up thatforeign tyranny that mocked the generous valor which it employed. 

The effect of this second proclamation of the British commander wassuch as he scarcely anticipated. The readiness with which numbers of thepeople had accepted paroles and protections, declared, at most, nothingbut their indifference to the contest--declared no preference forBritish domination. In this lay the error of the conqueror. The naturalfeeling of the people, thus entrapped, was that of indignation. Theirdetermination might have been conjectured by any reasoning mind. Compelled to take up arms--not permitted to enjoy that repose withtheir families, for which they sought the offered immunities of theBritish--it was more easy to espouse the cause of their countrymen, towhich their affections were really given, than that of the invader. Theyhad committed a great and humbling error in the endeavor to escape theconflict--in taking the proffered protection of a power which hadseized with violence upon their native land. It was with some eagerness, therefore, that they threw aside its obligations, and, as opportunitypresented itself, girded on their armor, and sallied forth to join theircountrymen. Among the first to do so were the men by whom Marion wassummoned from the camp of Gates. These brave fellows, occupyinga portion of the country stretching from the Santee to the Pedee, including the whole of the present district of Williamsburg, and a partof Marion, were not altogether prepared to understand these Britishproclamations. They were no great politicians, had no love of blindvassalage, and naturally suspected all liberality of British origin. They wished for certain explanations before they sent in their adhesion. Not that they calculated upon resistance. This, no doubt, seemed to themas hopeless as it appeared in all other parts of the State. But theirinsulated position, which left them uninformed as to the true conditionof things, was, at the same time, a source of their courage andindifference. As yet, the arms of the British had not penetrated intotheir settlements. They were naturally anxious to prevent their doingso. Under these circumstances, they held a gathering of their bestmen for the purpose of consulting upon their affairs. The twinproclamations--how unlike!--of the British commander, were beforethem: and, in their primitive assembly, they sat down to discuss theirseparate merits. These confused rather than enlightened them, and it wasresolved to send one of their number, in whom they had most confidence, to the nearest British authority, in order that their difficultiesshould be explained and their doubts satisfied. There was one sterlingfamily among them of the name of James. Of this family there were fivebrothers, John, William, Gavin, Robert and James. No men under Marionwere braver or truer than these. Fearless, strong and active, they werealways ready for the foe; the first in attack, the last in retreat. There were other branches of this family who partook largely of thequalities of the five brothers. Of these, the eldest, Major John James, was chosen the representative of the men of Williamsburg. This gentlemanhad been their representative in the provincial assembly--he wasin command of them as State militia. They gave him their fullestconfidence, and he deserved it. 

Under this appointment, Major James repaired to Georgetown, the nearestBritish post, which was then under the command of one Captain Ardesoif. Attired as a plain backwoodsman, James obtained an interview withArdesoif, and, in prompt and plain terms, entered at once upon thebusiness for which he came. But when he demanded the meaning of theBritish protection, and asked upon what terms the submission ofthe citizens was to be made, he was peremptorily informed that"the submission must be unconditional. " To an inquiry, whether theinhabitants were to be allowed to remain upon their plantations, he wasanswered in the negative. "His Majesty, " said Ardesoif, "offers youa free pardon, of which you are undeserving, for you all ought to behanged; but it is only on condition that you take up arms in his cause. "James, whom we may suppose to have been very far from relishing the toneand language in which he was addressed, very coolly replied, that"the people whom he came to REPRESENT, would scarcely submit on suchconditions. " The republican language of the worthy Major provoked therepresentative of Royalty. The word 'represent', in particular, smotehardly on his ears; something, too, in the cool, contemptuous mannerof the Major, may have contributed to his vexation. "REPRESENT!" heexclaimed in a fury--"You d----d rebel, if you dare speak in suchlanguage, I will have you hung up at the yard-arm!" Ardesoif, it mustbe known, was a sea captain. The ship which he commanded lay in theneighboring river. He used only a habitual form of speech when hethreatened the "yard-arm", instead of the tree. Major James gave him notime to make the correction. He was entirely weaponless, and Ardesoifwore a sword; but the inequality, in the moment of his anger, was unfeltby the high-spirited citizen. Suddenly rising, he seized upon the chairon which he had been sitting, and floored the insolent subordinate at ablow; then hurrying forth without giving his enemy time to recover, hemounted his horse, and made his escape to the woods before pursuit couldbe attempted. 

His people were soon assembled to hear his story. The exactions of theBritish, and the spirit which James had displayed, in resenting theinsolence of Ardesoif, at once aroused their own. Required to take thefield, it did not need a moment to decide "under which king". The resultof their deliberations was the formation of "Marion's Brigade". Fourcaptains were chosen for as many companies. These were, Captains WilliamM'Cottry, Henry Mouzon, John James (of the Lake, a cousin of MajorJames), and John M'Cauley. These were all under the one command of ourrepresentative to Ardesoif. He instantly put them into motion, and, after some petty successes against small parties of British and Tories, he advanced one of the four companies, M'Cottry's, to the pass ofLynch's Creek, at Witherspoon's Ferry. Here M'Cottry heard of Col. Tarleton, and proceeded to encounter him. Tarleton had been apprised ofthe gatherings at Williamsburg, and, at the head of some seventy men, was pressing forward with the hope of surprising James. M'Cottry, more brave perhaps than prudent, after sending back to James for areinforcement, set forward to give Tarleton battle. The British Colonelhad taken post at Kingstree. M'Cottry approached him at midnight. Ithappened, perhaps fortunately for the former, that Tarleton had receivedsome very exaggerated accounts of M'Cottry's force, which the boldnessof his approach seemed to confirm. Taking the alarm accordingly, hedisappeared in season, leaving to M'Cottry the 'eclat' which necessarilyattended his attempt. The excesses of Tarleton, while on this progress, and the crimes committed in the same neighborhood by other Britishcaptains about the same time, completed the movement which the nativespirit of patriotism in the men of Williamsburg had so happily begun. The whole country was soon awakened--individuals and groups everywherebeginning to show themselves in arms, and nothing was needed but anembodied force of the Americans, upon which they could concentratethemselves and rally with effect. 

It was on the 10th or 12th of August, some four days before the defeatof Gates, that Marion reached the post at Lynch's Creek, where M'Cottryhad taken his position. He was commissioned by Governor Rutledge totake command of the country in this quarter, and we will henceforthdistinguish him as General Marion, although it is not so certain at whatperiod he actually received this promotion;--we find him in possessionof it in the following December. 

Of his personal appearance at this time we have a brief but strikingaccount from the hands of the venerable Judge James--a son of theMajor--who had the honor to serve under Marion at the age of fifteen. 

"He was a stranger, " says the Judge, "to the officers and men, and theyflocked about him to obtain a sight of their future commander. He wasrather below the middle stature, lean and swarthy. His body was wellset, but his knees and ankles were badly formed, and he still limpedupon one leg. He had a countenance remarkably steady; his nose wasaquiline, his chin projecting; his forehead large and high, and his eyesblack and piercing. He was then forty-eight years of age, with a framecapable of enduring fatigue and every privation. " Of his dress, by whichwe may form some idea of that costume which had provoked the laughterof Gates' veterans, we have a description also, furnished us by the sameexcellent authority. We know not but that this description will provokethe smile of the reader. But, of such persons, in the language of theJudge, "even trifles become important. " "He (Marion) was dressed ina close round-bodied crimson jacket, of a coarse texture, and wore aleather cap, part of the uniform of the second regiment, with a silvercrescent in front, inscribed with the words, 'Liberty or Death!'"

Such regimentals show rather the exigencies than the tastes of ourpartisan. This scarlet cloth, of which his vest was made, was almostthe only kind of color which the Carolinians could procure after theconquest of Charleston. The British seemed to distribute it with theprotections and pardons, perhaps as a popular mode of disseminatingtheir principles. Moultrie somewhere tells a ludicrous anecdote of someAmericans (prisoners on parole) who were nearly cut to pieces by a partyof their countrymen, in consequence of their scarlet jackets. They hadtaken the precaution to dye them with some native roots, but the dye haddisappeared, leaving the original color nearly as vivid as before. 

According to Weems, Marion made rather a theatrical display on takingcommand of his brigade. He swore them in a circle upon their swords, never to yield the contest until they had secured their own and theliberties of their country. There is no authority for this statement, either in the work of James, in the MS. Of Horry, or in any of theauthorities. There is no doubt that such were his own sentiments, andsuch the sentiments which he strove to impart to all his followers;but the scene as described by the reverend historian was quite tooartificial and theatrical for the tastes of Marion. It does not accordwith what we know of his modesty, his unaffected nature, and the generalsimplicity of his manners. He instilled his lessons by examples ratherthan by speeches. His words were usually very few. He secured thefidelity of his men by carrying them bravely into action, and bringingthem honorably out of it. 

Marion's career of activity commenced with his command. Though alwaysprudent, he yet learned that prudence in military life must always implyactivity. The insecurity of the encampment, with a militia force, isalways greater than that of battle. The Roman captains of celebritywere particularly aware of this truth. But the activity of Marion wasnecessarily straitened by the condition in which he found his men. Theywere wretchedly deficient in all the materials of service. His firsteffort to supply some of their wants, was in sacking the saw-mills. Thesaws were wrought and hammered by rude blacksmiths into some resemblanceto sabres, and thus provided, Marion set his men in motion, two daysafter taking the command. Crossing the Pedee at Port's Ferry, headvanced upon a large body of Tories commanded by Major Gainey, who helda position upon Britton's Neck. Gainey was considered by the British anexcellent partisan officer, but he was caught napping. Marion moved withequal secrecy and celerity. After riding all night, he came upon theenemy at dawn in the morning. The discovery and the attack were one. Thesurprise was complete. A captain and several privates were slain, andthe party dispersed. Marion did not lose a man, and had but two wounded. In this engagement, our representative, Major James, distinguishedhimself, by singling out Major Gainey for personal combat. But Gaineyshrank from his more powerful assailant, and sought safety in flight. James pursued for a distance of half a mile. In the eagerness of thechase he did not perceive that he was alone and unsupported. It wasenough that he was gaining upon his enemy, who was almost within reachof his sword, when the chase brought them suddenly upon a body ofTories who had rallied upon the road. There was not a moment to be lost. Hesitation would have been fatal. But our gallant Major was not to beeasily intimidated. With great coolness and presence of mind, waving hissword aloft, he cried out, "come on, boys! here they are!" and rushedheadlong upon the group of enemies, as if perfectly assured of support. The ruse was successful. The Tories broke once more, and sought safetyfrom their individual enemy in the recesses of Pedee swamp. 

Marion did not suffer the courage of his men to cool. In twenty-fourhours after this event, he was again in motion. Hearing of the proximityof another body of Tories, under Captain Barfield, he advanced againsthim with as much celerity and caution as before. But he found Barfieldstrongly posted, in greater force than he expected; warned of hisapproach and waiting for him. It was no part of Marion's practice toexpose his men unnecessarily. He had too few, to risk the loss of anyprecious lives, where this was to be avoided. He determined upon adifferent mode of managing his enemy, and resorted to a stratagem, which, subsequently, he frequently made use of. Putting a select partyof his men in ambush near the Blue Savannah, he feigned retreat withanother, and thus beguiled his enemy from his strong position. Theresult accorded with his wishes. Barfield followed and fell into thesnare. The defeat was equally complete with that of Gainey. 

The conduct and skill, in managing his raw militia-men, which these twoachievements displayed, naturally inspired his followers with confidencein themselves and their leader. They produced a corresponding effectupon the people of the country, and were productive of no smallannoyance to the Tories, who were thus suddenly reminded that theremight be retribution for crime even when sheltered under the dragonfolds of England. Another benefit from these occurrences was in betterproviding the brigade with some of the proper weapons and munitions ofwar. 

Among the recent captures of Marion were two old field-pieces. Returningto Port's Ferry, he threw up a redoubt on the east bank of the Pedee, upon which he mounted them. He seldom troubled himself with such heavybaggage, and probably disposed of them in this way, quite as much todisencumber himself of them, as with any such motive, as was alleged, when placing them in battery, of overawing the Tories by their presence. Movements of so rapid a kind, and so frequently made as his, requiringequal dispatch and secrecy, forbade the use of artillery; and hevery well knew, that, to employ men for the maintenance of isolatedposts--such posts as he could establish, --would have no other effectthan to expose his brigade to the chances of being cut up in detail. 

On the 17th August, the day following the defeat of Gates, --of whichevent he was as yet wholly ignorant--he dispatched Col. Peter Horry, with orders to take command of four companies, Bonneau's, Mitchell's, Benson's and Lenud's, near Georgetown, on the Santee; to destroy all theboats and canoes on the river from the lower ferry to Lenud's--to breakup and stop all communications with Charleston, and to procure, ifpossible, supplies of gunpowder, flints and bullets. "Twenty-five weightof gunpowder, ball or buckshot, " is the language of his orders. Thiswill show how scanty were the supplies which were to be procured of thematerial upon which everything depended. Marion frequently went intoaction with less than three rounds to a man--half of his men weresometimes lookers on because of the lack of arms and ammunition--waitingto see the fall of friends or enemies, in order to obtain the necessarymeans of taking part in the affair. Buck-shot easily satisfied soldiers, who not unfrequently advanced to the combat with nothing but swan-shotin their fowling-pieces. 

While Horry proceeded towards Georgetown, Marion marched to the upperSantee. On this march he was advised of the defeat of Gates; but, fearing its effect upon his men, without communicating it, he proceededimmediately toward Nelson's Ferry. This was a well known pass on thegreat route, the "war-path", from Charleston to Camden. Here his scoutsadvised him of the approach of a strong British guard, with a large bodyof prisoners taken from Gates. The guards had stopped at a house on theeast side of the river. Informed of all necessary particulars, Marion, a little before daylight, detached Col. Hugh Horry, with sixteen men, togain possession of the road, at the pass of Horse Creek, in the swamp, while the main body under himself was to attack the enemy's rear. Theattempt was made at dawn, and was perfectly successful. A letter fromMarion himself, to Col. P. Horry, thus details the event:--"On the 20thinst. I attacked a guard of the 63d and Prince of Wales' Regiment, witha number of Tories, at the Great Savannah, near Nelson's Ferry; killedand took twenty-two regulars, and two Tories prisoners, and retook onehundred and fifty Continentals of the Maryland line, one wagon and adrum; one captain and a subaltern were also captured. Our loss is onekilled, and Captain Benson is slightly wounded on the head. "

It will scarcely be believed that, of this hundred and fiftyContinentals, but three men consented to join the ranks of theirliberator. It may be that they were somewhat loth to be led, even thoughit were to victory, by the man whose ludicrous equipments and followers, but a few weeks before, had only provoked their merriment. The reasongiven for their refusal, however, was not deficient in force. "Theyconsidered the cause of the country to be hopeless. They were riskinglife without an adequate object. " The defeat of Gates, and his badgeneralship, which they had so recently witnessed, were, perhaps, quitesufficient reasons to justify their misgivings. 

This disastrous event did not produce like despondency in our partisanor his followers, though it furnished reasons for the greatestcircumspection. At this moment Marion's was the only body of Americantroops in the State, openly opposed to the triumphant progress of theBritish. The Continentals were dispersed or captured; the Virginia andNorth Carolina militia scattered to the four winds; Sumter's legion cutup by Tarleton, and he himself a fugitive, fearless and active still, but as yet seeking, rather than commanding, a force. Though small andseemingly insignificant, the force of Marion had shown what might bedone, with the spirit and the personnel of the country, under competentleaders. The cruelties of the British, who subjected the vanquishedto the worst treatment of war, helped his endeavors. Shortly after thevictory over Gates, Lord Cornwallis addressed an order to the Britishcommandants at the several posts throughout the country, of which thefollowing are extracts:

"I have given orders that all of the inhabitants of this province whohave subscribed, and have taken part in this revolt, should be punishedwith the greatest rigor; and also those who will not turn out, thatthey may be imprisoned and their whole property taken from them ordestroyed.... I have ordered in the most positive manner that everymilitia man, who has borne arms with us, and afterwards joined theenemy, shall be immediately hanged!"

This gentleman has been called, by some of the American writers, the"amiable Cornwallis". It is rather difficult to say for which of hisqualities this dulcet epithet was bestowed. The preceding may welljustify us in the doubt we venture to express, whether it was not givenas much in mockery as compliment. But, lest his commands should notbe understood, as not sufficiently explicit, his Lordship proceededto furnish examples of his meaning, which left his desires beyondreasonable question. Immediately after his return to Camden, he stainedthe laurels of his recent victory, and celebrated his triumph overGates, by hanging some twelve or fifteen wretched prisoners, old men andboys, who were only suspected of treachery to the royal cause. Similarbarbarities were practised by subordinate officers, emulative ofthis example of their superior, or in obedience to his orders. But, fortunately for the country, even this brutality, which was intendedto alarm the fears of the people, and do that which the arts of theirconqueror had failed to effect, was not productive of the desiredresults. It drove the indignant into the field--it shamed the unwillinginto decision--it spurred on the inert and inactive to exertion, andarmed the doubtful and the timid with resolution. It sent hundreds, whom nothing had moved before, into the ranks of Marion and Sumter. Themoment of defeat and greatest despondency--the dark before the dawn--wasthat when the people of the country were preparing to display the mostanimating signs of life. The very fact that the force of Marion was soinsignificant, was something in favor of that courage and patriotism, that confidence in his own resources and his men, which, defying all theinequalities of force, could move him to traverse the very paths of theconqueror, and pluck his prisoners from his very grasp. The audacityand skill of Marion, exhibited in numerous small achievements of whichhistory furnishes no particulars, extorted a reluctant confession fromthe enemy, whose unwilling language will suffice for our own. Tarletonwrites: "MR. Marion, * by his zeal and abilities, showed himself capableof the trust committed to his charge. He collected his adherents atthe shortest notice, and, after making excursions into the friendlydistricts, or threatening the communications, to avoid pursuit hedisbanded his followers. The alarms occasioned by these insurrections, frequently retarded supplies on their way to the army; and a latereport of Marion's strength delayed the junction of the recruits who hadarrived from New York for the corps in the country. " The 64th Regimentof Infantry was ordered to Nelson's Ferry from Charleston, anddirections were given to Lieut. Col. Tarleton to pass the Wateree to awethe insurgents. ** Cornwallis writes to Tarleton: "I most sincerely hopethat you will get at MR. Marion. " In short, to use the further languageof the British Colonel, Marion completely overran the lower districts. He cut off supplies from the army, broke up the Tories, destroyedrecruiting parties, intercepted and interrupted communications, and, darting to and fro between the British posts, which he had not the powerto overcome, showed that nothing but that power was necessary to enablehim to challenge with them the possession of the soil. That he shoulddisband his men at one moment, and be able by a word to bring themtogether when they were again wanted, proves a singular alliance betweenthe chieftain and his followers, which is characteristic only of themost romantic history. It shows a power, on the part of the former, suchas we ascribe to the winding of the magic horn of Astolfo, which fewcommanders of militia have ever had the skill to produce. Evidently, thepersonal and patriotic influences were very equally strong, to occasionsuch prompt fidelity, in his case, on the part of his followers. 

 * The British officers betrayed a singular reluctance to accord to the Americans their military titles. The reader will recollect the letter of General Gage to MR. Washington, which the latter very properly refused to receive. The very attempt here made to sneer away the official, adds to the personal importance of the individual; and we yield to plain Mr. Marion, with his ragged followers, who, untitled, could give such annoyance to His Majesty's officers, a degree of respect which his title might not otherwise have commanded. 

 ** Tarleton's Campaigns, 4to ed. P. 171. --

Chapter 9. 

 Marion retreats before a superior Force--Defeats the Tories at Black Mingo--Surprises and disperses the Force of Colonel Tynes at Tarcote--Is pursued by Tarleton. 

The solicitude manifested by the British commander in the South to getMarion from his path, soon set the legion of Tarleton, and a strongforce under Major Wemyss, in motion for his retreats. The progressof Tarleton was somewhat delayed, and his cooperation with Wemyssprevented. The latter pushed his advance with equal spirit and address. Marion had with him but one hundred and fifty men, when he heard ofthe approach of his enemies. His force, it must be remembered, was of apeculiar kind, and was constantly fluctuating. His men had cares otherthan those of their country's liberties. Young and tender families wereto be provided for and guarded in the thickets where they found shelter. These were often threatened in the absence of their protectors bymarauding bands of Tories, who watched the moment of the departure ofthe Whigs, to rise upon the weak, and rob and harass the unprotected. The citizen soldiery were thus doubly employed, and had cares to endure, and duties to perform, from which regular troops are usually exempt, andfor which regular officers seldom make allowance. The good judgmentof Marion, taking these necessities into consideration, exercised thatpatience with the militia which secured their fidelity. When he foundthis or that body of men anxious about their families, he yielded mostgenerally without reluctance to their wishes. This indulgence had itseffects. Their return was certain. They seldom lingered beyond the timeat which they had pledged themselves to reappear. 

It was in consequence of this indulgence that his force was thus reducedwhen the British approach was known. Wemyss was in command of the 63dregiment. He was accompanied by a large body of Tories under MajorHarrison. They moved with caution and speed, but the American Generalwas on the alert. He dispatched Major James with a select body ofvolunteers to reconnoitre. His various outposts were called in, andwith his whole present strength, thus united, Marion followed on thefootsteps of James, prepared, if the chances promised him success, fordoing battle with his enemy. 

Major James, meanwhile, who was equally bold and skilful, pressedforward fearlessly till he became aware of the proximity of the British. He was resolved to make sure of his intelligence. He placed himself ina thicket on their line of march, and by a bright moon, was readilyenabled to form a very correct notion of their character and numbers. But as the rear-guard passed by, his courageous spirit prompted furtherperformances. He was not content to carry to his general no other proofsof his vigilance but the tidings which he had obtained. His perfectknowledge of the ground, his confidence in the excellent character ofhis men, and the speed of their horses, moved him to greater daring;and, bursting from his hiding-place, with a terrible shout, he swoopeddown with his small party upon the startled stragglers in the rear ofthe Tory march, carrying off his prisoners in the twinkling of an eye, without stopping to slay, and without suffering the loss of a man. Before the enemy could rally, and turn upon his path, the tread of thepartisan's horse no longer sounded in his ears. 

The intelligence which James bore to his commander was scarcely soencouraging. He reported the British regulars to be double their ownforce in number, while the Tories in the rear were alone estimated atfive hundred men. Retreat, perhaps dispersion, was now inevitable. Thiswas the sort of game, which, in his feebleness, and under the pressureof a very superior foe, our partisan was compelled to play. Itwas sometimes a humiliating one, and always attended with somediscouragements. The evil effects, however, were only temporary. His mennever retired beyond his reach. They came again at a call, refreshedby the respite, and assured by the conviction that their commanderwas quite as careful of their lives as themselves. Such a game wasnot without its interest, and its peculiarities were such as to giveanimation to the valor which it exercised. In these peculiarities ofhis warfare, lies that secret charm which has made tradition, in thesouthern country, linger so long and so fondly upon the name of Marion. 

Judge James gives us, in few words, a lively idea of the consultationwhich followed the return and the report of Major James. "About an hourbefore day, Marion met the Major half a mile from his plantation. Theofficers immediately dismounted and retired to consult; the men sat ontheir horses in a state of anxious suspense. The conference was long andanimated. At the end of it, an order was given to direct the march backto Lynch's Creek (the route to North Carolina), and no sooner was itgiven than a bitter groan might have been heard along the whole line. A bitter cup had now been mingled for the people of Williamsburg andPedee, and they were doomed to drain it to the dregs, but in the end itproved a salutary medicine. "

The evil here deplored was the temporary abandonment, for the firsttime, of this particular section of country. Hitherto, the enemy hadnever appeared in their neighborhood with such a force as enabled themto overrun it without fear of opposition. Now, they were destinedto suffer from those tender mercies of British and Tories, which hadwritten their chronicles in blood and flame, wherever their footstepshad gone before. Bitter, indeed, was the medicine, to whom its tastewas new. But, as writes the venerable biographer, it was salutary in theend. It strengthened their souls for the future trial. It made them moreresolute in the play. With their own houses in smoking ruins, and theirown wives and children homeless and wandering, they could better feelwhat was due to the sufferings of their common country. 

It was at sunset the next evening that Marion commenced his flight toNorth Carolina. He kept with him only sixty men. The rest dropped offby degrees as they approached their several hiding-places, lying snug, until they again heard the signal of their commander, --frequentlynothing but a whisper, --which once more brought them forth, to turn thepursuit upon their enemies and avenge themselves by sudden onslaught forthe ruin of their homesteads. On this retreat, Marion took with him thetwo field-pieces which we found him placing in battery on the Pedee ashort time before. His desire to save these pieces was due rather to thesupposed effect which their possession had upon the minds of the Tories, than because of any real intrinsic use which they possessed in hishands. They encumbered his flight, however, and he disposed of them, finally, without compunction. Wheeling them into a swamp he left them, where, possibly, they remain to this day, the object of occasional startand wonderment to the stalking deer-hunter. This, says Judge James, "wasthe last instance of military parade evinced by the General. " Marchingday and night he arrived at Amy's Mill, on Drowning Creek. From thisplace, he sent forth his parties, back to South Carolina, to gainintelligence and rouse the militia. He himself continued his march. Hepitched his camp finally, on the east side of the White Marsh, nearthe head of the Waccamaw. There may have been a motive, other than thedesire for safety, which led Marion to choose and retain this position. The borders of North Carolina swarmed with Tories, chiefly descendantsof the Scotch, who constituted, on frequent subsequent occasions, theperplexing enemies with whom our partisan had to contend. It is notimprobable, though history does not declare the fact, that he chose thepresent occasion for overawing the scattered parties, who were alwaysstretching with lawless footsteps from Cape Fear to the Great Pedee. Itwas while he lay at this place, that the venerable Judge James, then aboy of sixteen, had the honor, for the first time, to dine with Marion. It was in the absence of Major James, the father of the boy, who was oneof the volunteers sent back to South Carolina. The artless descriptionwhich the Judge has given us of this event, so characteristic of Marion, and of the necessities to which he was habitually compelled to submit, will better please than a much more elaborate narrative. 

"The dinner was set before the company by the General's servant, Oscar, partly on a pine log and partly on the ground. It consisted of leanbeef, without salt, and sweet potatoes. The author had left a small potof boiled hominy in his camp, and requested leave of his host to sendfor it, and the proposal was gladly acquiesced in. The hominy hadsalt in it, and proved, though eaten out of the pot, a most acceptablerepast. The General said but little, and that was chiefly what a sonwould be most likely to be gratified by, in the praise of his father. Wehad nothing to drink but bad water; and all the company appeared to berather grave. "

That the party should be rather grave, flying from their homes and asuperior foe, eating unsalted pottage, and drinking bad water, was, perhaps, natural enough. That this gravity should appear doublyimpressive to a lad of sixteen, in a presence which he was taught tovenerate, was still more likely to be the case. But Marion, though acheerful man, wore ordinarily a grave, sedate expression of countenance. Never darkened by gloom, it was seldom usurped by mere merriment. He hadno uproarious humor. His tastes were delicate, his habits gentle, hissensibilities warm and watchful. At most a quiet smile lighted up hisfeatures, and he could deal in little gushes of humor, of which therewas a precious fountain at the bottom of his heart. That he was capableof a sharp sarcasm, was also generally understood among his friends. Horry remarks, that few men ever excelled him at retort. But he wassingularly considerate of the sensibilities of others, and had histemper under rare command. His powers of forbearance were remarkable. His demeanor, whether in triumph or despondency, was equally quiet andsubdued. He yielded to few excitements, was seldom elevated by successesto imprudence--as seldom depressed by disappointments to despondency. The equable tone of his mind reminds us again of Washington. 

It was while Marion remained at White Marsh, that one of his captains, Gavin Witherspoon, whom he had sent out with four men, achieved one ofthose clever performances, that so frequently distinguished the menof Marion. He had taken refuge in Pedee Swamp from the pursuit of theenemy, and, while hiding, discovered one of the camps of the Tories whohad been in pursuit of him. Witherspoon proposed to his four comradesto watch the enemy's camp, until the Tories were asleep. But his mentimidly shrunk from the performance, expressing their dread of superiornumbers. Witherspoon undertook the adventure himself. Creeping up to theencampment, he found that they slept at the butt of a pine tree, whichhad been torn up by the roots. Their guns were piled against one of itsbranches at a little distance from them. These he first determinedto secure, and, still creeping, with the skill and caution of anexperienced scout, he succeeded in his object. The guns once in hispossession, he aroused the Tories by commanding their surrender. Theywere seven in number, unarmed, and knew nothing of the force of theassailant. His own more timid followers drew near in sufficient timeto assist in securing the prisoners. There was another Witherspoon withMarion, John, a brother of Gavin, and like him distinguished for greatcoolness, strength, and courage. Both of the brothers delighted in suchadventures, and were always ready to engage in them, --the rashnessof the attempt giving a sort of relish to the danger, which alwayssweetened it to the taste of our partisans. 

The return of the various scouting parties which Marion sent out, soonset his little brigade in motion. The intelligence which they broughtwas well calculated to sting his soldiers, as well as himself, intoimmediate activity. The medicine which the British had administered tothe country they abandoned, had not been suffered to lose any of itsbitterness. As had been feared, the Tories had laid waste the farmsand plantations. The region through which Major Wemyss had passed, forseventy miles in length and fifteen in breadth, displayed one broad faceof desolation. It had been swept by sword and fire. Havoc had exercisedits most ingenious powers of destruction. On most of the plantations thehouses were given to the flames, the inhabitants plundered of all theirpossessions, and the stock, especially the sheep, wantonly shot orbayoneted. Wemyss seems to have been particularly hostile to looms andsheep, simply because they supplied the inhabitants with clothing. Heseldom suffered the furniture to be withdrawn from a dwelling which hehad doomed to be destroyed: Presbyterian churches he burnt religiously, as so many "sedition-shops". It was fortunate for the wretched country, thus ravaged, that the corn was not generally housed; it was only inpart destroyed. Had the Tories played the same game in the cornfieldsof the patriots, that Grant's men had done in those of the Cherokees, as recorded in an early page of this volume, * the devastation would havebeen complete. They had not limited their proceedings to these minorcrimes. They had added human butchery and hanging to those otheroffences for which vengeance was in store. The wife and children of oneAdam Cusack, threw themselves across the path of Wemyss to obtain thepardon of the husband and the father. The crime of Cusack was in havingtaken arms against the enemy. Their prayers were in vain. But for theinterference of his own officers, the ruthless Briton would have riddenover the kneeling innocents. This was not the only savage murder ofthe same description which this wretched people had to endure. But suchatrocities were sharp medicines, benefits in disguise, good againstcowardice, selfishness, double-dealing, and deficient patriotism. Theyworked famously upon the natives, while they proved the invader to be aslittle capable of good policy, as of ordinary humanity. They roused thespirit of the militia, whet their anger and their swords together, and, by the time that Marion reappeared, they were ready for their General. He asked for nothing more. He re-entered South Carolina by a forcedmarch. Travelling night and day, he hurried through the Tory settlementson Little Pedee, a space of sixty miles, on the second day of hisjourney. At Lynch's Creek he was joined by Captains James and Mouzon, with a considerable body of men. He was prepared to give them instantemployment. Major Wemyss had retired to Georgetown, but Marion wasadvised of a large body of Tories at Black Mingo, fifteen miles below, under the command of Capt. John Coming Ball. Marion was in expectation, every moment, of additional troops, but he determined not to wait forthem. He found his men in the proper mood for fight, and at such timessmall inequalities of force are not to be regarded. He resolved togive the humor vent, and at once commenced his march for the enemy'sencampment. He found the Tories strongly posted at Shepherd's Ferry, on the south side of the Black Mingo, on a deep navigable stream, thepassage of which they commanded. There was but one other approach tothem, about a mile above their position, through a boggy causeway, andover a bridge of planks. It was nearly midnight when Marion's troopsreached this pass. While the horses were crossing the bridge, analarm-gun was heard from the Tory camp. Celerity now became as necessaryto success as caution, and Marion ordered his men to follow him at fullgallop. When they reached the main road, about three hundred yards fromthe enemy, the whole force, with the exception of a small body actingas cavalry, dismounted. A body of picked men, under Captain Waties, wasordered down the road to attack Dollard's house, where the Tories hadbeen posted. Two companies, under Col. Hugh Horry, were sent to theright, and the cavalry to the left, to support the attack, Marionhimself bringing up the reserve. It so happened, however, that theTories had taken the alarm, and having withdrawn from the house, hadchosen a strong position in an old field near it. Here they encounteredHorry's command, on the advance, with a fire equally severe andunexpected. The effect was that of a surprise upon the assailants. Horry's troops fell back in confusion, but were promptly rallied andbrought to the charge. The battle was obstinate and bloody, but theappearance of the corps under Waties, suddenly, in the rear of theTories, soon brought it to a close. Finding themselves between twofires, the enemy gave way in all directions, and fled for refuge to theneighboring swamp of Black Mingo. So warmly contested was this affair, that, though soon over, fully one third of the men brought into thefield were put 'hors de combat'. The loss of Marion was proportionablyvery considerable. Captain Logan was among his slain; and Captain Mouzonand Lieut. Scott so severely wounded as to be unfit for future service. The force of the Tories was almost twice as great as that of the Whigs. They lost their commander, and left nearly half their number, killed andwounded, on the ground. But for the alarm given by the tread of Marion'shorses, while crossing the neighboring bridge, the Tories would mostprobably have been surprised. At any rate, the affair would have beensettled without subjecting the brigade to the severe loss which itsustained. After this event Marion adopted the precaution, wheneverabout to cross a bridge by night, with an enemy near, to cover theplanks with the blankets of his men. But he generally preferred fords, where they could possibly be had, to bridges. 

 * See ante, pp. 50-52 [End of Chapter 4]. --

This victory was very complete. Many of the Tories came in, and joinedthe ranks of the conqueror. Those who did not, were quite too muchconfounded to show much impatience in taking up arms against him. Hisuniform successes, whenever he struck, had already strongly impressedthe imaginations of the people. His name was already the rallying wordthroughout the country. To join Marion, to be one of Marion's men, was the duty which the grandsire imposed upon the lad, and to theperformance of which, throwing aside his crutch, he led the way. 

We have already shown why the force of Marion was so liable tofluctuation. The necessity of providing for, and protecting destitutefamilies, starving wives and naked children, was more imperative thanthat of a remote and fancied liberty. These cases attended to, themilitia came forth, struck a few blows, and once more returned to theirdestitute dependents. The victory over the Tories of Black Mingo, was, from this cause, followed by a more than usually prolonged inactivity ofour partisan. His men demanded a respite to go and see their families. He consented, with some reluctance, for the business of the campaign wasonly beginning to open itself before him. They promised him, as usual, to return in season; but remained so long absent, that, for the firsttime, he now began to doubt and despair of them. This feeling was notnatural with him. It was probably only due now to some derangementof his own health, some anxiety to achieve objects which presentedthemselves prominently to his mind. He had probably heard of the advanceof General Greene, who, having succeeded to Gates, was pressing forwardwith fresh recruits, and the remnant of the fugitives who survived, infreedom, the fatal battle of Camden. A laudable anxiety to be active atsuch a time, to show to the approaching Continentals that there was aspirit in the State which they came to succor, of which the most happyauguries might be entertained, prompted his morbid impatience at thelong delay of his absentees. There were other causes which led him tofeel this delay more seriously now than at other times. The Tories wereagain gathering in force around him. Under these circumstances, and withthese feelings, he consulted with his officers whether they should notleave the State and join the approaching army of Greene. Hugh Horrycounselled him strenuously against it. His counsel was seconded by therest. They prevailed with him. It was fortunate that they did so; forthe great efficiency of Marion was in the independence of his command. While the matter was yet in debate, the militia began to reappear. Hehad not sufficiently allowed for their exigencies, for the scatteredhomes and hiding-places of famishing hundreds, living on precarioussupplies, in swamp and thicket. How could he reproach them--fightingas they were for love of country only, and under such privations--thatcountry yielding them nothing, no money, no clothes, no provisions, --forthey were nothing but militia. They were not enrolled on the Continentalpay list. That they should seek the field at all, thus circumstanced, will be ever a wonder to that class of philosophers who found theirsystems upon the simple doctrine of human selfishness. 

True to their chief, he rejoiced once more in their fidelity; and, marching into Williamsburg, he continued to increase his numbers withhis advance. His present object was the chastisement of Col. Harrison, who was in force upon Lynch's Creek; but his progress in this directionwas suddenly arrested by his scouts, who brought him tidings of largegatherings of Tories in and about Salem and the fork of Black River. In this quarter, one Colonel Tynes had made his appearance, and hadsummoned the people generally, as good subjects of his majesty, totake the field against their countrymen. It was necessary to check thisrising, and to scatter it before it gained too much head; to lessenthe influence of Tynes and his party, over those who were doubtful, andafford the friends of the patriots an opportunity to come out on theproper side. There were other inducements to the movement. Col. Tyneshad brought with him from Charleston, large supplies of the materials ofwar and comfort--commodities of which the poor patriots stood grievouslyin need. They hungered at the tidings brought by the scouts, of newEnglish muskets and bayonets, broad-swords and pistols, saddles andbridles, powder and ball, which the provident Colonel had procured fromCharleston for fitting out the new levies. To strike at this gathering, prevent these new levies, and procure the supplies which were designedfor them, were controlling objects to which all others were made toyield. The half naked troops of the brigade found new motives to valorin the good things which the adventure promised. Tynes lay at Tarcote, in the forks of Black River, and, as Marion was advised, withoutexercising much military watchfulness. The head of his column wasinstantly turned in this direction. Crossing the lower ford of thenorthern branch of Black River, at Nelson's plantation, he came upon thecamp of Tynes at midnight. A hurried, but satisfactory survey, revealedthe position of the enemy. No preparation had been made for safety, no precautions taken against attack. Some of the Tories slept, othersfeasted, and others were at cards--none watched. Marion made hisarrangements for the attack without obstacle or interruption. Thesurprise was complete, --the panic universal. A few were slain, some withthe cards in their hands. Tynes, with two of his officers, and manyof his men, were made prisoners, but the greater number fled. Few wereslain, as scarcely any resistance was offered, and Tarcote Swamp wasfortunately nigh to receive and shelter the fugitives, many of whomshortly after made their appearance and took their places in the ranksof the conqueror. Marion lost not a man. The anticipations of his peoplewere gratified with the acquisition of no small store of those supplies, arms and ammunition, of which they had previously stood in so much need. 

These spirited achievements, however small, were so cleverly executed, so unexpectedly, and with such uniform success, as to occasion alively sensation through the country. Hope everywhere began to warm thepatriots of the State, bringing courage along with it. The effect uponthe enemy, of an opposite temper and tendency, was quite as lively. Cornwallis, whom we have already seen urging Tarleton to the pursuit ofour partisan, frankly acknowledged his great merits, and was heard tosay that "he would give a good deal to have him taken. "* His languageto Sir Henry Clinton, in a letter dated from his camp at Winnsborough, December 3d, 1780, of a different tone, indeed, was of like tenor. Itspoke for the wonderful progress and influence of our hero--a progressand influence not to be understood by the reader, from the meagreaccount which we are enabled to give of the battles, skirmishes andhappy stratagems, in which his men were constantly engaged. Cornwalliswrites, --"Col. Marion had so wrought on the minds of the people, partlyby the terror of his threats and cruelty of his punishments, and partlyby the promise of plunder, that THERE WAS SCARCELY AN INHABITANT BETWEENTHE SANTEE AND PEDEE, THAT WAS NOT IN ARMS AGAINST US. SOME PARTIES HADEVEN CROSSED THE SANTEE, AND CARRIED TERROR TO THE GATES OF CHARLESTON. "

 * Moultrie's Memoirs. --

Where his lordship speaks of the successes of Marion, his greatinfluence over the people, and the audacity with which they urged theirprogress through all parts of that section of country, which had beenyielded to his control by Governor Rutledge, his statement is true tothe very letter. It sums up very happily the results of his activityand conduct. But, when his lordship alleges cruelty and threats, and thehopes of plunder, as the means by which these results were produced, we meet his assertion with very flat denial. All the testimonies of thetime, but his own, show that, in this respect, he wandered very widelyfrom the truth. No single specification of cruelty was ever allegedagainst the fair fame of Francis Marion. His reputation, as a humanesoldier, is beyond reproach, and when questioned, always challengedand invited investigation. The charge made by Cornwallis was urged byLt. -Col. Balfour, commandant of Charleston, in a correspondence withGeneral Moultrie. The latter answered it in a frank and confidentmanner, which showed what he thought of it. "I am sorry, " he writes toBalfour, "to hear that General Marion should use his prisoners ill. ITIS CONTRARY TO HIS NATURAL DISPOSITION: I KNOW HIM TO BE GENEROUS ANDHUMANE. "*1* He adds elsewhere: "General Marion always gave orders to hismen that there should be no waste of the inhabitants' property, andno plundering. "*2* Marion had lived in the family of Moultrie, *3* hadrepeatedly served under him, and if any man knew thoroughly his truedisposition, the hero of Fort Sullivan was certainly that man. Butthe testimony of all who knew him was to the same effect. Indeed, thegentleness of his nature made him a favorite wherever known. Touchingthe lessons and hopes of plunder, which his men are said to havereceived, this scarcely requires any answer. We have seen, and shall seehereafter, the state of poverty and privation in which the brigade ofMarion subsisted. A few little facts will better serve to show whattheir condition was. During the whole period in which we have seen himengaged, and for some months later, Marion himself, winter and summer, had slept without the luxury of a blanket. He had but one, on takingcommand of the "Brigade", and this he lost by accident. Sleepingsoundly, after one of his forced marches, upon a bed of pine straw, ittook fire, his blanket was destroyed, and he himself had an escapeso narrow, that one half of the cap he wore was shrivelled up by theflames. His food was hominy or potatoes; his drink vinegar and water, ofwhich he was fond. He had neither tea nor coffee, and seldom tasted wineor spirits. And this moderation was shown at a time when he held in hispossession a power from Governor Rutledge, to impress and appropriatewhatever he thought necessary to his purposes. *4* The charge againsthim of cruelty and plunder is perfectly absurd, and rests on the vagueassertions of an enemy, who specifies no offence and offers no sortof evidence. It was but natural that such charges should be made byan astonished and disappointed foe--natural that the conqueror shouldascribe to any but the right cause the reluctance of a people to submitto a monstrous usurpation, and their anxiety to avail themselves, bythe presence of a favorite leader, of a principle and prospects to whichtheir affections were really surrendered. Could the British commandersin America have really been brought to admit that the affections of thepeople were not with their sovereign, the war must have found a finishmuch sooner than it did. Their hopes were built upon this doubt; andhence their anxiety to show the coercive measures of the chieftainsby whom this control, adverse to their wishes, was maintained over theminds of the people. The great influence of Marion was due to otheracts. It was by the power of love, and not of terror, that he managedhis followers. They loved him for himself, and loved his cause for theircountry. His rare command of temper, his bland, affectionate manner, hiscalm superiority, and that confidence in his courage and conduct, as aleader, without which militia-men are never led to victory, --these werethe sources of his influence over them, and of their successes againstthe enemy. It was through these that he "carried terror to the verygates of Charleston. " We shall see indeed, that, under Marion, themilitia were never conducted to defeat. 

 *1* Memoirs, vol. 2, p. 174. 

 *2* Moultrie, vol. 2, p. 236. 

 *3* MS. Memoirs of General Horry. 

 *4* James' Memoir, p. 122. --

Whatever may have been the causes of his victories, first over the mindsof his people, and next over their foes, the British found it necessarythat his influence should be restrained, and his farther progressarrested. Cornwallis, as we have seen, was willing to "give a good dealto have him taken. " Tarleton is affectionately invoked to this pleasantduty, by the sincere hope that he would "get at Mr. Marion. " This, however desirable, was no easy matter. Marion was a very "will o' thewisp" in military affairs, almost as difficult to find, at times, by hisown followers, as by the enemy. He was the true model of a partisan in acountry, like ours, of swamp and thicket; leading the pursuing foe, likePuck, "through bog and through briar, " till he wearied out his patience, exhausted his resources, and finally laid him open for defeat. He seldomlingered long in any one spot, changing his ground frequently, withIndian policy; his scouts, well chosen, were always on the alert; and, by constant activity and enterprise, he not only baffled pursuit, butdeprived retreat of its usual mortifications. The employment which hethus gave his men, not only hardened them against every turn of fortune, but kept them always in good spirits. 

Tarleton rose from a sick bed to undertake his capture. He had beenconfined for some time in Charleston with fever. The first moment ofconvalescence was seized upon for carrying into effect the wishes ofCornwallis. He concerted his plans before he left the city. His legion, which was at Camden, were instructed to meet him, while with a troop ofhorse he set forward for some point upon the Wateree. From this pointhe was to descend the Wateree in quest of our partisan. His plan ofpursuit, as furnished by his own pen, will be seen hereafter. Marionwas not unadvised of his progress, but, either from the rapidity ofTarleton's movements, or some error in the report of his scouts, hefailed of success in the object which he aimed at. This was the captureof Tarleton, while, with his troop of horse, he was on his way to jointhe legion. With this object he pressed his march for Nelson's Ferry onthe Santee, and placed his men in ambush in the river swamp. He arrivedtoo late. Tarleton had already crossed fully two days before. Marionpassed the river in pursuit, advancing with some earnestness on thefootsteps of his foe, still under the impression that Tarleton was onlyin command of the small troop with which he had marched from Charleston. But the British commander had already effected the junction with hislegion, and was at hand in greater force than our partisan dreamed of. At night, having reached a strong position in the woods, Marion wastaking his usual precautions for making his camp. He was suddenly struckwith a great light, seemingly at the plantation of General Richardson. This awakened his anxieties, and led him at once to suspect the presenceof his enemy in that quarter. The progress of the British was thususually distinguished when they reached a settlement of the patriots. The suspicions of Marion were soon confirmed by the arrival of ColonelRichardson, from whom he learned that Tarleton was really at theplantation, the fires of which he saw, in force with his whole legion, and two field-pieces. The strength of the British was double his own, and, to increase his anxieties, it was discovered that one of hismen, --probably one of the late converts, who had joined the ranks afterthe defeat of Tynes, --had deserted to the enemy. In command of a forceso superior, and in possession of a guide well acquainted with thecountry, Tarleton was too strong to be withstood. The position of Marionwas no longer safe. He at once fell back, and crossing in silenceand darkness a dense and gloomy swamp of vast extent, called the"wood-yard", halted on Jack's creek, a distance of six miles from hislate encampment. This post was temporarily a secure one. Tarleton, meanwhile, was conducted faithfully by the deserter into the"wood-yard", --but the bird had flown. He pressed the pursuit the nextday, with that hot haste by which he was quite as much distinguished asby his cruelties. But Marion knew his foe, and had already changed hisground. Pushing his way through a wild extent of country, full of bogsand swamps, he reached Benbow's Ferry, about ten miles above Kingstree, where, taking a strong position, he resolved to defend himself. Theplace was one with which himself and men were familiar. It was not onlyeligible in itself, commanding the passage of the river, but it was onein which defeat was not necessarily final. It had resources, andmeans of rally, which are always important considerations to a militiacommand. There were three difficult passes, through the swamp, inMarion's rear, at each of which, if driven by the enemy, his men couldmake a stubborn fight. His position taken, he proceeded promptly tostrengthen its natural defences by art. Trees were felled across thetrack, and the post so improved as to reconcile the inequalities ofhis own with the pursuing force of Tarleton. Had the latter made hisappearance, as Marion fully hoped and expected, the fatal rifles ofthe "Brigade" thus planted, would have very quickly emptied his bestsaddles. But the commander of the legion grew weary of the chase, at thevery moment when it halted to await him. Of the pursuit he has givenus a somewhat vainglorious description. He represents himself ashaving been nearly successful, by means of his great adroitness and theexcellence of his strategy. He says--"According to the reports of thecountry, General Marion's numbers were hourly increasing, which inducedLt. -Col. Tarleton to move his corps, for a short time, in a very compactbody, lest the Americans should gain any advantage over patrols ordetachments. But as soon as he found that the account of numbers wasexaggerated, and that the enemy declined an engagement, he divided hiscorps into several small parties, publishing intelligence that eachwas on patrol, and that the main body of the King's troops hadcountermarched to Camden. Notwithstanding the divisions scatteredthroughout the country, to impose upon the enemy, Lt. -Col. Tarleton tookcare that no detachment should be out of the reach of assistance; andthat the whole formed after dark every evening a solid and vigilantcorps during the night. This stratagem had not been employed morethan three days, before General Marion was on the point of falling asacrifice to it. He advanced on the 10th before day, with five hundredmilitia, to attack Lt. -Col. Tarleton (who had notice of his approach), and arrived within two miles of his post, when a person of the name ofRichardson discovered to him his misconception of the British force. "

But, as we have seen, Marion's advance upon Tarleton was only thecontinuation of the pursuit which he began under the impression thatthe latter was still forcing his way to Camden with the small forcewith which he had crossed the Santee. Of the descent of the legion fromabove, he knew nothing, and the three days' strategy of Tarleton werewasted upon him. The caution of the British Colonel in all this timemight have been spared. It influenced the course of Marion in norespect. We have seen that, when the latter discovered his enemy, it wasbefore day had closed, and not just before day. We have also seen thatTarleton's own bonfires had already revealed the secret of his presence, in strength, to his wary antagonist. If Col. Richardson had neverentered the camp of Marion, the blazing dwellings of the Richardsonfamily would have led to such precautions, on the side of the partisan, as must have effectually baffled the objects of the British Colonel. This indulgence in the usual British passion for burning the homesteadsof women and children, which Tarleton could not resist, even thoughhis immediate aim required the utmost watchfulness and secrecy, at oncerevealed to Marion not only that his enemy was there, but that hewas there, with a force, in the strength of which he had the utmostconfidence. It is not to be supposed that a small detachment, a scoutingparty of horse, a troop sent out for intelligence, --such as the BritishColonel represents his several parties to have been, when his force wasbroken up in detail, to beguile the partisan, --would be likely to commitsuch excesses as to draw the eye of the country suddenly upon them, ata time, too, when a wary adversary was within two miles with a force offive hundred men. 

Tarleton proceeds: "A pursuit was immediately commenced, and continuedfor seven hours, through swamps and defiles. Some prisoners fell intothe possession of the legion dragoons, who gained ground very fast, andmust soon have brought the enemy to action, when an express from EarlCornwallis, who had followed the tracks of the march, recalled Lt. -Col. Tarleton. "

Such is the British narrative. We have reason to think it faulty inseveral respects. We doubt that it was the express of Earl Cornwallisthat arrested the pursuit of our Legionary Colonel. We are disposed toascribe it to his own weariness of the game. The dispatch of Cornwallisto which he refers, was dated at Winnsboro' on the 9th of the month. It was on the night of the 10th, as we see by Tarleton's own statement, that he commenced the close and earnest pursuit of Marion. The distancefrom Winnsboro' to the 'wood-yard', even allowing that the instincts andinformation of the express should bring him directly upon the trail ofthe Legion, would have employed him fully two days to overcome. Thesetwo days would have brought him to the close of the twelfth, up to whichperiod, had Tarleton continued the chase, he might have enjoyed thesatisfaction of shaking hands with his antagonist in his defences atBenbow's Ferry. There, at the first proper position in which he might, with any hopes of success, oppose his adversary, had Marion takenhis stand. There, having entrenched himself, he was busy in bringingtogether his forces. "Had Tarleton, " says Judge James, "proceeded withhis jaded horses to Benbow's, he would have exposed his force to suchsharp shooting as he had not yet experienced, and that in a place wherehe could not have acted with either his artillery or cavalry. "

But Tarleton had tired of the adventure. After a pursuit of twenty-fivemiles, he found his progress arrested by a swamp, wide and deep, through which his eye could discern no beaten road. But this should havediscouraged no resolute commander, having his enemy before him. Marionhad already preceded him in the passage, and was then within ten miles, awaiting his approach. He could have reached him in three hours, andfour might have sufficed for the march and conflict. The expressof Cornwallis might have yielded that time, since it was not on thenecessity of the Earl that he had written. Tarleton insinuates that thesole desire of Marion was to save himself. Now, one fact will suffice toshow the incorrectness of this notion. For a distance of twelve mileson his retreat, the course of the partisan skirted the south branch ofBlack River. He could, at any time and in a few minutes, have plungedinto it, and no regular body of cavalry could have followed him. Besides, so close, we are told, was the pursuit, that the dragoonswere taking prisoners. The enemy must have been overtaken, but for theexpress. Under such circumstances it seems strange that Tarleton shouldshow such singular deference to the express as to forbear the blow, whenhis sabre was already uplifted, and one of his most troublesome enemieswas actually beneath it. It is scarcely possible that, with his dragoonsso close on the heels of the fugitives and informed by prisoners ofthe proximity of his foe, he should not have heard that he was finallyposted and in waiting for him. We will suppose, however, that he didnot. He turned the head of his column at the very moment when his objectwas attainable. Popular tradition represents him as expressing himselfdiscouraged at the sight of Ox swamp, and exclaiming, "Come, my boys!let us go back. We will soon find the 'Game Cock' (meaning Sumter), butas for this d----d 'Swamp Fox', the devil himself could not catch him. "From this speech of Tarleton, we are given to understand that the twopopular names were derived, by which Sumter and Marion were ever afterknown by their followers. 

Tarleton gained nothing by the pursuit of his wily antagonist. Marionremained in perfect mastery over the whole territory which he had beenwont to overrun, with a strength somewhat increased by the fact thathe had succeeded in baffling and eluding the attempts of one who hadhitherto been successful in all his enterprises. From this moment thecareer of Tarleton ceased to be fortunate. His failure to capture Marionwas the first in a long train of disappointments and disasters, some ofwhich were also attended by the most disgraceful and humbling defeats. 

Chapter 10. 

 Marion attempts Georgetown--Horry defeats Merritt-- Melton defeated by Barfield--Gabriel Marion taken by the Tories and murdered--Marion retires to Snow's Island. 

Failing to overtake Marion in his retreat, and unwilling to press uponhim in his stronghold, Tarleton turned the heads of his columns in thesearch after the other famous partisan of Carolina, General Sumter. Thisgentleman, after the surprise and dispersion of his force, which hadfollowed so closely the defeat of Gates, had fallen back, with the wreckof his command, to the neighborhood of the mountains. But, no soonerwas it understood that a second Continental army was on its march forCarolina, than he emerged from his retreat, and renewed his enterpriseswith as much activity as ever. It was to direct his arms against thisenemy, and to restrain his incursions, that Tarleton was recalled fromthe pursuit of Marion by Earl Cornwallis. 

The force under Sumter had increased to about five hundred men when heapproached, and took post within twenty-eight miles of the encampment ofCornwallis at Winnsboro'. This approach, particularly as Sumter, unlikeMarion, was apt to linger some time in a favorite position, induced theBritish commander to attempt his surprise. Col. Wemyss was accordinglysent against him with a strong body of British infantry. But Wemysswas defeated, severely wounded himself, and fell into the hands of theAmericans. The failure of Wemyss, and the audacity of Sumter, provokedthe anxiety and indignation of Cornwallis. Tarleton promptly secondedthe wishes of his superior, and rapidly advanced upon his adversary. Sumter, hearing of his approach, and with a force very far superiorto his own, commenced his retreat, and threw the Tyger River betweenhimself and his pursuer. Apprehensive only of losing his prey, and notat all doubtful of his victory, Tarleton continued the pursuit withabout four hundred mounted men, leaving the main body of his infantryand artillery to follow. As soon as Sumter discovered that the whole ofthe British army was not at his heels, he discontinued his flight, andwaited for his enemy at the house and farm of one Blackstock, on thebanks of the Tyger. Here an action followed, in which the British weredefeated. Tarleton lost ninety-two slain and one hundred wounded. TheAmericans lost three men slain and as many wounded. But among the latterwas their commander. The wound of Sumter was in the breast, and a verysevere one. He was wrapped up in the raw hide of a bullock, suspendedbetween two horses, and, guarded by a hundred faithful followers, * wasconveyed in safety to North Carolina, where, unhappily, he lay for sometime totally incapacitated from active performance. 

 * Judge James says "a guard of five men". --A. L. , 1996. --

This event was preceded and followed by others quite as encouraging tothe American cause. The battle of King's Mountain took place on the 7thOctober, 1780, in which the British, under Major Ferguson, experienced atotal defeat; Ferguson being slain, and the killed, wounded and capturedof his army, amounting to eleven hundred men. Meanwhile, the exampleof Marion and Sumter had aroused the partisan spirit in numerous otherplaces; and every distinct section of the country soon produced itsparticular leader, under whom the Whigs embodied themselves, strikingwherever an opportunity offered of cutting off the British and Toriesin detail, and retiring to places of safety, or dispersing in groups, on the approach of a superior force. This species of warfare was, of allkinds, that which was most likely to try the patience, and baffle theprogress, of the British commander. He could overrun the country, but hemade no conquests. His great armies passed over the land unquestioned, but had no sooner withdrawn, than his posts were assailed, hisdetachments cut off, his supplies arrested, and the Tories once moreoverawed by their fierce and fearless neighbors. Marion's brigade, inparticular, constantly in motion, --moving by night as frequently as byday, singularly well informed by its scouts, and appearing at the leastexpected moment, --was always ready to prevent the gathering, into forceand strength, of the loyalists. And this activity was shown, and thiswarfare waged, at a time, when, not only was the State without an army, without any distinct embodiment of its own, or of its confederates, --butwhen it was covered everywhere with strong and well appointed posts ofthe enemy. The position of Earl Cornwallis at Winnsboro', completed hischain of posts from Georgetown to Augusta, in a circle, the centre ofwhich would have been about Beaufort, in South Carolina, equidistantfrom Charleston and Savannah. These posts consisted of Georgetown, Camden, Winnsboro', Ninety-Six and Augusta. Within this circle was aninterior chain, at the distance of half the radius, consisting of FortWatson on the road to Camden, Motte's house, and Granby on the Congaree. Dorchester and Orangeburgh, on the road both to Ninety-Six andGranby, were fortified as posts of rest and deposit, on the line ofcommunication; as was Monk's Corner, or Biggin Church, and some othersmall posts on that to Camden. These posts were all judiciously chosen, both for arming the country and obtaining subsistence. *

 * Johnson's Greene, vol. 1. --

Penetrating between these posts, and snatching their prey, or smitingthe enemy's detachments, under the very jaws of their cannon, ourpartisans succeeded in embodying public opinion, through the very senseof shame, against their enemies. The courage of the Whigs was ennobled, and their timidity rebuked, when they beheld such a daring spirit, andone so crowned by frequent successes, in such petty numbers. The 'espritde corps', which these successes, and this spirit, awakened in thebrigade of Marion, necessarily imparted itself to the region of countryin which he operated; and the admiration which he inspired in thefriendly, and the fear which he taught to the adverse, uniting in theireffects, brought equally the faithful and the doubtful to his ranks. From the moment that he eluded the arts, and baffled the pursuit ofTarleton, the people of that tract of country, on a line stretchingfrom Camden, across, to the mouth of Black Creek on the Pedee, includinggenerally both banks of the Wateree, Santee and Pedee, were now(excepting Harrison's party on Lynch's Creek) either ready, or preparingto join him. Under these auspices, with his brigade increasing, Marionbegan to prepare for new enterprises. 

The British post at Georgetown was one of considerable strength andimportance. It was of special importance to Marion. From this place heprocured, or expected to procure, his supplies of salt, clothing, andammunition. Of these commodities he was now grievously in want. Tosurprise Georgetown became as desirable as it was difficult. Mariondetermined to attempt it. It was only by a surprise that he couldhope to be successful, and he made his plans accordingly. They wereunfortunate, and the event was particularly and personally distressingto himself. To expedite his schemes, he crossed Black river, at aretired place, called Potato Ferry, and proceeded by the "Gap-way"towards the object of his aim. Three miles from the town there is aninland swamp, called "White's Bay", which, discharging itself by twomouths, the one into Black river, the other into Sampit, completelyinsulates the town, which stands on the north side of the latter rivernear its junction with Winyaw bay. Over the creek which empties intothe Sampit, there is a bridge, two miles from Georgetown. In the rear ofthese swamps, Marion concealed himself with the main body of hisforce, sending out two parties to reconnoitre. One of these parties wascommanded by Col. P. Horry, the other by Capt. Melton. These officersboth encountered the enemy, but they were not both equally fortunate inthe result. Horry may be allowed to tell his own story. "I was sent, "he writes, "by Gen. Marion to reconnoitre Georgetown. I proceeded witha guide through the woods all night. At the dawn of day, I drew near thetown. I laid an ambuscade, with thirty men and three officers, near theroad. About sunrise a chair appeared with two ladies escorted by twoBritish officers. I was ready in advance with an officer to cut themoff, but reflecting that they might escape, and alarm the town, whichwould prevent my taking greater numbers, I desisted. The officers andchair halted very near me, but soon the chair went on, and the officersgallopped in retrograde into the town. Our party continued in ambush, until 10 o'clock A. M. 

"Nothing appearing, and men and horses having eaten nothing forthirty-six hours, we were hungered, and retired to a plantation of myquarter-master's, a Mr. White, not far distant. There a curious scenetook place. As soon as I entered the house... Four ladies appeared, twoof whom were Mrs. White and her daughter. I was asked what I wanted. Ianswered, food, refreshment. The other two ladies were those whom I hadseen escorted by the British officers. They seemed greatly agitated, and begged most earnestly that I would go away, for the family was verypoor, had no provisions of any sort, --that I knew that they were Whigs, and surely would not add to their distress. So pressing were they for myimmediately leaving the plantation, that I thought they had more inview than they pretended. I kept my eye on Mrs. White, and saw she hada smiling countenance, but said nothing. Soon she left the room, and Ileft it also and went into the piazza, laid my cap, sword and pistolson the long bench, and walked the piazza;--when I discovered Mrs. Whitebehind the house chimney beckoning me. I got to her undiscovered by theyoung ladies, when she said: 'Colonel Horry, be on your guard; these twoyoung ladies, Miss F----and M----, are just from Georgetown; they aremuch frightened, and I believe the British are leaving it and may soonattack you. As to provisions, which they make such a rout about, I haveplenty for your men and horses in yonder barn, but you must affect totake them by force. Hams, bacon, rice, and fodder, are there. You mustinsist on the key of the barn, and threaten to split the door with anaxe if not immediately opened. ' I begged her to say no more, for Iwas well acquainted with all such matters--to leave the ladies andeverything else to my management. She said 'Yes; but do not ruin us: beartful and cunning, or Mr. White may be hanged and all our houses burntover our heads. ' We both secretly returned, she to the room where theyoung ladies were, and I to the piazza I had just left. "*1* This littlenarrative will give some idea of the straits to which the good whigmatrons of Carolina were sometimes reduced in those days. But no timewas allowed Horry to extort the provisions as suggested. He had scarcelygot to the piazza when his videttes gave the alarm. Two shots warnedhim of the approach of the foe, and forgetting that his cap, sabre andpistols, lay on the long bench on the piazza, Horry mounted hishorse, left the enclosure, and rushed into the melee. The British wereseventeen in number, well mounted, and commanded by a brave fellow namedMerritt. The dragoons, taken by surprise, turned in flight, and, smitingat every step, the partisans pursued them with fatal earnestness. Buttwo men are reported to have escaped death or captivity, and they weretheir captain and a sergeant. It was in approaching to encounter Merrittthat Horry discovered that he was weaponless. "My officers, " says he, "in succession, came up with Captain Merritt, who was in the rear ofhis party, urging them forward. They engaged him. He was a brave fellow. Baxter, with pistols, fired at his breast, and missing him, retired;Postelle and Greene, with swords, engaged him; both were beaten off. Greene nearly lost his head. His buckskin breeches were cut throughseveral inches.... I almost blush to say that this one British officerbeat off three Americans. "*2* The honor of the day was decidedly withMerritt, though he was beaten. He was no doubt a far better swordsmanthan our self-taught cavalry, with broadswords wrought out of mill saws. Merritt abandoned his horse, and escaped to a neighboring swamp, fromwhence, at midnight, he got into Georgetown. *3* Two of Horry's prisonersproved to be American soldiers; "the sergeant belonged to the 3dRegiment of South Carolina Continentals, and a drummer formerly belongedto my own Regiment (the 5th). The drummer was cruelly wounded on thehead; the sergeant was of Virginia, and wounded on the arm. They saidthey had enlisted from the Prison Ship to have a chance of escaping andjoining their countrymen in arms, "*4* and would have done so that daybut that the British captain was in the rear, and they dared not. Horryrejoined Marion in safety with his prisoners. 

 *1* MS. Life of Horry by himself, pp. 84-87. 

 *2* MS. Of Horry, p. 89. 

 *3* Weems, speaking for Horry, tells us that he met with Captain Merritt after the war in New York, who recognized him, and told him that he had never had such a fright in all his life as upon that occasion. "Will you believe me, sir, " said he, "when I assure you that I went out that morning with my locks of as bright an auburn as ever curled upon the forehead of youth, and by the time I had crawled out of the swamp into Georgetown that night, they were as grey as a badger!"

 *4* MS. Of Horry. --

Captain Melton was not so fortunate. He came in contact with a partyof Tories, much larger than his own force, who were patrolling, underCaptain Barfield, near White's Bridge. A sharp, but short actionfollowed, in which Melton was compelled to retreat. But Gabriel Marion, a nephew of the General, had his horse shot under him, and fell into thehands of the Tories. As soon as he was recognized he was put to death, no respite allowed, no pause, no prayer. * His name was fatal to him. Theloss was severely felt by his uncle, who, with no family or childrenof his own, had lavished the greater part of his affections upon thisyouth, of whom high expectations had been formed, and who had alreadyfrequently distinguished himself by his gallantry and conduct. Hehad held a lieutenancy in the Second South Carolina Regiment, and waspresent at the battle of Fort Moultrie. Subsequently, he had takenpart in most of the adventures of his uncle. Marion felt his privationkeenly; but he consoled himself by saying that "he should not mournfor him. The youth was virtuous, and had fallen in the cause of hiscountry!" But this event, with some other instances of brutality andmurder on the part of the Tories, happening about this time, gave amore savage character than ever to the warfare which ensued. Motives ofprivate anger and personal revenge embittered and increased theusual ferocities of civil war; and hundreds of dreadful and desperatetragedies gave that peculiar aspect to the struggle, which led Greene tosay that the inhabitants pursued each other rather like wild beasts thanlike men. In the Cheraw district, on the Pedee, above the line whereMarion commanded, the Whig and Tory warfare, of which we know but littlebeyond this fact, was one of utter extermination. The revolutionarystruggle in Carolina was of a sort utterly unknown in any other part ofthe Union. 

 * Judge James writes: "Gabriel Marion... Was taken prisoner; but as soon as his name was announced, he was inhumanely shot. The instrument of death was planted so near that it burnt his linen at the breast. "--A. L. , 1996. --

The attempt upon Georgetown was thus defeated. The British had takenthe alarm, and were now in strength, and in a state of vigilance andactivity, which precluded the possibility of surprise. Marion's wishes, therefore, with regard to this place, were deferred accordingly to amore auspicious season. He retired to Snow's Island, where he made hiscamp. This place acquired large celebrity as the "camp of Marion". To this day it is pointed out with this distinguishing title, and itstraditionary honors insisted upon. It was peculiarly eligible for hispurposes, furnishing a secure retreat, a depot for his arms, ammunition, prisoners and invalids--difficult of access, easily guarded, andcontiguous to the scenes of his most active operations. "Snow's Island"lies at the confluence of Lynch's Creek and the Pedee. On the east flowsthe latter river; on the west, Clark's Creek, issuing from Lynch's, anda stream navigable for small vessels; on the north lies Lynch's Creek, wide and deep, but nearly choked by rafts of logs and refuse timber. Theisland, high river swamp, was spacious, and, like all the Pedee riverswamp of that day, abounded in live stock and provision. Thick woodscovered the elevated tracts, dense cane-brakes the lower, and hereand there the eye rested upon a cultivated spot, in maize, which theinvalids and convalescents were wont to tend. 

Here Marion made his fortress. Having secured all the boats of theneighborhood, he chose such as he needed, and destroyed the rest. Wherethe natural defences of the island seemed to require aid from art, hebestowed it; and, by cutting away bridges and obstructing the ordinarypathways with timber, he contrived to insulate, as much as possible, thecountry under his command. From this fortress, his scouting parties weresent forth nightly in all directions. Enemies were always easy to befound. The British maintained minor posts at Nelson's Ferry and Scott'sLake, as well as Georgetown; and the Tories on Lynch's Creek and LittlePedee were much more numerous, if less skilfully conducted, than the menof Marion. 

Marion's encampment implied no repose, no forbearance of the activebusiness of war. Very far from it. He was never more dangerous toan enemy, than when he seemed quietly in camp. His camp, indeed, wasfrequently a lure, by which to tempt the Tories into unseasonableexposure. The post at Snow's Island gave him particular facilities forthis species of warfare. He had but to cross a river, and a three hours'march enabled him to forage in an enemy's country. Reinforcements cameto him daily, and it was only now, for the first time, that his commandbegan to assume the appearance, and exhibit the force of a brigade. * Hebecame somewhat bolder in consequence, in the tone which he used towardsthe Tories. We find him at this period, ** sending forth his officerswith orders of a peremptory nature. He writes to Adjutant Postelle:"You will proceed with a party down Black river, from Black Mingo to themouth of Pedee, and come up to this place. You will take all theboats and canoes from Euhaney up, and impress negroes to bring themto camp--put some men to see them safe. You will take every horse, towhomsoever he may belong, whether friend or foe. You will take all armsand ammunition for the use of our service. You will forbid allpersons from carrying any grains, stock, or any sort of provisions toGeorgetown, or where the enemy may get them, on pain of being held astraitors, and enemies to the Americans. All persons who will not joinyou, you will take prisoners and bring to me, &c. "

 * December 30, 1780. 

 ** Correspondence of Marion, quoted by James. --

He then laid the country under martial law, the proper measure forstraitening an enemy, and compelling sluggish and doubtful friends todeclare themselves. In this proceeding he was justified by the authorityof Governor Rutledge, from whom, with a brigadier's commission, he hadreceived military command over a region of country of vast extent, which the indefatigable partisan contrived to compass and coerce, if notaltogether to command and control. Similar orders with those which weregiven to Postelle, were addressed to Col. P. Horry; and they were bothdispatched; the one, as we have seen, between Black and Pedee rivers, the other to Waccamaw Creek. Other parties were sent out in otherquarters, with like objects; and, with the whole contiguous country thusplaced under the keenest surveillance, Marion hailed the close of theyear in his swamp fortress. All these parties were more or lessengaged with the enemy, at different periods, while on their scoutingexpeditions. Several small, but spirited achievements, of which historycondescends to furnish no details, occurred among them, in which, however, the partisans were not always successful. One instance maybe mentioned. Lieutenant Roger Gordon had been dispatched with a smallparty to patrol on Lynch's Creek. He suffered himself, while takingrefreshments at a house, to be surrounded by a party of Tories, underCapt. Butler. The enemy made good his approaches to the house, and setit on fire. Finding himself greatly outnumbered, and perceiving thatresistance would be useless, Gordon surrendered upon terms; but as soonas his party had yielded up their arms, they were murdered to a man. These bloody events were accompanied and followed by others of a likecharacter. Nor were the Tories always, or exclusively guilty. Thesanguinary warfare began with them, but it was perpetuated by mutualexcesses. Shortly after the murder of Gabriel Marion, the person who wassupposed to have been guilty of the savage crime, was taken prisonerby Horry. While on the road, returning to the camp, environed by hisguards, the prisoner was shot down by an officer, who escaped detectionunder cover of the night. Prisoners, after this, were seldom made oneither side, where the Whigs and Tories came in conflict. No quarter wasgiven. Safety lay in victory alone, and the vanquished, if they couldnot find refuge in the swamps, found no mercy from the conqueror. Even where, under the occasional influence of a milder mood, or mildercaptain, the discomfited were admitted to present mercy, there was stillno security for their lives. There were a few infuriated men, who defiedsubordination, by whom, on both sides, the unhappy captives were sure tobe sacrificed. 

We need not say, in behalf of Marion, and his superior officers, that, where he or they commanded in person, no countenance was given to thesebloody principles and performances. Marion was notoriously the mostmerciful of enemies. The death of the prisoner in the ranks of Horry, though the unhappy man was charged with the murder of his favoritenephew, was a subject of the greatest soreness and annoyance to hismind; and he warmly expressed the indignation which he felt, at anaction which he could not punish. 

Chapter 11. 

 Marion's Camp at Snow's Island--The Character of his Warfare--Of his Men--Anecdotes of Conyers and Horry--He feasts a British Officer on Potatoes--Quells a Mutiny. 

Marion's career as a partisan, in the thickets and swamps of Carolina, is abundantly distinguished by the picturesque; but it was while heheld his camp at Snow's Island, that it received its highest colors ofromance. In this snug and impenetrable fortress, he reminds us verymuch of the ancient feudal baron of France and Germany, who, perched oncastled eminence, looked down with the complacency of an eagle from hiseyrie, and marked all below him for his own. The resemblance is good inall respects but one. The plea and justification of Marion are complete. His warfare was legitimate. He was no mountain robber, --no selfish andreckless ruler, thirsting for spoil and delighting inhumanly in blood. The love of liberty, the defence of country, the protection of thefeeble, the maintenance of humanity and all its dearest interests, against its tyrant--these were the noble incentives which strengthenedhim in his stronghold, made it terrible in the eyes of his enemy, andsacred in those of his countrymen. Here he lay, grimly watching forthe proper time and opportunity when to sally forth and strike. Hisposition, so far as it sheltered him from his enemies, and gave himfacilities for their overthrow, was wonderfully like that of theknightly robber of the Middle Ages. True, his camp was without itscastle--but it had its fosse and keep--its draw-bridge and portcullis. There were no towers frowning in stone and iron--but there were tallpillars of pine and cypress, from the waving tops of which the warderslooked out, and gave warning of the foe or the victim. No cannonthundered from his walls; no knights, shining in armor, sallied forthto the tourney. He was fond of none of the mere pomps of war. He held norevels--"drank no wine through the helmet barred, " and, quite unlike thebaronial ruffian of the Middle Ages, was strangely indifferent tothe feasts of gluttony and swilled insolence. He found no joy in thepleasures of the table. Art had done little to increase the comforts orthe securities of his fortress. It was one, complete to his hands, fromthose of nature--such a one as must have delighted the generous Englishoutlaw of Sherwood forest--isolated by deep ravines and rivers, a denseforest of mighty trees, and interminable undergrowth. The vine and briarguarded his passes. The laurel and the shrub, the vine and sweet scentedjessamine, roofed his dwelling, and clambered up between his closedeyelids and the stars. Obstructions, scarcely penetrable by any foe, crowded the pathways to his tent;--and no footstep, not practised inthe secret, and 'to the manner born', might pass unchallenged to hismidnight rest. The swamp was his moat; his bulwarks were the deepravines, which, watched by sleepless rifles, were quite as impregnableas the castles on the Rhine. Here, in the possession of his fortress, the partisan slept secure. In the defence of such a place, in theemployment of such material as he had to use, Marion stands out alone inour written history, as the great master of that sort of strategy, whichrenders the untaught militia-man in his native thickets, a match for thebest drilled veteran of Europe. Marion seemed to possess an intuitiveknowledge of his men and material, by which, without effort, he was ledto the most judicious modes for their exercise. He beheld, at a glance, the evils or advantages of a position. By a nice adaptation of hisresources to his situation, he promptly supplied its deficiencies andrepaired its defects. Till this was done, he did not sleep;--he relaxedin none of his endeavors. By patient toil, by keenest vigilance, by agenius peculiarly his own, he reconciled those inequalities offortune or circumstance, under which ordinary men sit down in despair. Surrounded by superior foes, he showed no solicitude on this account. If his position was good, their superiority gave him little concern. He soon contrived to lessen it, by cutting off their advanced parties, their scouts or foragers, and striking at their detachments in detail. It was on their own ground, in their immediate presence, nay, in thevery midst of them, that he frequently made himself a home. Better liveupon foes than upon friends, was his maxim; and this practice of livingamongst foes was the great school by which his people were taughtvigilance. 

The adroitness and address of Marion's captainship were never more fullydisplayed than when he kept Snow's Island; sallying forth, as occasionoffered, to harass the superior foe, to cut off his convoys, or tobreak up, before they could well embody, the gathering and undisciplinedTories. His movements were marked by equal promptitude and wariness. He suffered no risks from a neglect of proper precaution. His habitsof circumspection and resolve ran together in happy unison. His plans, carefully considered beforehand, were always timed with the happiestreference to the condition and feelings of his men. To prepare thatcondition, and to train those feelings, were the chief employment of hisrepose. He knew his game, and how it should be played, before a step wastaken or a weapon drawn. When he himself, or any of his parties, leftthe island, upon an expedition, they advanced along no beaten paths. They made them as they went. He had the Indian faculty in perfection, ofgathering his course from the sun, from the stars, from the bark and thetops of trees, and such other natural guides, as the woodman acquiresonly through long and watchful experience. Many of the trails, thusopened by him, upon these expeditions, are now the ordinary avenues ofthe country. On starting, he almost invariably struck into the woods, and seeking the heads of the larger water courses, crossed them at theirfirst and small beginnings. He destroyed the bridges where he could. Hepreferred fords. The former not only facilitated the progress of lessfearless enemies, but apprised them of his own approach. If speed wasessential, a more direct, but not less cautious route was pursued. Thestream was crossed sometimes where it was deepest. On such occasionsthe party swam their horses, Marion himself leading the way, though hehimself was unable to swim. He rode a famous horse called Ball, whichhe had taken from a loyalist captain of that name. This animal was asorrel, of high, generous blood, and took the water as if born to it. The horses of the brigade soon learned to follow him as naturally astheir riders followed his master. There was no waiting for pontoons andboats. Had there been there would have been no surprises. 

The secrecy with which Marion conducted his expeditions was, perhaps, one of the reasons for their frequent success. He entrusted his schemesto nobody, not even his most confidential officers. He consulted withthem respectfully, heard them patiently, weighed their suggestions, andsilently approached his conclusions. They knew his determinations onlyfrom his actions. He left no track behind him, if it were possible toavoid it. He was often vainly hunted after by his own detachments. Hewas more apt at finding them than they him. His scouts were taught apeculiar and shrill whistle, which, at night, could be heard at a mostastonishing distance. We are reminded of the signal of Roderick Dhu:--

 ----"He whistled shrill, And he was answered from the hill, Wild as the scream of the curlew, From crag to crag, the signal flew. "

His expeditions were frequently long, and his men, hurrying forthwithout due preparation, not unfrequently suffered much privation fromwant of food. To guard against this danger, it was their habit to watchhis cook. If they saw him unusually busied in preparing supplies ofthe rude, portable food, which it was Marion's custom to carry on suchoccasions, they knew what was before them, and provided themselvesaccordingly. In no other way could they arrive at their general'sintentions. His favorite time for moving was with the setting sun, and then it was known that the march would continue all night. Beforestriking any sudden blow, he has been known to march sixty or seventymiles, taking no other food in twenty-four hours, than a meal ofcold potatoes and a draught of cold water. The latter might have beenrepeated. This was truly a Spartan process for acquiring vigor. Itsresults were a degree of patient hardihood, as well in officers as men, to which few soldiers in any periods have attained. These marches weremade in all seasons. His men were badly clothed in homespun, a lightwear which afforded little warmth. They slept in the open air, andfrequently without a blanket. Their ordinary food consisted of sweetpotatoes, garnished, on fortunate occasions, with lean beef. Saltwas only to be had when they succeeded in the capture of an enemy'scommissariat; and even when this most necessary of all human condimentswas obtained, the unselfish nature of Marion made him indifferent to itsuse. He distributed it on such occasions, in quantities not exceeding abushel, to each Whig family; and by this patriarchal care, still fartherendeared himself to the affection of his followers. 

The effect of this mode of progress was soon felt by the people of thepartisan. They quickly sought to emulate the virtues which they admired. They became expert in the arts which he practised so successfully. Theconstant employment which he gave them, the nature of his exactions, taught activity, vigilance, coolness and audacity. His firstrequisition, from his subordinates, was good information. His scoutswere always his best men. They were generally good horsemen, and firstrate shots. His cavalry were, in fact, so many mounted gunmen, notuniformly weaponed, but carrying the rifle, the carbine, or an ordinaryfowling-piece, as they happened to possess or procure them. Theirswords, unless taken from the enemy, were made out of mill saws, roughly manufactured by a forest blacksmith. His scouts were out in alldirections, and at all hours. They did the double duty of patrol andspies. They hovered about the posts of the enemy, crouching inthe thicket, or darting along the plain, picking up prisoners, andinformation, and spoils together. They cut off stragglers, encounteredpatrols of the foe, and arrested his supplies on the way to thegarrison. Sometimes the single scout, buried in the thick tops of thetree, looked down upon the march of his legions, or hung perched overthe hostile encampment till it slept, then slipping down, stole throughthe silent host, carrying off a drowsy sentinel, or a favorite charger, upon which the daring spy flourished conspicuous among his lessfortunate companions. The boldness of these adventurers was sometimeswonderful almost beyond belief. It was the strict result of thatconfidence in their woodman skill, which the practice of their leader, and his invariable success, naturally taught them to entertain. 

The mutual confidence which thus grew up between our partisan and hismen, made the business of war, in spite of its peculiar difficultiesand privations, a pleasant one. As they had no doubts of their leader'sability to conduct them to victory, he had no apprehension, but, whenbrought to a meeting with the enemy, that they would secure it. Hismode of battle was a simple one; generally very direct; but he waswonderfully prompt in availing himself of the exigencies of the affair. His rule was to know his enemy, how posted and in what strength, --then, if his men were set on, they had nothing to do but to fight. They knewthat he had so placed them that valor was the only requisite. A swamp, right or left, or in his rear; a thicket beside him;--any spot in whichtime could be gained, and an inexperienced militia rallied, long enoughto become reconciled to the unaccustomed sights and sounds of war, --wereall that he required, in order to secure a fit position for fighting in. He found no difficulty in making good soldiers of them. It caused himno surprise, and we may add no great concern, that his raw militiamen, armed with rifle and ducking gun, should retire before the pushingbayonets of a regular soldiery. He considered it mere butchery to exposethem to this trial. But he taught his men to retire slowly, to take postbehind the first tree or thicket, reload, and try the effect of asecond fire; and so on, of a third and fourth, retiring still, but neverforgetting to take advantage of every shelter that offered itself. Heexpected them to fly, but not too far to be useful. We shall see theeffect of this training at Eutaw, where the militia in the advancedelivered seventeen fires, before they yielded to the press of theenemy. But, says Johnson, with equal truth and terseness, "that distrustof their own immediate commanders which militia are too apt to beaffected with, never produced an emotion where Marion and Pickenscommanded. "* The history of American warfare shows conclusively that, under the right leaders, the American militia are as cool in moments ofdanger as the best drilled soldiery in the universe. But they have beena thousand times disgraced by imbecile and vainglorious pretenders. 

 * History of Greene, p. 225, vol. 2. --

Marion was admirably supported by his followers. Several officers of thebrigade were distinguished men. Of Major John James we have alreadyseen something. All the brothers were men of courage and great muscularactivity. The Witherspoons were similarly endowed. His chief counsellorswere the brothers Horry, and Postelle, --all like himself descended fromHuguenot stocks. To the two last (the brothers Postelle) it has beenremarked, that "nothing appeared difficult. "* Captains Baxter andConyers were particularly distinguished, --the first for his giganticframe, which was informed by a corresponding courage; the latter by hisequal bravery and horsemanship. He was a sort of knight-errant in thebrigade, and his behavior seemed not unfrequently dictated by a passionfor chivalrous display. An anecdote, in connection with Conyers, istold, which will serve to show what was the spirit of the patrioticdamsels of the revolution. Marion had environed Colonel Watson, at aplantation where Mary, the second daughter of John Witherspoon, wasliving at the time. She was betrothed to Conyers. The gallant captaindaily challenged the British posts, skirmishing in the sight of hismistress. His daring was apparent enough--his great skill and couragewere known. He presented himself frequently before the lines of theenemy, either as a single champion or at the head of his troop. Thepride of the maiden's heart may be imagined when she heard the warningin the camp, as she frequently did--"Take care, --there is Conyers!" Theinsult was unresented: but, one day, when her lover appeared as usual, aBritish officer, approaching her, spoke sneeringly, or disrespectfully, of our knight-errant. The high spirited girl drew the shoe from herfoot, and flinging it in his face, exclaimed, "Coward! go and meet him!"The chronicler from whom we derive this anecdote is particularly carefulto tell us that it was a walking shoe and not a kid slipper which shemade use of; by which we are to understand, that she was no ways tenderof the stroke. 

 * Judge James' Sketch of Marion. --

The Horrys were both able officers. Hugh was a particular favorite ofMarion. For his brother he had large esteem. Of Peter Horry we haveseveral amusing anecdotes, some of which we gather from himself. It isupon the authority of his MS. Memoir that we depend for several mattersof interest in this volume. This memoir, written in the old age of theauthor, and while he suffered from infirmities of age and health, is acrude but not uninteresting narrative of events in his own life, and ofthe war. The colonel confesses himself very frankly. In his youth he hada great passion for the sex, which led him into frequent difficulties. These, though never very serious, he most seriously relates. He wasbrave, and ambitious of distinction. This ambition led him to desirea command of cavalry rather than of infantry. But he was no rider--wasseveral times unhorsed in combat, and was indebted to the fidelity ofhis soldiers for his safety. * On one occasion his escape was more narrowfrom a different cause. He gives us a ludicrous account of it himself. Crossing the swamp at Lynch's Creek, to join Marion, in the dark, andthe swamp swimming, he encountered the bough of a tree, to which heclung, while his horse passed from under him. He was no swimmer, and, but for timely assistance from his followers, would have been drowned. Another story, which places him in a scarcely less ludicrous attitude, is told by Garden. ** He was ordered by Marion to wait, in ambush, theapproach of a British detachment. The duty was executed with skill; theenemy was completely in his power. But he labored under an impedimentin his speech, which, we may readily suppose, was greatly increased byanxiety and excitement. The word "fire" stuck in his throat, as "amen"did in that of Macbeth. The emergency was pressing, but this onlyincreased the difficulty. In vain did he make the attempt. He could say"fi-fi-fi!" but he could get no further--the "r" was incorrigible. Atlength, irritated almost to madness, he exclaimed, "SHOOT, d----n you, SHOOT! you know what I would say! Shoot, and be d----d to you!" He waspresent, and acted bravely, in almost every affair of consequence, inthe brigade of Marion. At Quinby, Capt. Baxter, already mentioned, a mandistinguished by his great strength and courage, as well as size, andby equally great simplicity of character, cried out, "I am wounded, colonel!" "Think no more of it, Baxter, " was the answer of Horry, "butstand to your post. " "But I can't stand, " says Baxter, "I am woundeda second time. " "Lie down then, Baxter, but quit not your post. " "Theyhave shot me again, colonel, " said the wounded man, "and if I stay anylonger here, I shall be shot to pieces. " "Be it so, Baxter, but stirnot, " was the order, which the brave fellow obeyed, receiving a fourthwound before the engagement was over. 

 * MS. Memoir, p. 51. 

 ** Anecdotes, first series, p. 30. --

It was while Marion was lying with his main force at the camp at Snow'sIsland, that two circumstances occurred which deserve mention, asequally serving to illustrate his own and the character of the warfareof that time and region. One of these occurrences has long been apopular anecdote, and, as such, has been made the subject of a verycharming picture, which has done something towards giving it a moreextended circulation. * The other is less generally known, but is notless deserving of the popular ear, as distinguishing, quite as much asthe former, the purity, simplicity, and firmness of Marion's character. It appears that, desiring the exchange of prisoners, a young officer wasdispatched from the British post at Georgetown to the swamp encampmentof Marion, in order to effect this object. He was encountered by oneof the scouting parties of the brigade, carefully blindfolded, andconducted, by intricate paths, through the wild passes, and into thedeep recesses of the island. Here, when his eyes were uncovered, hefound himself surrounded by a motley multitude, which might well havereminded him of Robin Hood and his outlaws. The scene was unquestionablywonderfully picturesque and attractive, and our young officer seems tohave been duly impressed by it. He was in the middle of one of thosegrand natural amphitheatres so common in our swamp forests, in whichthe massive pine, the gigantic cypress, and the stately and ever-greenlaurel, streaming with moss, and linking their opposite arms, inflexiblylocked in the embrace of centuries, group together, with elaborate limbsand leaves, the chief and most graceful features of Gothic architecture. To these recesses, through the massed foliage of the forest, thesunlight came as sparingly, and with rays as mellow and subdued, asthrough the painted window of the old cathedral, falling upon aisle andchancel. Scattered around were the forms of those hardy warriors withwhom our young officer was yet destined, most probably, to meet inconflict, --strange or savage in costume or attitude--lithe and sinewy offrame--keen-eyed and wakeful at the least alarm. Some slept, some joinedin boyish sports; some with foot in stirrup, stood ready for the signalto mount and march. The deadly rifle leaned against the tree, thesabre depended from its boughs. Steeds were browsing in the shade, withloosened bits, but saddled, ready at the first sound of the bugle toskirr through brake and thicket. Distant fires, dimly burning, sent uptheir faint white smokes, that, mingling with the thick forest tops, which they could not pierce, were scarce distinguishable from the longgrey moss which made the old trees look like so many ancient patriarchs. But the most remarkable object in all this scene was Marion himself. Could it be that the person who stood before our visitor--"in statureof the smallest size, thin, as well as low"**--was that of the redoubtedchief, whose sleepless activity and patriotic zeal had carried terror tothe gates of Charleston; had baffled the pursuit and defied the arms ofthe best British captains; had beaten the equal enemy, and laughedat the superior? Certainly, if he were, then never were the simpleresources of intellect, as distinguishable from strength of limb, orpowers of muscle, so wonderfully evident as in this particular instance. The physical powers of Marion were those simply of endurance. Hisframe had an iron hardihood, derived from severe discipline and subdueddesires and appetites, but lacked the necessary muscle and capacities ofthe mere soldier. It was as the general, the commander, the counsellor, rather than as the simple leader of his men, that Marion takes rank, and is to be considered in the annals of war. He attempted no physicalachievements, and seems to have placed very little reliance upon hispersonal prowess. ***

 * General Marion, in his swamp encampment, inviting the British officer to dinner. Painted by J. B. White; engraved by Sartain; published by the Apollo Association. 

 ** Henry Lee's Memoirs. He adds: "His visage was not pleasing, and his manners not captivating. He was reserved and silent, entering into conversation only when necessary, and then with modesty and good sense. He possessed a strong mind, improved by its own reflections and observations, not by books or travel. His dress was like his address-- plain, regarding comfort and decency only. In his meals he was abstemious, eating generally of one dish, and drinking water mostly. He was sedulous and constant in his attention to the duties of his station, to which every other consideration yielded. Even the charms of the fair, like the luxuries of the table and the allurements of wealth, seemed to be lost upon him. The procurement of subsistence for his men, and the continuance of annoyance for his enemy, engrossed his entire mind. He was virtuous all over; never, even in manner, much less in reality, did he trench upon right. Beloved by his friends, and respected by his enemies, he exhibited a luminous example of the beneficial effects to be produced by an individual who, with only small means at his command, possesses a virtuous heart, a strong head, and a mind directed to the common good. "--Appendix to 'Memoirs', vol. 1 p. 396. 

 *** The dislike or indifference of Marion, to anything like mere military display, was a matter of occasional comment, and some jest, among his followers. Among other proofs which are given of this indifference, we are told, that, on one occasion, attempting to draw his sword from the scabbard, he failed to do so in consequence of the rust, the result of his infrequent employment of the weapon. Certainly, a rich event in the life of a military man. The fact is, that Marion seldom used his sword except in battle, or on occasions when its employment was inseparable from his duties. Long swords were then in fashion, but he continued to wear the small cut and thrust of the second regiment. Such a weapon better suited his inferior physique, and necessarily lessened the motives to personal adventure. --

The British visitor was a young man who had never seen Marion. The greatgenerals whom he was accustomed to see, were great of limb, portly, andhuge of proportion. Such was Cornwallis, and others of the British army. Such, too, was the case among the Americans. The average weight of theseopposing generals, during that war, is stated at more than two hundredpounds. The successes of Marion must naturally have led our youngEnglishman to look for something in his physique even above thisaverage, and verging on the gigantic. Vastness seems always the mostnecessary agent in provoking youthful wonder, and satisfying it. Hisastonishment, when they did meet, was, in all probability, not of a kindto lessen the partisan in his estimation. That a frame so slight, andseemingly so feeble, coupled with so much gentleness, and so littlepretension, should provoke a respect so general, and fears, on one side, so impressive, was well calculated to compel inquiry as to the truesources of this influence. Such an inquiry was in no way detrimentalto a reputation founded, like Marion's, on the successful exercise ofpeculiar mental endowments. The young officer, as soon as his businesswas dispatched, prepared to depart, but Marion gently detained him, ashe said, for dinner, which was in preparation. "The mild and dignifiedsimplicity of Marion's manners had already produced their effects, and, to prolong so interesting an interview, the invitation was accepted. Theentertainment was served up on pieces of bark, and consisted entirelyof roasted potatoes, of which the general ate heartily, requesting hisguest to profit by his example, repeating the old adage, that 'hunger isthe best sauce. '" "But surely, general, " said the officer, "this cannotbe your ordinary fare. " "Indeed, sir, it is, " he replied, "and we arefortunate on this occasion, entertaining company, to have more than ourusual allowance. "* The story goes, that the young Briton was so greatlyimpressed with the occurrence, that, on his return to Georgetown, heretired from the service, declaring his conviction that men who couldwith such content endure the privations of such a life, were not to besubdued. His conclusion was strictly logical, and hence, indeed, theimportance of such a warfare as that carried on by Marion, in which, ifhe obtained no great victories, he was yet never to be overcome. 

 * Garden--Anecdotes--First Series, p. 22. --

The next anecdote, if less pleasing in its particulars, is yet bettercalculated for the development of Marion's character, the equal powersof firmness and forbearance which he possessed, his superiority tocommon emotions, and the mingled gentleness and dignity with which heexecuted the most unpleasant duties of his command. Marion had placedone of his detachments at the plantation of a Mr. George Crofts, onSampit Creek. This person had proved invariably true to the Americancause; had supplied the partisans secretly with the munitions of war, with cattle and provisions. He was an invalid, however, suffering from amortal infirmity, which compelled his removal for medical attendance toGeorgetown, then in possession of the enemy. * During the absence ofthe family, Marion placed a sergeant in the dwelling-house, for itsprotection. From this place the guard was expelled by two officers ofthe brigade, and the house stripped of its contents. The facts werefirst disclosed to Marion by Col. P. Horry, who received them from thewife of Crofts. This lady pointed to the sword of her husband actuallyat the side of the principal offender. The indignation of Marion was notapt to expend itself in words. Redress was promised to the complainantand she was dismissed. Marion proceeded with all diligence to therecovery of the property. But his course was governed by prudence aswell as decision. The offenders were men of some influence, and had asmall faction in the brigade, which had already proved troublesome, andmight be dangerous. One of them was a major, the other a captain. Theirnames are both before us in the MS. Memoir of Horry, whose copiousdetail on this subject leaves nothing to be supplied. We forbear givingthem, as their personal publication would answer no good purpose. Theywere in command of a body of men, about sixty in number, known as theGeorgia Refugees. Upon the minds of these men the offenders had alreadysought to act, in reference to the expected collision with theirgeneral. Marion made his preparations with his ordinary quietness, andthen dispatched Horry to the person who was in possession of the swordof Croft; for which he made a formal demand. He refused to give it up, alleging that it was his, and taken in war. "If the general wantsit, " he added, "let him come for it himself. " When this reply wascommunicated to Marion he instructed Horry to renew the demand. Hispurpose seems to have been, discovering the temper of the offender, togain the necessary time. His officers, meanwhile, were gathering aroundhim. He was making his preparations for a struggle, which might bebloody, which might, indeed, involve not only the safety of his brigade, but his own future usefulness. Horry, however, with proper spirit, entreated not to be sent again to the offender, giving, as a reason forhis reluctance, that, in consequence of the previous rudeness of theother, he was not in the mood to tolerate a repetition of the indignity, and might, if irritated, be provoked to violence. Marion then dispatchedhis orderly to the guilty major, with a request, civilly worded, that hemight see him at head quarters. He appeared accordingly, accompaniedby the captain who had joined with him in the outrage, and under whoseinfluence he appeared to act. Marion renewed his demand, in person, forthe sword of Croft. The other again refused to deliver it, alleging that"Croft was a Tory, and even then with the enemy in Georgetown. "

 * The brigade of Marion was for a long period without medical attendance or a surgeon to dress his wounded. If a wound reached an artery the patient bled to death. To illustrate the fierce hostility of Whigs and Tories, a single anecdote will suffice. On one occasion, Horry had three men wounded near Georgetown. A surgeon of the Tories was then a prisoner in his ranks, yet he positively refused to dress the wounds, and suffered a fine youth named Kolb, to bleed to death before his eyes, from a slight injury upon the wrist. --

"Will you deliver me the sword or not, Major------?" was the answerwhich Marion made to this suggestion. 

"I will not!" was the reply of the offender. "At these words, " saysHorry in the MS. Before us, "I could forbear no longer, and said withgreat warmth, 'By G--d, sir, did I command this brigade, as you do, Iwould hang them both up in half an hour!' Marion sternly replied, --'Thisis none of your business, sir: they are both before me!--Sergeant of theguard, bring me a file of men with loaded arms and fixed bayonets!'--'Iwas silent!' adds Horry: 'all our field officers in camp were present, and when the second refusal of the sword was given, they all put theirhands to their swords in readiness to draw. My own sword was alreadydrawn!'"

In the regular service, and with officers accustomed to, and bred upin, the severe and stern sense of authority which is usually thoughtnecessary to a proper discipline, the refractory offender would mostprobably have been hewn down in the moment of his disobedience. Theeffect of such a proceeding, in the present instance, might have been ofthe most fatal character. The 'esprit de corps' might have prompted theimmediate followers of the offender to have seized upon their weapons, and, though annihilated, as Horry tells us they would have been, yetseveral valuable lives might have been lost, which the country could illhave spared. The mutiny would have been put down, but at what a price!The patience and prudence of Marion's character taught him forbearance. His mildness, by putting the offender entirely in the wrong, sojustified his severity, as to disarm the followers of the criminals. These, as we have already said, were about sixty in number. Horrycontinues: "Their intentions were, to call upon these men forsupport--our officers well knew that they meant, if possible, tointimidate Marion, so as to [make him] come into their measures ofplunder and Tory-killing. " The affair fortunately terminated withoutbloodshed. The prudence of the general had its effect. The delay gavetime to the offenders for reflection. Perhaps, looking round upontheir followers, they saw no consenting spirit of mutiny in their eyes, encouraging their own; for, "though many of these refugees were present, none offered to back or support the mutinous officers;"--and when theguard that was ordered, appeared in sight, the companion of the chiefoffender was seen to touch the arm of the other, who then profferedthe sword to Marion, saying, "General, you need not have sent for theguard. "* Marion, refusing to receive it, referred him to the sergeantof the guard, and thus doubly degraded, the dishonored major ofContinentals--for he was such--disappeared from sight, followed by hisassociate. His farther punishment was of a kind somewhat differing fromthose which are common to armies, by which the profession of arms issometimes quite as much dishonored as the criminal. Marion endeavored, by his punishments, to elevate the sense of character in the spectators. He had some of the notions of Napoleon on this subject. He was averseto those brutal punishments which, in the creature, degrade the gloriousimage of the Creator. In the case of the two offenders, thus dismissedfrom his presence, the penalty was, of all others, the most terrible topersons, in whose minds there remained the sparks even of a conventionalhonor. These men had been guilty of numerous offences against humanity. Marion expelled them from his brigade. Subsequently, their actionsbecame such, that he proclaimed their outlawry through the country. ** Byone of these men he was challenged to single combat, but he treated thesummons with deserved contempt. His composure remained unruffled by thecircumstance. 

 * Horry's MS. , from which the several extracts preceding have been made. --pp. 100-103. 

 ** He set up on trees and houses, in public places, proclamations in substance thus, that Major----and Capt. ---- did not belong to his brigade, that they were banditti, robbers and thieves, --were hereby deemed out of the laws, and might be killed wherever found. --Horry's MS. Pp. 104, 105. --

In this affair, as in numerous others, Marion's great knowledge of themilitia service, and of the peculiar people with whom he sometimes hadto deal, enabled him to relieve himself with little difficulty fromtroublesome companions. Of these he necessarily had many; for theexigencies of the country were such that patriotism was not permittedto be too nice in the material which it was compelled to employ. Therefugees were from various quarters--were sometimes, as we have seen, adopted into his ranks from those of the defeated Tories, and werefrequently grossly ignorant, not only of what was due to the communityin which they found themselves, but still more ignorant of theobligations of that military law to which they voluntarily putthemselves in subjection. Marion's modes of punishment happily reachedall such cases without making the unhappy offender pay too dearly forthe sin of ignorance. On one occasion, Horry tells us that he carriedbefore him a prisoner charged with desertion to the enemy. "Marionreleased him, saying to me, 'let him go, he is too worthless to deservethe consideration of a court martial. '" Such a decision in such a case, would have shocked a military martinet, and yet, in all probability, thefellow thus discharged, never repeated the offence, and fought famouslyafterwards in the cause of his merciful commander. We have something yetto learn on these subjects. The result of a system in which scorn isso equally blended with mercy, was singularly good. In the case of theperson offending (as is frequently the case among militia) through sheerignorance of martial law, it teaches while it punishes, and reforms, insome degree, the being which it saves. Where the fault flows from nativeworthlessness of character the effect is not less beneficial. One ofMarion's modes of getting rid of worthless officers, was to put theminto coventry. In this practice his good officers joined him, and theirsympathy and cooperation soon secured his object. "He kept a list ofthem, " said Horry, "which he called his Black List. This mode answeredso well that many resigned their commissions, and the brigade wasthus fortunately rid of such worthless fellows. " The values of such ariddance is well shown by another sentence from the MS. Of our veteran. "I found the men seldom defective, were it not for the bad example setthem by their officers. "*

 * MS. P. 55. --

Chapter 12. 

 General Greene assumes Command of the Southern Army--His Correspondence with Marion--Condition of the Country-- Marion and Lee surprise Georgetown--Col. Horry defeats Gainey--Marion pursues McIlraith--Proposed Pitched Battle between Picked Men. 

The year 1781 opened, with new interest, the great drama of war in SouthCarolina. In that State, as we have seen, deprived of a large portionof her military effectives, opposition had never entirely ceased to theprogress of the invader. New and more strenuous exertions, on the partof Congress, were made to give her the necessary assistance. Withoutthis, the war, prolonged with whatever spirit by the partisans, was notlikely, because of their deficient materiel and resources, to reach anydecisive results. We may yield thus much, though we are unwilling toadmit the justice of those opinions, on the part of General Greene andother officers of the regular army, by which the influence of the nativemilitia, on the events of the war, was quite too much disparaged. Butfor this militia, and the great spirit and conduct manifested by thepartisan leaders in Carolina, no regular force which Congress would orcould have sent into the field, would have sufficed for the recovery ofthe two almost isolated States of South Carolina and Georgia. Indeed, we are inclined to think that, but for the native spirit which theyhad shown in the conquest, no attempt would have been made for theirrecovery. We should be at a loss, unless we recognized the value of thisnative spirit, and the importance of its achievements, however smallindividually, to determine by what means these States were finallyrecovered to the American confederacy. In no single pitched battlebetween the two grand armies did the Americans obtain a decided victory. The fruits of victory enured to them, quite as much in consequence ofthe active combination of the partisan captains, as by the vigor oftheir own arms. By these the enemy were harassed with unparalleledaudacity--their supplies and convoys cut off, their detachments capturedor cut to pieces, their movements watched, and their whole influenceso narrowed and restrained, as to be confined almost entirely to thoseplaces where they remained in strength. It is not meant by this, to lessen in any degree the value of the services rendered by theContinental forces. These were very great, and contributed in largemeasure to bring the war to an early and a happy issue. It is onlyintended to insist upon those claims of the partisans, which, unassertedby themselves, have been a little too irreverently dismissed by others. But for these leaders, Marion, Sumter, Pickens, Davie, Hampton, and somefifty more well endowed and gallant spirits, the Continental forces sentto Carolina would have vainly flung themselves upon the impenetrablemasses of the British. 

It was the vitality thus exhibited by the country, by the nativecaptains and people, that persuaded Congress, though sadly deficient inmaterials and men, to make another attempt to afford to the South, the succor which it asked. The wreck of the army under Gates had beencollected by that unfortunate commander at Charlotte, North Carolina. He was superseded in its command by General Greene, a soldier of greatfirmness and discretion, great prudence and forethought--qualitiesthe very opposite of those by which his predecessor seems to have beendistinguished. New hopes were awakened by this change of command, which, though slow of fruition, were not finally to be disappointed. Greene'sassumption of command was distinguished by a happy augury. In a fewhours after reaching camp Charlotte, he received intelligence ofthe success of Lt. -Col. Washington, against the British post held atClermont, South Carolina, by the British Colonel Rugely. Rugely waswell posted in a redoubt, which was tenable except against artillery. Washington's force consisted only of cavalry. A pleasant 'ruse deguerre' of the latter, which produced some little merriment among theAmericans at the expense of the British colonel, enabled Washington tosucceed. A pine log was rudely hewn into the appearance of a cannon, and, mounted upon wagon wheels, was advanced with solemnity to theattack. The affair looked sufficiently serious, and Rugely, to avoidany unnecessary effusion of blood, yielded the post. Cornwallis, drilycommenting on the transaction, in a letter to Tarleton, remarks, "Rugelywill not be made a brigadier. "

Greene proceeded in the duties of his command with characteristicvigilance and vigor. He soon put his army under marching orders for thePedee, which river he reached on the 26th of December. He took postnear Hicks' Creek, on the east side of the river. Before leaving campCharlotte, he had judiciously made up an independent brigade for GeneralMorgan, composed of his most efficient soldiers. It consisted of a corpsof light infantry, detached from the Maryland line, of 320 men; a bodyof Virginia militia of 200 men, and Washington's cavalry, perhaps onehundred more. Morgan was to be joined, on reaching the tract of countryassigned to his operations in South Carolina, by the militia latelyunder Sumter; that gallant leader being still 'hors de combat', inconsequence of the severe wound received at Blackstock's. The force ofMorgan was expected to be still farther increased by volunteermilitia from North Carolina; and he received a powerful support in thecooperation of Col. Pickens, with the well exercised militia under hiscommand. 

The object of this detachment was to give confidence and encouragementto the country, to inspirit the patriots, overawe the Tories, andfacilitate the accumulation of the necessary provisions. The main armyat Hicks' Creek, meanwhile, formed a camp of repose. This was necessary, as well as time and training, to its usefulness. It was sadly deficientin all the munitions and materials of war--the mere skeleton of an army, thin in numbers, and in a melancholy state of nakedness. "Were you toarrive, " says Greene, in a letter to Lafayette, dated December 29, "you would find a few ragged, half-starved troops in the wilderness, destitute of everything necessary for either the comfort or convenienceof soldiers. " The department was not only in a deplorable condition, butthe country was laid waste. Such a warfare as had been pursued among theinhabitants, beggars description. The whole body of the populationseems to have been in arms, at one time or another, and, unhappily, fromcauses already discussed, in opposite ranks. A civil war, as historyteaches, is like no other. Like a religious war, the elements of afanatical passion seem to work the mind up to a degree of ferocity, which is not common among the usual provocations of hate in ordinarywarfare. "The inhabitants, " says Greene, "pursue each other with savagefury.... The Whigs and the Tories are butchering one another hourly. The war here is upon a very different scale from what it is to thenorthward. It is a plain business there. The geography of the countryreduces its operations to two or three points. But here, it iseverywhere; and the country is so full of deep rivers and impassablecreeks and swamps, that you are always liable to misfortunes of acapital nature. "

The geographical character of the country, as described by Greene, is atonce suggestive of the partisan warfare. It is the true sort of warfarefor such a country. The sparseness of its settlements, and the extent ofits plains, indicate the employment of cavalry--the intricate woods andswamps as strikingly denote the uses and importance of riflemen. Thebrigade of Marion combined the qualities of both. 

General Greene, unlike his predecessor, knew the value of such servicesas those of Marion. On taking command at Charlotte, the very day afterhis arrival, he thus writes to our partisan: "I have not, " says he, "thehonor of your acquaintance, but am no stranger to your character andmerit. Your services in the lower part of South Carolina, in awing theTories and preventing the enemy from extending their limits, have beenvery important. And it is my earnest desire that you continue where youare until farther advice from me. Your letter of the 22d of last monthto General Gates, is before me. I am fully sensible your service is hardand sufferings great, but how great the prize for which we contend!I like your plan of frequently shifting your ground. It frequentlyprevents a surprise and perhaps a total loss of your party. Until a morepermanent army can be collected than is in the field at present, we mustendeavor to keep up a partisan war, and preserve the tide of sentimentamong the people in our favor as much as possible. Spies are the eyes ofan army, and without them a general is always groping in the dark, andcan neither secure himself, nor annoy his enemy. At present, I am badlyoff for intelligence. It is of the highest importance that I getthe earliest intelligence of any reinforcement which may arrive atCharleston. I wish you, therefore, to fix some plan for procuring suchinformation and conveying it to me with all possible dispatch. The spyshould be taught to be particular in his inquiries and get the namesof the corps, strength and commanding officer's name--place from whencethey came and where they are going. It will be best to fix upon somebodyin town to do this, and have a runner between you and him to give youthe intelligence; as a person who lives out of town cannot make theinquiries without being suspected. The utmost secrecy will be necessaryin the business. "

This letter found Marion at one of his lurking places on Black river. It was properly addressed to him. He was the man who, of all others, was not only best acquainted with the importance of good information, furnished promptly, but who had never been without his spies andrunners, from the first moment when he took the field. He readilyassumed the duty, and upon him Greene wholly relied for his intelligenceof every sort. Every occurrence in Charleston, Georgetown, and the wholelow country, was promptly furnished to the commander, to whom, however, Marion complains generally of the embarrassment in procuringintelligence, arising from the want of a little hard money--butthis want was quite as great in the camp of Greene as in that of thepartisan. 

It is probable that Marion had communicated to General Gates a desire tostrengthen his militia with a small force of regular troops. With such aforce, it was expected that something of a more decisive nature couldbe effected. His eye was upon Georgetown. The capture of that post wasparticularly desirable on many accounts; and if his views and wisheswere not communicated to Gates, they were to Greene, who subsequentlymade his dispositions for promoting them. While the latter was movingdown to his camp at Hicks' Creek, Marion was engaged in some very activemovements against a party under McArthur and Coffin, and between thatand the High Hills of the Santee. To cut off his retreat by the Pedee, a strong detachment had been pushed on from Charleston to Georgetown, intended to intercept him by ascending the north bank of the Pedeeriver. But Marion, informed of the movement, readily divined its object, and, retiring across the country, took a strong position on Lynch'sCreek, in the vicinity of his favorite retreat at Snow's Island, wherehe always kept a force to guard his boats and overawe the Tories. The moment his pursuers had left the ground, Marion resumed offensiveoperations upon it. In a short time, his parties were pushed down to theimmediate neighborhood of Georgetown, on all the rivers that flow intothe bay of Winyaw. His smaller parties were actively busy in collectingboats and transferring provisions to Snow's Island. This was with thetwofold purpose of straitening the enemy, and supplying the Continentalarmy. In the meantime, with a respectable force of mounted infantry, hehimself pressed closely upon the town, watching an opportunity whenhe might attempt something with a prospect of success. But the Britishconfined themselves to their redoubts. Marion had neither bayonets norartillery. With one hundred Continental troops--he writes with his usualmodesty to Greene--he should be able to render important services. While thus employed, he received intelligence that the loyalists wereembodying above him, in great force, under Hector McNeill. They were atAmy's Mill on Drowning Creek, and were emboldened by a knowledge of thefact that the main army was entirely destitute of cavalry. Marion wasnot able to detach a force sufficient for their dispersion, and it wouldhave been fatal to his safety to suffer them to descend upon him whilehis detachments were abroad. His first measures were to call in hisscattered parties. He then communicated to Greene the necessity ofreinforcing him against his increasing enemies, and, in particular, ofaddressing himself to the movements of McNeill, as he supposed them tobe directed, in part, against the country between the Waccamaw and thesea-coast, which had never been ravaged, and which, at this time, heldabundance of provisions. To this communication Greene replies: "I havedetached Major Anderson with one thousand regulars, and one hundredVirginia militia, to attack and disperse the Tories at Amy's Mill, onDrowning Creek. The party marched yesterday with orders to endeavor tosurprise them; perhaps you might be able to make some detachment thatwould contribute to their success.... I wish your answer respecting thepracticability of surprising the party near Nelson's; the route, andforce you will be able to detach. This inquiry is a matter that requiresgreat secrecy. " Another letter of Greene's, three days after (January22d), refers to some "skirmishes between your people and the enemy, which, " says Greene, "do them honor, "--but of which we have noparticulars. The same letter begs for a supply of horses. "Get as manyas you can, and let us have fifteen or twenty sent to camp without lossof time, they being wanted for immediate service. " By another letter, dated the day after the preceding, Greene communicates to Marion thedefeat of Tarleton by Morgan, at the celebrated battle of the Cowpens. "On the 17th at daybreak, the enemy, consisting of eleven hundred andfifty British troops and fifty militia, attacked General Morgan, whowas at the Cowpens, between Pacolet and Broad rivers, with 290 infantry, eighty cavalry and about six hundred militia. The action lasted fiftyminutes and was remarkably severe. Our brave troops charged the enemywith bayonets and entirely routed them, killing nearly one hundredand fifty, wounding upwards of two hundred, and taking more thanfive hundred prisoners, exclusive of the prisoners with two pieces ofartillery, thirty-five wagons, upwards of one hundred dragoon horses, and with the loss of only ten men killed and fifty-five wounded. Ourintrepid party pursued the enemy upwards of twenty miles. About thirtycommissioned officers are among the prisoners. Col. Tarleton had hishorse killed and was wounded, but made his escape with two hundred ofhis troops. "

Before receiving this grateful intelligence Marion had been joined byLieut. -Col. Lee, at the head of a legion which acquired high reputationfor its spirit and activity during the war. Lee tells us that it wasno easy matter to find our partisan. "An officer, with a small party, preceded Lee a few days' march to find out Marion, who was known to varyhis position in the swamps of the Pedee; sometimes in South Carolina, sometimes in North Carolina, and sometimes on the Black river. With thegreatest difficulty did this officer learn how to communicate with thebrigadier; and that by the accident of hearing among our friends on thesouth side of the Pedee, of a small provision party of Marion's beingon the same side of the river. Making himself known to this party he wasconveyed to the general, who had changed his ground since his party lefthim, which occasioned many hours' search even before his own men couldfind him. "*

 * Lee's Memoirs, vol. 1, p. 164. 

 [Note: This Lieut. -Col. Henry Lee--"Light-Horse Harry"-- later became the father of Gen. Robert Edward Lee. --A. L. , 1996. ]--

This anecdote illustrates the wary habits of our partisan, and one ofthe modes by which he so successfully baffled the numerous and superiorparties who were dispatched in his pursuit. We have given, elsewhere, from Col. Lee's memoirs, a brief description of Marion and his mode ofwarfare, taken from the appendix to that work. But another occurs, inthe text before us, which, as it is brief, differing somewhat inphrase, and somewhat more comprehensive, than the former, will no doubtcontribute to the value and interest of our narrative. "Marion, " saysLee, "was about forty-eight years of age, small in stature, hard invisage, healthy, abstemious and taciturn. Enthusiastically wedded tothe cause of liberty, he deeply deplored the doleful condition of hisbeloved country. The common weal was his sole object; nothing selfish, nothing mercenary soiled his ermine character. Fertile in stratagem, hestruck unperceived, and retiring to those hidden retreats selected byhimself, in the morasses of Pedee and Black rivers, he placed his corps, not only out of the reach of his foe, but often out of the discovery ofhis friends. A rigid disciplinarian, he reduced to practice the justiceof his heart; and during the difficult course of warfare through whichhe passed calumny itself never charged him with molesting the rightsof person, property or humanity. Never avoiding danger, he never rashlysought it; and, acting for all around him as he did for himself, herisked the lives of his troops only when it was necessary. Never elatedwith prosperity, nor depressed by adversity, he preserved an equanimitywhich won the admiration of his friends and exalted the respect of hisenemies. "*

 * Lee's Memoirs, vol. 2 p. 164. --

Such were Lee's opinions of the partisan, to whose assistance he wasdispatched by Greene, with his legion, consisting of near three hundredmen, horse and foot. 

The junction of Lee's troops with those of Marion led to the enterprisewhich the other had long since had at heart, the capture of the Britishgarrison at Georgetown. Georgetown was a small village, the situationand importance of which have already been described. The garrisonconsisted of two hundred men commanded by Colonel Campbell. His defencesin front were slight, and not calculated to resist artillery. "Betweenthese defences and the town, and contiguous to each, was an enclosedwork with a frieze and palisade, which constituted his chiefprotection. "* It was held by a subaltern guard. "The rest of the troopswere dispersed in light parties in and near the town, and lookingtowards the country. " It was planned by the assailants to convey aportion of their force secretly down the Pedee, and land them inthe water suburb of the town, which, being deemed secure, was leftunguarded. This body was then to move in two divisions. The first was toforce the commandant's quarters--the place of parade--to secure him, andall others who might flock thither on the alarm. The second was designedto intercept such of the garrison as might endeavor to gain the fort. The partisan militia, and the cavalry of the legion, led by Marionand Lee in person, were to approach the place in the night, to lieconcealed, and when the entrance of the other parties into the townshould be announced, they were to penetrate to their assistance, and putthe finishing stroke to the affair. 

 * Lee, vol. 1 p. 249. --

The plan promised well, but the attempt was only partially successful. Captain Carnes, with the infantry of the legion, in boats, dropped downthe Pedee, sheltered from discovery by the deep swamps and dense forestswhich lined its banks, until he reached an island at its mouth withina few miles of Georgetown. Here he landed, and lay concealed duringthe day. The night after, Marion and Lee proceeded to their place ofdestination, which they reached by twelve o'clock, when, hearing theexpected signal, they rushed into the town, Marion leading his militia, and Lee his dragoons, prepared to bear down all opposition; but theyfound all the work already over which it was in the power of the presentassailants to attempt. The two parties of infantry, the one led byCarnes the other by Rudolph, had reached their places, but perhaps notin good season. The surprise was incomplete. They delayed too long uponthe way, instead of pushing up directly upon the redoubt. They werealso delayed by the desire of securing the person of the commandant--anunimportant consideration, in comparison with the stronghold of thegarrison, which, assailed vigorously at the first alarm, must havefallen into their hands. The commandant was secured, and Carnesjudiciously posted his division for seizing such parties of the garrisonas might flock to the parade-ground. Rudolph had also gained hisappointed station in the vicinity of the fort, and so distributed hiscorps as to prevent all communication with it. But this was not probablyachieved with sufficient rapidity, and the garrison was strengtheningitself while the Americans were busy in catching Campbell, and cuttingdown the fugitives. When Marion and Lee appeared, there was nothingto be done--no enemy to be seen. Not a British soldier appeared onparade--no one attempted either to gain the fort or repair to thecommandant. The troops of the garrison simply hugged their respectivequarters, and barricaded the doors. The assailants were unprovided withthe necessary implements for battering or bombarding. The fort was inpossession of the British, and daylight was approaching. And thus thisbold and brilliant attempt was baffled--it is difficult, at this timeof day, to say how. Lee was dissatisfied with the result. Marion, moremodestly, in a letter to Greene, says: "Col. Lee informed you yesterday, by express, of our little success on Georgetown, which could not begreater without artillery. " Lee says: "If, instead of placing Rudolph'sdivision to intercept the fugitives, it had been ordered to carry thefort by the bayonet, our success would have been complete. The forttaken, and the commandant a prisoner, we might have availed ourselvesof the cannon, and have readily demolished every obstacle and shelter. "There were probably several causes combined, which baffled the perfectsuccess of the enterprise: the guides are said to have blundered;there was too much time lost in capturing Campbell, and probably in theprosecution of some private revenges. A circuitous route was taken byCarnes, when a direct one might have been had, by which his entranceinto the town was delayed until near daylight; and, by one account, the advance of Marion and Lee was not in season. The simple secret offailure was probably a want of concert between the parties, by which theBritish had time to recover from their alarm, and put themselves in astate of preparation. Many of the British were killed, few taken; amongthe former was Major Irvine, who was slain by Lieut. Cryer, whom, on aformer occasion, he had subjected to a cruel punishment of five hundredlashes. Lieut. -Col. Campbell was suffered to remain on parole. 

Though failing of its object, yet the audacity which marked theenterprise, and the partial success of the attempt, were calculated tohave their effect upon the fears of the enemy. It was the first of aseries of movements against their several fortified posts, by whichtheir power was to be broken up in detail. Its present effect was todiscourage the removal of forces from the seaboard to the interior, toprevent any accession of strength to the army of Cornwallis, who now, roused by the defeat of Tarleton, was rapidly pressing, with all hisarray, upon the heels of Morgan. The American plan of operations, ofwhich this 'coup de main' constituted a particular of some importance, had for its object to keep Cornwallis from Virginia--to detain him inSouth Carolina until an army of sufficient strength could be collectedfor his overthrow. This plan had been the subject of much earnestcorrespondence between Greene, Marion, and others of the Americanofficers. That part of it which contemplated the conquest of Georgetownharmonized immediately with the long cherished objects of our partisan. 

Halting but a few hours to rest their troops, Marion and Lee, after theattempt on Georgetown, moved the same day directly up the north bank ofthe Santee towards Nelson's Ferry. Their object was the surprise of Col. Watson, who had taken post there. But, though the march was conductedwith equal caution and celerity, it became known to the threatenedparty. Watson, consulting his fears, did not wait to receive them; but, throwing a garrison of about eighty men into Fort Watson, five milesabove the ferry, hurried off to Camden. 

Upon the defeat of Tarleton by Morgan, General Greene hastened to puthimself at the head of the force conducted by the latter, which wasthen in full flight before the superior army of Cornwallis. Orders fromGreene to Lee found him preparing for further cooperations with Marion, which they arrested. Lee was summoned to join the commander-in-chiefwith his whole legion, and Marion was thus deprived of the further use, which he so much coveted, of the Continentals. But this diminution offorce did not lessen the activity of the latter. On the 29th January, he sent out two small detachments of thirty men each, under Coloneland Major Postelle, to strike at the smaller British posts beyondthe Santee. These parties were successful in several affairs. A greatquantity of valuable stores were burnt at Manigault's Ferry, and in thevicinity. At Keithfield, near Monk's Corner, Major Postelle capturedforty of the British regulars without the loss of a man. Here alsofourteen baggage wagons, with all their stores, were committed to theflames. The proceedings of these parties, conducted with caution andcelerity, were exceedingly successful. In giving his instructions to theofficers entrusted with these duties, Marion writes--"You will considerprovisions of all kinds British property. The destruction of allthe British stores in the above-mentioned places, is of the greatestconsequence to us, and only requires boldness and expedition. "

About this time Marion organized four new companies of cavalry. Thisproceeding was prompted by the scarcity of ammunition. His rifles werecomparatively useless, and the want of powder and ball rendered itnecessary that he should rely upon some other weapons. To providebroadswords for his troops, he was compelled once more to put inrequisition the mill saws of the country, and his blacksmiths were busyin manufacturing blades, which, as we are told by a contemporary, weresufficiently keen and massy to hew a man down at a blow. This bodyof cavalry he assigned to the command of Col. P. Horry. Horry was anadmirable infantry officer. His ability to manage a squadron of cavalrywas yet to be ascertained. He labored under one disqualification, as heplainly tells us in his own manuscript. He was not much of a horseman. But he had several excellent officers under him. As the brigade was notstrong enough to allow of the employment, in body, of his whole command, its operations were commonly by detachment. The colonel, at the head ofone of his parties consisting of sixty men, had soon an opportunityof testing his capacity and fortune in this new command. We gleanthe adventure from his own manuscript. He was sent to the Waccamaw toreconnoitre and drive off some cattle. After crossing Socastee swamp, a famous resort for the Tories, he heard of a party of British dragoonsunder Colonel Campbell. Horry's men had found a fine English charger hidin a swamp. This he was prevailed upon to mount, in order to spare hisown. It so happened, somewhat unfortunately for him, that he did so withan enemy at hand. With his own horse he was sufficiently familiar toescape ordinary accidents. It will be seen that he incurred some riskswith the more spirited quadruped. His patrol had brought in a negro, whom he placed under guard. He had in his command a Captain Clarke, who, knowing the negro, set him free during the night. "Reader, " says ourcolonel, with a serenity that is delightful, "behold a militia captainreleasing a prisoner confined by his colonel commandant, and seethe consequence!" The negro fell into the hands of the British, andconducted them upon the steps of our partisan. It so happened thatthe same Captain Clarke, who seems to have been a sad simpleton, andsomething of a poltroon, had been sent in front with five horsemen as anadvanced guard. Near the great Waccamaw road, the bugles of the Britishwere heard sounding the charge. Horry was fortunately prepared for theenemy, but such was not the case with Clarke. He confounded the martialtones of the bugle with the sylvan notes of the horn. "Stop, " says ourmilitia captain, to his men--"stop, and you will see the deer, dogs andhuntsmen, as they cross the road. " He himself happened to be the sillydeer. The huntsmen were upon him in a few moments, and he discovered hismistake only when their broadswords were about his ears. He was taken, but escaped. A short encounter followed between Campbell and Horry, inwhich the former was worsted. Six of his men fell at the first fire, three slain, and as many wounded. Horry's pieces were common shot guns, and the only shot that he had were swan shot, or the mischief would havebeen greater. Campbell's horse was killed under him, and he narrowlyescaped. Horry was dismounted in the encounter, --in what manner we arenot told, --and would have been cut down by a British sergeant, but forhis wearing a uniform that resembled that of a British colonel. Hewas helped to a horse at a most fortunate moment. He did not know, inconsequence of the blunder of Clarke, that the dragoons whom he hadfought and beaten, were only an advanced guard of a body of infantry. Horses and men were in his hands, and, dividing his force, he sent offone party of his men in charge of the prisoners and trophies. A suddenattack of the British infantry took the small party which remained withhim totally by surprise. They broke and left him almost alone, withnothing but his small sword in his hand. It was at this moment that abrave fellow of the second regiment, named McDonald, yielded his ownpony to his commander, by which he escaped. McDonald saved himself bydarting into the neighboring swamp. The British, dreading an ambuscade, did not pursue, and Horry rallied his men, and returned, with areinforcement sent by Marion, to the scene of battle; but the enemy hadleft it and retired to Georgetown. Horry proceeded to Sand Hill, where, finding himself in good quarters, among some rich and friendly Whigs, living well on their supplies, he proceeded to entrench himself ina regular redoubt. But from this imposing situation Marion soon andsensibly recalled him. "He wrote me, " says Horry, "that the openfield was our play--that the enemy knew better how to defend forts andentrenched places than we did, and that if we attempted it, we shouldsoon fall into their hands. " Marion's farther instructions were to joinhim immediately, with every man that he could bring, for that it was hispurpose to attack the enemy as soon as possible. Horry admits that hequitted his redoubt and good fare very reluctantly. He set out witheighty men, but when he joined his commander in Lynch's Creek Swamp, they were reduced to eighteen. It seems that his force had been made upin part of new recruits, who had but lately joined themselves to Marion. Horry calls them "wild Tories or half-made new Whigs--volunteers, assuredly, not to fight, but plunder, --who would run at the sight of theenemy. " His recent surprise and danger had rendered the colonel sore. It was on this occasion, that, as we have already related, he was nearlydrowned, and only saved by clinging to the impending branches of a tree. 

While Horry was skirmishing with Campbell, Major John Postelle, who wasstationed to guard the lower part of the Pedee, succeeded in capturingCaptain Depeyster, with twenty-nine grenadiers. Depeyster had taken postin the dwelling-house of Postelle's father. The latter had with him buttwenty-eight militia, but he knew the grounds, and gaining possessionof the kitchen, fired it, and was preparing to burn the house also, whenDepeyster submitted. 

We find, at this time, a correspondence of Marion with two of theBritish officers, in relation to the detention, as a prisoner, ofCaptain Postelle, who, it seems, though bearing a flag, was detained fortrial by the enemy. Portions of these letters, in which Marion assertshis own humanity in the treatment of prisoners, we quote as exhibitinghis own sense, at least, of what was the true character of his conductin such matters. The reader will not have forgotten the charges madeagainst him, in this respect, in an earlier part of this volume byLt. -Col. Balfour, in a letter to General Moultrie. One of the presentletters of Marion is addressed to Balfour. 

"I am sorry to complain of the ill treatment my officers and men meetwith from Captain Saunders. The officers are closely confined in a smallplace where they can neither stand nor lie at length, nor have they morethan half rations. I have treated your officers and men who havefallen into my hands, in a different manner. Should these evils not beprevented in future, it will not be in my power to prevent retaliation. Lord Rawdon and Col. Watson have hanged three men of my brigade forsupposed crimes, which will make as many of your men, in my hands, suffer. "

Again, on the same subject, in a letter to Col. Watson--"The hanging ofprisoners and the violation of my flag, will be retaliated if a stopis not put to such proceedings, which are disgraceful to all civilizednations. All of your officers and men, who have fallen into my hands, have been treated with humanity and tenderness, and I wish sincerelythat I may not be obliged to act contrary to my inclination. "

The British officers thus addressed, alleged against Postelle thathe had broken his parole. If this were so, it was a just cause ofdetention; but it will be remembered that the British themselves revokedthese paroles on the assumption that the province was conquered, andwhen, as citizens, they wished to exact military service from thepeople. In these circumstances the virtue of the obligation was lost, and ceased on the part of the citizen, because of the violation on thepart of the conqueror, of the immunities which he promised. Marion tookdecisive measures for compelling the necessary respect to his flag, byseizing upon Captain Merritt, the bearer of a British flag, and puttinghim in close keeping as a security for Postelle. We do not know thathe retaliated upon the British soldiers the cruel murders, by hanging, which had been practised upon his own. His nature would probablyrecoil from carrying his own threat into execution. In answer to one ofMarion's reproaches, we are told by Col. Watson, that "the burning ofhouses and the property of the inhabitants, who are our enemies, is customary in all civilized nations. " The code of civilisation iscertainly susceptible of liberal constructions. Its elasticity is notthe least of its many merits. 

Cornwallis pursued Greene into North Carolina, and after muchmanoeuvering between the armies, they met at Guilford on the 15th ofMarch, 1781. The honors of the victory, small as it was, lay with theBritish. Their loss, however, was such, that the advantages of the fieldenured to the Americans. From this field, Cornwallis took his way toVirginia, and his career as a commander in America was finally arrestedat the siege of York. During the absence of Greene from South Carolina, Marion's was the only force in active operation against the British. An opportunity so favorable for harassing and distressing the enemy, asthat afforded by the absence of their main army in North Carolina, wasnot neglected; and, calling in his detachments, he once more carrieddismay into the heart of the Tory settlements, on both sides of theSantee. His incursions, and those of his officers, were extended as faras the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree, and as low down as Monk'sCorner, --thus breaking up the line of communication between Charlestonand the grand army, and intercepting detachments and supplies, sent fromthat place to the line of posts established through the country. Thissort of warfare, which seldom reaches events such as those which markepochs in the progress of great bodies of men, is yet one which callsfor constant activity. We have details of but few of the numerousconflicts which took place between our partisan and the Tory leaders. These were scattered over the country, living by plunder, and indulgingin every species of ferocity. Greene writes, "The Whigs and Toriesare continually out in small parties, and all the middle country is sodisaffected, that you cannot lay in the most trifling magazine or senda wagon through the country with the least article of stores withouta guard. " In addressing himself to this sort of warfare, Marion waspursuing a course of the largest benefit to the country. In overawingthese plunderers, subduing the savage spirit, and confining the Britishto their strong places, he was acquiring an importance, which, if weare to estimate the merits of a leader only by the magnitude of hisvictories, will leave us wholly at a loss to know by what means hisgreat reputation was acquired. But the value of his services is bestgathered from the effect which they had upon the enemy. The insults andvexations which he unceasingly occasioned to the British, were not tobe borne; and Col. Watson was dispatched with a select force of fivehundred men to hunt him up and destroy him. We have seen Tarleton andothers engaged in the pursuit, but without success. Watson was destinedto be less fortunate. In the meanwhile, and before Watson came upon histrail, Col. Peter Horry had been engaged in a series of petty but ratheramusing skirmishes, in the neighborhood of Georgetown. A party ofthe British were engaged in killing beeves at White's bridge nearGeorgetown. Horry's men charged them while at this employment, andkilling some, pursued the rest towards that place. The firing was heardin the town, and the facts of the case conjectured. This brought outa reinforcement, before which the detachment of Horry was compelledto retreat. But, on gaining the woods, they were joined also by theirfriends; and the fight was resumed between the Sampit and Black riverroads, with a dogged fierceness on both sides, that made it particularlybloody. In the course of the struggle, Horry at one moment found himselfalone. His men were more or less individually engaged, and scatteredthrough the woods around him. His only weapon was his small sword. Inthis situation he was suddenly assailed by a Tory captain, named Lewis, at the head of a small party. Lewis was armed with a musket, and in theact of firing, when a sudden shot from the woods tumbled him from hishorse, in the very moment when his own gun was discharged. The bulletof Lewis took effect on Horry's horse. The shot which so seasonably slewthe Tory, had been sent by the hands of a boy named Gwin. The party ofLewis, apprehending an ambush, immediately fell back and put themselvesin cover. The conflict lasted through the better part of the day, oneside gaining ground, and now the other. It closed in the final defeat ofthe enemy, who were pursued with a savage and unsparing spirit. One halfof their number were left dead upon the ground. Their leader was MajorGainey. Great expectations were formed of his ability to cope withMarion. On this occasion, though he made his escape, his mode of doingso was characterized by a peculiar circumstance, which rendered itparticularly amusing to one side and annoying to the other. He wassingled out in the chase by Sergeant McDonald, a fierce young fellow, who was admirably mounted. Gainey was fortunate in being well mountedalso. McDonald, regarding but the one enemy, passed all others. Hehimself said that he could have slain several in the chase. But hewished for no meaner object than their leader. One man alone who threwhimself in the way of the pursuit became its victim. Him he shot down, and, as they went at full speed down the Black river road, at the cornerof Richmond fence, the sergeant had gained so far upon his enemy, as tobe able to plunge his bayonet into his back. The steel separatedfrom his gun, and, with no time to extricate it, Gainey rushed intoGeorgetown, with the weapon still conspicuously showing how close andeager had been the chase, and how narrow the escape. The wound was notfatal. 

The next affair was with Col. Tynes, who had been defeated by Marionsome time before, made prisoner and sent to North Carolina. But theNorth Carolina jailors seem to have been pretty generally Tories, for wefind Horry complaining that they discharged the prisoners quite as fastas they were sent there; and it was the complaint of some of Marion'sofficers that they had to fight the same persons in some instances, notless than three or four times. Tynes had collected a second force, and, penetrating the forests of Black river, was approaching the camp of ourpartisan. Marion went against him, fell upon him suddenly, completelyrouted him, taking himself and almost his whole party prisoners. Hemade his escape a second time from North Carolina, and with a third andlarger force than ever, reappeared in the neighborhood of Marion's camp. Horry was sent against him with forty chosen horsemen. He travelledall night, and stopped the next day at the house of a Tory, where heobtained refreshments. His men succeeded in obtaining something more. The Tory most liberally filled their canteens with apple-brandy; andwhen the Colonel got within striking distance of Tynes and his Tories, scarcely one of his troops was fit for action. He prudently retreated, very much mortified with the transaction. Marion captured a part ofTynes' force a few days after, and this luckless loyalist seems to havedisappeared from the field from that moment. 

Watson's march against Marion was conducted with great caution. The operations of the partisan, meanwhile, were continued withoutinterruption. About the middle of February, he was apprised of the marchof Major McIlraith from Nelson's Ferry, at the head of a force fullyequal to his own. This British officer seems to have been singularlyunlike his brethren in some remarkable particulars. He took no pleasurein burning houses, the hospitality of which he had enjoyed; he destroyedno cattle wantonly, and hung no unhappy prisoner. The story goes thatwhile Marion was pressing upon the steps of the enemy, he paused at thehouse of a venerable lady who had been always a friend to the Whigs, andwho now declared her unhappiness at seeing him. Her reason being asked, she declared that she conjectured his purpose--that he was pursuingMcIlraith, and that so honorable and gentle had been the conduct ofthat officer, on his march, that she was really quite unwilling thathe should suffer harm, though an enemy. What he heard did not impairMarion's activity, but it tended somewhat to subdue those fiercerfeelings which ordinarily governed the partisans in that sanguinarywarfare. He encountered and assailed McIlraith on the road near Half-waySwamp, first cutting off two picquets in his rear in succession, thenwheeling round his main body, attacked him at the same moment in flankand front. McIlraith was without cavalry, and his situation was perilousin the extreme. But he was a brave fellow, and Marion had few bayonets. By forced marches and constant skirmishing, the British major gained anopen field upon the road. He posted himself within the enclosure uponthe west of the road. Marion pitched his camp on the edge of a largecypress pond, which lay on the east, and closely skirted the highway. Here McIlraith sent him a flag, reproaching him with shooting hispicquets, contrary, as he alleged, to all the laws of civilizedwarfare, and concluded with defying him to combat in the open field. The arguments of military men, on the subject of the laws of civilizedwarfare, are sometimes equally absurd and impertinent. Warfare itself isagainst all the laws of civilisation, and there is something ludicrousin the stronger reproaching the feebler power, that it should resort tosuch means as are in its possession, for reconciling the inequalities offorce between them. Marion's reply to McIlraith was sufficiently tothe purpose. He said that the practice of the British in burning theproperty of those who would not submit and join them, was much moreindefensible than that of shooting picquets, and that while theypersisted in the one practice, he should certainly persevere in theother. As to the challenge of McIlraith, he said that he considered itthat of a man whose condition was desperate; but concluded with sayingthat if he, McIlraith, wished to witness a combat between twenty pickedsoldiers on each side, he was not unwilling to gratify him. 

Here was a proposal that savored something of chivalry. McIlraith agreedto the suggestion, and an arrangement was made for a meeting. The placechosen for the combat was in a part of a field, which is very wellknown, south of an old oak tree, which was still, up to the year 1821, pointed out to the stranger. It may be standing to this day, for the oakoutlasts many generations of brave men. Marion chose for the leader ofhis band, Major John Vanderhorst, then a supernumerary officer in hisbrigade. The second in command was Capt. Samuel Price, of All Saints. The names of the men were written on slips of paper and handed to themseverally. Gavin Witherspoon received the first. The names of the othersare not preserved. Not one of them refused. When they were separatedfrom their comrades, they were paraded near the fence, and Marionaddressed them in the following language:

"My brave soldiers! you are twenty men picked this day out of my wholebrigade. I know you all, and have often witnessed your bravery. Inthe name of your country, I call upon you once more to show it. Myconfidence in you is great. I am sure it will not be disappointed. Fightlike men, as you have always done--and you are sure of the victory. "

The speech was short, but it was effectual. It was, perhaps, a longone for Marion. His words were usually few, but they were always to thepurpose. More words were unnecessary here. The combatants heard him withpride, and hailed his exhortations with applause. While their cheerswere loudest, Marion transferred them to their leader. 

Vanderhorst now asked Witherspoon, "at what distance he would prefer, asthe most sure to strike with buckshot?"

"Fifty yards, for the first fire, " was the answer. 

"Then, " said Vanderhorst, "when we get within fifty yards, as I am not agood judge of distances, Mr. Witherspoon will tap me on the shoulder. Iwill then give the word, my lads, and you will form on my left oppositethese fellows. As you form, each man will fire at the one directlyopposite, and my word for it, few will need a second shot. "

Nothing, indeed, was more certain than this; and how McIlraith proposedto fight with any hope of the result, knowing how deadly was the aim ofthe Americans, is beyond conjecture. If he relied upon the bayonet, asperhaps he did, his hope must have rested only upon those who survivedthe first fire; and with these, it was only necessary for the Americansto practise the game of the survivor of the Horatii, in order to gainas complete a victory. They had but to scatter and re-load--change theirground, avoid the push of the bayonet, till they could secure a secondshot, and that certainly would have finished the business. But McIlraithhad already reconsidered the proceeding. His men were formed in astraight line in front of the oak. Vanderhorst was advancing and hadgot within one hundred yards, when a British officer was seen to passhurriedly to the detachment, and the next moment the men retreated, with a quick step, towards the main body. Vanderhorst and his party gavethree huzzas, but not a shot was fired. 

McIlraith committed two errors. He should not have made the arrangement, but, once made, he should have suffered it to go on at all hazards. Theeffect was discreditable to himself, and detrimental to the efficiencyof his men. Marion would have fought his enemy all day on the sameterms. His followers were on their own ground, with a familiar weapon, while the soldiers of the British were deprived of all their usualadvantages--the assurance of support after the fire of the enemy wasdrawn. The militia seldom stood the encounter of the bayonet, but theyas seldom failed to do famous execution with the first two or threedischarges. 

That night McIlraith abandoned his heavy baggage, left fires burning, and retreating silently from the ground, hurried, with all dispatch, along the river road towards Singleton's Mills, distant ten miles. Marion discovered the retreat before daylight, and sent Col. Hugh Horryforward with one hundred men, to get in advance of him before he shouldreach the mill. But Horry soon found this to be impossible, and hedetached Major James, at the head of a select party, well mounted onthe swiftest horses, with instructions to cross the mill-pond above, andtake possession of Singleton's houses. These standing on a high hill, commanded a narrow defile on the road between the hill and the Watereeswamp. James reached the house as the British advanced to the foot ofthe hill. But here he found a new enemy, which his foresters dreadedmuch more than the British or Tories--the small-pox. Singleton'sfamily were down with it, and James shrank from availing himself of anyadvantage offered by the situation. But before he retired, one of hismen, resting his rifle against a tree, shot the commander of the Britishadvance. He was mortally wounded, and died the next day. Marion wasdispleased with this achievement. The forbearance of McIlraith, whilepassing through the country, had touched his heart. He withdrew hisforces, not displeased that his enemy had secured a stronghold inSingleton's Mill. The conscientiousness of the British officer is saidto have incurred the displeasure of his commander, and that of hisbrother officers. When he reached Charleston he was put into coventry. Our authorities ascribe this to his gratuitous humanity, his reluctanceto burn and plunder, with such excellent examples before him, asCornwallis and Tarleton. We rather suspect, however, that it was inconsequence of the unfortunate issue of the pitched battle, as agreedupon between himself and Marion; a more probable cause of odium amonghis comrades, than any reluctance, which he might express, to violatethe common laws of humanity. 

Chapter 13. 

 Watson and Doyle pursue Marion--He baffles and harasses them--Pursues Doyle--His Despondency and final Resolution. 

The preparations of Col. Watson for pursuing and destroying our partisanin his stronghold, were at length complete. He sallied forth from FortWatson about the first of March, and, with a British regiment and alarge body of loyalists--a force quite sufficient, as was thought, forthe desired object--marched down the Santee, shaping his course forSnow's Island. At the same time, Col. Doyle, at the head of anotherBritish regiment, intended for cooperation with Watson, was directed toproceed by way of M'Callum's Ferry, on Lynch's, and down Jeffers' Creek, to the Pedee. Here they were to form a junction. 

Marion had no force to meet these enemies in open combat. His numberdid not much exceed three hundred, but he had other resources of his ownwhich better served to equalize them. Doyle's approach was slow, and itseems partially unsuspected. In fact, in order to meet his enemies, and make the most of his strength, Marion had generally called in hisscouting parties. Of Watson's movements he had ample information. Hisscouts, well provided with relays of horses, traversed the countrybetween his camp and Camden. Advised correctly of Watson's progress, hemade one of those rapid marches for which he was famous, and met him atWiboo Swamp, about midway between Nelson's and Murray's ferries. Atthis place commenced a conflict as remarkable as it was protracted. Theadvance of Watson consisted of the Tory horse, under Col. Richboo. Col. Peter Horry led Marion's advance, consisting of about thirty men. The remainder of the brigade lay in reserve. The encounter of the twoadvanced parties produced a mutual panic, both recoiling upon their mainbodies; but that of Horry was the first to recover; and the command tocharge, given by Marion himself, produced the desired effect. Horry wasat length driven back by Watson's regulars, and the field-pieces, whichfinally dislodged him. They were pursued by the Tory horse of Harrison, which, pressing upon the main body, gained some advantages; and, in theuncertainty of the event, while there was some confusion, afforded anopportunity for several instances of great individual valor. As thecolumn of Harrison pressed over the causeway, which was narrow, GavinJames, a private of great spirit and gigantic size, mounted on a stronggrey horse, and armed with musket and bayonet, threw himself inadvance of his comrades, and directly in the path of the enemy. Takingdeliberate aim, he fired his piece, dropped his man, and drew a volleyfrom those in front of him, not a shot of which took effect. Hisdetermined position and presence, in the centre of the narrow causeway, produced a pause in the advance. A dragoon rushed upon him, and wasstricken down by the bayonet. A second, coming to the assistance of hiscomrade, shared the same fate, but, in falling, laid hold of the muzzleof James' musket, and was dragged by him in the retreat some forty orfifty paces. This heroism was not without its effect. If the men ofMarion faltered for a moment, such examples, and the voice of theirgeneral, re-invigorated their courage. Capts. Macauley and Conyers, at the head of the cavalry, arrested the advance of the Tories; andHarrison himself fell, mortally wounded, by the hands of Conyers. TheTories were dispersed, and sought shelter from the infantry of Watson, before the advance of which Marion deemed it prudent for the time toretire. 

Marion lost nothing by this meeting. Its effect upon the Tories washighly beneficial. They had suffered severely in killed and wounded, andwere thus intimidated at the outset. Watson encamped that night on thefield of battle, and Marion a few miles below. The next morning thepursuit was resumed. Watson marched down the river, Marion keeping justsufficiently ahead of him to be able to post an ambuscade for him atthe first point that seemed suitable for such a purpose. At Mount Hope, Watson had to build up the bridges, and sustain a second conflict witha chosen party of Marion's, led by Col. Hugh Horry. By bringing forwardhis field-pieces, and drilling the swamp thickets with grape, hesucceeded in expelling Horry, and clearing the way for his column. Butthe same game was to be renewed with every renewal of the opportunity. 

When Watson drew near to Murray's Ferry, he passed the Kingstree road;and, coming to that of Black river, which crosses at the lower bridge, he made a feint of still continuing along the Santee; but soon afterwheeled about, and took the former route. This manoeuvre might havedeceived a less wary antagonist than Marion. He was soon aware of theenemy's intention. Detaching Major James, at the head of seventy men, thirty of whom were M'Cottry's rifles, he ordered him to destroy thebridge, and so post himself as to command it. He himself kept his eyefixed upon Watson. This bridge was on the main pass to Williamsburg, andthe men chosen for its defence were judiciously taken from that part ofthe country. It was naturally supposed that, in sight of their cottagesmokes, they would struggle manfully against the enemy's forces. 

James proceeded with great rapidity, and, avoiding the road, crossed theriver by a shorter route. He reached the bridge in time to throw downtwo of the middle arches, and to fire the string pieces at the easternextremity. As soon as the chasm was made, he placed M'Cottry's riflemenat the end of the bridge and on each side of the ford. The rest of hisdetachment were so stationed as to cooperate, when required, with theircomrades. Marion arriving soon after, strengthened the force of Jameswith the Pedee company under Captain Potts, and took post himself, with the main body, in the rear. These arrangements had scarcely beeneffected when Watson made his appearance. At this place the west bankof the river is considerably higher than the east. The latter is low andsomewhat swampy. On the west, the road passes to the bridge through aravine. The river was forty or fifty yards wide, and though deep, was fordable below the bridge. The ravine was commanded by M'Cottry'srifles. As soon as Watson approached the river, which he did from thewest, his field-pieces opened upon the passage which conducted to theford. But the position assigned to Marion's men, on the eastern side ofthe river, effectually protected them. To bring the field-pieces tobear upon the low grounds which they occupied, was to expose theartillerists, upon the elevated banks which they occupied, to thedeliberate and fatal fire of the riflemen. Watson was soon made awareof the difficulties of the passage. Not a man approached within gun-shotthat did not pay the penalty of his rashness; and those who drew nigh tosuccor or carry off the wounded, shared the same fate. It was determinedto attempt the ford, and the advance was put forward, as a forlornhope, with this desperate purpose. The officer leading it, came on verygallantly, waving his sword aloft and loudly encouraging his men. Hisprogress was fatally arrested by M'Cottry's rifle. The signal drew thefire of the riflemen and musketeers, with whom the banks were lined, andthe heavy and deliberate discharge drove back and dispersed the Britishadvance, nor did the reserve move forward to its assistance. Four bravefellows attempted to carry off the officer who had fallen, but theyremained with him. 

Watson was terrified. He was heard to say that "he had never seen suchshooting in his life. " There was no effecting the passage in the face ofsuch enemies, and stealing down to the banks of the river, on theside which they occupied, and wherever the woods afforded shelter, theBritish skirmished with Marion's flankers across the stream until nightput an end to the conflict. 

The next morning Watson sent that dispatch to Marion which, from itslugubrious tenor, has acquired a degree of notoriety much greater thanthe name of the officer from whom it emanated. He complained to Marionof his modes of fighting, objected to the ambuscades of the partisan, and particularly complained that his picquets and sentinels should beshot down when they had no suspicion of danger. He concluded by urgingupon Marion to come out and fight him like a gentleman and Christian, according to the laws of civilized warfare. While the tone of the letterwas thus lugubrious, its language was offensive. He applied to thepartisans the epithets "banditti and murderers". Marion returned noanswer to this precious document, but renewed his order to his nightlypatrols, to shoot the sentinels and cut off the picquets as before. Hethought the measure quite as legitimate in such a war, as the burningthe house and hanging the son of the widow. 

But though Marion returned no answer by the flag, to the letter ofWatson, there was a dispatch by one of the brigade, of a somewhatcurious character. There was a sergeant in the brigade by the name ofMcDonald, of whom something has been heard before. He was the same boldfellow who had so closely pursued Major Gainey into Georgetown, leaving his bayonet in the possession and person of the latter. He wasdistinguished by his great coolness and courage, an extraordinary degreeof strength, and a corresponding share of agility. He was as notoriousamong the enemy for his audacity, as he was among his comrades for hisgreat modesty and goodness of heart. It appears that, among some ofWatson's captures, while pressing hard upon our partisans, had been theentire wardrobe of McDonald. The sergeant felt it as something more thana loss of property that his clothes should be taken by the enemy. It wasa point of honor that he should recover them. His message to Watson wasof this purport. He concluded with solemnly assuring the bearer of theflag, that if the clothes were not returned he would kill eight of hismen. Watson was furious at a message which increased the irritationof his late discomfiture. Knowing nothing himself of McDonald, he wasdisposed to treat the message with contempt; but some of his officers, who knew better the person with whom they had to deal, begged that theclothes of the sergeant might be returned to him, for that he wouldmost certainly keep his word if they were not. Watson complied withthe suggestion. When the clothes appeared, McDonald said to the bearer, "Tell Col. Watson, I will now kill but four of his men. " Two days afterhe shot Lieut. Torriano through the knee with a rifle, at a distance ofthree hundred yards. 

Marion, the next day, took post on a ridge below the ford of the river, which is still popularly called "The General's Island". His rifles stilleffectually commanded the passage and baffled every attempt of Watsonto cross. Pushing M'Cottry and Conyers over the river, they exercisedthemselves in cutting off his patrols and picquets. To save himselffrom these annoyances, Watson retreated a little higher up the river andpitched his camp at Blakeley's plantation, in the most open field thathe could find. Here he remained for ten days almost environed by hisadroit and active enemy. Night and day was he kept in a condition ofalarm and apprehension. The cavalry beat up his quarters when heslept, while the riflemen picked off his men the moment they exposedthemselves. It was while he was in this situation that the brave Capt. Conyers presented himself daily before the lines of the enemy, either asa single cavalier, or at the head of his troop, demanding an opponent. The anecdote has been already narrated in another chapter. 

The temper of Watson was very much subdued by this sort of warfare. Hisnext letter to Marion was of very different tone from that sent buta few days before. He now solicits a pass from his enemy for Lieut. Torriano and others wounded, whom he desired to send to Charleston. This was promptly granted. Meanwhile he employed a negro from Chevin'splantation to carry a letter to the commandant at Georgetown. Inendeavoring to make his way, the negro was killed and the letter fellinto the hands of Marion. It contained a woful complaint of theunfair mode of fighting pursued by the partisans, and implored areinforcement. * In fact Watson was literally besieged. His supplies werecut off, his progress arrested, and so many of his men perished in thecontinual skirmishing, that he is reported by tradition to have sunkthem in Black river in order to conceal their numbers. He was finallycompelled to decamp. If his path was beset with dangers, it was deathto remain in his present situation. Making a forced march down theGeorgetown road, he paused when he reached Ox swamp, six miles belowthe lower bridge. His flight had been harassed by light parties of theAmericans; but here he found them prepared for, and awaiting him. Theroad through which he was to pass, was skirted by a thick boggy swamp, and before him the causeway was covered with trees which had been felledto obstruct his passage. The bridges were destroyed, and Marion laydirectly in his path, prepared for a final encounter. Watson shrunk fromthe prospect, and determined upon another route. Wheeling to the righthe dashed through the open pine woods, for the Santee road, aboutfifteen miles. When overtaken by Marion upon this road, his infantrywere hurrying forward, like horses, at a full trot. But few naturalobstacles attended his progress on this path, and the extraordinaryrapidity of his flight had put him considerably ahead of his pursuers. But he was not yet to escape. The cavalry of Horry, and the riflemen ofM'Cottry, galled him at every step in flank and rear. When he reachedSampit bridge a last skirmish took place, which might have terminatedin the complete defeat of the enemy, but for the cowardice of a Lieut. Scott, of Horry's detachment. Watson was attacked fiercely in the flankand rear by the whole force of Marion. His horse was killed, and his ownlife endangered. The affair was equally short and sharp, and had itnot been that the ambush placed by Horry failed to discharge its duty, Watson would, in all probability, never have reached Georgetown, oronly reached it on parole. He gained it finally in safety, thoroughlyharassed and discomfited by the subtle enemy whom he had gone forth, with a superior force, and a confident hope, to destroy or capture. 

 * Horry's MS. --

But the success of our partisan against Watson did not necessarilydispose of his enemies. While he had been engaged in the events, as justgiven, Col. Doyle had succeeded in penetrating to his haunts on Snow'sIsland. That famous retreat had been entrusted to a small body of menunder the command of Col. Ervin. Ervin was defeated, and Doyle obtainedpossession of all Marion's stores. Arms and ammunition were emptied intoLynch's Creek, and this at a period, when every ounce of powder, andpound of shot, were worth, to our partisans, their weight in gold. Itwas while moving from Sampit towards Snow's Island, that Marion wasapprised of this mortifying intelligence. It was a matter to be deploredcertainly, but it was one of those events that could not have beenprevented. The force of Marion was too small to suffer him to play theadmirable game, already described, with Watson, yet leave a sufficientbody of men in camp for its protection. He had only to console himselfby taking his revenge, and he turned the head of his columns in pursuitof Doyle. This officer made his way to Witherspoon's Ferry, on Lynch'sCreek, where he lay in a good position on the north side of the Ferry. Marion approached him cautiously, with M'Cottry's mounted riflemen inadvance. Arriving at the creek a detachment of the British was foundon the opposite side, engaged in scuttling the ferry boat. The riflemendrew nigh unperceived, and poured in a well directed and deadly fire, which produced the utmost consternation. The fire was returned involleys, but the limbs and branches of the trees suffered infinitelymore than the riflemen who lay behind them. Marion now made hisarrangements for crossing the stream. But this was not to be done in theface of the enemy, with the creek before him wide and swollen. Marionmoved rapidly up the creek, which he swam at the first favorable pointsome five miles above Witherspoon's. This brought him nearer to Doyle'sposition, but the latter had not waited for him. Whether it was thathe had little taste for the sort of annoyances to which Watson had beensubjected, or that he had received instructions from Lord Rawdon to joinhim at Camden, in all haste, it is certain that he made the greatestspeed in hurrying in that direction. 

It was at this period that Marion held a consultation with Horry, in which he is represented by that officer as in an unusual state ofdespondency. His enemies were accumulating around him with unwontedrapidity, and in greater force than ever. Watson, furious at his latedisasters, and mortified with the result of his confident anticipations, had sallied forth from Georgetown with a reinforcement. He had gonetowards the Pedee, where he strengthened himself with the large body ofTories which Gainey had commanded. Horry tells us of a third body of menat the same time in the field, with Doyle and Watson, and all addressingthemselves to the same object, his utter expulsion from the country. Atthat moment the expulsion of our Partisan would leave the conquest ofthe State complete. 

In these emergencies, with these foes accumulating around him, the mindof Marion naturally addressed itself with more gravity than usual tothe task of his extrication from his enemies. His countenance, as Horrydescribes it, was troubled. But, with his usual taciturnity, he saidnothing on the subject of his anxieties. Seeing him walking alone, andin deep revery, Horry approached him, and said--

"General, our men are few, and, if what I hear be true, you never wantedthem more. "

Marion started, and replied--

"Go immediately to the field officers, and know from them, if, in theevent of my being compelled to retire to the mountains, they will followmy fortunes, and with me carry on the war, until the enemy is forced outof the country. Go, and bring me their answer without delay. "

It was a peculiarity in Marion's character, that he should haveentrusted such a commission to a subordinate. But it accords with allthat we have seen of the reserve and shyness of his moods. The simpleremark to Horry indicates his admirable firmness, his calculations, evenof possible necessities long in advance, and his instinctive modeof encountering them as he best might. His determination, on his ownaccount, to carry on the war against the enemy in the mountains, tillthey or himself were expelled from the country, denotes the unsubmittingpatriot. The reader must not forget that, at this moment, there was noforce in the State but his own, arrayed against the British. Sumter wasstill 'hors de combat' from his wound. The army of Greene, having withit Pickens, and other native militia, was in North Carolina, watchingthe movements of Cornwallis. Lord Rawdon, with a strong Britishgarrison, held Camden. Charleston and Georgetown, Ninety-Six and Granby, Forts Watson and Motte, were all held, with numerous other conspicuouspoints, by the British; and with Watson, whose force now numbered athousand men, Doyle half that number, and several active and largebodies of Tories prepared to cooperate with these against our partisan, the danger of Marion's situation, and his patriotic resolve ofcharacter, are conspicuous at a glance. 

Horry sought the officers, and promptly returned to his commander. Toa man they had pledged themselves to follow his fortunes, howeverdisastrous, while one of them survived, and until their country wasfreed from the enemy. Marion's countenance instantly brightened--wecannot forbear the use of Horry's own language, though it may provoke asmile--"he was tip-toed"--(i. E. )--he rose upon his toes--and said "I amsatisfied--one of these parties shall soon feel us. "*

 * Horry's MS. , pp. 59, 60. --

Chapter 14. 

 Marion renews his Pursuit of Doyle--Confronts Watson--Is joined by Col. Lee--Invests and takes Fort Watson--Fort Motte taken--Anecdote of Horry and Marion. 

Marion instantly put his men in motion in pursuit of Doyle. In crossingthe swamp of Lynch's Creek, during the night, several of the soldierslost their arms, in consequence of the freshet. The swamp was inundated, and it required all their dexterity and promptitude to save themselves. Snatching a hasty breakfast, the pursuit was continued all day, andresumed the next morning until ten o'clock, when they found suchsigns of the superior speed and haste of the enemy, as to preclude allpossibility of overtaking him. They had been necessarily delayed bythe passage of the swamp, and had not made sufficient allowance for thespeed with which an enemy might run when there was occasion for it. Herethey found that Doyle had destroyed all his heavy baggage, and had spedin such confusion towards Camden, that his encampment, and the roadwhich he traversed, were strewn with canteens and knapsacks, andeverything, not necessary to defence, which might retard his progress. 

Marion, somewhat surprised at a flight for which he could not thenaccount, for his own force was far inferior to that of Doyle, yetsaw that the fugitive was beyond present pursuit. He wheeled about, accordingly, and set his men in motion for another meeting with Watson. That commander, now strengthened, and just doubling the numbers of ourpartisan, with fresh supplies of provisions and military stores, hadonce more pushed for the Pedee. He took the nearest route across Blackriver, at Wragg's Ferry, and, crossing the Pedee at Euhaney, and theLittle Pedee at Potato Ferry, he halted at Catfish Creek, one mile fromthe present site of Marion Courthouse. Marion crossed the Pedee, andencamped at the Warhees, within five miles of the enemy. Here he plantedhimself, in vigilant watch of the force which he could not openlyencounter. In addition to the want of men, he labored under a stillgreater want of ammunition. When asked by Capt. Gavin Witherspoon, whether he meant to fight Watson--a measure which Witherspoon thoughtparticularly advisable--before he was joined by any more bodies ofTories, he answered, "That would be best, but we have not ammunition. "

"Why, general, " said Witherspoon, "my powder-horn is full. "

"Ah, my friend!" was the reply of Marion, "YOU are an extraordinarysoldier; but for the others, there are not two rounds to a man. "

Thus stood the two parties; and thus it but too frequently stood withour partisan--wanting the most simple resources by which to make his owngenius and the valor of his men apparent. That the former was aliveand equal to emergencies, even in such a condition of necessity, maybe inferred from the fact, that he should dare take such a position, soimmediately contiguous to an enemy double his own force, and aboundingin all the requisite materials of war. The inactivity of Watson is onlyto be accounted for by his total ignorance of the resourceless state ofMarion's rifles. 

While Marion and Watson were thus relatively placed, the former wasapprised of the return of Greene to South Carolina. This intelligenceaccounted for the hasty retreat of Doyle. He was summoned by Lord Rawdonto Camden, to strengthen that position against the American force, whichwas advancing in that direction. The reappearance of Greene was asource of heartfelt joy to those who, but a little while before, hadanticipated the necessity of flying before the foe, and taking shelterin the mountains. It was because of the absence of the American armythat Rawdon was enabled, as we have seen, to concentrate his chief forceupon Marion. The presence of Greene, which had caused the recall ofDoyle, must, as Marion well knew, effect that of Watson also. He waspreparing himself accordingly, when further advices brought him newsof the approach of Colonel Lee, with the Continental Legion, to his ownassistance. He dispatched a guide to Lee, and by means of boats, whichhe always kept secreted, the Legion was transported over the Pedee, anda junction with Marion's force was effected on the fourteenth of April. 

The tidings which had brought such gratification to the camp of Marion, had as inspiring, though not as grateful an effect in that of Watson. He lost no time in breaking up his encampment. The safety of Rawdon andCamden was paramount, and, wheeling his two field-pieces into CatfishCreek, and burning his baggage, as Doyle had done, he sped, with similarprecipitation, in the same direction. The route taken in his flightdeclared his apprehensions of Marion. He trembled at the recollection ofthe recent race between them--the harassings and skirmishings night andday--the sleepless struggles, and unintermitting alarms. Recrossing theLittle Pedee, and avoiding Euhaney, he passed the Waccamaw at Greene'sFerry, and, retreating through the Neck, between that river and the sea, crossed Winyaw Bay, three miles in width, and, in this manner, arrivedin Georgetown. A slight glance at any map of the country, keeping inmind that Watson's object was really Camden, will show the reader theextent of his fears of that wily and indefatigable enemy from whom hehad previously escaped with so much difficulty. 

Marion was exceedingly anxious to pursue Watson, but Lee, thoughsubordinate, succeeded in preventing this desire. Instructions which hebrought from Greene, and which he earnestly dwelt upon, required theircooperation against the British posts below Camden. Lee urged, also, that such a pursuit would take them too far from Greene, with themovements of whose army it was important that Marion's force shouldact as intimately as possible. Marion yielded the point with greatreluctance, and was heard repeatedly after to regret that his orders didnot permit him to follow the dictates of his own judgment. Had he doneso, with his force strengthened by the Continental bayonets, and newsupplies of powder for his rifles, Watson's flight to Georgetown, whichhe could scarcely have reached, would have been far more uncomfortablethan he found it on the previous occasion. 

Lee led the way with his legion towards the Santee, while Marion, placing Witherspoon with a small party on the trail of Watson, pursuedhis line of march through Williamsburg. Having once resolved, Marion'smovements were always rapid and energetic. On the fifteenth of April, only a day after the junction with Lee, he was before Fort Watson. 

This was a stockade fort, raised on one of those remarkable elevationsof an unknown antiquity which are usually recognized as Indian mounds. It stands near Scott's Lake on the Santee river, a few miles below thejunction of the Congaree and Wateree. The mound is forty feet in height, and remote from any other elevation by which it might be commanded. The garrison at this post consisted of eighty regular troops, and fortyloyalists. It was commanded by Lieut. McKay, a brave officer, of theregular service. To the summons of Marion he returned a manly defiance, and the place was regularly invested. 

Besieged and besiegers were alike without artillery; with a singlepiece, the former might well have defied any force which Marioncould bring against him. The place would have been impregnable to theAmericans. As it was, its steep sides and strong palisades forbade anyattempt to storm. To cut off the garrison from Scott's Lake, whereit procured water, was the first step taken by the besiegers. But thebesieged, by sinking a well within the stockade, below the level of thecontiguous water, counteracted the attempt. For a moment, the assailantswere at fault, and, without artillery, the prospect was sufficientlydiscouraging. But while doubting and hesitating, Col. Mayham, ofthe brigade, suggested a mode of overawing the garrison which wasimmediately adopted. At a short distance from the fort there grewa small wood, a number of the trees of which were hewn down, andtransported upon the shoulders of the men within a proper distance ofthe mound. Here, during the night, all hands were actively employedin piling the wood thus brought, in massive and alternate layers, crosswise, until the work had reached a sufficient elevation. At dawn, the garrison were confounded to find themselves, at wakening, undera shower of rifle bullets. Thus overlooked, the fort was no longertenable; and a party of volunteers from the militia, headed by EnsignBaker, and another of Continentals, from the legion, led by Mr. Lee, a volunteer, ascended the mound with great intrepidity, and gained theabbatis, which they proceeded to destroy. This movement brought thegarrison to terms, and a capitulation immediately followed. But theleaguer had consumed eight days, the progress of which had been watchedwith equal anxiety by both parties. The Americans apprehended, and thegarrison anticipated, the approach of Watson with an overwhelming forcefor the relief of the besieged. But Watson did not appear. He no longerhad an overwhelming force. His flight to Georgetown was marked by lossand desertion. It appears that his panic, or his sense of duty, led himrather to avoid Marion and to reach Camden without interruption. Hevery prudently, therefore, after crossing the Santee, on the route fromGeorgetown, moved down by Monk's Corner, added to his force the garrisonof that place, and then cautiously advanced to the Santee. He resolvedrather to leave Fort Watson to its fate, than risk a force which mightbe necessary to the exigencies of Rawdon. Watson was considered by theBritish one of their best partisans, yet never had poor warrior been soworried and harassed, as, with a superior force, he had been by Marion. Yet, in his second expedition in pursuit of the latter, had he been ableto cooperate with Doyle, with the Tories of Harrison and Gainey, allpreparing for the same object, the escape of our partisan would havebeen miraculous. At no time, during their pursuit of him, was his forceequal to the smallest one of theirs. He must have been expelled thecountry, as he himself seemed to apprehend, or he must have fallen inthe conflict. 

We have so little at the hands of Marion, in the shape ofcorrespondence, that we are tempted to give his official letter toGeneral Greene, apprising him of the fall of Fort Watson. It is dated--

Fort Watson (Scott's Lake), April 23, 1781. 

Sir--

Lieut. -Col. Lee made a junction with me at Santee, the 14th inst. , aftera rapid march from Ramsay's mill, on Deep River, which he performed ineight days. The 15th we marched to this place and invested it. Our hopewas to cut off their water. Some riflemen and Continentals immediatelytook post between the fort and the lake. The fort is situated on a smallhill, forty feet high, stockaded, and with three rows of abbatis roundit. No trees near enough to cover our men from their fire. The third dayafter we had invested it, we found the enemy had sunk a well near thestockade which we could not prevent them from [doing]; as we had noentrenching tools to make our approach, we immediately determinedto erect a work equal in height to the fort. This arduous work wascompleted this morning by Major Maham, who undertook it. We then made alodgment on the side of the mound, near the stockade. This was performedwith great spirit and address by Ensign Johnson, and Mr. Lee, avolunteer in Col. Lee's legion, who with difficulty ascended the hilland pulled away the abbatis, which induced the commandant to hoist aflag. Col. Lee and myself agreed to the enclosed capitulation, which Ihope may be approved by you. Our loss on this occasion is two killed, and three Continentals and three militia wounded. I am particularlyindebted to Col. Lee for his advice and indefatigable diligence in everypart of these tedious operations, against as strong a little post ascould well be made, and on the most advantageous spot that could bewished for. The officers and men of the legion and militia performedeverything that could be expected; and Major Maham of my brigade, had, in a particular manner, a great share of this success by his unwearieddiligence in erecting the tower which principally occasioned thereduction of the fort. In short, sir, I have had the greatest assistancefrom every one under my command. Enclosed is a list of the prisoners andstores taken, and I shall, without loss of time, proceed to demolish thefort; after which I shall march to the high hills of Santee, encamp atCapt. Richardson's, and await your orders. 

(Signed) Francis Marion. 

In taking post at the Santee Hills, the object of Marion was to takesuch a position as would enable him to watch all the several roadsby which Watson could make his way to Camden. It was important, ifpossible, to prevent his junction with Lord Rawdon, thus increasingthe ability of that commander to cope with Greene's army, which now laybefore that place. But Marion was not able to encounter Watson withoutassistance. Lee, with his legion, had been withdrawn by Greene soonafter the capture of Fort Watson, and our partisan's force in camp, fromconcurring circumstances, was now reduced to about eighty men. Eighty ofhis brigade were detached under Col. Irvine to Rafting Creek, in orderto cut off supplies from Camden. Another party was engaged in watchinga rising of the Tories on the Pedee, who, in the absence of Marionhimself, had manifested a disposition to resume the offensive; Col. Harden, with another detachment, was on the Salkehatchie, having firstsucceeded in the capture of Fort Balfour at Pocotaligo, in which hemade nearly a hundred prisoners. Other small detachments had thinnedthe little army of our partisan to such a degree that it was of smallefficiency where it was; and, just at this juncture, numerous desertionstook place from two concurring circumstances. The approach of Marion tothe hills had brought on the battle of Camden. Unwilling that Greene'sforce should be increased by the militia of the former, Rawdon hadresolved not to wait for Watson, but to march out and give battle beforethe coming of either. He did so. The affair was not decisive, but Greenewas compelled to yield the field to his enemy. He lost nothing, whetherof honor or position, by this result. But, as the news spread, thedefeat was exaggerated. It was supposed to be another affair such asthat of Gates, and Marion's small body of men was still farther lessenedby desertion. There was still another reason for its present feebleness. The time of the year was the very height of the planting season, and thefarmer-soldiers, in numbers, left the camp in order to hurry to theirhomes and set their crops. This, though not allowed by the regulardisciplinarian, was, in the mind of the militia-man, a duty quite asimperative as any that he owed to his family. Indeed, it was inseparablefrom his necessities that, where the Government did not give him bread, he must make it for himself. His family could not starve, and if hecould fight without pay, it was not possible that he should do sowithout food. In the sort of warfare which Marion had hitherto carriedon, he had been willing to recognize these necessities on the part ofhis followers. Cooperating with an army differently constituted, it wasscarcely possible to do so, with any hope of their permanent usefulness. Just at this juncture, in particular, he felt the peculiarly mortifyingcharacter of his situation. 

To enable Marion to contend with Watson, Greene dispatched Major Eaton, with a body of Continentals, to his assistance, with instructionsto throw himself across the path of Watson. But Eaton, by an unhappymisunderstanding of his duty, failed to reach him in season for thisobject. When he did join him, which was on the evening of the 2d of May, it was too late. Marion, writing to Greene, says, "Major Eaton's notcoming up sooner has made me lose a great deal of precious time. I shallcross the Santee at Wright's Bluff to-morrow. " He did so, but Watson hadalready passed, and succeeded in eluding Greene also, and in reachingCamden in safety. 

We have spoken of Col. Harden's proceedings against Fort Balfour, andthe capture of that post. This officer was a very brave and activegentleman, rapid in his movements, and resolute in his objects. Assoon as Marion had received intelligence of Greene's approach toSouth Carolina, he had dispatched Harden with seventy select men, wellmounted, to penetrate through the country, and crossing the enemy'slines of communication, to stir up the people in all that regionwhich lies southwest of Charleston. So rapid and unexpected were hismovements, that he took the enemy everywhere by surprise, and renderedhimself, for the time, the very terror of the loyalists upon the route. His force increased with its progress. The inhabitants yearned for anescape from British authority, and joined his troop. His seventymen soon became two hundred, and while he baffled the pursuit ofthe superior, he visited with sudden and severe chastisement thedisaffected, along and on both sides of the Savannah river. Ascendingthis, he soon communicated with Pickens, then operating against Augustaand Ninety-Six. Nothing now was wanting but the fall of the enemy'schain of posts, to complete the recovery of the whole country withinthirty miles of the sea. In contributing to this desirable objectMarion, now strengthened by the Continentals of Lee and Eaton, investedFort Motte on the river Congaree. 

This post was the principal depot of the convoys from Charleston toCamden, and sometimes of those destined for Forts Granby and Ninety-Six. A large new mansion-house belonging to Mrs. Motte, situated on a highand commanding hill, had been chosen for this establishment. It wassurrounded with a deep trench, along the inner margin of which astrong and lofty parapet was raised. To this post had been assigneda sufficient garrison of one hundred and fifty men. This force wasincreased by a small detachment of dragoons from Charleston, which hadbeen thrown into it a few hours before the appearance of the Americans. The garrison was commanded by Capt. McPherson, a firm and gallantofficer. 

Opposite to Fort Motte, to the north, stood another hill, where Mrs. Motte, who had been expelled from her dwelling, resided in an oldfarm-house. On this, Lee took position with his corps: Marion's menoccupied the eastern declivity of the same ridge on which stood thefort. 

The place was very soon invested. The six pounder with which Greene hadfurnished Marion, was mounted on a battery raised in the quarter whichhe occupied, for the purpose of raking the northern face of the enemy'sparapet. McPherson was in the possession of a wall-piece, but he had notbeen able to adapt it for use before the investment took place. It doesnot seem to have been even used during the siege. His chief hopes layin being relieved by a detachment from Camden, not doubting its arrivalbefore his assailant could push his preparations to maturity. The worksof the latter advanced rapidly, and the place was summoned on the 20thof May. The reply declared the determination of the besieged to try thestrength and patience of the besiegers. These had now every motive forperseverance. They were advised of the approach of Rawdon, with all hisforce, to the relief of the fort. That stern commander, finding Camdenwas no longer tenable against the increasing forces of the Americans, and unable to maintain his several posts with his diminished strength, was aiming to contract his scattered bodies into narrower limits. Having made a second, but unsatisfactory, demonstration upon Greene, he destroyed his unnecessary baggage, and, leaving Camden in flames, heonce more abandoned it to the Americans. Greene advised Marion of hisretreat, and urged him to expedition. On the next night he reachedthe country opposite Fort Motte, and his numerous fires on the highestgrounds on his route, encouraged the garrison with hopes of success, which were not to be realized. 

What was to be done, was to be done quickly, on the part of thebesiegers. The process of battering by cannon would be too slow. Someshorter mode was to be adopted, to anticipate the approach of Rawdon. The ready thought of our partisan suggested this process. It was knownthat the large mansion of Mrs. Motte occupied the greater part of thearea of the fort; but a few yards of ground within the works remaineduncovered by it. To burn the house by fire would compel the surrender ofthe garrison. 

The necessity was very reluctantly communicated to the widow by whomthe property was owned. But she was one of those glorious dames of theRevolution, to whom the nation is so largely indebted for the glory ofthat event. She had received the American officers with a hospitalitywhich made them almost shrink from suggesting their purposes; but assoon as they were made known, she put them perfectly at ease upon thesubject. With something more than cheerfulness--with pride--thatany sacrifice on her part should contribute to the success of hercountrymen, in so dear an object, she herself produced a bow, with allthe necessary apparatus, which had been brought from India, * and whichshe had preserved. By the arrows from this bow the fire was to becommunicated to her dwelling. 

 * The origin of this bow, though unimportant, is nonetheless the subject of great differences. James says an "Indian bow and arrows", though one would expect he meant "American Indian" from the context. Weems implies that it was from Africa. --A. L. , 1996. --

Everything being in readiness, the lines were manned and an additionalforce stationed at the batteries, lest the enemy, in the moment ofdesperation, might prefer risking an assault, rather than endure themortification of a surrender. A flag was sent to McPherson, but thesight of Rawdon's fires on the other side of the river encouraged himwith the belief that he might still resist successfully. 

The bow was put into the hands of Nathan Savage, a private in Marion'sbrigade. It was noon when the attempt was made. The scorching rays ofthe noonday sun had prepared the roof for the conflagration. Ballsof blazing rosin and brimstone were attached to the arrows, and threeseveral shafts were sent by the vigorous arm of the militia-man againstthe roof. They took effect, in three different quarters, and theshingles were soon in a blaze. McPherson immediately ordered a partyto the roof, but this had been prepared for, and the fire of thesix-pounder soon drove the soldiers down. The flames began to rage, the besiegers were on the alert, guarding every passage, and no longerhopeful of Rawdon, McPherson hung out the white flag imploring mercy. The gentle nature of Marion readily yielded to his prayer, though, asLee tells us, "policy commanded death. "

In this siege Marion lost two brave fellows, one of whom has been morethan once conspicuous in this narrative--the daring Sergeant McDonald, and Lieutenant Cruger. McDonald had reached a lieutenancy before hefell. The prisoners were paroled, but their officers before leavingpartook of a sumptuous dinner given by Mrs. Motte to the victors. Thisnoble lady, whose grace of demeanor is represented as quite equal toher patriotism, presided at her table, in such a manner as to render allparties at home. Col. P. Horry tells us of some of the incidents whichtook place at the dinner. A captain of the British army, taken among theprisoners, on finding himself near Horry, said to him:

"You are Col. Horry, I presume, sir. " Horry answered in the affirmative. "Well, " said the other, "I was with Col. Watson when he on Sampit foughtyour General Marion. I think I saw you there with a party of horse. Ithink you were also at Nelson's Ferry, when Marion surprised our partyat the house? But, " added the officer, "I was hid in high grass andescaped. Were you not there also?" Horry answered, "No! It was mybrother Hugh. " "Well, " said the captain, "YOU were fortunate in yourescape [at Sampit] for Watson and Small had 1200 men. " "If so, " saidHorry, "I certainly was fortunate, for I did not suppose they had morethan half that number. " The captain then added--"I consider myselfequally fortunate in escaping at Nelson's old field. " "Truly, you were, "answered Horry drily; "for Marion had but 30 militia on that occasion. ""At this, " says our worthy Colonel, "the captain's countenance fell, andhe retired, and avoided me the rest of the day. General Greene, thenext day (Greene had reached Marion's camp that night) said to me, 'Col. Horry, how came you to affront Capt. Ferguson?' I answered, he affrontedhimself by telling his own story. It militated so greatly againsthimself as to compel the officers who were near to laugh. The captainand I, sir, agreed that we were both equally fortunate in war. Greenereplied, 'Capt. Ferguson's memory was only too good. '"*

 * Horry's MS. Narrative, pp. 74-75. --

While at the hospitable table of Mrs. Motte, it was whispered inMarion's ears, that Col. Lee's men were even then engaged in hangingcertain of the Tory prisoners. Marion instantly hurried from the table, seized his sword, and running with all haste, reached the place ofexecution in time to rescue one poor wretch from the gallows. Two werealready beyond rescue or recovery. With drawn sword and a degree ofindignation in his countenance that spoke more than words, Marionthreatened to kill the first man that made any further attempt in suchdiabolical proceedings. *

 * Horry's MS. Narrative, p. 75. --

Chapter 15. 

 Correspondence of Marion and Greene--Anecdote of Colonel Snipes--Marion takes Georgetown--Attempt of Sumter and Marion on Col. Coates--Battle of Quinby Bridge. 

It was while Marion was most actively engaged in the investment of FortMotte, that a correspondence took place between himself and GeneralGreene, which had nearly resulted in the loss of his invaluable servicesto the country. A pure and noble spirit, Marion was particularlysensitive to reproach, and felt deeply its injustice. From the momentthat Greene took command of the southern army, he had yielded themost profound deference to his wishes, had seconded his slightestsuggestions, timed his own movements with a studied regard to thosecontemplated by the commander, and, whenever the service would allow, had devoted his little band to such duties as would lead to thepromotion of all those larger plans which were contemplated for theexecution of the grand army. His scouts had served for pioneers, hiscavalry procured provisions for the camp, and it was to Marion alonethat Greene looked for all his intelligence. But there was one favoriteobject which Greene had in view, to which our partisan could contributelittle. The want of a cavalry force had been particularly felt by theformer, and he had been sedulous in the endeavor to supply this want, from the very first of his southern campaigns. He had been pressinglycalling upon Sumter, Marion, and every officer, who might be thoughtable to procure him a supply of horses; and active agents of his ownhad been scouring every quarter of the country in search of thisindispensable agent of all great military operations. His quest hadbeen comparatively vain. The British had been before him throughout thecountry. The dragoons of Tarleton had swept the stables; and, where thiswas not the case, the horses were held by militia men, to whom they werequite as indispensable as to the grand army. Marion's troopers couldonly be of service while in possession of their horses--they hadlarge and extensive tracts of country to traverse--could procure nointelligence without--and, any attempt to dismount a soldier from hisfavorite steed, would be to produce a degree of discontent in his mindwhich would most certainly deprive the country of his services. Toexpect that the partisan militia under Marion and Sumter, who had beenconstantly on horseback, in the face of the enemy, should deliver theirhorses up to others who possessed no higher claim upon the country thanthemselves, was to expect more largely than was altogether reasonable, from the liberality or the patriotism of any set of men. A few, such ascould be spared, had been supplied by Marion. He never, for an instant, contemplated the dismounting of his troopers--those hardy fellowswho had been constant in all vicissitudes--who had murmured at notasks--shrunk from no adventures--and spared neither themselves northeir property, when the necessities of the country required, at periodswhen there was no grand army to divide with themselves the honors andthe dangers of the war. Nay, to dismount them was, in fact, to disarmhimself. It appears, however, that this was expected of him. Anunfortunate letter of Col. Lee, dated the 23d May, and addressed toGreene, contained this paragraph:

"General Marion, " says the letter, "can supply you, if he will, with onehundred and fifty good dragoon horses, most of them impressed horses. Hemight, in my opinion, spare sixty, which would be a happy supply. "

The effect of this communication upon Greene was immediate and painful. Believing that he had been ill-used, and vexed that Marion, knowinghis necessities, and with the power to relieve them, should yet haveforborne to do so, though urgently exhorted, he frankly declaredhis feelings in the very next letter to our partisan. Marion did notdissemble his indignation in his reply. He repels the charge that he hadever withheld supplies which he might have furnished, and concludes hisletter by requesting permission to resign--firmly, but respectfully, intimating his resolution to retire from service as soon as Fort Motteshould be reduced. Greene, in an instant, from this reply, perceived themischief that he had done. He wrote instantly to Marion, and succeeded, though with difficulty, in overcoming his resolution. He says: "Myreason for writing so pressingly for the dragoon horses, was from thedistress we were in. It is not my wish to take the horses fromthe militia, if it will injure the public service. The effects andconsequences you can better judge of than I can. You have renderedimportant services to the public with the militia under your command, and have done great honor to yourself, and I would not wish to renderyour situation less agreeable with them, unless it is to answer somevery great purpose; and this, I persuade myself, you would agree to, from a desire to promote the common good. "... 

From the same letter, we make another extract: "I shall always be happyto see you at headquarters, but cannot think you seriously mean tosolicit leave to go to Philadelphia. It is true, your task has beendisagreeable, but not more so than others. It is now going on sevenyears since the commencement of this war. I have never had leaveof absence one hour, nor paid the least attention to my own privateaffairs. Your State is invaded--your all is at stake. What has been donewill signify nothing, unless we persevere to the end. I left a family indistress, and everything dear and valuable, to come and afford you allthe assistance in my power, to promote the service. It must throw a dampupon the spirits of the army, to find that the first men in theState are retiring from the busy scene, to indulge themselves in moreagreeable amusements. However, your reasons for wishing to decline thecommand of the militia, and go to Philadelphia, may be more pressingthan I imagine; I will, therefore, add nothing more on this subject tillI see you. "

The adroit mixture of reproach with commendation, was not done withoutreflection. Greene seems to have understood the character of Marion. Butthere was some oblique injustice in his letter. A man's patriotismis not to be reproached, because he wishes to escape injustice andindignity. The best of patriots will be apt to become disgusted with aservice in which their claims are neglected, their performances slurredover, and their motives impeached; and this, too, at a period, andafter long periods, of service, in which they have watched, toiled, andfought, without hope or prospect of reward. When General Greenecompared the disagreeableness of Marion's toils with those of others, he certainly overlooked, not only the peculiar character of those toils, but the peculiar privations which distinguished the career of Marion'smen, and the particularly painful duties which so frequently belonged toit. His own previously expressed opinions with regard to the warfare, ascarried on between Whig and Tory in the south, will be found to furnisha sufficient commentary upon the comparison which he thus makes. Greenehimself, by the way, is not without blame in some respects, in relationto the southern commanders of militia. The slighting manner in whichhe spoke of them, and of their services, in letters not intended to bepublic, was such, that some of them, Sumter for example, never forgavehim. His prejudices were those of the regular service, the policyof which is always to disparage the militia. To Marion himself, hislanguage was of a different character. Take the following extract of aletter, written to the latter only one month before the correspondenceabove referred to. This letter is dated, from the camp before Camden, April 24, 1781, and will give a faint idea of the true claims of Marionupon the regard of his country. "When I consider, " writes Greene, "howmuch you have done and suffered, and under what disadvantage you havemaintained your ground, I am at a loss which to admire most, yourcourage and fortitude, or your address and management. Certain it is, noman has a better claim to the public thanks than you. History affordsno instance wherein an officer has kept possession of a country under somany disadvantages as you have. Surrounded on every side with a superiorforce, hunted from every quarter with veteran troops, you have foundmeans to elude their attempts, and to keep alive the expiring hopes ofan oppressed militia, when all succor seemed to be cut off. TO FIGHTTHE ENEMY BRAVELY WITH THE PROSPECT OF VICTORY, IS NOTHING; BUT TO FIGHTWITH INTREPIDITY UNDER THE CONSTANT IMPRESSION OF DEFEAT, AND INSPIREIRREGULAR TROOPS TO DO IT, IS A TALENT PECULIAR TO YOURSELF. Nothingwill give me greater pleasure than to do justice to your merit, andI shall miss no opportunity of declaring to Congress, to thecommander-in-chief of the American army, and to the world, the greatsense I have of your merit and your services. "

The correspondence of Greene with Marion, on the subject of the horses, closed with a letter on the part of the latter, in which he turned offthe affair on grounds that proved his feelings tranquillized. A presentof a fine horse, for Greene's own use, accompanied this letter. It hasbeen shown that, on the day of the capture of Fort Motte, Greene rodeinto the camp of Marion, at that place. We can conceive of no othermotive for his presence here, than a desire to make his reconciliationperfect. He brought no force with him to promote the object of thebesiegers, and his stay was limited to a brief interview. 

But the evil effect of this affair did not end here. The militia, alarmed at the idea of having their horses taken from them, soon beganto scatter, and, pleading the planting season upon which they hadentered--some, indeed, without any plea, --they left the camp in numbers, and before the leaguer was well over, the force of Marion was reduced tosomething less than two hundred men. With this remnant of his brigade, as soon as Fort Motte was yielded, Marion detached himself from theregular troops and struck down towards Monk's Corner, hanging upon theskirts of Lord Rawdon's army, then in full retreat from Camden. 

Perhaps the most interesting portions of our traditionary history inthe South, will be found to have occurred to the scattered bodies of thepartisan cavalry, while on their return movements to and from the army, after such a dispersion as that from which the brigade of Marion wasnow suffering. It was no easy matter for the small group, or the singletrooper, to regain the family homestead, or the friendly neighborhoodin which their wives and little ones were harbored. Every settlementthrough which they passed had its disaffected population. It might besmall or large, but its numbers did not affect its activity, and, withthe main body of the Whigs in camp, or on the road, the Tories, inremote sections of the country, were generally equally strong anddaring. These waylaid the customary pathways, and aware of all thematerial movements of the regular troops, made their arrangements tocut off stragglers or small detached bodies. When we consider theactive malignity by which the civil war in Carolina was marked; thewild forests in which it took place; the peculiar ferocity which itstimulated, and the various characteristics of the local modes ofwarfare, the chase and the surprise, we shall have no occasion forwonder at the strange and sometimes terrible events by which it wasdistinguished. One of these, which occurred to Captain, afterwardsColonel Snipes, of Marion's brigade, is a remarkable instance; and, asit has been told elsewhere, in connection with the life of Marion, itmay well claim a place in this narrative. 

Snipes was a Carolinian, of remarkable strength and courage. He wasequally distinguished for his vindictive hatred of the Tories. He hadsuffered some domestic injuries at their hands, and he was one who neverpermitted himself to forgive. His temper was sanguinary in the extreme, and led him, in his treatment of the loyalists, to such ferocities assubjected him, on more than one occasion, to the harshest rebuke of hiscommander. It is not certain at what period in the war the followingoccurrence took place, but it was on one of those occasions when thepartisan militia claimed a sort of periodical privilege of abandoningtheir general to look after their families and domestic interests. Availing himself of this privilege, Snipes pursued his way to hisplantation. His route was a circuitous one, but it is probable that hepursued it with little caution. He was more distinguished for audacitythan prudence. The Tories fell upon his trail, which they followed withthe keen avidity of the sleuth-hound. Snipes reached his plantationin safety, unconscious of pursuit. Having examined the homestead andreceived an account of all things done in his absence, from a faithfuldriver, and lulled into security by the seeming quiet and silence of theneighborhood, he retired to rest, and, after the fatigues of the day, soon fell into a profound sleep. From this he was awakened by the abruptentrance and cries of his driver. The faithful negro apprised him, in terror, of the approach of the Tories. They were already on theplantation. His vigilance alone prevented them from taking his master inbed. Snipes, starting up, proposed to take shelter in the barn, but thedriver pointed to the flames already bursting from that building. He hadbarely time to leave the house, covered only by his night shirt, and, bythe counsel of the negro, to fly to the cover of a thick copse ofbriars and brambles, within fifty yards of the dwelling, when the Toriessurrounded it. The very task of penetrating this copse, so as to screenhimself from sight, effectually removed the thin garment which concealedhis nakedness. The shirt was torn from his back by the briars, andthe skin shared in its injuries. But, once there, he lay effectuallyconcealed from sight. Ordinary conjecture would scarcely have supposedthat any animal larger than a rabbit would have sought or found shelterin such a region. The Tories immediately seized upon the negro anddemanded his master, at the peril of his life. Knowing and fearing thecourage and the arm of Snipes, they did not enter the dwelling, butadopted the less valorous mode of setting it on fire, and, with pointedmuskets, surrounded it, in waiting for the moment when their victimshould emerge. He, within a few steps of them, heard their threats andexpectations, and beheld all their proceedings. The house was consumed, and the intense heat of the fire subjected our partisan, in his placeof retreat, to such torture, as none but the most dogged hardihood couldhave endured without complaint. The skin was peeled from his body inmany places, and the blisters were shown long after, to persons who arestill living. * But Snipes too well knew his enemies, and what he hadto expect at their hands, to make any confession. He bore patientlythe torture, which was terribly increased, when, finding themselves atfault, the Tories brought forward the faithful negro who had thus farsaved his master, and determined to extort from him, in the halter, thesecret of his hiding-place. But the courage and fidelity of the negroproved superior to the terrors of death. Thrice was he run up the tree, and choked nearly to strangulation, but in vain. His capability toendure proved superior to the will of the Tories to inflict, and he wasat length let down, half dead, --as, in truth, ignorant of the secretwhich they desired to extort. What were the terrors of Snipes in allthis trial? What his feelings of equal gratitude and apprehension?How noble was the fidelity of the slave--based upon what gentle andaffectionate relationship between himself and master--probably fromboyhood! Yet this is but one of a thousand such attachments, all equallypure and elevated, and maintained through not dissimilar perils. 

 * See a biographical sketch of Tarlton Brown, of Barnwell, S. C. , a soldier in the revolutionary army. Charleston, 1844, p. 8. --

While Marion was operating against Forts Watson and Motte, Sumter, withlike success, had besieged the British posts at Orangeburg and Granby. It was the loss of these posts, and the dread of the subsequentconcentration of the whole American force against Camden, that hadprompted the destruction and abandonment of that place by Lord Rawdon. This was the plan and object of Greene. The precipitate movements ofRawdon, who anticipated the purpose of the former, necessarily defeatedit. Pickens was operating against Augusta; while Sumter, leaving theinvestment of Granby, the conquest of which was considered sure, toCol. Taylor, proceeded down the country, with the two-fold object ofharassing the descent of the British army, and to prevent them fromcarrying off the cattle of the inhabitants. In the former object, neither Marion nor himself had much success. They did not succeed ineffecting a junction, and the sanguine desire of Sumter, with unitedforces, to operate boldly upon the retreating army of Rawdon, wasnot encouraged by Greene, who preferred a safe and sure, though slowprogress, to any attainment of his end by a hazardous attempt, howeverglorious. The task of holding Rawdon in check, was confided toMarion and Sumter, while Greene proceeded with his whole army, to theinvestment of the post of Ninety-Six, at the village of Cambridge. Inthe execution of their duties, the two partisans closed in upon theBritish commander, until he established a line of fortified posts, extending from Georgetown, by Monk's Corner, Dorchester, &c. , toCoosawhatchee. Within this line our partisans continually madeincursions, keeping the enemy in constant check and apprehension. Theywere not in force to do more. Georgetown, however, separated by watercourses and swamps of great magnitude, from the other posts, was leftwith a garrison so feeble, as to tempt Marion to proceed against it. Theparishes that lie along the Santee, on both sides, towards its mouth, had turned out with so much zeal on his return into their neighborhood, that he soon found himself in sufficient force to cover the country witha strong detachment under Col. Mayham, while, with his main body, hewent against Georgetown. He appeared before this place on the 6th ofJune, and instantly began his approaches. But his simple demonstrationwas sufficient. The enemy made but a show of resistance. As the attemptwas pressed, the garrison fled to their galleys, and took a position inthe bay beyond the reach of the Americans. They finally abandoned theharbor altogether. It was not in the power of Marion to man the postefficiently, and his policy forbade that he should do it inadequately. Accordingly, he deliberately removed the military stores and publicproperty, up the Pedee, then, demolishing the works, returned to joinhis detachment in St. Stephens. While at Georgetown, however, it isrecorded that he replenished his wardrobe, and fitted himself out witha becoming suit of regimentals. This was an event, in the career of ourpartisan, to be remembered by his followers. He indulged, it seems, for the first time, in some other of the luxuries of the campaigner. Acouple of mules were employed for the transportation of his baggage, andhis usual beverage of vinegar and water was occasionally diversified bya bowl of coffee at breakfast. A little before this, --perhaps soon afterGeneral Greene had penetrated the State, --he had appointed himself acouple of secretaries for the purpose of greater dispatch in letterwriting--his correspondence necessarily increasing, in consequence ofhis connection with the more expanded operations of the army. State, hedid not affect, and the simplicity and modesty of his character may beeasily inferred from this petty enumeration of the aids and comfortswhich he thought proper to draw from his successes. 

While Marion, in person, proceeded against Georgetown, Col. Peter Horrywas dispatched with a strong body of men against the loyalists on thePedee, a wild and bloodthirsty band of borderers, under the conductof Major Gainey, of whom we have had occasion to speak already. Horrysucceeded in awing Gainey into submission, and in extorting from him atreaty by which he consented, with his officers and men, to maintaina condition of neutrality. This submission, though complete, was buttemporary. It required subsequently the decisive proceedings of Marion, and his personal presence, to enforce its provisions. But of thishereafter. 

While Greene, with the main American army, was proceeding againstNinety-Six, preparations were made by the British in Charleston, forravaging the country on the south side of the Santee. The people of St. John's and St. Stephen's parishes, had shown too active a zeal in thecause of liberty, to escape punishment, and it was resolved that theircountry should be laid waste. The loyalists of Charleston, and thatvicinity, had been embodied in a regiment, and, under Col. Ball, prepared to carry this design into execution. But Marion, apprised byhis scouts and spies of every movement in the city, and unable with hispresent force to meet with that of Ball, determined, however painful thenecessity, to anticipate his proceedings; and, with his usual celerity, he laid waste the country himself; removing across the Santee to placesof safety, not only all the stock and cattle, but all the provisions, that could be collected. They were thus saved, as well for thesubsistence of his men, as for the proprietor. Anxious to oppose himselfmore actively to the enemy, he sent pressing dispatches to Greene forassistance in covering the country. Col. Washington, with his admirablecorps of cavalry, was accordingly dispatched to his assistance. We haveseen that the commander-in-chief had proceeded in person against theBritish post at Ninety-Six. To Sumter and Marion had been entrusted thecare of Rawdon. They were required to check and prevent his progress inthe event of any attempt which he might make to relieve the post. Theywere unsuccessful in doing so. The arrival of a British fleet withreinforcements, comprising three fresh regiments from Ireland, enabledRawdon to despise any attempts, which, with their inferior force, ourpartisans might make. Some idea of the diligence of Marion and theexcellence of his plans for procuring intelligence, may be gathered fromthe fact that the Charleston paper of the 2d of June, announcing thearrival of these regiments, was in his possession the very day on whichit was printed, and transmitted instantly, through Sumter's command, to Greene. * Greene was unsuccessful in his attempts on Ninety-Six. Theplace was relieved, after an obstinate defence, by Rawdon, who, withhis new troops, by forced marches, arrived in time for its deliverance. Greene was compelled to retreat after much sanguinary fighting. Hewas pursued by Rawdon for a small distance; but the latter, contentinghimself with having rescued, withdrew the garrison, and abandoned theplace to the Americans. He was in no condition to pursue his enemy or tomaintain his position. His Irish regiments were not to be trusted, and the maintenance of the city and the seaboard were paramountconsiderations. With such active and enterprising foes as Marion andSumter, between his army and his garrison, he felt the insecurity ofhis hold upon the country. His posts in the interior had now everywherefallen into the hands of the Americans. Augusta, with the three posts, Cornwallis, Grierson and Galphin, had just been yielded to the arms ofPickens and Lee. There were no longer any intermediate posts of defence, from Orangeburg to Ninety-Six, and the latter was now so thoroughlyisolated, that prudence led to its abandonment. This necessity broughtwith it another, which was much more painful and humiliating to theunfortunate loyalists of that country, who had so long sided with theBritish arms against their countrymen. They were compelled to abandontheir homes and share the fortunes of the retreating army. They werewithout refuge, and the spirit of the warfare had been such as to leavethem hopeless of mercy in any encounter with the Whigs. A mournfulcavalcade followed in the train of the British army, and retarded itsprogress. Greene, as he discovered Rawdon's movements to be retrograde, turned upon his retreating footsteps. His cavalry harassed the enemyand hastened his flight. At Ancrum's ferry on the Congaree, Greene, inadvance of his army, joined Marion and Washington, the latter with hiscavalry, the former with four hundred mounted militia; and, at the headof these two corps, pressing down the Orangeburg road, on the 6thof July, he succeeded in passing Lord Rawdon. Retaining command ofWashington's cavalry, he dispatched Marion with his mounted militia tointercept a valuable convoy, freighted not only for relief of Rawdon'sarmy, but with all the various supplies and material necessary for theestablishment of the British post at Granby. Marion was unsuccessful. The convoy under Lieut. -Col. Stewart escaped without being conscious ofits danger. He had taken one of two roads, while Marion watched for himupon the other. On the morning of the 8th, Stewart and Rawdon effected ajunction in Orangeburg. The condition of the British army on that day isthus described in a letter of Marion to Greene:

 * Johnson's Greene, vol. 2, p. 146. --

"Their troops are so fatigued they cannot possibly move. Three regimentswere going to lay down their arms, and it is believed they will to-day, if they are ordered to march. They have no idea of any force being nearthem. "

At Orangeburg, Rawdon was too strongly posted for any attempts ofGreene. Here, with his own force and that of Stewart, numbering fifteenhundred men, he was joined by Col. Cruger from Ninety-Six, with thirteenhundred more. Orangeburg is situated on the east bank of the NorthEdisto, which half encircles it. North and south are swamps and ravines, which so nearly approach each other as to leave but a narrow and brokenpassage on the east side. The gaol, a strong brick building of twostories, not inferior to a strong redoubt, with some other buildings, commanded the approach. "The crown of the hill on which it stood, wassufficiently spacious for manoeuvering the whole British army, and thehouses and fences afforded shelter against all attempts of the Americancavalry or mounted militia, " while, in case of defeat, the bridge intheir rear afforded as secure means of retreat. An attempt upon sucha position, with a force consisting chiefly of mounted infantry, wouldhave been folly, and Greene, after a brief demonstration, determined towithdraw one half of his army towards the Congaree, while the other wassent forward upon that memorable incursion into the lower country, bywhich the enemy, from all quarters, were driven into Charleston; and, with the exception of the force at Orangeburg, for a brief period, everyvestige of British power was swept away, down to the very gates of theformer place. The command of this detachment was given to Sumter. Actingunder him, were Marion, Lee, the Hamptons, Taylor, Horry, Mayham, andothers of those active partisans who had kept alive the war from thebeginning. The command consisted of all the State troops, Lee's legion, and a detachment of artillery, with one field piece; in all about athousand men. The object of this movement was not only to strike at theBritish line of posts, but to divert the attention of Rawdon from theCongaree, where it was his policy to re-establish himself in force. 

The force under Sumter, as it approached the scene of operations, was broken into separate detachments. Dorchester was yielded withoutresistance to the corps under Lee, while Col. Wade Hampton, pressingto the very lines of Charleston, captured the guard and patrol at theQuarter House, and spread terror through the city. Sumter and Marionthen proceeded against the post at Biggin, held by Col. Coates ofthe British army, a spirited officer, with a garrison of five hundredinfantry, one hundred and fifty horse, and one piece of artillery. Thepost at Biggin consisted of a redoubt at Monk's Corner, and the church, about a mile distant, near Biggin Bridge. This church was a strong brickbuilding, which covered the bridge, and secured the retreat at thatpoint, by way of Monk's Corner. Biggin Creek is one of many streamswhich empty into Cooper river. Of these, it is the most northwardly. Onthe east of this creek, the road to Charleston crosses Watboo and QuinbyCreeks. The destruction of Watboo bridge rendered impracticable theretreat by the eastern route, and this bridge, accordingly, became animportant object to both the British and Americans. A detachment ofMarion's men, under Col. Mayham, was sent forward to destroy the Watboobridge, and thus cut off the retreat of the enemy. But the position andforce of Col. Coates prevented the approach of Mayham, and he waitedthe advance of the main body. On the 16th July, he was reinforced by adetachment under Col. Peter Horry, who, assuming the command, proceededto the attempt upon the bridge. The enemy's cavalry opposed themselvesto the attempt; a short action ensued; they were defeated, and drivenback with loss. The mounted riflemen broke through them, and a numberof prisoners were taken. Horry then dispatched a party to destroy thebridge, and remained to cover the men engaged in the work. But theenemy soon reappeared in force, and Horry, with his working party, wascompelled to retire, in turn, upon the main body. Sumter, believing thatCoates had marched out to give him battle, took post in a defile, andawaited him; but the purpose of the enemy was only to gain time--towear out the day, amusing him, while they made secret preparations forflight. Their stores were accumulated in the church, which had beentheir fortress, and, at midnight, the flames bursting through the roofof the devoted building announced to the Americans the retreat of thefoe. The pursuit was immediately commenced, and, in order that itmight not be impeded, the only piece of artillery which Sumter had, wasunfortunately left behind, under Lieut. Singleton. Lee and Hampton ledthe pursuit until, having passed the Watboo, they discovered that thecavalry of the enemy had separated from the infantry, taking the righthand route. Hampton then struck off in pursuit of the former, in hopeto overtake them before they could reach the river; but he urged hispanting horses in vain. They had completed their escape, and secured theboats on the opposite side, before he could come up with them. 

Marion's cavalry, meanwhile, under Col. Mayham, had joined the Legioncavalry in pursuit of the infantry. About a mile to the north of QuinbyCreek, the rearguard of the retreating army was overtaken. With thisbody, which consisted of one hundred men, under Capt. Campbell, wasnearly all the baggage of the British army. Terrified by the furiouscharge of the Americans, they threw down their arms without firinga gun. Favored by this circumstance, the cavalry of Mayham, and theLegion, pressed forward. Coates had passed Quinby Bridge, and madedispositions for its demolition, as soon as the rear-guard and baggageshould have passed. The planks which covered the bridge had beenloosened from the sleepers, and a howitzer, at the opposite extremity, was placed to check the pursuit. But, as the rear-guard had beencaptured without firing a shot, their commander was unapprised of theirfate, and unprepared for immediate defence. Fortunately for his command, he was present at the bridge when the American cavalry came in view. Hismain body, at this moment, was partly on the causeway, on the southside of the bridge, and partly pressed into a lane beyond it--in bothsituations so crowded as to be almost wholly incapable of immediateaction. Coates, however, coolly took measures for his safety. Orderswere dispatched to them to halt, form, and march up, whilst theartillerists were summoned to the howitzer, and the fatigue party to thedestruction of the bridge. 

The legion cavalry were in advance of Mayham's command. CaptainArmstrong led the first section. Their approach to the bridge was markedby all the circumstances of danger. They were pressing upon each otherinto a narrow causeway, the planks of the bridge were fast slidinginto the water, and the blazing port-fire hung over the howitzer. Thedisappearance of the fatigue party from the bridge would be the signalfor it to vomit death upon the ranks of the approaching Americans. Therewas no time for deliberation. Armstrong, followed close by his section, dashed over the bridge and drove the artillerists from the gun. Lieutenant Carrington followed, but the third section faltered. Mayham, of Marion's cavalry, feeling the halt, charged by them; but the deathof his horse arrested his career. Captain Macauley, who led his frontsection, pressed on and passed the bridge. The causeway was now crowded;the conflict was hand to hand. Some of the working party, snatching uptheir guns, delivered a single fire and fled. Two of the legion dragoonswere slain at the mouth of the howitzer, several wounded. But theofficers remained unhurt. Coates, with several of the British, coveredby a wagon, opposed them with their swords, while their troops werehurrying forward to where they could display. Meanwhile, Lee, with therest of the legion, had reached the bridge, which they proceeded torepair. A momentary pause for reflection, a glance before and aroundthem, revealed to Armstrong and Macauley, the fact that they were almostalone, unsupported by their party, and with the British recoveringthemselves in front. They reflected that, only while the Britishofficers were in their rear, should they be secure from the fire of theenemy in front; and, urging their way through the flying soldiers onthe causeway, they wheeled into the woods on their left, and escaped byheading the stream. Had they been followed by the whole party, boldlycharging across the bridge, the entire force of the enemy must have laiddown their arms. The British were so crowded in the lane and causeway, in such inextricable confusion, without room to display or to defendthemselves, that they must have yielded by spontaneous movement toavoid being cut to pieces. The reproach lies heavily against the haltingcavalry, that could leave to their fate the brave fellows who hadcrossed the bridge. 

Colonel Coates dared not longer trust himself in the open country inthe face of a cavalry so active and powerful. Retiring to Shubrick'splantation, after destroying the bridge, he resolved to defend himselfunder cover of the buildings. These were situated on a rising ground, and consisted of a dwelling-house of two stories, with outhouses andfences. They afforded security against cavalry, and a good covering fromthe American marksmen. 

It was not till 3 o'clock, P. M. , that Sumter, with the main body of theAmericans, reached the ground. He found the British drawn up in a squarein front of the house, and ready to receive him. As he had very fewbayonets, to march directly up to the attack would have been out of thequestion. He divided his force into three bodies. His own brigade, ledby Cols. Middleton and Polk, Taylor and Lacy, advanced in front, undershelter of a line of negro houses, which they were ordered to occupy. Marion's brigade, thrown into two divisions, was ordered to advance onthe right of the British, where there was no shelter but that of fences, and those within forty or fifty yards of the houses held by the enemy. The cavalry constituted a reserve, to cover the infantry from pursuit. 

Sumter's brigade soon gained the negro houses, from whence theydelivered their rifles with great effect. Col. Taylor with aboutforty-five men of his regiment, pressing forward to the fences on theenemy's left, drew upon him the bayonets of the British, before whichthey yielded. Marion's men, in the meantime, seeing the danger ofTaylor's party, with a degree of firmness and gallantry which would havedone honor to any soldiers, rushed through a galling fire and extricatedthem; and, notwithstanding the imperfect covering afforded them by therail fence along which they ranged themselves, they continued to fightand fire as long as a single charge of ammunition remained with thecorps. The brunt of the battle fell upon them, and they maintained inthis, the reputation acquired in many a border struggle. More than fiftymen, all of Marion's, were killed or wounded in this affair, but theloss did not dispirit the survivors. They were drawn off in perfectorder, only when their ammunition was expended. 

The fight lasted three hours, from four o'clock until dark. Seventyof the British fell. But the want of the field-piece left behind withSingleton, and the failure of their ammunition, not a charge of whichremained with the Americans at the close of the fight, saved the enemy, whose infantry alone, according to Sumter, was superior to his wholeforce. The Americans attacked them with half their number. But Coatesheld his position, and tidings of the approach of Rawdon, who had leftOrangeburg, prompted Sumter to retreat across the Santee. His expeditionhad not been successful. It does not concern us to inquire by whoseerrors or defects it failed. Enough, that, in all things, where Marionand his men were concerned, they acquitted themselves in a mannercalculated to sustain their former reputation. The attack upon Coatesat the house, we are told, was made against Marion's opinion, who blamedSumter for wasting the lives of his men. Without a field-piece, itwas scarcely possible that an inferior should have succeeded against asuperior force, in a strong position. Sumter was courageous to rashness. His spirit could not be restrained in sight of the enemy. With a braveforce at his command, he was not satisfied to be idle, and his couragewas frequently exercised at the expense of his judgment. The men ofMarion complained that they had been exposed unnecessarily in theconflict. It is certain that they were the only sufferers. Had Sumterbut waited for his artillery, and simply held the enemy in check, the victory must have been complete, and this victory was of the lastimportance to the Americans. It would have involved the loss of oneentire British regiment, at a moment when, two others having beenrequired at New York from South Carolina, the force remaining withRawdon would have been barely adequate to the retention of Charleston. This necessity would have withdrawn the latter general at once fromOrangeburg, and the subsequent bloody battle of Eutaw would have beenaverted accordingly. Greene, speaking of this combat, writes:--"Theaffair was clever, but by no means equal to what it ought to have been. The whole regiment of six hundred men would have been captured, ifGeneral Sumter had not detailed too much, and had not mistaken acovering party for an attack. " It may be added, that the party actuallyengaged in the attack on Coates, were almost exclusively South Carolinamilitia. Under favorite leaders they had betrayed no such apprehensionsas are natural enough to men who lack confidence in themselves andcaptains. They had shown the courage of veterans, though they may havefailed of that entire success which is usually supposed to follow from aveteran experience. 

Chapter 16. 

 Marion moves secretly to Pon-Pon--Rescues Col. Harden-- Defeats Major Frazier at Parker's Ferry--Joins the main Army under Greene--Battle of Eutaw. 

After the battle of Quinby the joint forces of Sumter and Marion wereseparated. The former retired up the Congaree; the latter took charge ofthe country on the Santee; while Greene placed himself in a camp ofrest at the High Hills in the district which has since taken the nameof Sumter. His troops were in a wretched state of incapacity, inconsequence of sickness. The region to which he retired was famous forits salubrity, and the intense heat of the season effectually forbademuch military activity. The opposing generals were content to watcheach other. It was while he held this position that Col. Hayne, of themilitia, was executed as a traitor by the British. The case of thisgentleman was that of many in the State. He had taken parole at a timewhen the country was overrun by the enemy. This parole was subsequentlywithdrawn by the conquerors, when they supposed the people to have beensubdued, and desired their services as militia. But the British were inturn driven from the field. The Americans acquired the ascendant. The section of the country in which Hayne resided was overrun by adetachment of Marion, under Col. Harden, and Hayne availed himselfof the occasion to take up arms for his country. He was a populargentleman, and soon gathered a strong party of militia. His careerwas distinguished by some small successes, and, with a party of Col. Harden's horse, by a sudden dash in the vicinity of Charleston, hesucceeded in taking prisoner General Williamson, formerly of theAmericans, whose life was forfeited to the country. The capture ofWilliamson put all the available cavalry of the British into activity, and by an unfortunate indiscretion, Hayne suffered himself to beovertaken. His execution soon followed his capture. This was aproceeding equally barbarous and unjustifiable--neither sanctionedby policy nor propriety. It took place after a brief examination, andwithout any trial. The proceeding was equally unauthorized by civil andmartial law. It was not long before this, as the reader will remember, that Marion, in consequence of the execution of some of his men by theBritish, had threatened them with retaliation. Greene, who knew thedecisive character of Marion, and was apprehensive that this wantoncrime would render him as prompt as he was fearless, in avenging it, thus writes to prevent him: "Do not take any measures in the mattertowards retaliation, for I do not intend to retaliate upon the TORYofficers, but the BRITISH. It is my intention to demand the reasons ofthe Colonel's being put to death; and if they are unsatisfactory, asI am sure they will be, and if they refuse to make satisfaction, asI expect they will, to publish my intention of giving no quarter toBritish officers, of any rank, that fall into our hands. Should weattempt to retaliate upon their militia officers, I am sure they wouldpersevere in the measure, in order to increase the animosity between theWhigs and Tories, that they might stand idle spectators, and see thembutcher each other. As I do not wish my intentions known to the enemybut through an official channel, and as this WILL BE DELAYED FOR SOMEFEW DAYS TO GIVE OUR FRIENDS IN ST. AUGUSTINE TIME TO GET OFF, I wishyou not to mention the matter to any mortal out of your family. "

Weems represents Marion as being greatly averse to this measure ofretaliation, and as having censured those officers of the regular armywho demanded of Greene the adoption of this remedy. But the biographerwrote rather from his own benevolent nature than from the record. Marionhad no scruples about the necessity of such a measure in particularcases; and, however much he might wish to avoid its execution, he wasyet fully prepared to adopt it whenever the policy of the proceedingwas unquestionable. Fortunately, the decisive resolutions which wereexpressed by the Americans, their increasing successes, the fact thatthey had several British officers of reputation in their hands, --allconspired to produce, in the minds of the enemy, a greater regard tothe rights of justice and humanity. As retaliation in such cases isjustifiable only as a preventive and remedial measure, it now ceasedto be necessary; and, with proper views of the affair, the resolves ofGreene and Marion were suffered to remain unexpunged, in proof of theirindignation, rather than their purpose. But a few days had elapsedafter the execution of Hayne when a party of Marion's men, under CaptainErvine, fell in with and captured a favorite British officer, CaptainCampbell, with two subalterns, in charge of a convoying detachment. Theywere at once committed to the provost guard, and soon communicated theirapprehensions to Charleston. A meeting of British officers was held, andtheir dissatisfaction at this new feature, introduced into the warfareof the country, was expressed in such terms, as contributed, alongwith the prompt proceedings of the Americans, to bring Balfour, thecommandant of Charleston, under whose authority the execution of Haynehad taken place, to a better sense of mercy and prudence. We shall haveno farther occasion to refer to these proceedings. It is enough that thethreat of retaliation, followed up by such decided movements as left nodoubt of the resolution of the Americans, produced all the beneficialeffects which could have accrued from its execution. 

The incursion of Sumter and Marion into the low country, drew LordRawdon from Orangeburg, with five hundred men, to Charleston, from whichplace, after lingering just long enough to witness the death of Hayne, he sailed for New York. He left Lieut. -Col. Stewart in command atOrangeburg. From this post, Stewart moved to McCord's ferry, on theCongaree, on the south side of which he took post, amidst the hills nearthe confluence of the Wateree and Congaree. Greene's camp lay directlyopposite, and the fires of the mutual armies were distinctly seen byeach other. The heat of the weather suspended all regular militaryoperations. Two large rivers intervening secured each from suddenattack, and their toils were confined to operating in small detachments, for foraging or convoy. In this service, on the American side, Col. Washington was detached--as soon as the course of Stewart wasascertained--down the country across the Santee; Lee was sent upward, along the north bank of the Congaree; the latter to operate with Col. Henderson, then in command of Sumter's brigade, at Fridig's ferry, and the former to strike at the communication between the enemy andCharleston, and to cooperate with Marion and Mayham, in covering thelower Santee. Col. Harden, at the same time, with a body of mountedmilitia, had it in charge to straiten the enemy upon the Edisto. 

The activity of these several parties and their frequent successes, weresuch that Stewart was compelled to look for his supplies to the countrybelow him. This necessity caused him to re-establish and strengthen thepost at Dorchester, in order to cover the communication by Orangeburg;and to place a force at Fairlawn, near the head of the navigation ofCooper river, from which supplies from Charleston were transported toheadquarters over land. As this route was watched by Marion, Washingtonand Mayham, the British commander was compelled, in order to secure themeans of communication with the opposite bank of the Congaree and todraw supplies from thence, to transport boats adapted to the purpose, onwagon-wheels, from Fairlawn to the Congaree. 

Such were the relative positions of the two armies until the 22d ofAugust, when Greene, calling in all his detachments except those underMarion, Mayham and Harden, broke up his camp at the High Hills andproceeded to Howell's ferry, on the Congaree, with the intentionimmediately to cross it and advance upon Stewart. That officer, on hearing of the movement of the Americans, fell back upon hisreinforcements and convoys, and took up a strong position at the EutawSprings. 

Meanwhile, Marion disappeared from the Santee on one of those secretexpeditions in which his wonderful celerity and adroit managementconducted his men so frequently to success. His present aim was thePon-Pon. Col. Harden was at this time in that quarter, and closelypressed by a superior British force of five hundred men. Detaching aparty of mounted militia to the neighborhood of Dorchester and Monk'sCorner, as much to divert the enemy from his own movements as with anyother object, he proceeded with two hundred picked men on his secretexpedition. 

By a forced march, he crossed the country from St. Stephen's to theEdisto--passing through both lines of the enemy's communication withCharleston, and reached Harden--a distance of one hundred miles--inseason for his relief. His approach and arrival were totally unsuspectedby the enemy, for whom he prepared an ambush in a swamp near Parker'sferry. A small body of his swiftest horse were sent out to decoy theBritish into the snare. A white feather, rather too conspicuously wornby one of his men in ambush, had nearly defeated his design. Some Toriespassing, discovered this unnecessary plumage, and one of them fired uponthe wearer. This led to an exchange of shots; but Major Frazier, by whomthe British were commanded, assuming the party thus concealed to be thatof Harden, whom it was his aim to find, pursued the horsemen whom Marionhad sent out to entice him to the ambuscade. His cavalry was led at fullcharge within forty yards of the concealed riflemen. A deadly fire waspoured in, under which the British recoiled; attempting to wheel andcharge the swamp, they received a second; and, closely wedged as theirmen were upon the narrow causeway over which they came, every shot boreits warrant. There was no retreating, no penetrating the ambush, and theBritish cavalry had but to go forward, along the road to the ferry, thuspassing the entire line of the ambuscade. The corps was most effectuallythinned by the time it got beyond rifle reach; and still more fatalwould have been the affray to the advancing infantry of Frazier--a largebody, with a field-piece--but for one of those lamentable deficienciesof materiel, which so frequently plucked complete success from the graspof the Americans. The ammunition of our partisan failed him, and he wascompelled to yield the ground to the enemy, who was otherwise wholly inhis power. The British loss was unknown. Twenty-seven dead horses werecounted on the field the day after; the men had all been buried. AsMarion's men fired with either a ball or heavy buck-shot, and as nonewould aim at horses, the loss of the British must have been very great. Nine days after, at the battle of Eutaw, they had few cavalry in thefield. 

But, though the victory was incomplete, Marion had attained his object. He had rescued Harden, without loss to himself. He had traversed morethan two hundred miles of country, through a region held by the enemy;returned by the same route, --delivered his prisoners to the care ofMayham, --returned twenty miles below the Eutaw, in order to watch thecommunication between that place and Fairlawn--then, at the call ofGreene, made a circuit and passed the British army, so as to reacha position on the south side of the Santee, in the track of Greene'sadvance; and all this in the brief compass of six days. Yet, of thesemovements, which merited and received the particular thanks of Congress, we are without any data in our records. The complimentary resolution ofCongress fixes the battle at Parker's ferry on the 31st August. 

Seventeen miles from Eutaw Springs, at Lauren's plantation, Marioneffected a junction with the commander-in-chief. Greene was pressingforward to a meeting with Stewart. Of this object the latter seemed tohave been profoundly ignorant up to this moment. But the day before, he knew that Marion was twenty miles below him, and did not conjecturethat, by marching the whole night, he had thrown himself above him tojoin with Greene. Without this junction he had no apprehension that thelatter, with an inferior force, would venture an attack upon him, in thestrong position which he held. On the afternoon of the 7th September, the army reached Burdell's tavern on the Congaree road, seven miles fromthe Eutaws. The force under Greene amounted to two thousand men, alltold. That under General Stewart was probably about the same. It isestimated to have been two thousand three hundred. These were alldisciplined troops, and a large proportion of the old regimentsconsisted of native marksmen from the ranks of the loyalists. Incavalry, Greene had the advantage, but a great portion of his men weremilitia. In artillery the two armies were equal. The British had fiveand the Americans four pieces. 

The memorable battle of the Eutaw Springs was fought on the 8thSeptember. At four o'clock in the morning the Americans moved from theirbivouac down to the attack. The day was fair, but intensely hot; but thecombatants at the commencement of the battle were relieved by the shadeof the woods. The South Carolina State troops and Lee's legion formedthe advance under Colonel Henderson. The militia, both of South andNorth Carolina, moved next, under Marion. Then followed the regularsunder Gen. Sumner; and the rear was closed by Washington's cavalry, andKirkwood's Delawares, under Col. Washington. The artillery moved betweenthe columns. The troops were thus arranged in reference to their orderof battle. 

Of the approach of the Americans Stewart was wholly ignorant on theevening of the 7th. The only patrol which had been sent up the Congareeroad had been captured during the night, and Stewart himself says, inexcuse, that "the Americans had waylaid the swamps and passes in such amanner as to cut off every avenue of intelligence. " So entirely securehad he felt himself in his position, which was a strong one, that he hadsent out an unarmed party of one hundred men, in the very direction ofGreene's advance, to gather sweet potatoes. This party, called a rootingparty, after advancing about three miles, had pursued a road to theright, which led to the river plantations. Advised, by two desertersfrom the North Carolina militia, of Greene's approach, Stewartdispatched Captain Coffin, with his cavalry, to recall the rootingparty, and to reconnoitre the Americans. Before Coffin could effecteither object, he encountered the American advance, and, in totalignorance of its strength, charged it with a degree of confidence, whichled Greene to imagine that Stewart with his whole army was at hand. Coffin was easily repulsed; the rooting party, alarmed by the firing, hurried from the woods, and were all made prisoners. Meanwhile, Stewart, now thoroughly aware of the proximity of his enemy, pushed forward adetachment of infantry, a mile distant from the Eutaw, with ordersto engage and detain the American troops while he formed his menand prepared for battle. But Greene, whom the audacity of Coffin haddeceived, halted his columns where they stood, and proceeded to displaythem. The column of militia formed the first line; the South Carolinamilitia in equal divisions on the right and left, and the NorthCarolinians in the centre. General Marion commanded the right, GeneralPickens the left, and Col. Malmedy the centre. Col. Henderson, with theState troops, including Sumter's brigade, covered the left of this line, and Col. Lee, with his legion, the right. The column of regularsalso displayed in one line. The North Carolinians, under Gen. Sumner, occupied the right; the Marylanders, under Col. Williams, the left; theVirginians, under Col. Campbell, the centre. Two pieces of artillerywere assigned to each line. Col. Washington moved in column in the rear, keeping himself in reserve. In this order, the troops pressed forwardslowly, as the country on both sides of the road was in wood, andprevented much expedition. Moving thus, the first line encountered theadvance parties of Stewart, and drove them before it, until the entireline of the British army, displayed in order of battle, received, andgave shelter to, the fugitives. 

The troops of Stewart were drawn up in one line at about two hundredyards west of the Eutaw Springs; the Buffs on the right, Cruger's corpsin the centre, and the 63d and 64th on the left. Major Marjoribanks, with three hundred of his best troops, was strongly posted, so as toflank the Buffs, under shelter of a thick wood on the Eutaw Creek, which covered the right of the whole line; the left was, in military'parlance', 'in air'--resting in the wood, and supported by Coffin'scavalry--reduced to a very small number--and a respectable detachment ofinfantry. His ground was altogether in wood, but, at a small distance, in the rear of his line, was an open field, on the edge of which stooda strong brick dwelling, with offices, out-houses, and a palisadoedgarden, in all of which a stout resistance might be made. On this brickhouse, Stewart had already cast his eyes, as the means of saving hisarmy in any 'dernier' necessity. The house was of two stories, andabundantly strong to resist small arms. Its windows commanded all theopen space around. Major Sheridan was ordered to throw himself into it, with his command, in case of an unfavorable issue to the fight; and inthis position to overawe the Americans, and cover the army. Feeble incavalry, in which the Americans were strong, there was no other meansfor retreat and support in the event of a capital misfortune. 

The American approach was from the west. The first line, consistingwholly of militia, went into action, and continued in it with a coolnessand stubbornness which, says Greene, "would have graced the veterans ofthe great king of Prussia. " Such conduct was almost invariable ontheir part, wherever Marion or Pickens commanded. Steadily and withoutfaltering, they advanced into the hottest of the enemy's fire, withshouts and exhortations, which were not lessened by the continual fallof their comrades around them. Their line was all the while receivingthe fire of double their number--they were opposed to the entire line ofthe British. The carnage was severe, and very equal on both sides. Thetwo pieces of artillery were at length disabled, and after exchangingseventeen rounds with the enemy, the militia began to falter. Gen. Sumner was ordered up to their support, with the North CarolinaContinentals. With the advance of Sumner, Stewart brought into line onhis left, the infantry of his reserve, and the battle, between freshtroops on both sides, raged with renewed fury. From the commencementof the action, the infantry of the American covering parties, right andleft, had been steadily engaged. The State troops, under Henderson, hadsuffered greatly. The American left, which they flanked, falling farshort of the British right in length, they were exposed to the obliquefire of a large proportion of the British left, and particularly of thebattalion commanded by Marjoribanks. Henderson himself was disabled, and his men, denied to charge the enemy under whose fire they weresuffering--for they were necessary to the safety of the artillery andmilitia--were subjected to a trial of their constancy, which very fewsoldiers, whatever may have been their training, would have borne sowell. 

Meanwhile, the brigade of Sumner recoiled from the fire of the greaternumbers opposed to them in front. At this sight, the exultation of theBritish Left hurried them forward, assured of certain victory. Theirline became deranged, and the American general, promptly availinghimself of the opportunity, issued his command to Col. Williams, whohad in charge the remaining portion of his second line, to "advance, andsweep the field with his bayonets. " The two battalions obeyed the orderwith a shout. The Virginians, when within forty yards of the enemy, poured in a destructive fire, and the whole second line with trailedarms pressed on to the charge. The advanced left of the Britishrecoiled, and, just at this juncture, the legion infantry deliveredan enfilading fire, which threw them into irretrievable disorder. TheBritish centre, pressed upon by the fugitives, began to give way fromleft to right, and the fire of the Marylanders, poured in at the propermoment, completed their disaster. Their whole front yielded, and theshouts of the Americans declared their exultation, as at a victoryalready won. Unquestionably, the day was theirs. The enemy had fled fromthe battle. But a new one was to begin, in which victory, at present sosecure, was taken from their grasp. In the effort to prevent the enemyfrom rallying, and to cut him off from the brick dwelling, into whichSheridan, obeying the commands of Stewart, had thrown himself as soonas the necessity became apparent, the greatest loss of the Americanswas sustained. Marjoribanks still held his ground, with his entirebattalion, in the thick woods which skirted Eutaw Creek, and so wellcovered was he that, in an attempt to penetrate with his cavalry, Col. Washington became entangled in the thicket, and fell into the handsof the enemy, while his men suffered severely from their fire, and histroop was routed. A second time were they brought to the charge, butwith no better success than before. Marjoribanks still maintained hisposition, watching the moment when to emerge from the thicket with thebest prospect of safety to himself, and hurt to the Americans. He wassoon to have an opportunity. 

The British line had yielded and broken before the American bayonet. Thelatter pressed closely upon their heels, made many prisoners, andmight have cut them off, and, by isolating Marjoribanks, forced himto surrender, but for one of those occurrences which so frequently inbattle change the fortunes of the day. The course of the fugitives ledthem directly through the British encampment. There everything was givenup for lost. The tents were all standing, the commissaries had abandonedtheir stores, and the numerous retainers of the army were already infull flight for Charleston. When the pursuing Americans penetrated theencampment, they lost sight of the fugitives in the contemplation ofvarious objects of temptation which, to a half-naked and half-starvedsoldiery, were irresistible. The pursuit was forborne; the Americansfastened upon the liquors and refreshments scattered among the tents;and the whole army, with the exception of one or two corps, then fellinto confusion. Yet, so closely had the British been pursued to theshelter of the house, and so narrow was their escape, that some ofthe Americans had nearly obtained entrance with them. It was only byshutting the door against some of their own officers, that they made itsecure against the enemy; and in retiring from the house, now a citadel, the Americans only found safety by interposing the bodies of theofficers, thus made captive at the entrance, between themselves and thefire from the windows. One ludicrous incident is told of Major Barry, who was taken in this manner, and made use of as a shield by Lieut. Manning, as he retreated from before the house, which otherwise he couldnot have left in safety. Without struggling or making the slightesteffort for his extrication, Barry only enumerated his own titles with aprofound solemnity. "Sir, I am Henry Barry, Deputy Adjutant General ofthe British army, Secretary to the Commandant of Charleston, Captain inthe 52d regiment, " &c. "Enough, enough, sir, " answered Manning. "You arejust the man I was looking for. Fear nothing: you shall SCREEN ME fromdanger, and I shall take special care of you. " Manning escaped insafety with his prisoner. But there were many brave officers far lessfortunate. Many were destined to perish in the miserable after struggle, who had gone gloriously through the greater dangers of the fight. TheBritish tents had done what the British arms had failed to do. Victorywas lost to the Americans. Scattered throughout the encampment, the soldiers became utterly unmanageable. The enemy, meanwhile, hadpartially recovered from their panic. The party of Sheridan were inpossession of the house. Another party held possession of the palisadedgarden. Coffin was active with his remnant of cavalry, and Marjoribanksstill held a formidable position in the thicket on Eutaw Creek. Fromthe upper windows of the house, the musketry of Sheridan traversed theencampment, which the Americans now trembled to leave, lest they shouldsuffer from their fire. Every head that emerged from a tent was a markfor their bullets. Aware, by this time, of the extent of his misfortune, Greene ordered a retreat, which Hampton's cavalry was commanded tocover. In the execution of this duty Hampton encountered the Britishcavalry. A sharp action ensued; the latter fled, and in the ardorof pursuit, the American horse approached so near to the position ofMarjoribanks as to receive a murderous fire, which prostrated one-thirdof their number and scattered the rest. Before they could again bebrought together, Marjoribanks, seizing upon the chance afforded bya temporary clearing of the field, emerged from the wood, at a momentwhich enabled him to put a successful finish to the labors of the day. Two six-pounders, which had been abandoned by the British, had beenturned upon the house by the Americans; but in their eagerness theyhad brought the pieces within the range of fire from the windows of thehouse. The artillerists had been shot down; and, in the absence of theAmerican cavalry, Marjoribanks was enabled to recover them. Wheelingthem under the walls of the house, he took a contiguous position, his own being almost the only portion of the British army still in acondition to renew the action. The Americans yielded the ground aboutthe house, but were promptly rallied in the skirts of the wood. TheBritish were too much crippled to pursue; and the respite was gladlyseized upon by the Americans to plunge headlong into the neighboringponds, to cool the heat and satisfy the intense thirst occasioned bysuch efforts under the burning sun of a Carolina September. Both sidesclaimed the victory, and with equal reason. In the first part of the dayit was clearly with the Americans. They had driven the enemy from thefield, in panic and with great loss. They were in possession of fivehundred prisoners, nearly all of whom they retained. They had taken twoout of the five pieces of artillery which the British had brought intothe action; and, something more to boast, considering the proverbialrenown of the British with this weapon, it was at the point of thebayonet that they had swept the enemy from the ground. The British tookshelter in a fortress from which the Americans were repulsed. It isof no consequence to assert that the latter might have taken it. Theymight--it was in their power to have done so, --but they did not; and thepromptitude with which the British availed themselves of this security, entitles them to the merit which they claim. We are constrained to thinkthat the business of the field was strangely blundered by the Americansat the sequel. This may have arisen from the carnage made at this periodamong their officers, particularly in their persevering, but futileendeavors, to extricate the soldiers from their tents. Under cover ofa contiguous barn, the artillery presented the means of forcing thebuilding and reducing the garrison to submission. The attempts made atthis object, by this arm of the Americans, were rash, badly counselled, and exposed to danger without adequate protection. The British weresaved by this error, by the luxuries contained within their tents, by the spirited behavior of Coffin, and the cool and steady valor ofMarjoribanks. 

Chapter 17. 

 Retreat of the British from Eutaw--Pursuit of them by Marion and Lee--Close of the Year. 

That the results of victory lay with the Americans, was shown by theevents of the ensuing day. Leaving his dead unburied, seventy ofhis wounded to the enemy, breaking up a thousand stand of arms, anddestroying his stores, General Stewart commenced a precipitateretreat towards Fairlawn. The British power in Carolina was completelyprostrated by this battle. Five hundred prisoners fell into the hands ofthe Americans, and it was Greene's purpose to have renewed the fighton the next day; but the flight of Stewart anticipated and baffled hisintentions. He commenced pursuit, and detached Marion and Lee, by acircuitous route, to gain the enemy's front, and interpose themselvesbetween him and the post at Fairlawn, from which Major M'Arthur had beensummoned, with five hundred men, to cover the retreat. But this plan wasunsuccessful. So precipitate was the march of Stewart, and so happilyconcerted the movements of the two British officers, that they effecteda junction before Marion and Lee could reach Ferguson's Swamp, theirplace of destination. The cavalry of the enemy's rear-guard fell intothe hands of the Americans, but Stewart was beyond pursuit. In thisflight, amongst others, the British lost the brave Major Marjoribanks, who died of a fever, and was buried on the road. While they admitted aloss, in killed, wounded, and missing, of half the number brought intothe field, that of the Americans was nearly equally severe, and fellwith particular severity upon the officers. Sixty-one of these werekilled or wounded; twenty-one died upon the field. The returns exhibita loss of one hundred and fourteen rank and file killed, three hundredwounded, and forty missing--an aggregate exceeding a fourth of all whomarched into battle. Many of Marion's men were killed, though not somany as he lost in the affair of Quinby. Among his officers, Capt. JohnSimons, of Pedee, was slain, and Col. Hugh Horry wounded. 

Greene retired to the high hills of Santee, while Marion proceeded toencamp at Payne's plantation, on Santee river swamp. This was one of hisfavorite places of retreat. Here, in the depths of a cane-brake, withina quarter of a mile from the Santee, he made himself a clearing, "much, "says Judge James, "to his liking, " and, with the canes, thatched therude huts of his men. The high land was skirted by lakes, which renderedthe approach difficult; and here, as in perfect security, he foundforage for his horses, and provisions in abundance for his men. Such aplace of encampment, at such a season, would hardly commend itselfnow to the citizen of Carolina. The modes and objects of culture, andprobably the climate, have undergone a change. The time was autumn, themost sickly period of our year; and, to sleep in such a region now, evenfor a single night, would be considered certain death to the white man. It does not seem, at that period, that much apprehension of malaria wasfelt. *

 * Judge James refers to this place as Peyre's, not Payne's, plantation, and notes "It appears now there was very little sickness at that day. " In a footnote, he goes on to say: "Very soon after the revolutionary war, this scene was entirely changed. Planters, in clearing their land, had rolled logs and other rubbish from their fields, into the lakes and creeks leading from the river, and many threw trees into it to get them quickly out of the way.... The waters below being obstructed, they flooded the low grounds. ... " This would explain the early absence, and later presence, of malaria, as the mosquitoes necessary for transmitting it would thrive in the still waters created by the planters. --A. L. , 1996. --

But Marion did not linger long in any one situation. Hearing that theBritish were about to send their wounded from Fairlawn to Charleston, his restless enterprise prompted him to aim at the capture of thedetachment. Moving rapidly by night, he threw himself below the formerplace, on the opposite bank of the river, and would certainly haveintercepted them, but for a slave of one of the plantations, who, hastening to the British camp, reported his proximity. The arrival ofa superior force compelled him to steal away with a caution like thatwhich marked his approach. 

The command of the British army, in consequence of a wound receivedby General Stewart at Eutaw, had devolved on Major Doyle. This army, recruited by the force of M'Arthur, was still, after all its losses, fully two thousand men. That of Greene, reduced by wounds and sickness, could not muster one thousand fit for duty. His cavalry had been greatlythinned by the late battle, and it was not until the cavalry of Sumter'sbrigade could be brought together, with Marion's mounted infantry, andthe horse of Horry and Mayham, that the superiority of the Americangeneral could be restored. Doyle had taken post at Fludd's plantation, three miles above Nelson's Ferry, on the Santee, with the main body ofthe British; M'Arthur held the post at Fairlawn, with a detachment ofthree hundred. Doyle, with some instinctive notion that his time wasshort, busied himself in a career of plunder which threatened to stripthe plantations south of the Santee and Congaree, and westward to theEdisto, not only of every negro which they contained, but of all otherkinds of property. Over this region, the feebleness of the Americanforces, and their present deficiency in cavalry, gave him almost entirecontrol. The opposite banks were guarded by Marion and Hampton, whoafforded protection to everything that could be moved across, andpresented themselves at every point to the enemy, whenever he attemptedthe passage of the river. Marion was at this time an invalid, but, however much he might need, he asked for no repose or exemption fromservice when the enemy was in the field. His force was also reduced bysickness. Col. Mayham alone had no less than one hundred men unfit forduty. Other circumstances kept the militia from coming to the summons ofMarion. Those on the borders of North Carolina were detained to meet andsuppress a rising of the loyalists of that State under Hector M'Neil, and even those in his camp were unprovided with ammunition. Early inOctober, we find him writing pressingly to General Greene and GovernorRutledge for a supply. Rutledge answers, on the 10th of that month, "Iwish to God it was in my power to send you ammunition instantly, but itis not. " Col. Otho Williams, in the temporary absence of Greene, writes, in answer: "Our stock of ammunition is quite exhausted--we have notan ounce of powder, or a cartridge, in store. " And yet, it was undersimilar deficiencies that the men of Marion had labored from thebeginning; and half the time had they gone into battle with lessthan three rounds of powder to a man. Williams further writes: "HisExcellency, Governor Rutledge, has intimated that you meditate anexpedition over the Santee. In making your determination, if it is notsettled, permit me to recommend to your consideration, that THE GENERALDEPENDS UPON YOU ENTIRELY FOR INTELLIGENCE OF THE ENEMY'S MOTIONS. " Theactivity of our partisan, his elasticity of character, his independenceof resources, and usefulness to others, are all to be gathered fromthese two extracts. 

Late in September of this year, Governor Rutledge issued a proclamation, requiring that the disaffected should come in within thirty days, andperform a six months tour of duty. The condition of pardon for allprevious offences was attached to this requisition. The idea of thisproclamation was borrowed from similar ones of the British generals, when they first overran the country. The object was to secure thosepersons, of whom there were numbers, who, in the declining fortunes ofthe British, were not unwilling to turn upon and rend their old friends, no longer capable of protecting or providing for them. The measurewas of doubtful policy, since it appealed to the basest feelings ofhumanity. Its effects were considerable, however; numbers presentedthemselves in the ranks of Marion, showing finely in contrast with hisancient and half-naked veterans. "Their new white feathers, " says James, "fine coats, new saddles and bridles, and FAMISHED horses, showed thatthey had lately been in the British garrison. " Their appearance, not tospeak of their previous career, naturally inspired distrust in the mindsof those whose scars and nakedness were the proofs of their virtue;and another measure, which was adopted about this time, had the furthereffect of impairing the value of that efficient brigade upon whichMarion had been accustomed to rely. In order to promote the growth ofthe new regiments, it was permitted to all such persons as could hire asubstitute, to claim exemption from military duty. This was a temptationtoo great to be resisted by those old soldiers who had served from thefirst, who had left their families in wretched lodgings, in poverty anddistress, and from whose immediate neighborhood the presence of the warwas withdrawn. The six months men were easily bought up to fill theirplaces. The result was very injurious to the 'morale' of the brigade, and the evil effects of the measure were soon felt in the imperfectsubordination, the deficient firmness, and the unprincipled character ofthe new recruits. It was productive also of differences between twoof Marion's best officers, Horry and Mayham, which wrought evilconsequences to the country. Being commissioned on the same day ascolonels of the new regiments, they quarrelled about precedency. Thefruits of this difference will be seen hereafter. 

As the winter set in, the army began to recruit, and the militia toembody under their several commanders. Greene was joined by Cols. Shelbyand Sevier, with five hundred mountaineers, and these, with Horry andMayham, were ordered to place themselves under Marion, to operate inthe country between the Santee and Charleston. Sumter, at the sametime, with a brigade of State troops and some companies of militia, was ordered to take post at Orangeburg, to cover the country from theinroads of the loyalists from Charleston. Pickens, in the meantime, withhis regiments, traversed the border country, keeping in awe the Indians, and suppressing the predatory movements of the Tories. About the 1stNovember, the separate commands of Marion and Sumter crossed the rivers, and advanced in the direction of the enemy. The latter soon fell in withCunningham's loyalists in force, and found it prudent to fall back. Buthe kept Cunningham in check with a body of men fully equal to his own. Marion, also, was compelled to come to a halt, by encountering GeneralStewart, posted at Wantoot, with nearly two thousand men. Stewart was atthis time following up the peculiar labors which had been undertakenby Major Doyle when in temporary charge of the army. He was collectingslaves and laying in provisions, preparing for siege in, and subsequentflight from, Charleston. The fall of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, was knownin the American camp on the 9th of November. It had been anticipated inthe British some time before. With the fate of that commander, virtuallyterminated the British hope of re-conquering the country, and theproceedings of their officers in the south, as elsewhere, looked forwardto the approaching necessity of flight. It was only becoming that theyshould spoil the Egyptians previous to their departure. 

The capture of Cornwallis produced a jubilee in the American camp. Inthat of Marion the ladies of Santee were permitted to partake. He gavethem a fete--we are not told what were the refreshments--at the house ofMr. John Cantey. "The General, " says James, "was not very susceptible ofthe gentler emotions; he had his friends, and was kind to his inferiors, but his mind was principally absorbed by the love of country;" and theJudge rather insinuates that the pleasure he felt on this occasion arosemore from the fall of Cornwallis than from the presence of the ladies. 

On the same day, the 9th October, * he received the thanks of Congressfor "his wise, decided, and gallant conduct, in defending the libertiesof his country, and particularly for his prudent and intrepid attackon a body of British troops on the 31st August last; and for thedistinguished part he took in the battle of the 8th September. "

 * This date is given in both Simms's and James's accounts-- both say that Marion received the thanks of Congress on the 9th October, while celebrating the defeat of Cornwallis. But Cornwallis was defeated on the 19th of that month. This date should probably be the 9th November, and is most likely a repetition of James's error. --A. L. , 1996. --

On the 18th November, the camp of the Hills was broken up, and GeneralGreene advanced with his army to the Four Holes, on the Edisto, in fullconfidence that the force under Marion would be adequate to keep GeneralStewart in check. But, by the 25th of the same month, our partisan wasabandoned by all the mountaineers under Shelby and Sevier, a force offive hundred men. This was after a three weeks' service. This miserabledefection was ascribed to the withdrawal of Shelby from the armyon leave of absence. But, in all probability, it was due to theirimpatience of the wary sort of warfare which it was found necessary topursue. The service was not sufficiently active for their habits. Marionhad been warned that he must keep them actively employed, but all hisefforts to do so had been unsuccessful. He had approached Stewart atWantoot, but, though the force of the latter was nominally far superiorto that of the partisan, he could not be drawn out of his encampment. This was a subject of equal surprise and chagrin to Marion. Subsequently, the reason of this timidity on the part of the Britishgeneral was discovered. A return, found on an orderly-sergeant who fellinto Marion's hands, showed that, out of two thousand two hundred andseventy-two men, Stewart had nine hundred and twenty-eight on the sicklist. The only services in which the mountaineers were employed, whilewith Marion, were in attacks on the post at Fairlawn, and the redoubtsat Wappetaw; and these required detachments only. The movement againstthe latter was instantly successful--the enemy abandoned it on theapproach of the Americans. But the post at Fairlawn was of more value, in better condition of defence, a convenient depot, and, being in therear of the British army, then stationed at Wantoot, promised a stoutresistance. The American detachment against this place was led byMayham. In passing the post at Wantoot, he was ordered to show himself, and, if possible, to decoy the British cavalry into the field. Themanoeuvre did not succeed, but it brought out a strong detachment, which followed close upon his heels, and required that what he shouldundertake should be done quickly. On approaching Fairlawn, he foundeverything prepared for defence. He lost no time in making his advances. A part of his riflemen were dismounted, and, acting as infantry, approached the abbatis, while his cavalry advanced boldly and demandeda surrender. The place, with all its sick, three hundred stand of arms, and eighty convalescents, was yielded at discretion. 

With these small affairs ended the service of the mountaineers inMarion's army. They retired to their native hills, leaving Marion andGreene enmeshed in difficulties. It was on the strength of this force, chiefly, that the latter had descended from the hills, and he was nowunable to recede. Marion, too, relying upon their support, had crossedthe Santee and placed himself in close proximity on the right of theenemy. But the feebleness and timidity of Stewart, and his ignoranceof the state of affairs in Marion's camp, saved these generals from thenecessity of a retreat which would have been equally full of danger andhumiliation. The movement of Greene across the Congaree induced him todraw towards Charleston, and Marion was left in safety. The timidityshown by the enemy encouraged Greene, and, dispatching a select party ofhorse under Wade Hampton, he followed hard upon their steps with as manychosen infantry. His purpose was the surprise of Dorchester. Stewart wasdescending to the city by another route. Hampton's advance fell in witha reconnoitring party of fifty men, and suffered few to escape; andthough Greene did not succeed in surprising the post at Dorchester, hisapproach had the effect of producing its abandonment. During the night, the garrison destroyed everything, threw their cannon into the river, and retreated to Charleston. Greene did not venture to pursue, as theenemy's infantry exceeded five hundred men. Meanwhile, Stewart hadhurried on by Goose Creek Bridge, and, joining the fugitives fromDorchester, halted at the Quarter House, and prepared to encounter thewhole army of Greene, which, in their panic, was supposed to be upontheir heels. Such was the alarm in Charleston that General Leslie, whonow succeeded Stewart, proceeded to embody the slaves, in arms, for thedefence of that place, --a measure which was soon repented of, and almostas soon abandoned. 

Greene fell back upon his main army, which had now advanced to Saunders'plantation on the Round O. , while Marion, pressing nearer to Charleston, kept the right of the enemy in check. The movements of our partisan wereleft to his own discretion. Greene, in all cases, not only suffers thejudgment of the former to determine for himself his course, giving hima thoroughly independent command, but he betrays the most respectfuldesire on frequent occasions to have his opinion. Thus, on the 5th ofNovember, he writes to him:--"Gen. Sumter has orders to take postat Orangeburgh, to prevent the Tories in that quarter from conveyingsupplies to town, and his advanced parties will penetrate as low asDorchester; therefore, you may act in conjunction with him, or employyour troops on the enemy's left, as you may find from information theycan be best employed. Please to give me your opinion on which side theycan be most useful. " On the 15th of the same month, he writes again:"You are at liberty to act as you think advisedly. I have no particularinstructions to give you, and only wish you to avoid surprise. " Thelatter caution to a soldier of Marion's character and prudence wasscarcely necessary, but he was so near the enemy, and the latter in suchsuperior force, that the suggestion, on the part of Greene, was onlynatural. Where Greene himself lay, two rivers ran between his armyand that of the British. Without ammunition himself, and informed ofreinforcements which the enemy had received, to preserve a respectfuldistance between them, was, on the part of the American commander, onlya becoming caution. It was now December, and the troops, both of Greeneand Marion, were without the necessary clothing. They had neither cloaksnor blankets. On the 14th of that month, Greene received a supplyof ammunition, ALL of which he sent to Marion--no small proof of theconfidence which he felt that, in such hands, it would not be thrownaway. 

Thus closed the campaign of 1781. By manoeuvre, and a successfulcombination of events, the British troops had been driven down thecountry and restrained within the narrow neck of land contiguous toCharleston. The encampment of the main army continued at the Round O. Marion was at Watboo on Cooper river, watching the enemy's right; Sumterheld Orangeburg and the bridge at Four Holes; Hampton with fiftyState cavalry kept open the communication between Marion and thecommander-in-chief; Cols. Harden and Wilkinson watched the enemy'smovements on the south between Charleston and Savannah: and Col. Lee, posted in advance, with a light detachment, kept him from prying intothe real weakness of the American army. In the ignorance of the Britishgeneral, lay the security of the American; for, at this particular time, there were not eight hundred men at Greene's headquarters. A glanceat any map of South Carolina will show the judgment with which theseseveral posts were taken, at once for easy cooperation of the Americans, as for the control of all the country above the positions actually heldby the British. The territory of the State, with the exception of thatneck of land which lies twelve or fifteen miles up from Charleston, between the approaching rivers Ashley and Cooper, had all been recoveredfrom the enemy. But the necessities of the Americans, the want ofmilitary 'materiel', the thinness of the regiments, and the increasingstrength of the British, derived from foreign troops and accessions fromother posts in America, left it doubtful, under existing circumstances, whether it could be long retained. But this misgiving was not allowedto prejudice or impair the popular hope, resulting from the apparentsuccesses of their arms; and one of the modes adopted for contributingto this conviction was the formal restoration of the native civilauthority. The members of the State Assembly, of whom Marion was one, were accordingly required by the proclamation of Governor Rutledge--whohad held almost dictatorial powers from the beginning of the war--toconvene at Jacksonborough at an early day of the ensuing year. 

Chapter 18. 

 Marion summoned to the Camp of Greene--Defeats the British Horse at St. Thomas--Leaves his Command to Horry, and takes his Seat in the Assembly at Jacksonborough, as Senator from St. John's, Berkeley--Proceedings of the Assembly-- Confiscation Act--Dispute between Cols. Mayham and Horry-- The Brigade of Marion surprised, during his absence, by a Detachment from Charleston--Marion's Encounter with the British Horse--Conspiracy in the Camp of Greene. 

While the army of Greene lay at Round O. , considerable alarm was excitedin the American camp by tidings of large reinforcements made to theBritish strength in Charleston. General Leslie was now in command ofthe latter. The contraction of the American military 'cordon' had verygreatly straitened the resources and comforts of the British general. The numerous refugees who had taken shelter in the city with theirfamilies, the great accumulation of horses within the lines, and thevigilant watch which was maintained over the islands and the neck bythe American light detachments, soon contributed to lessen the stock ofprovisions in the capital, and to cut off its supplies. One consequenceof this condition was to compel Leslie to put two hundred of hishorses to death; while, by all other possible means, he collected hisprovisions from the surrounding country. Considerable parties were keptupon the alert for this object, and, to facilitate the movements ofthese parties, strong posts were established at Haddrel's Point andHobcaw. The situation of these posts, on the extremities of tongues ofland, to which assistance might easily be conveyed by water, and fromwhich retreat, to an attacking enemy, was difficult, rendered themcomparatively safe, for the present, against the Americans. But thesituation of Leslie was one of uncomfortable constraint, and it wasnatural that he should avail himself of any prospect which might promisehim relief. It was readily believed, therefore, in the Americancamp, that, with the acquisition of new strength, by the arrival ofreinforcements from abroad, Leslie would seek to break through thecordon put around him. The rumor of his approach, in strength, causedGreene to issue his orders to Marion to repair to headquarters withall the force he could draw after him. Our partisan promptly obeyed thesummons; but, on his way to join with Greene, he left a detachment ofmounted infantry in the neighborhood of Monk's Corner, to watch themotions of the enemy. 

But Leslie's purpose was mistaken. His strength had been exaggerated. Hehad no designs upon the camp of Greene, being no doubt quite as ignorantof his weakness as the latter was of the British strength. But thedetachment left by Marion near Monk's Corner caught the attention of theenemy, and, in the absence of the partisan, it was thought accessible toa proper attempt from Charleston. In all the movements of the British, it is very evident that they attached no small importance to thepresence of this chief. A detachment of three hundred men, cavalry andinfantry, was transported by water to the north bank of the Wandoriver. This body moved with equal secrecy and celerity. But they weredisappointed in their aim. Marion had returned from the Continental campto his own. The storm which threatened the former was overblown, andhe was in season to avert that by which the latter was threatened. Hisforce was scarcely equal to that of the enemy. He nevertheless resolvedupon attacking them. In order to keep them in play, while he advancedwith his main body, Cols. Richardson and Scriven, with a part ofMayham's horse, were dispatched with orders to throw themselves in frontof the British, and engage them until he could come up. This orderwas gallantly executed. They encountered the enemy's advance near themuster-house of St. Thomas, charged them vigorously, and succeeded inputting them to flight, with some slaughter. Capt. Campbell, of theBritish, and several others, were killed. But the pursuit was urged toofar. The cavalry of Mayham, by which this success had been obtained, wasof new organization. Their training had been partial only. It was seenthat, though they drove the British horse before them, their own chargewas marked by disorder. Hurried forward by success, they rushed into thejaws of danger, and were only brought to their senses by an encounterwith the whole of the British infantry. A volley from this body drovethem back in confusion, while the cavalry, which had been flying beforethem, encouraged by the presence of the infantry, rallied upon the stepsof the pursuers, and drove them in turn. They suffered severely, wedgedupon a narrow causeway, which gave them as little room for escape asevolution. Twenty-two fell upon the spot, by the fire of the infantry. The rest were rallied when sufficiently far from the more formidableenemy, and, turning upon the British cavalry, once more put them toflight. But the event left Marion too weak to press the encounter. Hecontented himself with watching the motions of the British, and theywere sufficiently respectful not to press him to any less pacificperformance. They were satisfied to pursue their march, and, gatheringa few head of cattle, to retire to Haddrell's, foregoing the moreimportant object of their incursion. The field clear, Marion left hisbrigade in charge of Horry, and repaired to Jacksonborough, to attendthe Assembly, to which he had been elected a member from St. John, Berkeley, the same parish which he represented in the ProvincialCongress at the beginning of the war. This was early in the year 1782. The Legislature met at Jacksonborough, a little village on the Edisto orPon-Pon river, on the 18th January of this year. This position, almostwithin striking distance of the British army at Charleston, was chosenwith particular reference to the moral influence which the boldnessof such a choice would be likely to have upon the people, and theconfidence which it seemed to declare in the ability of the Americanarmy to render the place secure. To make it so, Greene moved his troopsacross the Edisto, and took post at Skirving's plantation, six miles inadvance of Jacksonborough, and on the road which leads to Charleston. There was yet another step necessary to this object. The British, inaddition to Charleston and the "Neck", held possession of two islands, James and John, which belong to that inner chain of isles whichstretches along the coast from Charleston to Savannah, separated fromthe main by creeks and marshes, and from one another by the estuariesof rivers, sounds, or inlets. On John's Island, which is fertile, extensive, and secure, the enemy held a very respectable force underCol. Craig. Jacksonborough was within striking distance of this force. It could be approached by boats or galleys, in a single tide. It wasequally assailable from this point by land. As a matter of precaution, it was considered necessary to disperse this force, and it was soonascertained, not only that the island was accessible, but thatthe enemy, relying upon the protection of his armed galleys, wasunapprehensive of attack. The attempt was entrusted to Cols. Leeand Laurens, who, with separate parties, were to reach the point ofdestination by different routes. One of the parties lost the road, andfailed to cooperate with the other. The movement was only partiallysuccessful. A second was designed, and succeeded. The galleys weredriven from their station by the artillery, and Laurens penetratedto Craig's encampment. But the latter had already abandoned it. A fewstragglers fell into the hands of the Americans, but nothing more. Thepreceding attempt had just sufficed to convince Craig of the insecurityof the place, and he had taken timely precautions against suffering froma repetition of the attempt. 

The Legislature assembled according to appointment. The proclamation ofthe Governor, to whom, from the beginning of the war, had been accordedalmost dictatorial powers, precluded from election and suffrage allpersons who had taken British protections; and, as those who weretrue to the State had been very generally active in the ranks of hermilitary, it followed, as a matter of course, that a great proportion ofthe members were military men. Among these were Sumter and Marion. Theformer, about this time, yielded his commission to the authorities, onaccount of some slight or injustice to which he had been subjected, andleft the army when he took his seat in the Assembly. General Hendersonsucceeded to his command. The Jacksonborough Assembly was highlydistinguished, as well for its talent as for its worth and patriotism. Its character was, perhaps, rather military than civil. Constitutingas they did, in a slave community, a sort of feudal aristocracy, andaccustomed, as, for so long a time they had been, to the use of theweapons of war, its members wore the deportment of so many armed barons, gathered together quite as much for action as resolve. It was not onlyunavoidable, but highly important at this juncture, that such should bethe character of this body. Who could so well determine what were thenecessities of the country--what the exigencies of the people--whatthe local resources and remedies--as those who had fought its battles, traversed every acre of its soil, and represented its interestsand maintained its rights when there was no civil authority? Whatlegislators so likely to wield the popular will, as men who, like Marionand Sumter, had become its rallying leaders--whom the people had beenaccustomed to obey and follow, and by whom they had been protected. It was equally important that the legislation should come from suchsources, when we consider the effect upon the enemy, still having afoothold in the State. They might reasonably apprehend that the lawsspringing from such a body would be marked by a stern directnessand decision of purpose which would leave nothing to be hoped bydisaffection or hostility; and their proceedings did not disappoint theexpectations of friend or foe. 

The measures of this Assembly were marked by equal prudence and resolve. They passed a new act respecting the militia, and one for raisingthe State quota of Continental troops. One of their measures has beenquestioned as unwise and impolitic--that, namely, for amercing andconfiscating the estates of certain of the loyalists, and for banishingthe most obnoxious among them. Something, certainly, is to be said infavor of this act. If vindictive, it seems to have been necessary. Itmust be remembered that, in consequence of a previous proclamation ofthe Governor, none but the most implacable and virulent of the Torieswere liable to its operation--none but those who had rejected veryliberal offers of indulgence and conciliation. This proclamation hadopened the door to reconciliation with the State, on very easy terms tothe offenders. It gave them timely warning to come in, enrol themselvesin the American ranks, and thus assure themselves of that protection andsafety which they had well forfeited. Their neglect or refusal to acceptthis proffer of mercy, properly incurred the penalties of contumacy. These penalties could be no other than confiscation of property andbanishment of person. Reasons of policy, if not of absolute necessity, seemed to enforce these penalties. How was the war to be carried on?Marion's men, for example, received no pay, no food, no clothing. Theyhad borne the dangers and the toils of war, not only without pay, butwithout the hope of it. They had done more--they had yielded up theirprivate fortunes to the cause. They had seen their plantations strippedby the enemy, of negroes, horses, cattle, provisions, plate--everything, in short, which could tempt the appetite of cupidity; and this, too, with the knowledge, not only that numerous loyalists had been secured intheir own possessions, but had been rewarded out of theirs. The proposedmeasure seemed but a natural and necessary compliance with popularrequisition. Besides, the war was yet to be carried on. How was thisto be done? How long was it yet to last? What was to be its limit? Whocould predict? Congress was without money--the State without means. Fora space of three years, South Carolina had not only supported the warwithin, but beyond her own borders. Georgia was utterly destitute, andwas indebted to South Carolina for eighteen months for her subsistence;and North Carolina, in the portions contiguous to South Carolina, wasequally poor and disaffected. The Whigs were utterly impoverished bytheir own wants and the ravages of the enemy. They had nothing more togive. Patriotism could now bestow little but its blood. It was with anobvious propriety resolved, by the Jacksonborough Assembly, that thosewho had proved false to the country should be made to suffer in likedegree with those who had been true, and who were still suffering inher defence. As a measure of prolonged policy--contemplated beyond theemergency--there may be objections to the Confiscation Act; but thenecessities of the time seemed to demand it, and it will be difficultfor any judgment, having before it all the particulars of the cruelcivil war through which the country had gone--not to speak of the army, and the present and pressing necessity for maintaining it--to arriveat any other conclusion, or to censure the brave men who urged andadvocated the measure. The proceeding seems perfectly defensibleon general principles, though in particular instances--as in theapplication of all general principles--it may have been productive ofinjury. The estates of the loyalists, by this measure, were seized uponas a means for building up the credit of the State, supplying it withthe necessary funds for maintaining order as well as war, and forrequiting and supporting that army which was still required to bleed inits defence. 

What part was taken in this act by Marion, is not known. Though kind andindulgent in his nature, he was stern and resolute in war. We have noreason to suppose that he entertained any scruples about a proceeding, the necessity of which, at the time, seems to have been beyond alldispute. 

The absence of our partisan from his brigade, was almost fatal to it. Heleft it with reluctance, and only with the conviction that his presencein the Senate was important to the interests equally of the army and thecountry. Indeed, without him there would not have been a quorum. Therewere only thirteen Senators present. He was interested, besides, in thepassage of the new Militia Act, and in one designed to raise theState quota of Continental troops. These were sufficient to compelhis presence. But he remained with reluctance. His letters fromJacksonborough betray the most constant anxiety about his brigade. Hehad yielded it to Horry with the most earnest exhortations to caution. By his orders, the latter, the more completely to ensure its safety, removed to a position on the north side of Wambaw, a creek emptying intothe Santee. Here, in an angle formed by the two roads which pass fromLenud's Ferry road to Horry's plantation, about a quarter of a milefrom the bridge, Horry occupied a post which caution might have renderedsafe. In his rear was a wood. His newly raised regiment, not halfcomplete, lay at Durant's plantation, about a mile above, under thecommand of Major Benson. Horry does not seem to have been remiss in hisduties, but about this time he fell sick, and, for some time before, hehad been, and still was, somewhat wilful. There was an unhappy disputebetween himself and Col. Mayham, touching rank and precedence. Thelatter refused to be commanded by the former, claiming to be equal incommission, and, when Marion went to Jacksonborough, separated his corpsfrom the brigade, posted them higher up the river, and, being a memberof the Legislature, proceeded to Jacksonborough also. Greene was notunwilling, in the present juncture of affairs, that the native officersshould be present at the deliberations of this body. The civil objectswere just then even more important than the military. 

The contumacy of Mayham was a subject of the most earnest discussion. Both Marion and Greene decided against him; yet both were reluctant tooffend him, as they knew his value as a cavalry officer. Mayham seemsto have acted under some erroneous impressions of the independence ofa legionary brigade, as he claimed his to be. He also complained of thefree use which Marion made of his cavalry, and the severe duties he wasrequired to perform. To this, Greene replies: "You are to consider howextensive the country he has to guard, and how much he depends upon yourcorps. This will account for the hard service you have been put to. Thegeneral is a good man, and when you consider his difficulties, and makejust allowances, perhaps you will have little to complain of but thehard necessity of the service. "

But this reply did not produce its effect, and Mayham certainly erred, as a soldier, in complaining of the severity of his tasks. In the oldchivalrous periods, the peculiar severity of the duties assigned toknighthood was recognized gratefully, as a matter of compliment andtrust. He still held off; and Marion promptly demanded, that, if Mayhamhad any independent right of command, while nominally under him, hemight be at once withdrawn from the brigade. Mayham's manner and tonewere quite respectful, but tenacious; and while the discussion was inprogress, and he holding off from Horry, events were brewing which weredestined to terminate the unfortunate dispute by a capital misfortune. 

Again taking advantage of the absence of Marion, an expedition was seton foot in Charleston, against Horry. A detachment of two hundred horse, five hundred infantry, and two pieces of artillery, under Col. Thomson(better known in after-times as Count Rumford), prepared to ascendCooper river. Its preparations were not conducted with such caution, however, but that they became known to the vigilant friends ofthe Americans in and about the city. The army was warned of theirpreparations. Greene hinted to Marion the necessity of returning to hiscommand. The latter replies, by declaring his great anxiety to do so, but urges the impossibility of leaving the Senate, lest the Assemblyshould be broken up--an event which might be of fatal importance to thecause, unless the great business of the session were first disposedof. He promises to move as soon as this should be the case. The actualmovement of the British detachment made it impossible that Marion shouldlonger delay to rejoin his brigade, and, accompanied by Col. Mayham, hereached the ground on which the regiment of the latter was encamped, by a circuitous route and rapid riding, on the 24th February. Here theywere unhappily told that the enemy was retiring. Marion, accordingly, remained to rest and refresh himself, while Mayham paid a visit to hisown plantation. In a few hours after Mayham's departure, an expressarrived with the mortifying intelligence that the brigade had beensurprised and dispersed. Marion, instantly putting himself at the headof Mayham's regiment, hurried on toward Wambaw, the scene of the event, to check pursuit and collect and save the fugitives. 

We have seen the position of Horry. He had sent out his scouts onall the roads by which the approach of an enemy might be apprehended. Feeling himself secure, and being sick, he went over the river on the24th, the day of the catastrophe, to his plantation, leaving the brigadeunder the command of Col. M'Donald. Major Benson, as will be remembered, held a position, with the incomplete regiment of Horry, at Durant'splantation, about a mile above that of the brigade. By someunaccountable remissness of patrols or videttes, the British cavalry, under Coffin, surprised the latter post. Benson, it is said, had beentold by Capt. Bennett, who commanded the scouts in St. Thomas's, thatthe enemy was approaching; but the information was brought to him whileat dinner, and a keen appetite made him slow to believe tidings whichmight have lessened the enjoyment of the meal. Bennett proceeded toHorry's headquarters, where Col. M'Donald happened to be at dinner also. He proved equally incredulous, but desired Major James, who had justarrived in camp, to take command of his regiment. The surprise of Bensonwas complete, and he paid for his remissness or indifference with hislife. The firing at Durant's convinced M'Donald of his error; but, inall probability, the surprise was quite as complete in the one commandas in the other. There were two regiments of "six-months' men"--thatis to say, "reformed Tories"--persons who had come in under theproclamation issued by Governor Rutledge. These broke at the firstencounter with the enemy. In their flight, and to prevent pursuit, theythrew off the planks from Wambaw bridge. Fortunately, a strong body, under Major James, checked the pursuit for a space, and gave anopportunity for the fugitives to save themselves. Many of them crossedthe river by swimming, but some were drowned in the attempt. Thethickets saved the infantry. No prisoners were taken. The British gaveno quarter. Successful against Benson and M'Donald, the enemy pressedforward in the direction of Marion's approach, but without having anyknowledge of his proximity. He had halted with the cavalry of Mayham, at the house of Mrs. Tydiman, about four miles from the scene of thedisaster, to refresh his men and horses. The latter were unbitted andfeeding, when the whole of the enemy's cavalry made their appearance. Itwould seem, from the indecision of their commander, that he was no lesssurprised at falling in with this body of Marion's men, than was ourpartisan at his sudden appearance. His hesitation under this surprisegave the Americans an opportunity to recover themselves. It was theopinion of Mayham, that, had the charge been sounded the moment thathe came in view, the whole regiment must have been lost. There wasno retreat, save by the river, and by the lane through which they hadentered the plantation, and of this the enemy had full command. The haltand hesitation of the British--their seeming alarm--at once affordedMarion the means of extrication from his predicament. To bit and mounttheir horses, was, for his cavalry, the work of a moment. Though notcounting half the numbers of the enemy, Marion's instant resolutionwas to issue forth by the lane, and attack them. They had displayedthemselves in front of it. Just before the lane was an old field, anda little to the right a pond of water. Marion, placing a small bodyof infantry to great advantage along the fence, ordered his column ofcavalry to advance through the lane to the attack. His men were wellmounted; in this respect, if inferior in numbers, they had a manifestadvantage over the British. The latter had been too long cooped up inthe walls of Charleston, on short commons, to be very serviceable;and the cavalry of Mayham, though somewhat too much crowded with the"new-made Whigs", were yet confident, from long experience, in theirability to contend with the enemy. Marion himself was confident, but wasdestined, in this instance, to lose, what he himself, in his dispatches, has styled, "a glorious opportunity of cutting up the British cavalry. "His men moved to the extremity of the lane, before which the enemy hadhalted, with a firm and promising countenance. The front section was ledby Capt. Smith, an officer of approved courage, who, in a very recentaffair at St. Thomas' muster-house, had signally distinguished himself. Yet, seized with a sudden panic, the moment that he reached the end ofthe lane, he dashed into the woods on the right, and drew after him thewhole regiment. Marion himself, who was near the head of the column, wasborne away by the torrent, which he in vain struggled to withstand. The rush was irresistible--the confusion irretrievable. All efforts torestrain or recover the fugitives were idle, until they had reached thewoods. There Marion succeeded in rallying a party, and at this point thepursuit of the enemy was checked, and the fugitives partly rallied. Theyhad sustained but little loss in lives; but the shame, the disgraceof such a panic, were immeasurably humiliating. The British showed noeagerness in the pursuit. They seemed to doubt the bloodless victorywhich they had won, and, content with their own escape, were notunreasonably urgent with fortune to make their victory complete. Theysubsequently, after they had fully recovered from their panic, contrivedgreatly to exaggerate the importance of the event. One of the newspapersof the day has the following:--"Things bear a better prospect than theydid. Colonel Thomson has defeated General Marion in South Carolina, killed one hundred men, and Marion was drowned, attempting to escape. "The only officer drowned in the flight, was Lieut. Smyzer of Horry'scavalry. 

The loss of the brigade in horses and accoutrements was greater than inmen. Their greater loss, however, was of that confidence in themselvesand one another, which it was one of the greatest objects of Marion'straining to inspire. The true secret of the superiority of regulars overmilitia-men lies in the habit of mutual reliance. They feel each other'selbows, in military parlance--they are assured by the custom ofmutually depending one upon the other. This habit impresses them with aconviction, which the terrors of conflict do not often impair, that theywill not be deserted; and, thus assured, they hurry into the battle, andremain in it so long as the body with which they move can act together. Once broken, however, the cry is 'sauve qui peut'. Not so withmilitia-men. They never forget their individuality. The very feeling ofpersonal independence is apt to impair their confidence in one another. Their habit is to obey the individual impulse. They do not wait totake their temper from their neighbor right and left. Hence theirirregularity--the difficulty of restraining them--of making them act inroutine, and with entire reference to the action of other bodies. So farfrom deriving strength from feeling another's elbow, they much preferelbow room. Could they be assured of one another, they were the greatesttroops in the world. They ARE the greatest troops in the world--capableof the most daring and heroic achievements--wherever the skill ofthe commander can inspire this feeling of mutual reliance. Frequentcooperation of the same persons under the same leader produces it, and makes them veterans. The old soldiers of the brigade had it inperfection. It was one of the excellences of Marion that it followed socertainly and rapidly from his peculiar training. That it should belost or impaired, was a most serious evil. That it would not have beenendangered, we are sure, had it not been that the brigade no longerconsisted of the brave fellows who had clung to him through thecampaigns of the last two years. The new recruits were, in allprobability, to blame for the mischance; and something, perhaps, is dueto the unhappy quarrel between Mayham and Horry. The former was terriblymortified by the affair--mortified that Marion should have hurriedto the scene of action without apprising him, and vexed that his ownregiment should have behaved so badly. He complains that others should"expend the strength of the regiment without giving HIM the satisfactionof being present. " Captain John Caraway Smith, the officer who led thecolumn thus disastrously aside, resigned the day after the affair. Hisconduct had been habitually brave. But a short time before, as alreadyshown, he had behaved with the most determined and audacious gallantryat the head of the same troop. That their training was defective isbeyond question, but no imputation rested upon their courage or his own. Nevertheless, we have Napoleon's authority for the opinion that everyman has his 'moment de peur'. No man is equally firm on all occasions. There are moods of weakness and irresolution in every mind, which isnot exactly a machine, which impair its energies, and make its courseerratic and uncertain. The truth was known in earlier ages. The oldpoets ascribed it to supernatural influence. Envious deities interposedbetween valor and its victim, paralysing the soul of the one andstrengthening that of the other. Thus we find even Hector, uponoccasion, the slave of panic, and Paris, on the other hand, almostemulating the spirit of his brother. 

The conduct of Captain Smith, in this affair, has been excused byMayham. He ascribes it to an error of Marion himself. He says that, "Marion (who was an infantry officer) gave the order to 'file off fromthe house to the right, ' instead of ordering 'to charge!' This inducedhis officers to believe that they were to retreat and not to fight. "This may be true; but it is scarcely probable. Retreat from the house, except into the river, seems to have been cut off. The only other avenuewas the lane. At the end of this was the enemy, drawn out in order ofbattle. Upon these the advance was ordered. We have seen that Marionhimself exulted in the conviction that the enemy was in his power. Hisexultation could not have been entirely concealed from his officers. Itmust have declared itself in some way. The halt and hesitation of theBritish were perceptible to all. They were in superior numbers, and whenthey reached the head of the lane, the horses of the American cavalrywere unbitted and feeding. A sudden and resolute charge, according toMayham, on the part of the British, would have resulted in the entiredefeat of the regiment. That they did not order this charge betrayedtheir apprehensions, and should have encouraged, in similar degree, the Americans--DID encourage them, and hence the resolve of Marion toadvance upon them. That it should be supposed he would hurry forward, in the very teeth of the enemy, only to dash aside in confusion from thestruggle, is scarcely reasonable. But Mayham was offended with Marion. The latter had decided against him in the controversy with Horry; andthe subsequent movement against the British, without stopping to requirehis presence, was another mortifying circumstance which he was notlikely to forget. Biased by his feelings, he was not willing to believethat the seeming slight was in reality due to the emergency of the case, which would not allow a moment's hesitation in Marion's movement at sucha juncture. 

As soon as the presence of Marion was known, the fugitives gatheredaround him. But for his absence they had never been dispersed. Horry'sregiment was very much crippled; Mayham's in equally bad condition. OfM'Donald's, and the brigade, a few hundred were soon brought together;and with his deranged and dispirited band, our partisan retired beyondthe Santee to repair and recruit his strength, and revive the confidenceof his men in their leaders and themselves. In the meanwhile, thecountry which he had so recently covered and protected was harried bythe British. They improved the interval of his absence by successfulincursions. The cattle had been already put beyond their power, on theother side the Santee; but they stripped the plantations within theirreach, as well of slaves as of provisions. Greene could do nothing toprevent them. His own army was in a state of convulsion and commotion;suffering from distress and discontent, and threatened with dissolution. Recent occurrences had awakened his fears for his own security. 

One result of Marion's recent disaster was to put an end to the disputebetween Horry and Mayham. Their respective regiments were so reduced, after the affair at Wambaw, that it was deemed advisable to amalgamatethem. Having resolved upon this measure, Gov. Mathews, who had succeededRutledge, applied to Marion to know who of the two was the best cavalryofficer--an opinion which Marion yielded with great reluctance. Hispersonal preferences went with Horry, but he could not hesitate indeclaring for Mayham. Horry, with the ambition of a spirited soldier, eagerly desired a command of cavalry, --was a good infantry officer, andhad all the requirements of skill and bravery. But he was no horseman, and it is said that, in several of his charges, he was indebted to someone or other of his men for his own safety, being commonly unhorsed. His gallantry and patriotism were equally unquestionable. They had beendisplayed from the beginning of the war. The preference shown Mayhamcaused Horry's resignation from the service; but to console him for themortification, Marion made him commandant of Georgetown, a post whichunited the responsibilities and duties of a military and civil service. 

With the adjournment of the Assembly at Jacksonborough, the army ofGreene moved down from Skirving's plantation to Bacon's bridge, atthe head of Ashley river. Here, within twenty miles of the enemy, adangerous conspiracy ripened almost to maturity among the Pennsylvaniatroops, composed in part of the very mutineers who had triumphedover government in the insurrection in Jersey, and who, as Lafayetteobserved, * "had been well paid and well clothed in consequence of it. "This, we believe, was the only body of troops furnished to the Southernarmy, during the Revolution, from any of the States north of Marylandand Delaware. We make this remark with the view to the correction ofa very general error, arising from the vague manner in which it iscustomary for our historians to speak of the sources of the personnel ofthe Southern army. The armies led by Gates and Greene, to the defenceof Carolina, were truly from States north of her, but they were notNorthern States. Two fine bodies of troops came from Maryland andDelaware, but the rest were from Virginia and North Carolina, --withthe exception of the Pennsylvania line, of which we have now to speak. These, as we have seen, had been refractory in Jersey, and instead ofbeing punished, were paid for their sedition. It was natural that theyshould endeavor to renew an experiment which had already proved soprofitable. The mutineers were directed by one Sergeant Gornell. Theirnumber is unknown. They were solely of the Pennsylvania line, andmight have been successful but for an attempt which they made upon thefidelity of the Marylanders. Their purpose was to deliver Greene to theenemy, and otherwise facilitate the objects of the latter, who wereto make a concerted movement, in force, upon the American army, ata prescribed moment. The integrity of the Marylanders, whom Gornellapproached, was not to be shaken; and to their fidelity and the quickears of one of the camp-women, the army was indebted for its safety. The circumstances were all in favor of the success of the conspirators. There was a general discontent in the army. The troops were badlyfed and clothed--were unpaid, doubtful of pay, and suffering presentdistresses. They were inactive. Many of them were new recruits. Greenewas no longer surrounded by the tried and true men and officers, who hadborne the brunt of the contest. The term of service of the former had ingreat part expired, some of his best officers were on furlough, and hehad offended others. Sumter had left the army in disgust; Pickens wasoperating against the Indians; Marion was recruiting his brigade onthe Santee; Williams had gone home; Howard was in Maryland, scarcelyrecovered from his wounds; Wayne was in Georgia, doing good service inthat quarter; St. Clair was absent on leave; Lee had gone to Virginia toget married, and his legion was almost shorn of officers; Egglestonhad gone with him to Virginia, and the brave fellows, Armstrong andCarrington, had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The time was wellchosen for mutiny, and as the hour drew near for the consummation ofthe purpose of the conspirators, the British army was set in motion frombelow, --not so secretly, however, but that their movements were madeknown to the Americans. Symptoms of mutiny became apparent in the camp, and it was necessary to proceed with vigor. Doubtful of a large numberof those around him, Greene summoned Marion with all his force from theSantee, while his own army was kept in order of battle. The arrest ofGornell, with that of four others, all sergeants of the Pennsylvanialine, took place the night before the conspiracy was to take effect. Gornell was tried and executed; the others were sent under guard intothe interior. This proceeding was the signal for the flight of at leasta dozen more, who, having been committed, broke away on the night ofGornell's seizure, and found protection with the enemy, who advanced inforce to receive them. This prompt proceeding suppressed the mutiny. Thedevelopment of the conspiracy, the state of preparedness in the camp ofGreene, and the movement of Marion, had the effect of discouraging thefarther advance of the British army; and Marion, while yet in motionfor the camp of Greene, from which he was but eight miles distant, wassummoned in haste to the protection of Georgetown, against which theenemy was reported to have sailed from Charleston. A forced march offour days brought him to White's Bridge, when it was discovered that thealarm was unfounded. The enemy had not shown himself, and was not nigh. In this march of one hundred and sixty miles, Marion's men had but asingle ration of rice. Their sole food, with this exception, was leanbeef. The march took place in April, when there is no forage for cattle, and when such as survive the winter, are compelled to wander far in theswamps and thickets in search of the scanty herbage which sustains them. The march of our partisan in these two expeditions was conducted solelyon foot. The country south of the Santee had been so completely foragedby the British, during his vacation of it, that he was compelled todismount his infantry in his movements until the spring herbage shouldenable him to feed his horses. His force was reduced to two hundredmilitia and one hundred and twenty horse. It was the wish of GeneralGreene that he should take post as near the enemy as possible, in orderboth to shorten his limits beyond Cooper river, and to enable Col. Laurens, who now commanded the legion of Lee, to pass the Ashley, andclose upon the British between the latter river and Goose Creek. Butwith his infantry dismounted, he dared not venture so completely withinthe reach of an enemy so superior; and with the double purpose ofsecuring a retreat, if necessary, and of forming a junction with anyparty when desirable, either at Huger's Bridge, over the west branchof Cooper river, or at Strawberry Ferry, he took post at Sinkler'splantation on the Santee. This left him within twenty-five miles of eachof these designated routes. His cavalry meanwhile patrolled the countryas low as Haddrell and Hobcaw, and in sight of the British posts atthose places. They thus procured the earliest news of the enemy'smovements, and checked his incursions in that quarter. The effect ofMarion's presence with his brigade was soon felt, as well by his peopleas by the British. By the latter it was deemed important to relievethemselves from a neighbor at once so vigilant and inconvenient. Amessenger, feigning to be a deserter, was dispatched by General Leslie, whose plan was to make his way through the scouts of Marion, to theScotch and loyal settlements on the borders of North Carolina. Thesewere to be stirred up to insurrection, and Marion was to be divertedfrom a quarter in which his presence was particularly annoying. Themessenger succeeded in his object, but was less fortunate in hisreturn. He had done the mischief required at his hands, fomentedthe insurrection, and set the loyalists in motion. The proofs wereconclusive against him, and he perished by military execution. Thetimely notice which Marion obtained of his labors enabled him to prepareagainst the event. 

 * Johnson's Life of Greene, Vol. 2, p. 319. --

Chapter 19. 

 Marion summoned with his Force to that of Greene-- Insurrection of the Loyalists on the Pedee--Marches against them--Subdues them--Treats with Gainey--Fanning --Protects the Tory, Butler, from his Men--Returns to the Country between the Santee and the Cooper--Moves to protect Georgetown from the British Fleet--Takes post at Watboo, on Cooper River--Defeats the British Cavalry under Major Frasier. 

Meanwhile, the main body of the army under Greene continued to sufferdiminution. On the first of May a large proportion of the North Carolinatroops were entitled to and claimed their discharge. No recruits wereexpected from the North, and it became necessary to draw together allthe force that South Carolina could afford. The Government of thisState, from its first re-organization, had faithfully endeavored tore-establish the South Carolina line, but without money or means, withvery little corresponding success. A few recruits were obtained fromamong those who had recently received their discharge, but the servicehad been of a kind to baffle all the temptations and arguments ofthe recruiting officers. In the emergency of the case, it becameindispensable to look to the militia under Marion, Pickens andHenderson; and these leaders were accordingly required to repair toheadquarters. 

The withdrawal of the former, with his troops, from the region ofcountry which they had so lately covered, was the signal for that risingof the loyalists upon the Pedee, to instigate which the unfortunateemissary of General Leslie had been dispatched from Charleston. Theabsence of Marion was considered auspicious to the new movement. Hehad scarcely reached Dorchester when his ancient enemy, Major Gainey, appeared in arms at the head of a considerable body of troops, bothcavalry and infantry. A small command under Col. Baxter, which had beenleft by Marion to observe their movements, was too feeble to make headagainst them, and it became necessary for Marion himself to retrace hissteps, and arrest the progress of the insurrection. Placing himself atthe head of Mayham's cavalry, he promptly advanced in the direction ofthe enemy. So rapid were his movements, so vigilant his watch, so welldevised his plans, that he reached the Pedee country long before hisapproach was suspected. His presence, on the present occasion, wasa surprise. It had long been a terror; so much so that but for hisremoteness at the camp of Greene, they had, in all probability, neverventured to resume their arms. Three separate bodies of men, by ajudicious arrangement of our partisan, were prepared to enter theircountry at the same moment. These were so placed, that, though operatingseparately, they might yet be made to cooperate if desired. The effectwas such as to paralyse the incipient resolution of the loyalists. Theyshowed no disposition for fight; and feeling their temper, conscious ofhis difficulties, and now no longer hopeful of help from the British, Gainey dispatched a flag to Marion with proposals to treat for apacification. He was not unwilling to renew the treaty which, justone year before, he had entered into with Horry, who then acted asthe lieutenant of our partisan. This treaty, influenced by Britishemissaries, the Tories had very imperfectly kept. In small squadsthey had been perpetually rising, and committing trespasses upontheir neighbors whenever the withdrawal of Marion's men afforded themopportunity. They had now everything to fear from his anger; but theyalso knew his willingness to forgive. Relying upon this, and making amerit of necessity, the communication of Gainey expressed thewarmest solicitude for peace. To this Marion was prepared to listen. Commissioners were appointed on both sides. They met, but, unhappily, they recognized in each other well known personal opponents. They hadoften met in strife, and could not forbear alluding to their encounters. The conversation grew warm, the parties excited, and instead of comingto terms, the commissioners almost came to blows. They separated withincreased resentment. A fierce skirmish followed, and the attempt toadjust their differences was renewed between the respective commanders. Marion was anxious to effect a pacification. His services were requiredbelow on the Santee and Cooper, to check the incursions of the British, and he consented to meet and confer with Gainey in person. Thisdetermination was censured by some of his officers. They denouncedGainey as a leader of banditti; and, certainly, his conduct, on manyoccasions, deserved the reproach. They reproached Marion for committinghis dignity in treating with such a person. But this suggestion did notaffect him. He was governed by views and principles very far superiorto those which influence the ordinary soldier. His pride did not sufferfrom such censures. His reply was equally prompt and conclusive. Hetold them that he "aimed at no higher dignity than that of essentiallyserving his country. "

The result was satisfactory to our partisan. Making a merit ofnecessity, Gainey yielded without requiring any farther resort to blows. At the Bowling Green, between the Great and Little Pedee, more than fivehundred men laid down their arms, submitting to conditions which wererather strict than severe. Marion and Gainey met at Birch's mill on the8th June, when a treaty was drawn up having for its basis the articlesof the preceding arrangement with Horry. By this treaty, Gainey and hismen were to lay down their arms and not to resume them unless ordered todo so by the authorities of the State; they bound themselves to deliverup all negroes, horses, cattle and other property of which they haddispossessed the people of this or any other State--to demean themselvesas peaceable citizens, and submit to the laws of the State--to deliverup all contumacious and rebellious persons within their district--todeliver up all deserters from the regular service--to sign a declarationof allegiance to the United States, and to South Carolina in particular, and to abjure the British crown, and to surrender all British property. Compliance with these conditions, was to ensure them full pardon fortheir treasons to the State, and the enjoyment of their property ascitizens within it; while individuals not choosing to comply, were to bepermitted, with their wives and children, a safe progress to the Britishlines. From the benefits of this treaty, some few atrocious offenderswere excepted. Major Gainey removed with those who preferred toadhere to the fortunes of the British. He did not side with theirdetermination, but he deemed it a duty to see that those who hadfollowed his arms, should be put in safety beyond the reach of theirenemies: an honorable resolve certainly. Before his departure he waitedupon Marion and said: "Honor, sir, requires that I should yield mycommission to Col. Balfour, from whom I received it; but this done, Ishall immediately return to the country and seek your protection. " Thiswas frankly promised him, and with every confidence in the assuranceof Marion, as soon as he had concluded his affairs in Charleston, hepromptly returned and enrolled himself in the American ranks. One ofthe loyalists, specially exempted from the privileges of the treatywith Gainey, was a notorious marauder by the name of Fanning. He was asanguinary ruffian, with considerable talents, but brutal, reckless, andmost inveterate in his hostility to the American cause. Shortly afterthe treaty with Gainey, this person appeared in the truce ground at thehead of a small party. It was feared that he would stir up the revoltanew. He came for that purpose. Marion was at once upon the alert. Hisforce, divided into three bodies, occupied various parts of the latelydisaffected districts, and overawed the spirit of revolt, if it yetexisted. Finding the cause hopeless in that quarter, Fanning sent a flagto Marion with a request that he would grant a safe-conduct to his wife, and some property, to the British garrison in Charleston. Against anysuch concession the officers of Marion expostulated. They were unwillingthat so cruel a ruffian should receive any indulgence. But Marion lookedmore deeply into the matter, and yielded a prompt compliance with therequest. "Let but his wife and property reach the British lines, andFanning will follow. Force them to remain, and we only keep a serpentin our bosom. " Such was his reasoning, and the truth of it was very soonapparent. Finding the hope of insurrection fruitless, Fanning fled thecountry, and was as soon in Charleston as his wife. 

The disaffected district was now covered by his troops, busied insecuring all persons who, declining to retire to the British, stillwithheld their submission from the American authorities. Inthe execution of this duty, some licentiousness followed--suchirregularities as are apt to occur where soldiers traverse a subduedterritory. Intimations of these irregularities reached the ears of thepartisan. No individual was charged with offence, and no particularswere given; but Marion took occasion to declare his indignation in thepresence of officers and men. "I have heard insinuations, " said he, "which, if true, would disgrace my command; no accusation has been made;but I wish you clearly to know that let officer or soldier be provedguilty of crime, and he shall hang on the next tree. " His firmness andsincerity were known; and he heard of no more license. While engagedin the irksome duty of arresting the recusant, he was equally busy ingranting written protections to those who subscribed frankly to theconditions of the treaty. The judicious disposition and immediatepresence of his force--the terror inspired by his successes--theknowledge which they had of his mercy, and their evident abandonment bythe British--had the effect of bringing crowds to his camp, trebling thenumber of his own troops, seeking the proffered securities. Such wasthe consumption of paper on this occasion, or rather such the poverty atheadquarters, that old letters were torn up, the backs of which were putin requisition for this object. While at Birch's mills, on the Pedee, among others who sought the protection of Marion was one Capt. Butler, who had made himself particularly odious by his crimes and ferocity. He had been conspicuous as the oppressor of the Whig inhabitants of thePedee. He was not ignorant of the detestation in which he was held, andit was with some misgivings that he sought the required protection. Hisappearance in the American camp was the signal for a commotion. Therewere among the men of Marion some who were connected with persons whohad suffered by the atrocities of Butler. They determined to avengetheir friends. They resolved that no protection should save him, and anintemperate message to that effect was sent to Marion. Marion instantlytook Butler to his own tent, and firmly answered those by whom themessage was brought: "Relying on the pardon offered, the man whom youwould destroy has submitted. Both law and honor sanction my resolutionto protect him with my life. " A still more intemperate message reachedhim, declaring that "Butler should be dragged to death from histent--that to defend such a wretch was an insult to humanity. " To thisMarion made no reply, but calling around him the members of his family, and some of his most trusty followers, he gave them to understand thathe should expect their cooperation at all hazards in protecting theculprit from violence. "Prepare to give me your assistance, for thoughI consider the villainy of Butler unparalleled, yet, acting under ordersas I am, I am bound to defend him. I will do so or perish. " The mutinythreatened to be formidable, and that night, Marion succeeded with astrong guard in conveying the prisoner to a place of safety. The treatywith Gainey put an end to the domestic feuds upon the Pedee, and anxiousto regain the local confidence which they had forfeited, numbers ofthe loyalists of this quarter, following the example of their leader, entered the ranks of the Americans, and though too late to be ofeffectual service in the war, yet furnished sufficient proofs of theirfidelity. 

No farther necessity appearing for the longer stay of Marion on thePedee, he prepared to return to his former range along the rivers Cooperand Santee. His absence from this region afforded an opportunity forthe enemy to renew their depredations from Charleston. Marion had leftColonel Ashby in command of his infantry, when, at the head of Mayham'shorse, he hurried to encounter Gainey, and quell his insurrection. Ashby, pressed by a superior British force, had been compelled to yieldbefore it, and this intelligence left our partisan no moment of respiteafter quelling the commotions on the Pedee, before he was required toreturn and cover the country which had so long been indebted to hisvigilance for protection. In leaving the Pedee, with still some doubtsof the newly converted loyalists of that quarter, he left Col. Baxterwith one hundred and fifty trusty men, to maintain the ascendency whichhe had just acquired. This object was of the last importance, not onlywith reference to the doubtful 'personnel' of the country, but thevaluable 'materiel', cattle and provisions, which might have beencarried off to the enemy. Suspicious of the fidelity of the loyalists, there was every reason to fear that it might be too strongly tested. The British were known to be preparing a fleet of small vessels for someenterprises directed northwardly, and no object of importance seemedmore obvious than that of renewing the disturbances on the Pedee andpossessing themselves of the immense plunder which that region ofcountry might still afford. 

All precautions taken, our partisan hurried his return. But had he notbeen joined by a newly raised corps under Major Conyers, he must havemarched alone. So rapid had been his movements, so unremitting hisduties, that the cavalry of Mayham which he led, were completely brokendown. He was compelled to leave them behind him to recruit. At Murray'sFerry, on the Santee, he halted to collect his militia, and await thearrival of Mayham's corps. Here he consolidated the commands of Mayhamand Conyers into one regiment; and about the middle of July was enabledonce more to cross the Santee with a force of three hundred dismountedinfantry, and a respectable body of horse. With these he took post onthe Wassamasaw, in a position which, while it was secure, enabled him tocooperate with the detachments of the main army in covering the country. Here his vigilance was again conspicuous. His parties were constantlybusy. His own movements to and fro, wherever an enemy could approach, or was suspected, were continual, from the Cooper to the Santee. Hisobjects were threefold--to check the irruptions of the enemy, to cut offtheir supplies, and to provide for his own people. His scouting partiespenetrated in every hostile direction--sometimes as low as Daniel'sIsland and Clement's Ferry--points almost within the ken of the Britishgarrison. But the enemy was no longer enterprising. They were not oftenmet. Their cavalry was few and inferior, and their exigencies may beinferred from their uniforming and converting some of their capturednegroes into troopers. One corps of these black dragoons, consisting oftwenty-six men, was cut to pieces by one of Marion's scouting parties oftwelve, commanded by Capt. Capers. 

The British, tired of the war, were preparing to evacuate the country. Preparatory to this, it was necessary that they should lay in sufficientstore of provisions. General Leslie had been preparing for thisnecessity and, late in July, a numerous fleet of small vessels, conveying eight hundred men, and convoyed by galleys and armed brigs, left Charleston to proceed, as it was conjectured, against Georgetown. This compelled Marion to hasten in that direction. Here he made everyarrangement for moving the public stores to a place of safety. BlackMingo was preferred as the depot, for the honorable reason, as given inMarion's own words, that it was "a settlement of good citizens and of myearliest and most faithful followers. " But the enterprise of the enemywas less hazardous. The collection of rice was their object. This was tobe found in the greatest quantity on the Santee, from the banks of whichriver they carried off about six hundred barrels. Marion's force wasthrown over the Sampit so as to intercept their march to Georgetown, but he could not impede their progress up the South Santee, protected asthey were under the guns of their galleys. 

With the departure of the enemy from the river, the completion ofhis arrangements for the removal of the stores at Georgetown, and thedefence of that place, Marion again recrossed the Santee and hurried toWatboo, on the Cooper. This river, leading to Charleston, to which thefleet of the enemy had returned, was naturally thought to be the nextwhich they would attempt to penetrate. He had left a small body ofinfantry at this place, but this was deemed inadequate to the requiredduties. But they were sufficient at least to attract the attention ofthe British. Ignorant of Marion's return, believing him to be stillat Georgetown, whither, it was known, he had taken all his cavalry, --adetachment of dragoons, more than one hundred strong, was sent fromCharleston, under Major Frasier, against the post at Watboo. Therapidity of Marion's movements brought him back in season for itssafety. It happened unfortunately, that, when he heard of the approachof this detachment, his cavalry were absent, patrolling down the river, maintaining their watch for the British fleet, which was the chiefsubject of apprehension. This fleet, meanwhile, had gone southwardly, pursuing the object of its former quest up the waters of the Combahee. With the approach of Frasier, Marion dispatched his messengers in searchof his cavalry, and to call in his pickets. Some of the latter hadjoined him before the enemy appeared. Frasier exhibited considerableconduct in making his approaches. He had taken an unfrequented route, and had succeeded in capturing some of the out-sentinels of ourpartisan. He advanced upon him in the fullest confidence of effectinga surprise--not of Marion, but of the smaller force under Col. Ashby, which he still believed to be the only force opposed to him. He was soonundeceived and found his enemy rather stronger than he expected, anddrawn up in readiness for his reception. It was about the 25th ofAugust. Marion lay at the plantation of Sir John Colleton, on the southside of Watboo Creek, and a little above the bridge. The situationpleased him, and it was one of his frequent places of encampment when hehappened to be operating in the vicinity. The owner was a loyalistand had left the country. The mansion and his extensive range of negrohouses afforded ample shelter for such a force as that which Marioncommanded. With the gradual advance of Frasier, Marion seems to havebeen acquainted, but in the absence of his cavalry his only mode ofobtaining intelligence was through his officers. These alone, of allthe party in camp, were provided with horses. Of these, he ordered outa party under Capt. Gavin Witherspoon to reconnoitre. While they wereabsent, Marion put his infantry in order of battle. The main bodyoccupied an avenue of venerable cedars, which, neglected during thewar, in their untrimmed state, stood overgrown with branches, their longboughs trailing almost to the ground. His left, by which the enemywas compelled to advance, were placed under cover of some of theout-buildings. Thus prepared, he waited the approach of the British, though not without sundry misgivings. It must be confessed that, at thisjuncture, he had not the most perfect confidence in the force under hiscommand. They consisted, in great proportion, of those who, in that day, were known as new-made Whigs--men who had deserted the enemy and beencleansed of their previous treasons by the proclamation of GovernorRutledge, which, not long before, had promised immunity to all who camein promptly with their adhesion and joined the American ranks. Therewere also present some of those who, under Gainey, had recently receivedthe protection of Marion, on the truce ground of Pedee. Major Gaineyhimself was among them, and with forty of his people, was placedconspicuously in the column in preparation for the British approach. Well might Marion feel some uneasiness at his situation, particularly inthe absence of the cavalry on which he could rely. But our partisan hadthe art of securing the fidelity of those around him, in quite as greata degree as he possessed that other great military art, of extractinggood service out of the most doubtful materials. He concealed hisapprehensions, while he endeavored to dissipate those of his men. 

Meanwhile, Witherspoon, with the reconnoitring party, advanced but alittle distance in the woods, when they were met by the enemy's cavalryand instantly charged. A long chase followed, which soon brought thepursuers into view of the partisan. His men were half concealed behindthe thick boughs of the cedars beneath which they were drawn up. Theinterest of the chase, as they drew more near, was increased by a littleincident which was greatly calculated to encourage the militia. When infull view, the horse of Witherspoon failed him, or his rider purposelyfell behind to bring up the rear of his little escort. At this sighta British dragoon darted forward to cut him down. Witherspoon coollysuffered him to advance until he was almost within striking distance. With sword uplifted, the assailant had already risen in his stirrupsto smite, when, quick as lightning, Witherspoon, who had watched himnarrowly, poured the contents of his carbine into his breast. This wasfollowed by a shout from the Americans, and, with furious yells, theBritish dashed forward upon Marion's left. The reconnoitring partymelted before them, and the infantry delivered their fire with fataleffect. A dozen saddles were instantly emptied, Capt. Gillies of theBritish, who led the charge, being one of the first victims. The enemysoon rallied, and attempted first his right and then his left flank; butthe evolutions of Marion were quite as ready, and, by changing his frontpromptly, and availing himself of the cover afforded by the houses andthe fences, he showed the hazard of attempting a second charge to betoo great for such a force as that of Frasier. For an hour after, theBritish manoeuvred around them, but without discovering any opportunityof retrieving or revenging their disaster. A single fire terminated thisaffair, and seldom has a single fire, where so small a front has beenengaged, done such considerable execution. One officer and eight menwere instantly killed; three officers and eight men wounded; fivehorses fell dead upon the field, a few were taken and many wounded. Thedischarge took place at thirty paces, and Marion's men usually firedwith heavy buck-shot. His new-made Whigs stood the test bravely, showinga steadiness and courage, whilst opposed to their old allies, which soonset the heart of our partisan at ease. They had very good reasons forsteadiness and valor. They fought with halters about their necks. Not aman of them, if taken, would have escaped the cord and tree. Marion didnot lose a man, but he suffered a very serious loss of another sort. Inthe midst of the confusion of the fight, the driver of his ammunitionwagon took fright, and made off with his charge in a directionwhich betrayed its flight to the enemy, who immediately sent a smalldetachment, by which it was taken. Marion had no cavalry to recover it;but five of his men, armed with the broad-swords of the British whomthey had just slain, and mounted on their captured horses, volunteeredto recover it. They actually succeeded in rescuing it from thedetachment by which it was taken, but could retain it only till thefugitives could reach their main body and return with a force to whichour volunteers could oppose no resistance. They were compelled toabandon the prize, which, had fortune seconded their endeavors, wascertainly due to their merits. This little affair is a sample of thatgenerous service which it was the happy faculty of our partisan toextract from his followers. It is to tradition that we owe the vaguememory of numerous like advantages, of which history preserves norecords. Under his guidance, his men seldom suffered panic. They fanciedthemselves invincible when he led. In the present instance he declaredthat not a man faltered--that he even had to restrain their eagerness, and prevent them rushing out into the open field, to meet the charge ofthe cavalry. His own coolness never deserted him. He never lost sightof the whole field, in the vehement action of a part. His keenness ofvision, his vigilance of watch, his promptness in opposing his bestresources to the press of danger, of covering his weak points, andconverting into means and modes of defence and extrication, all that wasavailable in his situation--were remarkable endowments, which soon fixedthe regards of his followers, and upon which they unhesitatingly relied. In the absence of his cavalry, a defeat would have been a rout; hisinfantry would have been cut to pieces, and his cavalry subsequentlyexposed to similar disaster. Had the latter been present, the safety ofthe British must have depended solely on the fleetness of their steeds. With this affair ended the actual conflicts of our partisan. His menwere not yet disbanded. He himself did not yet retire from the fieldwhich he had so often traversed in triumph. But the occasion forbloodshed was over. The great struggle for ascendancy between theBritish crown and her colonies was understood to be at an end. She wasprepared to acknowledge the independence for which they had fought, whenshe discovered that it was no longer in her power to deprive them of it. She will not require any eulogium of her magnanimity for her reluctantconcession. 

Chapter 20. 

 The British propose Terms of Pacification--Rejected by the Civil Authorities--They penetrate the Combahee with their Fleet--Death of Col. Laurens--Anecdote of Marion--Death of Wilmot--The British evacuate Charleston--Marion separates from his Brigade at Watboo--His Military Genius. 

Though the war in Carolina was understood to be nearly at an end, andthe toils and dangers of the conflict well nigh over, yet motives forvigilance still continued. There was ample room for vicissitudes. TheBritish still held possession of Charleston and its harbor, but theywere confined to these narrow limits. Here, watched on all sides bythe impatient Americans, they made their preparations for a reluctantdeparture. The sole remaining contest between the opposing armies lay, in the desire of the one to bear with them as much of the spoils of waras possible, and of the other to prevent them. The greater motives forthe war on both sides were at an end. The mother country had declaredher willingness to forego the exercise of her ancient authority, and theColonies were admitted to the freedom which they sought. In this stateof things neither army attempted enterprises, the result of which couldnot affect the objects of either nation. Thus was spared the unnecessaryshedding of blood. The forces under Greene continued graduallyto contract their limits; while those of General Leslie remainedcomparatively quiescent. The British officer was governed by a properwisdom. As the evacuation of Charleston was determined on, therewas little use in keeping up the appearances of a struggle which hadvirtually ceased to exist. He suggested accordingly to Greene, that anintercourse should be established between town and country, by which thetroops in the former might procure their necessary supplies in barterwith the people. To provision his fleet and army was his object. Forthis he proposed a cessation of hostilities. It is to be regretted thatthis pacific proposition was not entertained. Some valuable lives mighthave been saved to the country--we may instance that of Col. Laurens. General Greene was not adverse to the proposition, but the civilauthorities objected. Their reasons for opposing this humane suggestionare scarcely satisfactory. They believed that Leslie only aimed toaccumulate provisions for the support of the British forces in theWest Indies, and thus enable them to prosecute the war more vigorouslyagainst our French allies. This was an objection rather urged thanfelt. There was probably some feeling, some impatience of temper atthe bottom, which prompted them to dispute, at the point of the sword, rather than yield to any suggestions of an enemy at whose hands they hadsuffered such protracted injuries. A little more coolness and reflectionmight have shown them, that, by refusing the application of Leslie, they only rendered it necessary that the British should pay in blood forthose supplies for which they were not unwilling to pay in money. Andblood usually calls for blood. The combat is never wholly on one side. It was virtually saying we can spare a few more citizens. The concessionmight have been made to the wishes of the British commander not onlywithout any detriment to the service, but with absolute benefit to thepeople and the army. The provisions which the enemy required would havefound a good market in Charleston, and the clothing, in lack of whichthe army was suffering severely, might have been procured for them atthe same place on the most reasonable terms. Besides, the rejectionof the overture was not necessarily a prevention of the purpose of theBritish. The American army was quite too feeble either to expel themfrom the country, or to arrest their foraging parties. The only effectof the rejection of the humane and pacific proposition of the Britishcommander, was to compel the preparation of that fleet of small craft, which, under the guns of his galleys, was now penetrating the rivers, and rifling the grain from the wealthy plantations. We have seen Marionopposing himself to this fleet at Georgetown, and have witnessed theirsuccess upon the South Santee. The prompt return of our partisan tothe head waters of Cooper river, in all probability, preserved thatneighborhood from the foragers. With the tidings of their progressup the Combahee, the American light brigade, under General Gist, wasordered to oppose them. It was here that one of those events took placewhich furnished a conclusive commentary upon the ill-judged resolutionby which the cessation of hostilities was rejected, and the Britishdenied the privilege of procuring supplies in a pacific manner. Hearingof the movement of Gist, Col. Laurens, who was attached to his brigade, and was always eager for occasions of distinction, rose from a sick bedto resume the command of his division. He overtook the brigade on thenorth bank of the Combahee river, near the ferry. Twelve miles below, the extreme end of Chehaw neck protrudes into the bed of the river, which, between these points, is bounded by extensive swamps and ricefields. At this point a redoubt had been thrown up by General Gist. Theenemy was already above, on the opposite side of the stream. Laurenssolicited the command of this post for the purpose of annoying them intheir retreat. Meanwhile, the American cavalry under Major Call, hadbeen ordered round by Salkehatchie bridge, to join with the militiacollected in that quarter for the purpose of striking at the enemy. Witha howitzer, some matrosses and fifty infantry, Laurens moved down theriver, and on the evening of the 26th reached the place of Mrs. Stock, sufficiently near to Chehaw Point to take post there by daylight thenext morning. But the British were there before him. Baffled by thelight brigade of Gist, in procuring provisions on the south side of theriver, they had crossed it, and, apprised of the movements of Laurens, placed an ambush for him on his road to the Point. That night wasspent by Laurens among the ladies of the place where he lingered. Itis recorded that the company did not separate until a couple of hoursbefore the time when the detachment was set in motion. The prospectof his encounter was the topic of conversation, and with the cheery, elastic spirit of youth, he gaily offered the ladies a conspicuous placefrom which they might enjoy a sight of the action without incurring itsdangers. Before sunrise his voice was hushed for ever. Unsuspicious ofan enemy, he rode at the head of his command. The British were postedin a place thickly covered with fennel and high grass. With the advanceguard when they were discovered, he promptly ordered a charge, gallantlyleading which, he fell at the first fire. Laurens was one of those braveand ardent spirits, generous, high-souled, and immaculate, which, intimes of sordid calculation and drilled soldiership, recall to our mindsthe better days of chivalry. He was the Bayard of the southern youthin the war of the revolution, uniting all the qualities of the famouschevalier, 'sans peur et sans reproche'. That he should have fallen, unnecessarily, at the close of the war, when nothing was to be gained, and nothing to be saved, by valor, --and in an obscure encounter on afield of mere predatory warfare, doubles the mortification of sucha close to a noble and admirable career. A lesson from the pure andcorrect code of Marion's military morals would have saved this preciousblood, and preserved this gallant youth for nobler fortunes. Thefollowing anecdote will illustrate the admirable character of his modeof thinking on such subjects. While he held his position at Watboo, after he had beaten Frasier, he was advised that a British party, whichhad been dispatched to procure water at Lempriere's Point, could becut off with little difficulty. The British were then preparing forembarkation. A parting blow was recommended, as calculated to hurrytheir movements, as well as to add something to the measure ofpatriot revenge for the wrongs and resentments of the past. But Marionresolutely refused to sanction the enterprise. His answer proves equallythe excellence of his judgment and the benevolence of his heart. "Mybrigade, " said he, "is composed of citizens, enough of whose blood hasbeen shed already. If ordered to attack the enemy, I shall obey; butwith my consent, not another life shall be lost, though the event shouldprocure me the highest honors of the soldier. Knowing, as we do, thatthe enemy are on the eve of departure, so far from offering to molest, Iwould rather send a party to protect them. "

This noble feeling would have saved the lives of Laurens, Wilmot, Moore, and other gallant young men, who were sacrificed at the last hour whenall provocations to strife had ceased--when the battle was alreadywon--when the great object of the war had been attained by the oneparty, and yielded, however reluctantly, by the other. Capt. Wilmot, with a small command, was stationed to cover John's Island, and to watchthe passage by Stono. Fond of enterprise he was tempted occasionally tocross the river and harass the enemy on James' Island. In one of theseadventures, undertaken in conjunction with the celebrated Kosciusko, against an armed party of the enemy's wood-cutters, he fell into anambuscade, was himself slain, while his second in command, Lieut. Moore, severely wounded, fell into the hands of the British. This was the lastblood shed in the American revolution. It need not to have been shed. The denouement of the protracted drama had already taken place. Theconquest of the Indians by Pickens was complete; the Tories no longerappeared in bodies, though, for some time after, individuals of thescattered bands occasionally continued the habits of outlawry whichthe war had taught them, and dealt in deeds of midnight robbery andcrime;--and the British armies were simply preparing to depart. On the14th of December, while the American columns entered the city from theneck, those of the British retired to their ships; the movements ofwhich, as their white sails distended to the breeze, presented, in thelanguage of Moultrie, "a grand and pleasing sight. " It was a sight, however, which the militia, always undervalued, always misunderstoodand misrepresented, were not permitted to behold. They had fought thebattle, it was true, "but the civil authority" conceived their uses tobe over, and "they were excluded as dangerous spectators;" an unworthyand most ungrateful decision, in which, we are pleased to learn from aself-exculpatory letter of General Greene, he had no participation, andwhich he did not approve. 

The forces of the British withdrawn from the shores of Carolina, the country, exhausted of resources, and filled with malcontents andmourners, was left to recover slowly from the hurts and losses offoreign and intestine strife. Wounds were to be healed which requiredthe assuasive hand of time, which were destined to rankle even in thebosoms of another generation, and the painful memory of which is keenlytreasured even now. But the civil authority takes the place of themilitary, and with the disappearance of the invader, the warrior laysaside his sword, --satisfied if he may still retain the laurels whichhis valor has won. Our partisan, yielding himself at the call of hiscountry, was not the man to linger unnecessarily long upon thestage. The duties which had called him into the field were faithfullyperformed; how faithfully it has been the effort of this humblenarrative to show. The time was come when he was to part with hisbrigade forever--when he was to take leave of those brave fellows, whomhe had so frequently led to victory, never to dishonor. The separationwas touching, but without parade. On this occasion his deportment wasas modest as it had been through the whole period of their connection. Gathered around him among the cedars at his Watboo encampment, hisfollowers were assembled to receive his last farewell. The simplicitywhich had marked his whole career, distinguished its conclusion. Hisaddress was brief but not without its eloquence--such eloquence asbelongs to the language of unaffected and unadulterated truth. Heacknowledged, with thanks, the services of the officers and men; dweltpassingly upon particular events of which they had reason to be proud, and bade them a friendly and affectionate farewell. The brief reviewwhich he made of their campaigns was well calculated to awaken themost touching recollections. He had been their father and protector. Nocommander had ever been more solicitous of the safety and comfort of hismen. It was this which had rendered him so sure of their fidelity, whichhad enabled him to extract from them such admirable service. His simpleentreaty stayed their quarrels; and the confidence which they yielded tohis love of justice, made them always willing to abide the decisions ofhis judgment. Officers and men equally yielded to the authority of hisopinion, as they did to that which he exercised in the capacity of theircommander. No duel took place among his officers during the whole of hiscommand. 

The province which was assigned to his control by Governor Rutledge, wasthe constant theatre of war. He was required to cover an immense extentof country. With a force constantly unequal and constantly fluctuating, he contrived to supply its deficiencies by the resources of his ownvigilance and skill. His personal bravery was frequently shown, and thefact that he himself conducted an enterprise, was enough to convincehis men that they were certain to be led to victory. In due degree withtheir conviction of his care and consideration for themselves, was theirreadiness to follow where he commanded. He had no lives to waste, andthe game he played was that which enabled him to secure the greatestresults, with the smallest amount of hazard. Yet, when the occasionseemed to require it, he could advance and strike with an audacity, which, in the ordinary relations of the leader with the soldier, mightwell be thought inexcusable rashness. We have, already, in the openingof this biography, adverted to the melancholy baldness of the memorialsupon which the historian is compelled to rely for the materials of hisnarrative. The reader will perceive a singular discrepancy betweenthe actual events detailed in the life of every popular hero, and thepeculiar fame which he holds in the minds of his countrymen. Thus, whileMarion is everywhere regarded as the peculiar representative in thesouthern States, of the genius of partisan warfare, we are surprised, when we would trace, in the pages of the annalist, the sources of thisfame, to find the details so meagre and so unsatisfactory. Traditionmumbles over his broken memories, which we vainly strive to pluck fromhis lips and bind together in coherent and satisfactory records. Thespirited surprise, the happy ambush, the daring onslaught, the fortunateescape, --these, as they involve no monstrous slaughter--no murderousstrife of masses, --no rending of walled towns and sack of cities, theordinary historian disdains. The military reputation of Marion consistsin the frequent performance of deeds, unexpectedly, with inferiormeans, by which the enemy was annoyed and dispirited, and the hearts andcourage of his countrymen warmed into corresponding exertions with hisown. To him we owe that the fires of patriotism were never extinguished, even in the most disastrous hours, in the low country of South Carolina. He made our swamps and forests sacred, as well because of the refugewhich they gave to the fugitive patriot, as for the frequent sacrificeswhich they enabled him to make, on the altars of liberty and a becomingvengeance. We are in possession of but few of the numerous enterprisesin which he was engaged; imperfect memories of the aged give us glimpsesof deeds for the particulars of which we turn in vain to the dusty pagesof the chronicler. But we need not generalize farther upon the traitsof his military character. We have endeavored to make these speak forthemselves, page by page, in the narration of the events, so far as weknow them, by which his reputation was acquired. It is enough that hisfame has entered largely into that of his country, forming a valuableportion of its sectional stock of character. His memory is in thevery hearts of our people. Of the estimation in which he was held bycontemporaries more might be said, but these pages bear ample testimonyof the consideration which he commanded from friend and foe. Thetestimonials of Moultrie, Greene, Lee and others, are conclusive ofthat rare worth and excellence--that combination of military and civilvirtues--which biography cannot easily be found to excel. 

Chapter 21. 

 Marion retires to his Farm, which he finds in Ruins--Is returned to the Senate from St. John--His Course on the Confiscation Act--Anecdotes--Is made Commandant at Fort Johnson--His Marriage--A Member of the State Convention in 1794--Withdraws from Public Life--His Death. 

It was with no reluctance but with the cheerful preference which Marionhad always given, since manhood, to the life of the farmer, that hereturned to its simple but attractive avocations. But the world with himwas, as it were, to be begun anew; no easy matter to one whose habitshad been necessarily rendered irregular by the capricious and desultoryinfluences of a military career; still more difficult in the case ofone who has entered upon the last period of life. The close of theRevolution found him destitute of means, almost in poverty, and morethan fifty years old. His health was good, however; his frame elastic;his capacity for endurance, seemingly, as great as ever. But his littlefortune had suffered irretrievably. His interests had shared the fateof most other Southern patriots, in the long and cruel struggle throughwhich the country had gone. His plantation in St. John's, Berkeley, laywithin a mile of one of the ordinary routes of the British army, andhis career was not calculated to move them to forbearance in the caseof one, whose perpetual activity and skill so constantly baffled theirdesigns. His estate was ravaged, and subjected to constant waste anddepredation. One-half of his negroes were taken away, and the rest onlysaved to him by their fidelity. The refuge in swamp and forest was asnatural to the faithful negro, on the approach of the British uniforms, as to the fugitive patriot. Ten workers returned to him, when he wasprepared to resume his farm, but he was destitute of everything beside. The implements of culture, plantation utensils, household furniture, stock, cattle and horses, clothes and provisions for his people, wereall wanting, and all to be purchased, and he penniless. He received nocompensation for his losses, no reward for his sacrifices and services. The hope of half pay was held out to him by his more sanguine friends, but this promise was never realized. But, with that cheerful spiritwhich hopes all things from time, and a meek compliance with what itbrings, Marion proceeded to work out his deliverance by manly industry, and a devotion to his interests as true as that which he had yielded tothe interests of his country. He had become fond of rural life, and thetemporary estrangement of war seemed only to increase his desire forthat repose in action, which the agricultural life in the South socertainly secures. But he was not permitted to retire from publicservice. The value of his services was too well known, and there was toomuch yet to be done, towards the repose and security of the country, tosuffer them to be dispensed with. He was again returned to the Senateof the State by the people of St. John's. In this situation, he stillmaintained those noble and disinterested characteristics which had madehim equally beloved and venerated. Two anecdotes are preserved of him inhis official character, which deserve mention. Both of these grew out ofthe events of the war. The importance of the Confiscation Act, passed atthe session of January, 1782, at Jacksonborough, arose chiefly from thenecessity of providing for the emergencies of the State and military, during the continuance of the war. Under existing circumstances, themeasure was sustained by our partisan. But the case was altered when theBritish ministry abandoned their pretensions to the country, and when itwas left by their armies. It was then that numerous offenders--those whohad been least conspicuous for their Tory predilections--applied for theindulgence and forbearance of the State. Petitions were poured into theLegislature, sustained by such pleas and friends as the circumstancesof the suppliants could procure--excusing their conduct, asserting theirrepentance, and imploring the restoration of their possessions. Marion'scourse in regard to these suppliants may be inferred from his previouscharacter. There was nothing vindictive in his nature. He was superiorto the baser cravings of a dogged vengeance, and his vote and voicedeclared his magnanimity. It so happened that the first of thesepetitions upon which he was called to act, came from one of that classof timid, time-serving persons, who, with no predilections for virtue, no sympathy for principles or country, simply shape their course withregard to safety. He was a man of wealth, and the effect of wealthin perilous times is but too frequently to render selfishness equallycowardly and dishonest. The amount of his offence consisted in trimming, while the strife was doubtful, between Whig and Tory, and siding withthe latter when the British gained the ascendency. He did not take uparms, took no active part in public affairs, and was content to shelterhis person and possessions under a cautious insignificance. Abouteighteen months before, Marion had met the petitioner at a gathering ofthe people. The latter approached and offered our partisan his hand. Butthe juncture was one in which it behooveth patriotism to speak out atall hazards. The struggle was for life and death, on the part equallyof Whig and Tory. Marion knew the character of the person, and disdainedit. To the surprise of all, who knew how scrupulous of insult hewas, --how indulgent and forbearing, --he turned away from the trimmer andthe sycophant without recognition. This treatment was greatly censuredat the time, and when Marion rose in the Senate, to speak on the subjectof the petition of the man whom he had so openly scorned, it was takenfor granted that he would again give utterance to feelings of the sortwhich moved him then. The miserable offender, who was himself present, grew pale, trembled, and gave up his cause as lost. What was hissurprise and delight to hear the venerable patriot advocate hisapplication! He was successful in obtaining for the suppliant the mercywhich he implored. The opponents of the petitioner, some of whom were ofthat class of patriots who hunger for the division of the spoils, wereaghast, and having counted on Marion's support, now loudly proclaimedhis inconsistency. But to these his answer was equally prompt andsatisfactory. His reasons were true to his principles. He had beengoverned in his previous views by the necessity of the case. With thedisappearance of that necessity he recognized other laws and influences. "Then, " said he, "it was war. It is peace now. God has given us thevictory; let us show our gratitude to heaven, which we shall not do bycruelty to man. "

The expediency of humanity was always the uppermost sentiment withMarion. A nobler expression of it never fell from the lips of mortal. 

The next anecdote of the legislative career of Marion is one whichdirectly related to himself. At an early period in the action of theAssembly, after the war, it was deemed advisable to introduce a billby which to exempt from legal investigation the conduct of the militiawhile the war had lasted. It was thought, justly enough, that, from thenature of the services in which they were engaged, and the necessitieswhich coerced them, they might need, in numerous instances, to besheltered from legal persecution. They had been compelled to war with aheavy hand, to seize frequently upon private property, and subjectthe possessions of the citizen to the exigencies of the community. Thenecessities of the service being recognized, the Legislature wereready to justify them; and the Act which was prepared for the purpose, included amongst others, thus specially exempted, the name of Marion. But, scarcely had it been announced from the paper, when the venerableman arose, and with flushed cheeks and emphatic brevity, demanded thathis name should be expunged from the catalogue. He declared himselffriendly to the Bill--he believed it to be equally just and necessary;but for his own part, as he was not conscious of any wrong of which hehad been guilty, he was not anxious for any immunity. "If, " said he, "Ihave given any occasion for complaint, I am ready to answer inproperty and person. If I have wronged any man I am willing to make himrestitution. If, in a single instance, in the course of my command, Ihave done that which I cannot fully justify, justice requires that Ishould suffer for it. "

So proud was his integrity, so pure and transparent was his happyconsciousness of a mind fixed only on good, and regulated by thesternest rules of virtue, and the nicest instincts of gentleness andlove! The Bill passed into a law, but the name of Marion, omitted athis requisition, is nowhere present, as showing that he needed othersecurity than that which is afforded to the meanest citizen under thekeenest scrutiny of justice. 

Marion did not confine his objections to the continued operation of theConfiscation Act, to the single instance which we have given. We havereason to believe that his labors to remedy its hardships, and restrainits severities, were uniform and unremitting. There is no doubt that hefavored the original bill. He considered it a war measure, and necessaryto the prosecution of the war. The propriety of the distinction which hemade just after the war was over, obvious enough to us now, was not soevident at a season when the victors were looking after the division ofthe spoils. The subject became one of considerable excitement, andwe may say in this place, that, after time had mollified the popularfeeling in some degree, the State admitted the greater number of theoffenders to mercy and restored their estates. But there is reasonto believe that the humane sentiments which Marion taught, were notuniversal, and met with most violent opposition. His feelings on thesubject were not only declared with frankness, but with warmth andenergy. Dining at the table of Governor Matthews, while the strife washighest, he was called upon by his Excellency for a toast. Lifting hisglass, with a smile, he promptly gave the following, --"Gentlemen, here'sdamnation to the Confiscation Act. "

Though, in the language of Moultrie, "born a soldier", and yielding somany of his youthful and maturer years to the habits of the camp andfield, there was nothing of a harsh or imperious nature in his temperor his manner. The deportment of the mere soldier seems to have beenhis aversion. He preferred the modest and forbearing carriage which issupposed to belong more distinctly to civil than to military life. Nonovelty of situation, no provocation of circumstance, nothing in theshape of annoyance or disaster, was suffered so to ruffle his mood asto make him heedless or indifferent to the claims or sensibilities ofothers. He never conceived that any of his virtues gave him a right totrespass upon the proprieties of social or public life. An anecdote isrelated of him which illustrates the veneration which he entertained forthe regulations of society and law. It appears that, when the war wasover, one of his closest intimates and nearest friends--one whom he hadtrusted long, and who had shared with him in all his campaigns, stoodwithin the perils of the law for some offence of which the facts havenot been preserved. Presuming upon his well-known services, and thefavor in which he was held by the public, he refused to submit tothe ordinary legal process, and bade defiance to the sheriff. Whilemaintaining this position, Marion sought him out. He used no argument toconvince the offender of his error, for that, he felt assured, the othersufficiently knew. But he addressed him in a style, and with words, which conveyed much more than any ordinary argument. "Deliver yourself, "said he, "into the hands of justice--submit to the process ofthe sheriff, and my heart and hand are yours as before;--resist, --refuse, --and we are separated for ever. " It neednot be said that under such an exhortation the refractory spirit wassubdued. How much to be regretted it is that so few anecdotes have beenpreserved of his character, illustrating a life which, according to alltestimony, was consistent throughout in a just appreciation of all thatwas pure, virtuous and becoming, in the character of the individual man. 

Early in the year 1783, the following resolutions passed in the Senateof South Carolina, Marion, who was a member, not being present at thetime:

Senate, South Carolina, February 26, 1783. 

"RESOLVED, nem. Con. , That the thanks of this House be given toBrigadier General Marion, in his place, as a member of this House, forhis eminent and conspicuous services to his country. 

"RESOLVED, nem. Con. , That a gold medal be given to Brigadier GeneralMarion, as a mark of public approbation for his great, glorious, andmeritorious conduct. "

Two days after, Marion being in his place in the Senate, the Presidenttook occasion to convey to him the sense of these resolutions, in a neatand highly laudatory speech. He said, among other things--

"When I consider the occasion which calls me to address you, I am filledwith inexpressible pleasure; but when I reflect on the difficulty ofdoing justice to your distinguished merit, I feel my own inefficiency. What sentiments or words shall I make use of equal to the task! Iscarce dare trust my own, especially after what has been said by severalhonorable persons on this floor, respecting your great, your glorious, and meritorious conduct; and I most earnestly wish, for my own sake, foryours, Sir, and for the honor of this House, that I could availmyself of their eloquence.... Your conduct merits the applause ofyour countrymen--your courage, your vigilance, and your abilities haveexceeded their most sanguine expectations; and have answered all theirhopes. Whilst the virtue of gratitude shall form a part of our nationalcharacter, your important services to this country can never beforgotten, " &c. 

To this Marion replied with simple brevity:

"MR. PRESIDENT: The approbation which this House have given of myconduct, in the execution of my duty, gives me very pleasing andheartfelt satisfaction. The honor which they have conferred on me thisday, by their thanks, will be remembered with gratitude. I shallalways be ready to exert my abilities for the good of the state and theliberties of her inhabitants. I thank you, Sir, for the polite manner inwhich you have conveyed to me the thanks of the Senate. "

Whether the medal was really given, or only voted, is a fact that wehave no means of ascertaining. It is to be feared that the action of theSenate went no farther than the resolution and the speech. It probablyremains a reproach against the republic, in this, as in numerous otherinstances, that, knowing what gratitude required, we would yet foregothe satisfaction of the debt. Cheaply, at best, was our debt to Marionsatisfied, with a gold medal, or the vote of one, while Greenereceived ten thousand guineas and a plantation. We quarrel not withthe appropriation to Greene, but did Marion deserve less from Carolina?Every page of her history answers "No!"

By the Legislative session of 1784, Fort Johnson, in the harbor ofCharleston, was fitted up and garrisoned by the State. In the unstablecondition of things, so immediately after the war, some such fortressmight well be deemed essential to the security of the port. Marion wasappointed Commandant of the Fort, with an annual salary of 500 Pounds. The office was in all probability made for him. His necessities wereknown, and its salary was intended to compensate him for his lossesduring the war. But the duties of the office were nominal. Even itspossible uses soon ceased to be apparent; and, with a daily increasingsense of security, the people murmured at an appropriation which theyconsidered unnecessarily burdensome. The common mind could not wellperceive that the salary was not so much yielded for what was expectedof the office, as for what had already been performed. It was notgiven for present, but for past services. It was the payment of a debtincurred, not a simple appropriation for the liquidation of one growingout of current performances. Legislative reformers waged constant waragainst it, and it was finally cut down to five hundred dollars. A smileof fortune, --one of the fairest perhaps, that had ever shone on ourhero, --just then relieved him from the mortifying necessity of holdinga sinecure which his fellow citizens pronounced an encumbrance. It hadbeen observed by his friends that there was a lady of good family andconsiderable wealth, who appeared to take a more than ordinary interestin hearing of his exploits. Modest and reserved himself, Marion was notconscious of the favorable impression which he had made upon this lady. It was left for others to discover the state of her affections. Theyremarked the delight with which, like

 "The gentle lady wedded to the Moor, "

she listened to the tale of his achievements, his

 "Hair-breadth 'scapes in th' imminent deadly breach, Of being taken by the insolent foe. "--

and they augured favorably of the success of any desire which he mightexpress to make her the sharer in his future fortunes. On this hint hespake. Miss Mary Videau, like himself, came of the good old Huguenotstock, the virtues of which formed our theme in the opening chapter ofthis narrative. He proposed to her and was accepted. Neither of them wasyoung. It was not in the heyday of passion that they loved. The tie thatbound them sprang from an affection growing out of a just appreciationof their mutual merits. She is reported to have somewhat resembled himas well in countenance as character. She certainly shared warmly in hisinterests and feelings. She readily conformed to his habits no less thanhis wishes--partook of his amusements, shared his journeys--which werefrequent--and still, in his absence, could listen with as keen a zest tohis praises, as before their marriage. During the summer months, it washis almost yearly custom to retire to the mountains of the interior. Shewas always his companion. On such occasions, he was guilty of a pieceof military ostentation of which nobody could have accused him while amilitary man. He had preserved carefully, as memorials of an eventfulhistory, his marquee, camp bed, and cooking utensils, just as he haddone while in the Brigade, during the last twelve months of his militarylife. These were carefully taken with him; and, with his faithfulservant Oscar, and his two sumpter mules, were still the companions ofhis wanderings. They were coupled no doubt with many associations asinteresting to his heart as they were trying to his experience. Theywere, perhaps, doubly precious, as they constituted the sum total ofall that he had gathered--besides an honorable fame--from his variouscampaignings. 

The marriage of Marion, like that of Washington, was without fruits. This may have baffled some hopes, and in some degree qualified hishappiness, but did not impair his virtues. He adopted the son of arelative, to whom he gave his own name, in the hope of perpetuating itin the family, but even this desire has been defeated, since theheir thus chosen, though blessed with numerous children, was never sofortunate as to own a son. 

In the decline of life, in the modest condition of the farmer, Marionseems to have lived among his neighbors, very much as the ancientpatriarch, surrounded by his flock. He was honored and beloved by all. His dwelling was the abode of content and cheerful hospitality. Itsdoors were always open; and the chronicler records that it had manychambers. Here the stranger found a ready welcome, and his neighborsa friendly counsellor, to the last. His active habits were scarcelylessened in the latter years of life. His agricultural interests weremanaged judiciously, and his property underwent annual increase. Nor didhis domestic interests and declining years prevent him from serving thepublic still. He still held a commission in the militia, and continuedto represent the parish of St. John's, in the Senate of the State. InMay, 1790, we find him sitting as a member of the Convention for formingthe State Constitution; but from this period he withdrew from publiclife, and, in 1794, after the reorganization of the State militia, heresigned his commission in that service to which he had done so muchhonor. On this occasion he was addressed by an assembly of the citizensof Georgetown, through a special committee of four, in the followinglanguage. *

 * The committee consisted of Messrs. William D. James, Robert Brownfield, Thomas Mitchell, and Joseph Blythe. --

"CITIZEN GENERAL--At the present juncture, when the necessity of publicaffairs requires the military of this State to be organized anew, torepel the attacks of an enemy from whatever quarter they may be forcedupon us; we, the citizens of the district of Georgetown, finding you nolonger at our head, have agreed to convey to you our grateful sentimentsfor your former numerous services. In the decline of life, when themerits of the veteran are too often forgotten, we wish to remind youthat yours are still fresh in the remembrance of your fellow citizens. Could it be possible for men who have served and fought under you, to benow forgetful of that General, by whose prudent conduct their liveshave been saved and their families preserved from being plundered bya rapacious enemy? We mean not to flatter you. At this time it isimpossible to suspect it. Our present language is the language offreemen, expressing only sentiments of gratitude. Your achievements maynot have sufficiently swelled the historic page. They were performedby those who could better wield the sword than the pen--by men whoseconstant dangers precluded them from the leisure, and whose necessitiesdeprived them of the common implements of writing. But this is of littlemoment. They remain recorded in such indelible characters upon ourminds, that neither change of circumstances, nor length of time, canefface them. Taught by us, our children shall hereafter point out theplaces, and say, 'HERE, General Marion, posted to advantage, made aglorious stand in defence of the liberties of his country--THERE, on disadvantageous ground, retreated to save the lives of his fellowcitizens. ' What could be more glorious for the General, commandingfreemen, than thus to fight, and thus to save the lives of his fellowsoldiers? Continue, General, in peace, to till those acres which youonce wrested from the hands of an enemy. Continue to enjoy dignityaccompanied with ease, and to lengthen out your days blessed with theconsciousness of conduct unaccused of rapine or oppression, and ofactions ever directed by the purest patriotism. "

The artless language of this address was grateful to the venerablepatriot. In its truth and simplicity lay its force and eloquence. It hadtruly embodied in a single sentence the noble points of his career andcharacter. He lived in the delightful consciousness of a pure mind, free from accusation--and no higher eulogy could be conferred upon thecaptain of citizen soldiers, than to say, he never wantonly exposedtheir lives, but was always solicitous of their safety. To this addresshis answer was verbal. He no longer used the pen. The feebleness ofnature was making itself understood. That he felt himself failing may beinferred from his withdrawal from all public affairs. But his mind wascheerful and active to the last. He still saw his friends and neighbors, and welcomed their coming--could still mount his horse and cast his 'eyeover his acres. ' The progress of decline, in his case, was not of thathumiliating kind, by which the faculties of the intellect are clouded, and the muscles of the body made feeble and incompetent. He spokethoughtfully of the great concerns of life, of death, and of the future;declared himself a Christian, a humble believer in all the vital truthsof religion. As of the future he entertained no doubt, so of the awfultransition through the valley and shadow of death, he had no fear. "Death may be to others, " said he, "a leap in the dark, but I ratherconsider it a resting-place where old age may throw off its burdens. " Hedied, peaceful and assured, with no apparent pain, and without regret, at his residence in St. John's parish, on the 27th day of February, 1795, having reached the mature and mellow term of sixty-three years. His last words declared his superiority to all fears of death; "for, thank God, " said he, "I can lay my hand on my heart and say that, sinceI came to man's estate, I have never intentionally done wrong to any. "

Thus died Francis Marion, one of the noblest models of the citizensoldier that the world has ever produced. Brave without rashness, prudent without timidity, firm without arrogance, resolved withoutrudeness, good without cant, and virtuous without presumption. Hismortal remains are preserved at Belle-Isle, in St. John's parish. Themarble slab which covers them bears the following inscription:--"Sacredto the memory of Brigadier-General Francis Marion, who departed thislife on the 29th of Feb. , 1795, in the sixty-third year of his age, deeply regretted by all his fellow citizens. History will record hisworth, and rising generations embalm his memory, as one of the mostdistinguished patriots and heroes of the American Revolution; whichelevated his native country to honor and Independence, and secured toher the blessings of liberty and peace. This tribute of veneration andgratitude is erected in commemoration of the noble and disinterestedvirtues of the citizen, and the gallant exploits of the soldier, wholived without fear, and died without reproach. "

This inscription was the tribute of an individual, not of the country. The State of South Carolina has conferred his name upon one of itsdistrict divisions. But a proper gratitude, not to speak of policy, would seem to require more

 "If it be we love His fame and virtues, it were well, methinks, To link them with his name i' the public eye, That men, who in the paths of gainful trade, Do still forget the venerable and good, May have such noble monitor still nigh, And, musing at his monument, recall, Those precious memories of the deeds of one Whose life were the best model for their sons. "

[End of original text. ]

Appendix A. Notes on the electronic text. 

The great majority of changes in this electronic edition, from theoriginal, are in spelling (some words are spelled both ways in theoriginal). To wit:

 partizan :: partisan. Merchandize :: merchandise. Duresse :: duress. Ancle :: ankle. Swamp-fox :: swamp fox. (The modern spelling. ) co-operate :: cooperate. Bivouack :: bivouac. Head-quarters :: headquarters. Secresy :: secrecy. Patrole :: patrol. 

A number of spellings which might be considered errors, and mightnot, have been retained, where they are less likely to interfere withreading. 

When the true facts were known, either from context or outside reading, a few other errors were corrected. A couple are footnoted in the text. Otherwise, the larger changes are:

 Chapter 5 (p. 59 of the original): "Weems, in his life of our author" has been changed to "Weems, in his life of our subject". 

 Chapter 6 (p. 80): "while the second North Carolina regiment" has been changed to "while the second South Carolina regiment". 

 Chapter 14, last paragraph (p. 239): "Mrs. Moultrie" has been changed to "Mrs. Motte". 

These errors are not merely represented here for their scholasticinterest, but also to give the reader an appreciation of the typesof errors which Simms was frequently subject to make. Many have mostcertainly not been caught--if I had not lived in the Waxhaw area, Icertainly would not have known of the error (footnoted in the text)which replaced 'Waxhaw' with 'Warsaw'--two very different regions. Namesare particularly prone to error, not only by Simms, but from thewhole revolutionary era in the South--many of the people were onlysemi-literate, if literate at all, and many of the names have beenspelled several, even a dozen ways--sometimes even by the individualnamed. For all this, the errors of Simms are generally minor, and willnot prevent the reader from a true appreciation of both Marion andSimms. 

Alan R. Light, Birmingham, Alabama. December, 1996. 

Appendix B. Song of Marion's Men. 

By William Cullen Bryant [1794-1878]. 

As this poem is quoted in part by Simms at the very beginning of thebook, I have considered it appropriate to include the whole here:

 Our band is few, but true and tried, Our leader frank and bold; The British soldier trembles When Marion's name is told. Our fortress is the good greenwood, Our tent the cypress-tree; We know the forest round us, As seamen know the sea. We know its walls of thorny vines, Its glades of reedy grass, Its safe and silent islands Within the dark morass. 

 Woe to the English soldiery, That little dread us near! On them shall light at midnight A strange and sudden fear: When, waking to their tents on fire, They grasp their arms in vain, And they who stand to face us Are beat to earth again. And they who fly in terror deem A mighty host behind, And hear the tramp of thousands Upon the hollow wind. 

 Then sweet the hour that brings release From danger and from toil: We talk the battle over, And share the battle's spoil. The woodland rings with laugh and shout, As if a hunt were up, And woodland flowers are gathered To crown the soldier's cup. With merry songs we mock the wind That in the pine-top grieves, And slumber long and sweetly On beds of oaken leaves. 

 Well knows the fair and friendly moon The band that Marion leads-- The glitter of their rifles, The scampering of their steeds. 'Tis life to guide the fiery barb Across the moonlight plain; 'Tis life to feel the night-wind That lifts his tossing mane. A moment in the British camp-- A moment--and away Back to the pathless forest, Before the peep of day. 

 Grave men there are by broad Santee, Grave men with hoary hairs, Their hearts are all with Marion, For Marion are their prayers. And lovely ladies greet our band With kindliest welcoming, With smiles like those of summer, And tears like those of spring. For them we wear these trusty arms, And lay them down no more Till we have driven the Briton, Forever, from our shore.