American Revolutionary War In the South PART IV.

FROM the moment of the British victory near Camden, SC. (16 Aug. 1780) Lord Charles CORNWALLIS became the principal figure in the British service in America -- the pride and delight of British Lord George GERMAIN, the desired Commander-in-Chief, the one man on whom rested the hopes of the ministry for the successful termination of the war.

We are to come to the series of events which closed the American contest and restored peace to the world. In Europe, the sovereigns of Austria and of Russia were offering their mediation; the Netherlands were struggling to preserve their neutrality; France was straining every nerve to cope with her rival in the four quarters of the globe; Spain was exhausting her resources for the conquest of Gibraltar; but the incidents which overthrew the ministry of North, and reconciled Great Britain to America, had their springs in South Carolina.

Lord Charles CORNWALLIS, elated with success and hope, prepared for the northward march, which was to conduct him from victory to victory, till he should restore all America south of Delaware to its allegiance. He appeared to believe that North Carolina would rise to welcome him; and was attended by MARTIN, its former governor, eager to re-enter on his office. He requested Sir Henry CLINTON to detach 3,000 men to establish a post on the Chesapeake bay; and Sir Henry CLINTON knew too well the wishes of the British government to venture to refuse.

In carrying out his plan, the first measure of Lord Charles CORNWALLIS was a reign of terror. Professing to regard South Carolina as restored to the dominion of King George III, and accepting the suggestions of MARTIN and Lt. Col. Banastre TARLETON (1754-1833) and their like, that severity was the true mode to hold the recovered province, he addressed the most stringent orders to the commandants at Ninety-Six and other posts to imprison all who would not take up arms for the King, and to seize or destroy their whole property. He most positively enjoined that every militia-man who had borne arms with the British and had afterward joined the Americans should be hanged immediately. He set up the gallows at Camden, SC. for the indiscriminate execution of those among his prisoners who had formerly given their parole.

The destruction of property and life assumed still more hideous forms, when the peremptory orders and example of Lord Charles CORNWALLIS were followed by subordinates in remote districts away from supervision. Cruel measures seek and find cruel agents; officers whose delight was in blood patrolled the country, burned houses, ravaged estates, and put to death whom they would. The wives and daughters of the affluent were left with no fit clothing, no shelter but hovels too mean to attract the destroyer. Of a sudden the woodman in his cabin would find his house surrounded, and he or his guest might be shot, because he was not in arms for the King. No engagement by proclamation or by capitulation was respected. There was no question of proofs and no trial. For two years (1879-80) cold-blooded assassinations, often in the house of the victim and in the presence of his wife and little children, were perpetrated by men holding the King's commission. The enemy were determined to break every man's spirit, or to take his life.

The ruthless administration of Lord Charles CORNWALLIS met the hearty and repeated applause of Lord George GERMAIN, who declared himself convinced that "to punish rebellion would have the best consequences." As to the rebels, his orders to Sir Henry CLINTON and Lord Charles CORNWALLIS were: "No good faith or justice is to be expected from them, and we ought in all our transactions with them to act upon that supposition."

In violation of agreements, the Continental soldiers who capitulated at Charleston, 1,900 in number, were transferred from buildings in the town to prison-ships, where they were joined by several hundred prisoners from Camden. In 13 mounths one third of the whole number perished by malignant fevers; others were impressed into the British service as mariners; several hundred young men were taken by violence on board transports and forced to serve in a British regiment in Jamaica, leaving wives and young children to want. Of more than 3,000 confined in prison-ships, all but about 700 were made away with.

On the capitulation of Charleston, eminent patriots remained prisoners on parole. Foremost among these stood the aged Christopher GADSDEN, whose unselfish love of country was a constant encouragement to his countrymen never to yield. Their silent example restrained the timid from exchanging their paroles for the protection of British subjects. To overcome this influence, 11 days after the victory at Camden, 27 August, 1780 he and 36 of his most resolute associates, in flagrant disregard of the conditions on which they had surrendered, were early in the morning taken from their houses and beds and transported to St. Augustine. Mr. Christopher GADSDEN and others, refusing to give a new parole, were immured in the castle of St. Mark. After some weeks a like cargo was shipped to the same place.

The system of slaveholding kept away from defensive service not only the slaves, but numerous whites needed to watch them. Moreover, some of the men deriving their livelihood from the labor of slaves, had not the courage to face the idea of poverty for themselves, still less for their wives and children. Many fainted at the hard option between submission and ruin. Charles PINCKNEY, lately president of the South Carolina senate, classing himself among those who from the hurry and confusion of the times had been misled, desired to show every mark of allegiance. RAWLINS LOWNDES, who but a few months before had been president of the state of South Carolina, excused himself for having reluctantly given way to necessity, and accepted any test to prove that, with the unrestrained dictates of his own mind, he now attached himself to the royal government. Henry MIDDLETON, president of the first American congress, though still "partial to a cause for which he had been so long engaged," promised to do nothing to keep up the spirit of independence, and to demean himself as a faithful subject.

But South Carolina was never conquered. From the moment of the fall of Charleston, (12 May 1780) Colonel James WILLIAMS, of the district of Ninety-Six, SC. did not rest in gathering the armed friends of the union. From the region above Camden, SC. Thomas "Gamecock" SUMTER and his band hovered over all British movements. "Gamecock" SUMTER certainly has been our greatest plague in this country," later writes Lord Charles CORNWALLIS.

In the swamps between the Pedee and the Santee, Francis "Swamp Fox." MARION and his men kept watch. Of a delicate organization, sensitive to truth and honor and right, humane, averse to bloodshed, never wreaKing vengeance nor suffering those around him to do so, scrupulously respecting private property, he had the love and confidence of all in that part of the country. Lt. Col. Banastre TARELTON'S legion had laid it waste to inspire terror; and volunteer partisans gathered round MARION to redeem their land.

A body of 300 Royalist Militia and 200 regular troops had established a post at Musgrove's Mills on the Enoree river. On the 18th August, 1780 they were attacked by inferior numbers under Col. James WILLIAMS of Ninety-Six, and routed, with 60 killed and more than that number wounded. Col. James WILLIAMS lost but eleven.

At dawn of the 20th August, 1780 a party, convoying a 150 prisoners of the Maryland line, were crossing the great Savanna River near Nelson's ferry over the Santee upon the route from Camden to Charleston, when Colonel Francis "Swamp Fox" MARION and his men sprang upon the guard, liberated the prisoners, and captured 26 of the escort.

"Colonel MARION," wrote Lord Charles CORNWALLIS, "so wrought on the minds of the people that there was scarcely an inhabitant between the Pedee and the Santee that was not in arius against us. Some parties even crossed the Santee and carried terror to the gates of Charleston."

RALFOUR, the commandant of Charleston, wrote home: "In vain we expected loyalty and attachment from the inhabitants; they are the same stuff as all Americans." The British historian of the war, who was then in South Carolina, relates that "almost the whole country seemed upon the eve of a revolt."

In the second week of September, 1780 when the heats of summer had abated, the earlier cereal grains had been harvested, and the maize was nearly ripe, Lord Charles CORNWALLIS began his projected march. He relied on the loyalists of North Carolina to recruit his army. On his left, Major Patrick FERGUSON, Tory troops the ablest British partisan, was sent with 200 of the best troops to the uplands of South Carolina, where he enlisted young men of that country, loyalists who had fled to the mountains for security, and fugitives of the worst character who sought his standard for the chances of plundering with impunity.

The Cherokees had been encouraged by the British during the summer of 1780 to join in ravaging the American settlements west of the mountains as far as CHISWELL'S lead mines. Against this danger THOMAS JEFFERSON organized, in the south-western counties of the state of which he was the governor of VA., a regiment of 400 backwoodsmen under the command of Colonel William CAMPBELL, brother-in-law of Patrick Henry; in an interview with William PRESTON, the Lieutenant of Washington county, NC. (present day East Tennessee) as the south-west of Virginia was then called, he dwelt on the resources of the country, the spirit of congress, and the character of the people; and for himself and for his state would admit no doubt that, in spite of all disasters, a continued vigorous resistance would bring the war to a happy issue.

At Waxhaw, SC. Lord Charles CORNWALLIS halted for a few days, and, that he might eradicate the spirit of patriotism from South Carolina before he passed beyond its borders, he, on the 16th day of September, 1780 sequestered by proclamation all estates belonging to the friends of America, and appointed a commissioner for the seizure of such estates both real and personal. The concealment, removal, or injury of property doomed to confiscation was punishable as an abetting of rebellion. The sequestration extended to debts due to the person whose possessions were confiscated; and, to prevent collusive practices, a great reward was offered to those who should make discovery of the concealment of negroes, horses, cattle, plate, household furniture, books, bonds, deeds, and other property. To patriots, no alternative was left but to fight against their country or to encounter exile and poverty.

The chiefs of the Cherokees were at that very time on their way to Augusta, GA. to receive the presents which were to stimulate their activity. Aware of their coming, CLARK, a fugitive from Georgia, forced his way back with 100 riflemen; having joined to them a body of woodsmen, he defeated the British garrison under Colonel BROWN at Augusta, GA. and captured the costly presents designed for the Cherokees. The moment was critical; for Lord Charles CORNWALLIS, in his eagerness to draw strength to his own army, had not left a post or a soldier between Augusta and Savannah, and the alienated people had returned most reluctantly to a state of obedience. With a corps of 100 provincials and 100 Cherokees, Colonel BROWN maintained a position on Garden Hill for nearly a week, when he was rescued by CRUGER from Ninety-Six, SC. At his approach, the Americans retired. On the pursuit, some of them were scalped and some taken prisoners. Of the latter, Captain ASHBY and 12 others were hanged under the eyes of Colonel BROWN; 13 who were delivered to the Cherokees were killed by tortures, or by the tomahawk, or were thrown into fires. 30 in all were put to death by the orders of Colonel BROWN.

CRUGER desired to waylay and capture the retreating party, and Major Patrick FERGUSON eagerly accepted his invitation to join in the enterprise. CRUGER moved with circumspection, taKing care not to be led too far from the fortress of Ninety- Six; Major Patrick FERGUSON was more adventurous, having always the army of Lord Charles CORNWALLIS on his right. Near the Broad river his party encountered MacDOWELL with 160 militia from Burk and Rutherford counties in North Carolina, pursued them to the foot of the mountains, and left them no chance of safety but by fleeing beyond the Alleghanies.

During these events Lord Charles CORNWALLIS encountered no serious impediment till he approached Charlotte. There his van was driven back by the fire of a small body of mounted men, commanded by Colonel William Richardson DAVIE of North Carolina. The general rode up in person, and the American party was dislodged by WEBSTER's brigade; but not till the mounted Americans, scarcely 40 in number, had for several minutes kept the British army at bay.

From Charlotte, Lord Charles CORNWALLIS pursued his course toward Salisbury. Meantime, the fugitives under MacDOWELL recounted the sorrows of their families to the emigrant freemen on the Watauga, among whom slavery was scarcely known. The backwoodsmen, though remote from the world, love their fellow- men. In the pure air and life of the mountain and the forest they join serenity with courage. They felt for those who had fled to them; with one heart, they resolved to restore the suppliants to their homes, and for that purpose formed themselves into regiments under Col. Isaac SHELBY and Col. John SEVIER. Col. Isaac SHELBY despatched a messenger to American Col. William CAMPBELL on the forks of Holston; and the field- officers of south-western Virginia unanimously invited him, with 400 men, to join in the expedition. An express was sent to Colonel CLEAVELAND of North Carolina: and all were to meet at Burk County court-house, on the waters of the Catawba.

The three regiments from the west of the Alleghanies under American Cols. William CAMPBELL, Isaac SHELBY, and John SEVIER, and the North Carolina fugitives under MACDOWELL, assembled on the 25th of September 1780 at Watauga. On the next day, each man mounted on his own horse, armed with his own rifle, and carrying his own store of provisions, they began the ride over the mountains, where the passes through the Alleghanies are the highest. Not even a bridle-path led through the forest, nor was there a house for forty miles between the Watauga and the Catawba. The men left their families in secluded valleys, distant one from the other, exposed not only to parties of royalists, but of Indians. In the evening of the thirtieth they formed a junction with the regiment of Colonel Benjamin CLEAVELAND, consisting of three hundred and fifty men from the North Carolina counties of Wilkes and Surry. The next day MACDOWELL was despatched to request Maj. Gen. Horatio GATES (1727-1806) to send them a general officer; "till he should arrive, American Col. William CAMPBELL was chosen to act as commandant."

FERGUSON, who had pursued the party of MACDOWELL to the foot of the Alleghanies, and had spread the terror of invasion beyond them, moved eastwardly toward Lord Charles CORNWALLIS by a road from Buffalo ford to King's Mountain, which offered ground for a strong encampment. Of the parties against him he thus wrote to Lord Charles CORNWALLIS: "They are become an object of consequence. I should hope for success against them myself; but, numbers compared, that must be doubtful. Three or four hundred good soldiers, part dragoons, would finish the business. Something must be done soon. This is their last push in this quarter."

On receiving the letter, Lord Charles CORNWALLIS ordered TARLETON to march with the light infantry, the British legion, and a three- pounder to his assistance.

At that time Colonel James WILLIAMS was about seventy miles from Salisbury, in the forks of the Catawba, with nearly four hundred and fifty horsemen, in pursuit of FERGUSON. Wise and vigilant, he kept out scouts on every side; and, on the second of October, one of them "rejoiced his heart" by bringing him the news that one half of the whole male adult population beyond the mountains were drawing near.

Following a path between King's Mountain and the main ridge of the Alleghanies, "the western army," so they called themselves, under American Col. William CAMPBELL, already more than thirteen hundred strong, marched to the "Cowpens" on Broad river, where, on the evening of the sixth, they were joined by WILLIAMS with four hundred men. From WILLIAMS they learned nearly where FERGUSON's party was encamped; and a council of the principal officers decided to go that very night to strike them by surprise. For this end they picked out nine hundred of their best horsemen; at eight o'clock on that same evening the selected men began their march. Riding all night, with the moon two days past its first quarter, on the afternoon of the seventh they were at the foot of King's Mountain.

Battle of King's Mountain, 07 Oct. 1780

The Americans dismounted, and, though inferior in numbers, formed themselves into four columns. A part of Col. Benjamin CLEAVELAND's regiment, headed by Major WINSTON, and Colonel Col. John SEVIER's regiment, formed a large column on the right. The other part of Col. Benjamin CLEAVELAND's regiment, headed by Col. Benjamin CLEAVELAND himself, and the regiment of WILLIAMS, composed the left wing. The post of extreme danger was assigned to the column formed by Col William CAMPBELL's regiment on the right centre, and Col. Isaac SHELBY's regiment on the left centre; so that Col. John SEVIER's right nearly adjoined SHELBY's left. The right and left wings were to pass the position of FERGUSON, and from opposite sides climb the ridge in his rear, while the two central columns were to attack in front. In this order "the western army" advanced to within a quarter of a mile of the enemy before they were discovered.

The two centre columns, headed by Col. William CAMPBELL and SHELBY, climbing the mountain, began the attack. Col. Isaac SHELBY, a man of the hardiest make, stiff as iron, among the dauntless singled out for dauntlessness, went right onward and upward like a man who had but one thing to do, and but the one thought -- to do it. The British regulars with fixed bayonets charged Col. William CAMPBELL; and his riflemen, who had no bayonets, were obliged to give way for a short distance; but "they were soon rallied by their gallant commander and some of his active officers," and "returned to the attack with additional ardor."

The two columns, with no aid but from a part of Col. John SEVIER's regiment, kept up a furious and bloody battle with the British for ten minutes, when the right and left wings of the Americans advancing upon their flank and rear, "the fire became general all around." For fifty-five minutes longer the fire on both sides was heavy and almost incessant. The regulars with bayonets could only make a momentary impression. At last the American right wing gained the summit of the eminence, and the position of the British was no longer tenable. FERGUSON having been killed, the enemy attempted to retreat along the top of the ridge; but, finding themselves held in check by the brave men of WILLIAMS and Col. Benjamin CLEAVELAND, Captain Depeyster, the commanding officer of the British, hoisted a flag. The firing immediately ceased; the enemy laid down their arms and surrendered themselves prisoners at discretion.

The loss of the British on that day was at least 1,104. 456 of them were either killed, or too severely wounded to leave the ground; the number of prisoners was 648. On the American side the regiment of Col. William CAMPBELL suffered more than any other in the action; the total loss was 28 killed and 60 wounded. Among those who fell was Colonel James WILLIAMS of Ninety-Six, a man of an exalted character, of a career brief but glorious. An ungenerous enemy revenged themselves for his virtues by nearly extirpating his family; they could not take away his right to be remembered by his country with honor and affection to the latest time.

Among the captives there were house-burners and assassins. Private soldiers -- who had witnessed the sorrows of children and women, robbed and wronged, shelterless, stripped of all clothes but those they wore, nestling about fires kindled on the ground and mourning for their fathers and husbands executed nine or ten in retaliation for the frequent and barbarous use of the gallows at Camden, Ninety-Six, and Augusta; but Col. William CAMPBELL at once intervened, and in general orders, by threatening the delinquents with certain and effectual punishment, secured protection to the prisoners.

Just below the forks of the Catawba the tidings of the defeat reached Lt. Col. Banastre TARLETON; his party in all haste rejoined Lord Charles CORNWALLIS. The victory at King's Mountain, which in the spirit of the American soldiers was like the rising at Concord, in its effects like the successes at Bennington, changed the aspect of the war. The loyalists of North Carolina no longer dared rise. It fired the patriots of the two Carolinas with fresh zeal. It encouraged the fragments of the defeated and scattered American army to seek each other and organize themselves anew. It quickened the North Carolina legislature to earnest efforts. It inspirited Virginia to devote her resources to the country south of her border. The appearance on the frontiers of a numerous enemy from settlements beyond the mountains, whose very names had been unknown to the British, took Lord Charles CORNWALLIS by surprise, and their success was fatal to his intended expedition. He had hoped to step with ease from one Carolina to the other, and from these to the conquest of Virginia; and he had now no choice but to retreat.

On the evening of the 14th Oct. 1780 his troops began their march back from Charlotte to the Catawba ford. The men of Mecklenburg and Rowan counties had disputed his advance; they now harassed his foraging parties, intercepted his despatches, and cut off his communications. Soldiers of the militia hung on his rear. Twenty wagons were captured, laden with stores and the knapsacks of the light infantry legion. Single men would ride within gunshot of the retreating army, discharge their rifles, and escape.

The Catawba ford was crossed with difficulty on account of a great fall of rain. For two days the royal forces remained in the Catawba settlement, Lord Charles CORNWALLIS suffering from fever, the army from want of forage and provisions. The command on the retreat fell to RAWDON. The soldiers had no tents. For several days it rained incessantly. Waters and deep mud choked the roads. At night the army bivouacked in the woods in unwholesome air; sometimes without meat; at others, without bread. Once for five days it lived upon Indian corn gathered from the fields, five ears being the day's allowance for two soldiers. But for the personal exertions of the militia, most of whom were mounted, it would not have been supported. After a march of fifteen days it encamped at Winnsborough, SC. an intermediate station between Camden and Ninety-Six.

All the while Francis "Swamp Fox" MARION had been on the alert. 200 Tories had been sent in September to surprise him; and with 53 men he first surprised a part of his pursuers, and then drove the main body to flight. At Black Mingo, on the twenty- eighth, he made a successful attack on a guard of 60 militia, and took prisoners those who were under its escort. The British were burning houses on Little Pedee, and he permitted his men of that district to return to protect their wives and families; but he would not suffer retaliation, and wrote with truth: "There is not one house burned by my orders or by any of my people. It is what I detest, to distress poor women and children."

"I most sincerely hope you will get at Mr. MARION," wrote Lord Charles CORNWALLIS on the fifth of November, as he despatched TARLETON in pursuit of him. This officer and his corps set fire to all the houses, and destroyed all the corn from Camden down to Nelson's ferry; he beat the widow of a general officer because she could not tell where MARION was encamped, burned her dwelling, laid waste everything about it, and did not leave her a change of raiment. The line of their march could be traced by groups of houseless women and children, once of ample fortune, sitting round fires in the open air.

As for "Swamp Fox" MARION, after having kept his movements secret and varied his encampment every night, his numbers increased; then selecting a strong post "within the dark morass," he defied an attack. But just at that moment new dangers impended from another quarter.

Thomas "Gamecock" SUMTER had rallied the patriots in the country above Camden, and in frequent skirmishes kept the field. Mounting his partisans, he intercepted British supplies of all sorts, and sent parties within fourteen miles of Winnsborough. Having ascertained the number and position of his troops, Lord Charles CORNWALLIS despatched a party under Major Wemyss against him. After a march of twenty-four miles with mounted infantry, Wemyss reached "Fishdam" on Broad river, the camp of General SUMTER, and at the head of his corps charged the picket. The attack was repelled; he himself was wounded and taken prisoner. A memorandum was found upon him of houses burned by his command. He had hanged Adam CUSACK, a Carolinian, who had neither given his parole, nor accepted protection, nor served in the patriot army; yet his captors would not harm a man who was their prisoner.

The position of the British in the "Up-Country" became precarious. TARLETON was suddenly recalled from the pursuit of Francis MARION and ordered to take the nearest path against Thomas SUMTER, who had passed the Broad river, formed a junction with CLARK and BRENNAN, and threatened Ninety-Six. One regiment was sent forward to join him on his march; another followed for his support. Apprised of TARLETON's approach, Thomas SUMTER posted himself strongly on the plantation of Blackstock. At five in the afternoon of the 20th of November, 1780 TARLETON drew near in advance of his light infantry; and with 250 mounted men he made a precipitate attack on Thomas SUMTER's superior force. The hillside in front of the Americans was steep; their rear was protected by the rapid river Tyger; their left was covered by a large barn of logs, between which the riflemen could fire with security. The sixty-third British regiment having lost its commanding officer, two lieutenants, and one third of its privates, TARLETON retreated, leaving his wounded to the mercy of the victor. The loss of Thomas SUMTER was very small; but, being himself disabled by a severe wound, he crossed the Tyger, taKing his wounded men with him.

By the lavish distribution of presents, the Indian agents obtained promises from the chiefs of 2,500 Cherokees, and a numerous body of Creeks, to lay waste the settlements on the Watauga, Holston, Kentucky and Nolichucky, and even to extend their ravages to the Cumberland and Green rivers, that the attention of the mountaineers might be diverted to their own immediate concerns. Lord Charles CORNWALLIS gave orders to the reinforcement of 3,000 sent by Sir Henry CLINTON into the Chesapeake to embark for Cape Fear river. So ended his first attempt to penetrate to Virginia. He was driven back by the spontaneous risings of the southern and south-western people; and the unwholesome exhalations of autumn swept men from every garrison in the low country faster than Great Britian could replace them.

End of Part IV.

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