Chapter XXVI: ```Marion. Friends! fellow-soldiers! we again have heard (1)

```The threats of our proud enemies; they come.

```Boasting to sweep us, like the chaff, away.

```Shall we yield? shall we lie down like dogs beneath

```The keeper's lash? Then shall we well deserve

```The ruin, the disgrace that must ensue.

```Ne'er dream submission will appease our foes;

```We shall be conquered rebels, and they'll fear

```The spirit of liberty may rouse again;

```And therefore will they bind us with strong chains,

```New cords, green willies, like those which Samson bound,

```And we, alas! shall have been shorn and weak,

```On Folly's lap, if we yield up our freedom.

````Mrs. S. J. Hale's Tragedy,

`````"Ormond Grovesnor." Act IV.=

T was a brilliant, frosty morning when I left Camden to visit the scenes of some of the exploits of Marion and his partisan compatriots. Soon after crossing the Big Swift and Rafting Creeks, we reached the high hills of Santee, whereon General Greene encamped before and after the battle at the Eutaw Springs. They extend southward, in Sumter District, from the Kershaw line, twenty-two miles, parallel with the Wateree. They are immense sand hills, varying in width on the summit from one to five miles, and are remarkable for the salubrity of the atmosphere and for medicinal springs. Just at sunrise, while swiftly skirting the base of these hills, with the Wateree Swamp between us and the river on the west, we saw the sharp pencilings of the few scattered houses ol Statesburg against the glowing eastern sky.

There was the residence of General Sumter after the war, and in his honor the surrounding district was named. * After skirting the Wateree Swamp some distance, the road passes through a high sand bluff, and then crosses the great morass to the river, a distance of four miles. Beyond that stream, it joins the rail-way from Columbia. Through the swamp, the iron rails are laid upon a strong wooden frame-work, high enough to overtop a cane-brake. The passage is made at a slow rate to avoid accidents. The scenery was really grand, for below were the green canes waving like billows in the wind, while upon either side of the avenue cut for the road, towered mighty cypresses and gum-trees, almost every branch draped with long moss. Clustered around their stalely trunks were the holly, water-oak, laurel, and gall-hush, with their varied tints of green; and among these, flitting in silence, were seen the gray murk-

* I was informed that the house of General Sumter and several others, with a large tract of land, was owned by a mulatto named Ellison, who, with his wife and children, were once slaves. He was a mechanic, and with the proceeds of his labor he purchased the freedom of himself and family. He is now ( 1850) about sixty years of age, and owns a large number of slaves. His sons and daughters are educated, and the former occupy the position of overseers on his plantation. Mr. Ellison is regarded as one of the most honorable business men in that region.

** This little sketch is from the pencil of J. Addison Richards, one of our most accomplished landscape-painters. The cypress "knees," as they are called, are here truthfully shown. They extend from the roots of the trees, sometimes as much as two feet above the earth or the water, but never exhibit branches or leaves. They appear like smooth-pointed stumps.

[[[Fort Motte.--Remains of the Revolution.--Position of the Americans there.--General Marion]]]

{683}ing-biril and the brilliant scarlet tanniger. Here, I was told, opossums and wild eats abound, and upon the large dry tracts of the swamp wild deers are often seen.

We arrived at the junction station at a little past eight o'clock, and, crossing a narrow part of the Congaree Swamp and River, reached Fort Motte Station, on the southern side of that stream, before nine, a distance of forty-four miles from Camden.

The plantation of Mrs. Rebecca Motte, whose house, occupied and stockaded by the British, was called Fort Motte, lies chiefly upon a high rolling plain, near the Buck's Head Neck, on the Congaree, a little above the junction of that river with the Wateree, thirty-three miles below Columbia, the capital of the state.

This plain slopes in every direction, and is a commanding point of view, overlooking the vast swamps on the borders of the Congaree. It is now owned by William H. Love, Esq., with whom I passed several hours very agreeably. His house (seen in the engraving) is built nearly upon the site of Mrs. Motte's mansion, desolated by fire at her own suggestion, while occupied by the British. The well used by that patriotic lady is still there, close by the oak-tree seen on the right; and from it to the house there is a slight hollow, which indicates the place of a covered way, dug for the protection of the soldiers when procuring water.

The other large tree seen in the picture is a blasted sweet-gum, and in the extreme distance is seen the Congaree Swamp. This house was built by Mrs. Motte immediately after the close of the war. The Americans, whose exploits we shall consider presently, were stationed upon an eminence about a quarter of a mile northeast of the house, toward the Congaree, in the direction of M'Cord's Ferry. A little eastward of the house there was an oval mound, when I was there in 1849, about twelve feet in height, and dotted with the stumps of trees recently cut down. This is the vestige of a battery, upon which the assailants planted a field-We shall better understand these localities after consulting piece to dislodge the British, the oracle of history.

Among the bold, energetic, and faithful patriots of the South, none holds a firmer place in the affections of the American people than General Francis Marion. ** His adventures were

* The Congaree is formed by the junction of the Broad and Saluda Rivers at Columbia. Its junction with the Wateree (Lhe Catawba of North Carolina), at the lower end of Richland District, forms the Santee, which name is borne by the whole volume of united waters from that point to the ocean. Buck's Head Neck is formed by a sweep of the Congaree, of nearly eight miles, when it approaches itself within a quarter of a mile. The swamp land of this neck has been reclaimed in many places, and now bears good cotton. At the rundle of this bow of the river is the ancient M'Cord's Ferry, yet in use.

** Francis Marion was born at Winyaw, near Georgetown, South Carolina, in 1732. He was so small at his birth, that, according to Weems, "he was not larger than a New England lobster, and might easily enough have been put into a quart pot." Marion received a very limited share of education, and until his twenty-seventh year (1759), he followed agricultural pursuits. He then became a soldier, by joining an expedition against the Cherokees and other hostile tribes (see page 646) on the Western frontier of the Carolinas. When the Revolution broke out, he was found on the side of liberty, and was made captain in the second South Carolina regiment. He fought bravely in the battle at Fort Sullivan, on Sullivan's Island, He was afterward engaged in the contest at Savannah, and from that period until the defeat of Gates, near Camden, in the summer of 1780, he was an active soldier. Soon after that affair, he organized a brigade, having passed through the several grades to that of brigadier of the militia of his state. While Sumter was striking heavy blows, here and there, in the northwestern part of North Carolina, Marion was performing like service in the northeastern part, along the Pedee and its tributaries. In 1781, he was engaged with Lee and others in reducing several British posts. After the Battle at Eutaw, Marion did not long remain in the field, but took his seat as senator In the Legislature. He was soon again called to the field, and did not relinquish his sword until the close of the war. When peace came, Marion retired to his plantation, a little below Eutaw, where he died on the twenty-ninth of February, 1795, in the sixty-third year of his age. His last words were, "Thank God, since I came to man's estate I have never intentionally done wrong to any man."

* Marion's remains are in the church-yard at Belle Isle, in the parish of St. John's, Berkeley. Over them is a marble slab, upon which is the following inscription: "Sacred to the memory of Brigadier-general Francis Marion, who departed this life on the twenty-ninth of February, 1795, in the sixty-third year of his age, deeply regretted by all of his fellow-citizens. History will record his worth, and rising generations embalm his memory, as one of the most distinguished patriots and heroes of the American Revolution; which elevated his native country to Honor and Independence, and secured to her the blessings of liberty and peace. This tribute of veneration and gratitude is erected in commemoration of the noble and disinterested virtues of the citizen, and the gallant exploits of the soldier, who lived without fear and died without reproach."

[[[The Song of Marion's Men.]]]

{684}full of the spirit of romance, and his whole military life was an epic poem. The followers of Robin Hood were never more devoted to their chief than were the men of Marion's brigade to their beloved leader.

Bryant has sketched a graphic picture of that noble band, in his

````SONG OF MARION'S MEN.

````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 green wood,

`````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 gather'd

`````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

````Baek 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.=

[[[Marion in Gates's Camp.--Description of his Regiment.--Rebecca Motte.--Her House fortified and garrisoned]]]

{685}When Gates was pressing forward toward Camden, Marion, with about twenty men and boys, were annoying the Tories in the neighborhood of the Pedee. With his ragged command, worse than Falstaff ever saw, he appeared at the camp of Gates, and excited the ridicule of the well-clad Continentals. * Gates, too, would doubtless have thought lightly of him, if Governor Rutledge, who was in the American camp, and knew the partisan's worth, had not recommended him to the notice of that general. Gates listened to his modestly-expressed opinions respecting the campaign, but was too conceited to regard them seriously, or to offer to Marion a place in his army.

While he was in Gates's camp, the Whigs of Williamsburg District, who had arisen in arms, sent for him to be their commander. Governor Rutledge gave him the commission of a brigadier on the spot, and he hastened to organize that _brigade_, which we shall hereafter meet frequently among the swamps, the broad Savannahs, and by the water-courses of the South. **

Fort Motte, where the brave Marion exhibited his skill and courage, was the principal depot of the convoys between Charleston and Camden, and also for those destined for Granby and Ninety-Six.

The British had taken possession of the fine large mansion of Mrs. Rebecca Motte, *** a widow of fortune, which occupied a commanding position. They surrounded it with a deep trench (a part of which is yet visible), and along the interior margin of it erected a high parapet.

Mrs. Motte and her family, known to be inimical to the British, were driven to her ton with dispatches for Lord Rawdon. They were on the point of leaving, when Marion and Lee appeared upon the height at the farm-house where Mrs. Motte was residing.

After cautiously reeonnoitering, Lee took position at the farm-house, and his men, with the field-piece sent to them by Greene, occupied the eastern declivity of the high plain on which Fort Motte stood. This gentle declivity is a little southwest of the rail-way station, in full view of passengers upon the road. Marion immediately cast up a mound upon a hill north of the mansion, and their place was supplied by a garrison of one hundred and fifty men, under Captain M'Pherson, a brave British officer. After Colonel Watson eluded the pursuit of Marion and Lee, and crossed the Congaree (see page 681), those indefatigable partisans moved upon Fort Motte. A few hours before their arrival at that place,

M'Pherson was re-enforced by a small detachment of dragoons sent from Charles-

* Colonel Otho H. Williams, in his Narrative of the Campaigns of 1780, thus speaks of Marion and his men, at that time: "Colonel Marion, a gentleman of South Carolina, had been with the army a few days, attended by a very few followers, distinguished by small leather caps and the wretchedness of their attire; their numbers did not exceed twenty men and boys, some white, some black, and all mounted, but most of them miserably equipped; their appearance was, in fact, so burlesque, that it was with much difficulty the diversion of the regular soldiery was restrained by the officers; and the general himself was glad of an opportunity of detaching Colonel Marion, at his own instance, toward the interior of South Carolina, with orders to watch the motions of the enemy, and furnish intelligence.

** So certain was Gates of defeating Cornwallis, that when Marion departed, he instructed him to destroy all the boats, flats, and scows, which might be used by the British in their flight.

*** Rebecca Brewton was the daughter of an English gentleman. She married Jacob Motte, a planter, in 1758, and was the mother of six children. General Thomas Pinckney, of South Carolina, married in succession her two eldest daughters; the third married Colonel William Alston, of Charleston. Her other three children did not live to reach maturity. Mrs. Motte died in 1815, at her plantation on the Santee. The portrait here given is copied, by permission of the author, from Mrs. Ellet's Women of the-Revolution. The original is in the possession of Mrs. Motte's descendants.

[[[American Battery.--Siege of Fort Motte.--Lee's Expedient.--Patriotism of Mrs. Motte.]]]

{686}ton which he planted the six-pounder, in a position to rake the northern face of the parapet of the fort, against which Lee prepared to approach. M'Pherson had no artillery, and his safety depended upon timely extraneous aid, either from Camden or Ninety-Six.

Between the height on which Lee was posted and Fort Motte is a narrow vale, which allowed the assailants to approach within four hundred yards of the fort. From that vale they began to advance by a _parallel_, which, by the assistance of some negroes from neighboring plantations, was sufficiently advanced by the tenth[[May 1781]] to warrant the Americans demanding a surrender. A flag was accordingly dispatched, with a formal summons, but M'Pherson gallantly refused compliance. That evening, intelligence of Rawdon's retreat from Camden toward Nelson's Ferry was communicated to the Americans, and in the course of the night a courier from Greene confirmed the report. Delay would be dangerous, for Rawdon, with his superior force, could easily repulse them. Early on the morning of the eleventh, the light of his beacon-fires were seen on the high hills of Santee, and that night their gloamings upon the highest ground of the country, opposite Fort Motte, gave great joy to the beleagured garrison. To batter down the enemy's works with the field-piece, or to approach by a trench, was too slow for the exigency of the case. The fertile mind of Lee, full of expedients, suggested a quicker plan for dislodging the garrison. The mansion of Mrs. Motte, in the center of the enemy's works, was covered with shingles, now very dry, for no rain had fallen for several days, and the rays of the sun were powerful. To communicate fire to this mansion was Lee's expedient. That officer had enjoyed the hospitality of Mrs. Motte during the siege, and her only marriageable daughter was then the wife of his friend, Major Thomas Pinckney. These circumstances made it a painful duty for him to propose the destruction of her property. Her cheerful acquiescence, and even patriotic desire to be able to serve her country by such a sacrifice, gave him joy; and, communicating his plan to Marion, they hastened to execute it. It was proposed to hurl ignited combustibles upon the roof of the house, by arrows. These were prepared, when Mrs. Motte, observing their inferiority, brought out a fine bow and a bundle of arrows which had been brought from the East Indies, and presented them to Lee. On the morning of the twelfth,[[May 1781]] Lee sent Dr. Irvine, of his cavalry, with a flag, to state truly the relative positions of the belligerents; that Rawdon had not yet crossed the Santee, and that immediate surrender would save many lives. M'Pherson still refused compliance; and at meridian, when the ditch was advanced within bow-shot of the fort, several arrows from the hand of Nathan Savage, a private in Marion's brigade, winged their way, with lighted torches, toward the house. Two struck the dry shingles, and instantly a bright flame crept along the roof. Soldiers were ordered up to knock off the shingles and put out the fire, when one or two shots from Marion's battery, raking the loft, drove them below. M'Pherson hung out a white flag, the firing ceased, the flames were extinguished, and at one o'clock the garrison surrendered themselves prisoners of war. By invitation of Mrs. Motte, both the victorious and the captive officers partook of a sumptuous dinner from her table, while she presided with all the coolness and easy politeness for which she was remarkable when surrounded by friends in the enjoyment of peace. *

* Lee's Memoirs, 229-32. Simm's Life of Marion, page 236, 239. In this siege Marion lost two of his brave men, Sergeant M'Donald and Lieutenant Cruger. The British did not lose a man killed, and the prisoners were all paroled. Colonel Horry, in his narrative, mentions some pleasing incidents which occurred at the table of Mrs. Motte on this occasion. Among the prisoners was Captain Ferguson, an officer of considerable reputation. Finding himself near Horry, Ferguson said, "You are Colonel Horry, I presume, sir." Horry replied in the affirmative, when Ferguson continued, "Well, I was with Colonel Watson when he fought your General Marion on Sampit. I think I saw you there with a party of horse, and also at Nelson's Ferry, when Marion surprised our party at the house. But," he continued, "I was hid in high grass, and escaped. You were fortunate in your escape at Sampit, for Watson and Small had twelve hundred men." "If so," replied Horry, "I certainly was fortunate, for I did not suppose they had more than half that number." "I consider myself," added the eaptain, "equally fortunate in escaping at Nelson's Old Field." "Truly you were," answered Horry drily, "for Marion had but thirty militia on that occasion." The officers present could not suppress laughter. When Greene inquired of Horry how he came to affront Captain Ferguson; he answered, "He affronted himself by telling his own story."--Horry's MS. Narrative, quoted by Simms, Life of Marion, p. 239.

[[[Rawdon's Retreat.--Belleville.--A Slave Market.--Trial of a Slave.--Columbia.]]]

{667}The prisoners were treated with great humanity, notwithstanding some of them were Tories of a most obnoxious stamp. As soon as paroled, they were sent off to Lord Rawdon, then crossing the Santee at Nelson's Ferry, near Eutaw Springs. The fall of Fort Motte greatly alarmed that officer, and two days afterward,[[May 14]] he blew up the fortifications at Nelson's Ferry, and hastened toward Charleston. During the day of the capitulation, Greene arrived with a small troop of cavalry, being anxious to know the result of the siege, for he was aware Rawdon was hastening to the relief of the garrison. Finding every thing secure, he returned to his camp, then on the north side of the Congaree, after ordering Marion to proceed against Georgetown, toward the head of Winyaw Bay, near the coast, and directing Lee with his legion, and Captain Finley with his six pounder, to attack Fort Granby, thirty-two miles above Fort Motte, near the present city of Columbia. Thither we will presently proceed.

About a mile eastward of Fort Motte is the residence of Charles Thomson, Esq., known as _Belleville_. It was taken possession of, stockaded, and garrisoned by the Loyalists for a while. The fine old mansion, which I am told exhibits many bullet-marks made by some Whigs, who attacked a party of Tories stationed in the house, was owned by William Thomson, who, next to Moultrie, was most conspicuous in the battle on Sullivan's Island, at the entrance to Charleston harbor, in 1776. I intended to visit Belleville, but it was so late when I had finished dinner with Mr. Love, that I was obliged to mount one of his horses and hasten to the station to take passage for Columbia. While waiting for the cars, the overseer of a plantation near requested me to write a _pass_ for a sick female slave, whom he was about to send to her master at Columbia for medical aid. Regardless of the penalty, ** I wrote upon a card from my port-folio, "Pass Dido to Columbia, January 19, 1849. J. Smoke." Two hours afterward I was there also, but did not again see the namesake of the Queen of Carthage.

Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, is a fine town, handsomely located upon a high plain three or four miles in extent, a little below the junction of the Broad and Saluda Rivers, where they form the Congaree. It was laid out in 1787, when the region around it was very sparsely populated. The Legislature first met there in 1790. There was a settlement on each side of the river, about two miles below, called Granby, which was a point of departure for the wilderness of the Cherokee country. The climate is mild and salubrious; and Columbia promises to be, from its geographical and political situation, a large inland city. It is the favored seat of learning in the state, the South Carolina College and Theological Seminary of South Carolina and Georgia being located there.

The morning after my arrival in Columbia was very inclement. A cold drizzle, which iced every thing out of doors, made me defer my visit to Fort Granby until noon, when, seeing no prospect of abatement, I procured a conveyance, and crossing the great bridge over

* Some writers attribute Greene's presence at Fort Motte on this occasion to other motives than here represented. An unsatisfactory correspondence had recently taken place between Greene and Marion, the former having blamed the latter for not furnishing cavalry horses when in his power to do so. Marion, conscious of having been eminently faithful, felt deeply wronged, and tendered the resignation of his commission to Greene. The latter soon perceived the injustice of his suspicions, and took this, the first opportunity, for a personal interview to heal the wound.

** A slave found in the streets of a town after dark, without a pass, is liable to be locked in prison until morning, and this was written to prevent such an occurrence. The laws of South Carolina inflict the penalty of fine and imprisonment upon a person found guilty of writing a pass for a slave without authority. I was informed of a curious circumstance connected with this fact, which occurred near Fort Motte, a few days previous to my visit there. Two slaves, carpenters, had escaped from their home, and were found near Camden with well-written passes or permits to find work, signed by the name of their master. Who wrote the forged passes, was a question which puzzled the neighborhood. A mulatto on the plantation was suspected, and, on being accused, confessed that he wrote them, having been secretly taught to write by an overseer. A jury was called to try him for the offense, but as the law did not contemplate the ability of a slave to write, and as the term person did not apply to a negro, no punishment could be legally awarded. The jury simply recommended his master to flog him.

[[[Fort Granby and its Garrison.--Mr. Friday and Colonel Maxwell.--Capture of Fort Granby.]]]

{688}the Congaree, rode to the house of James Cacey, Esq., the "Fort Granby" of the Revolution, two miles below.

It is a strong frame building, two stories in height, and stands upon an eminence near the Charleston road, within three fourths of a mile of Friday's Ferry, upon the Congaree. It overlooks ancient Granby and the country around. Several houses of the old village are there, but the solitude of desolation prevails, for not a family remains. Mr. Cacey was a hopeless invalid, yet he was able to give me many interesting reminiscences connected with that locality, * and I passed an hour very pleasantly with him and his family.

The dwelling of Mr. Cacey was originally built by some gentlemen of Pine Tree (Camden) as a store-house for cotton and other products of the country, whence they were sent upon flat-boats down the river to the sea-board. When the chain of military posts from Camden to Charleston was established, this building, eligibly located, was fortified, and called Fort Granby. A ditch was digged around it; a strong parapet was raised; bastions were formed; batteries were arranged; and an _abatis_ was constructed. The garrison consisted of three hundred and fifty men, chiefly Loyalists, with a few mounted Hessians, under the command of Major Maxwell (a refugee from the eastern shore of Maryland), of the Prince of Wales's regiment. He was neither brave nor experienced, and the want of these qualities of the commandant being known to Lee, he felt no hesitation in attacking him in his strong position. Detaching a small troop of cavalry, under Captain Armstrong, to watch the movements of Rawdon, Lee pushed forward with his usual celerity, to the investment of Fort Granby. Sumter, instead of joining Greene before Camden, had made a demonstration against Fort Granby, a few days before, but finding it too strong for his small arms, had retired, and marched to attack the British post at Orangeburg, fifty miles below. Lee arrived in the vicinity of the fort on the evening of the fourteenth of May,[[1781]] the day on which Sumter took possession of Orangeburg; and in the edge of a wood, within six hundred yards of the fort, he began the erection of a battery. A dense fog the next morning enabled him to complete it, and mount the six pounder brought by Captain Finley from Fort Motte, before they were discovered by the garrison. When the fog rolled away, Captain Finley discharged his cannon, and, at the same moment, the legion infantry advanced, took an advantageous position, and opened a fire upon the enemy's pickets. This sudden annunciation of the presence of an enemy, and his imposing display, alarmed Maxwell excessively, and he received Captain Eggleston, who was sent with a flag to demand a surrender, with great respect. After a brief consultation with his officers, the major agreed to surrender the fort, on condition that private property of every sort, without an investigation of title, should be left in the hands of its possessors; ** that the garrison should be per-

* Mr. Friday, the father-in-law of Mr. Cacey, and his brother, were the only Whigs of that name in the state, and often suffered insults from their Tory kinsman. Mr. Friday owned mills at Granby, and also a ferry called by his name: and when the British fortified that post, the garrison supplied themselves with flour from his establishment. He gave the British the credit of dealing honorably, paying him liberally for every thing they took from him--flour, poultry, cattle, &e. On one occasion, when ealled to the fort to receive his pay, Major Maxwell, the commandant of the garrison, said to him, "Mr. Friday, I hope you are as clever a fellow as those of your name who are with us." "No!" shouted his Tory uncle, who was standing near, "he's a damned rebel, and I'll split him down!" at the same time rushing forward to execute his brutal purpose. Colonel Maxwell protected the patriot, but dared not rebuke the savage, for fear of offending his Tory comrades. After the battle at Eutaw, Colonel Maxwell, and two or three other officers, passing through Granby, stopped one night at Mr. Friday's. Early in the morning, Maxwell said to Mr. Friday, "You Dutchmen are celebrated for fine gardens; let us go and look at yours." When a little distance from the other officers, the colonel remarked, "Mr. Friday, you are a friend to your country. Remain so. We have not conquered it yet, and never will, and your name will yet be honored, while those of your countrymen who are with us will be despised." I gladly record the patriotism of Mr. Friday, in fulfillment of this prediction.

** Lee says, in his Memoirs (page 234), that. Maxwell, "zealous to fill his purse, rather than to gather military laurels, had, during his command, pursued his favorite object with considerable success, and held with him in the fort his gathered spoil." This fact accounts for the major's desire to have all private properly confirmed to its possessors "without investigation of title."

[[[Terms of Surrender.--Greene's Army at Fort Granby.--The Locality.--Ninety-Six.]]]

{689}mitted to retire to Charleston as prisoners of war, until exchanged; that the militia should be held in the same manner as the regulars; and that an escort, charged with the protection of persons and property, should attend the prisoners to Rawdon's camp. Lieutenant-colonel Lee's practice was always to restore plundered property, when captured, to the rightful owners; yet, knowing the danger of delay, with Rawdon so near, he acquiesced, on the condition that all the horses fit for public service should be left. To this the mounted Hessians objected, and the negotiations were suspended. During this suspense, Captain Armstrong arrived with the intelligence that Rawdon had crossed the Santee, and was moving upon Fort Motte. Lee waved the exception; the capitulation was signed, and before noon Captain Rudulph raised the American flag on one of the bastions, and the captive garrison marched, with its escort, for Rawdon's camp. * Among the spoils of victory were two pieces of cannon, and a considerable quantity of ammunition, salt, and liquor. It was a glorious, because almost a bloodless victory, for no life was lost.

On the surrender of the fort, Lee dispatched a messenger to Greene, who with great expedition had pressed forward, and was within a few miles of Friday's Ferry. He crossed that ferry, and on the evening of the fifteenth[[May 1781]] encamped upon Ancram's plantation, near the river, where the victors and the main army had a joyous meeting.

During the night a courier from Fort Motte announced the fact that Rawdon had retreated, after a day's march, toward that post, destroyed the works at Nelson's Ferry, and was pushing on toward Charleston. Early in the morning another courier came with the cheering intelligence of Sumter's success at Orangeburg,[[May 14]] and the seventeenth of May was a day of rejoicing by the little American army at Fort Granby.

Resting one day, General Greene moved toward Ninety-Six, which place he reached on the twenty-second of May. In the mean while, he strengthened Lee's legion by the addition of some North Carolina levies under Major Eaton, and then directed him to hasten toward Augusta, on the Savannah River, to join Pickens, who, with a body of militia, was in the vicinity of that post. We will follow them presently.

The house of Mr. Cacey yet bears many "honorable scars" made by the bullets of Lee's infantry; and in the gable toward the river, between the chimney and a window (indicated by a black spot in the engraving), is an orifice, formed by the passage of a six-pound ball from Finley's field-piece. In one of the rooms are numerous marks made by an ax when cutting up meat for the use of the garrison; and an old log barn near, which stood within the intrenchments, has also many bullet scars.

I returned to Columbia at four o'clock, where I remained until Monday morning.

While at Columbia, I met a gentleman from Abbeville District, in the vicinity of old Fort Ninety-Six. He informed me that the traveling was wretched, and quite dangerous in that direction, and that nothing of Revolutionary interest worth visiting yet remained at that military post, now the pleasant village of Cambridge, seventy-nine miles westward of Columbia. He also informed me that a gentleman of Cambridge, who was familiar with every historical event in his neighborhood, would cheerfully communicate all I could possibly learn by a personal visit. Willing to avoid a long and tedious journey unless it was necessary, I wrote to that gentleman, and by his kind and prompt compliance I am furnished with all necessary details respecting the locality, together with the plan of the fortification, printed on page 691. We will here consider the events which render Ninety-Six historically famous.

Old Ninety-Six was so called because it was within ninety-six miles of the frontier fort, Prince George, which was upon the Keowee River, in the present Pickens District. Its locality is in the eastern part of Abbeville District, near the borders of Edgefield, and within six miles of the Saluda River. No portion of the state suffered more during the war than

* The garrison had only sixty regulars (the Hessians); the remainder were Tory militia.

[[[Ninety Six Fortified.--Its Garrison and Works.--Capture of Fort Galphin.--The "Galphin Claim."]]]

{690}the district around Ninety-Six. Like the neutral ground in West Chester, New York, Whig nor Tory could dwell there in peace, for armed bands of each were continually disturbing the inhabitants, and in close proximity were the hostile Cherokees, ready, when they dared, to scourge the settlers.

The little village of Ninety-Six was stockaded to defend it from the incursions of the Indians; and when, after the fall of Charleston, the British established several posts in the interior, its location and salubrity indicated it as an important point for a fortification. It was in a position to maintain a communication with the Indians, keep in check the Whig settlements west of it, and cover those of the Loyalists in other directions; and it afforded an excellent recruiting-station for the concentration of Tory material in that quarter.

Ninety-Six was garrisoned by about five hundred and fifty Loyalists, three hundred and fifty of whom were from New York and New Jersey, * and the remainder were South Carolina Tories, under Colonel King, the whole commanded by Lieutenant-colonel John Cruger, a native of the city of New York. Cruger was an energetic officer, and possessed the entire confidence of his superiors in the royal army. He did not receive instructions from Rawdon when that officer abandoned Camden, for Sumter cut off all communications; therefore, he had not prepared to evacuate Ninety-Six and join Colonel Browne at Augusta, as Rawdon desired him to do. When he learned that Greene was approaching Camden, he began to strengthen his works; and when informed that Lee, with his legion, had got between him and the post at Augusta, and that Greene was approaching to besiege him, his garrison labored night and day still further to strengthen the defenses. Already he had built a stockade fort on the borders of the village, in addition to a star redoubt. This was strengthened; a parapet was raised; a ditch was dug around it, and a covered way, communicating with the palisaded village, was prepared. Block-houses, formed of notched logs, were erected on the northeastern side of the village, near where a star redoubt was constructed. Before Greene reached there, Cruger's energy and skill had so directed the efforts of the garrison, under the superintendence of Lieutenant Haldane, one of Cornwallis's aids, that the place presented an apparently insurmountable strength against the attacks of Greene's little army of a thousand men.

In the mean while, Marion and Sumter were directed to keep watch between the Santee and Edisto Rivers, and hold Rawdon in check, if he should attempt to march to the relief of either Ninety-Six or Augusta, now menaced by the Americans; while Lee, who left Fort Granby, with his legion, in the evening after its capture, was scouring the country between those two posts, and proceeding to form a junction with Pickens. Informed that quite a large quantity of powder, balls, small arms, liquor, salt, blankets, and other articles, intended for the Indians, and much wanted by the Americans, were deposited at Fort Galphin (sometimes called Fort Dreadnought), a small stockade at Silver Bluff, upon the Carolina side of the Savannah, twelve miles below Augusta, ** he hastened thither to capture them.

On the morning of the twenty-first of May,[[1781]] he reached the vicinity, and Captain Rudulph, with some of the legion infantry, gallantly rushed upon the fort, while a

* According to M'Kenzie, in his Strictures on Tarleton's History, there were one hundred and fifty men of Delancey's battalion (Loyalists of New York), and two hundred Jersey volunteers. Lieutenant-colonel Cruger was Colonel Delancey's son-in-law. Colonel Cruger died in London in 1807, aged sixty-nine. His widow died at Chelsea, England, in 1822. at the age of seventy-eight years.

** The house of George Galphin, deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, inclosed within stockades, was used for barracks, and as a store-house for various Indian supplies. The land is now owned by Ex-governor Hammond, of South Carolina. Previous to 1773, Galphin, by his dealings with the Creek Indians, had made them indebted to him in the sum of $49,000. To secure the payment of this and other debts, the Creeks conveyed to the British government, in 1773, a large tract of land lying within the present limits of Georgia. At the close of the Revolution, this land belonged to that state, and to the local Legislature Galphin applied for the payment of his claim. It was refused. In 1847, Milledge Galphin, surviving heir and executor of the Indian agent, petitioned Congress for a payment of the claim, principal and interest; and in 1850, the general government allowed what the local government had pronounced illegal. The "Galphin claim" took a large sum from our National Treasury, for interest had been accumulating for about seventy years.

[[[Greene before Ninety Six.--Siege commenced by Kosciuszko.--A Sally.--Plan of the Siege.]]]

{691}small body of militia attacked the garrison from another quarter. With the loss of only one man, the fort, with all its contents, was captured by the Americans. After resting a few hours, Lee ordered Major Eggleston, who was a Continental officer, to cross the Savannah, join bodies of militia in that neighborhood, proceed to Augusta with a flag, inform Colonel Browne of the approach of Greene, and demand an instant surrender of Forts Cornwallis and Grierson, at that place. The events which followed will be detailed in another chapter.

Greene arrived before Ninety-Six on the twenty-second of May,[[1781]] with less than one thousand regulars * and a few undisciplined militia.

He found quite a strong fort, well situated. On the left of the village, in a valley, was a spring and rivulet, which furnished water to the garrison. On the western side of this rivulet, upon an eminence, was a stockade fort, and upon the other side, near the village, was a fortified jail. These were to defend the water of the rivulet, for none could be had within the town. Eastward of the village stood the principal work, a star redoubt, consisting of sixteen angles, salient and re-entering, with a ditch and _abatis_, and furnished with three pieces of cannon. Every thing was judiciously arranged for defense, and Lieutenant-colonel Cruger defied Greene when he appeared.

Colonel Kosciuszko was with Greene, and under his direction the besiegers began approaches by parallels. They broke ground near the star redoubt on the evening of the twenty-seeond. Perceiving this, Cruger placed his three cannons upon a platform, in that direction, before noon the next day, and manned the parapet with infantry. Under cover of these, a sally party, under Lieutenant Roney, rushed out upon the besiegers, drove the guards back toward the lines, bayoneted all who fell in the way, destroyed the American works as far as they had progressed, and carried off all of the intrenching tools. Lieutenant Roney was mortally wounded, and that was all the loss the enemy sustained. All this was accomplished with great gallantry, before a detachment sent by Greene to re-enforce Kosciuszko, arrived upon the ground. Kosciuszko now commenced another approach to the star redoubt. He broke ground on the night of the twenty-third, under cover of a ravine, and day by day slowly approached the fortress. In the mean while, Pickens and Lee besieged and captured Forts Cornwallis and Grierson at Augusta, and hastened to the assistance of Greene. Lee arrived on the eighth of June,[[1781]] and Pickens soon afterward joined him. These active partisans were directed to attack the enemy's works on

* Colonel Williams, deputy adjutant general, in his returns stated them thus: Fit for duty, rank and file, Maryland brigade, 427; Virginia ditto, 431; North Carolina battalion, 66: Delaware ditto [under Captain Kirkwood], 60; in all, 984. The number of the militia is not mentioned.

** This plan is from a sketch sent to me by James M.M'Craeken, Esq., of Cambridge, South Carolina; a indicates the spring, with a rivulet running from it; 6, a stockade fort; c, the old jail, which was also fortified: d. the court-house; e, star redoubt; f, first mine, traces of which are yet visible; g g g y, lie besieging encampments; h h h, stockades inclosing the village; the covered way from the stockade fort to the lines around the village. Mr. M'Craeken observes, "The trees and shrubbery on the battle-ground are considered by the inhabitants too sacred to be molested. The land is now (1849) owned by John C. M'Gehee, of Madison county, Florida. The present village of Cambridge is within a few hundred yards of the battle-ground, and the road leading through it, north and south, is the great thoroughfare from Hamburg (opposite Augusta) to Greenville. I have three small cannons in my possession, one six and two four pounders, taken from the enemy at the siege of Ninety-Six."

[[[Rawdon informed of the Siege.--His march toward Ninety-Six.--Attempt to destroy the Stockade.--Beale and Cunningham.]]]

{692}the west. They immediately commenced regular approaches to the stockade to cut off the enemy's supply of water; and at a proper distance from it erected a battery to cover further approaches, and planted a six pounder upon it, under the direction of Lieutenant Finn. Cruger saw the inevitable destruction of the garrison when these parallels, made slowly, day by day, should be completed. He had found means to inform Lord Rawdon of his critical situation, and hourly he expected aid from him. To gain time for this succor to arrive, he made nightly sallies, and bloody encounters frequently occurred, while almost daily the American foraging parties were attacked by bands of Tories. * Yet slowly and surely the Americans approached; and when the second parallel was completed, Greene sent Colonel Williams to demand a surrender, with promises of kind treatment. Cruger promptly replied that he should defend the fort till the last extremity, and regarded neither the threats nor the promises of the American general. A battery, constructed in the second parallel, now opened upon the redoubt, and under its cover Kosciuszko pressed forward his approach with vigor. On the eleventh[[June, 1781]] Greene received a dispatch from Sumter, announcing the startling intelligence that on the third, a fleet arrived from Ireland with reenforcements for Rawdon, consisting of three regiments, a detachment from the Guards, and a considerable body of volunteers, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel Gould. Rawdon had been anxiously awaiting at Monk's Corner, near Charleston, this propitious event. He had heard of the fall of Fort Cornwallis at Augusta and the investment of Ninety-Six, but with his small force, and Marion and Sumter before him, he dared not march to the aid of Cruger. On the arrival of these troops, he repaired to Charleston, and on the seventh[[June]] marched to the relief of Ninety-Six, with seventeen hundred foot and one hundred and fifty horse. A few other troops from his camp at Monk's Corner joined him, and with more than two thousand men he proceeded toward Orangeburg. Greene dispatched Pickens to the aid of Sumter, and ordered Marion from the lower country to join them in retarding the advance of the royal army. They could do little to oppose him, and Greene began to despair of reducing the garrison to submission before Rawdon's arrival.

The besiegers now deplored the fact that earlier attention had not been bestowed upon attempts on the western side to deprive the garrison of water, and thus force a capitulation. To this object the chief efforts were now directed, and the most effectual step to accomplish it was to destroy the stockade. The method of approaches was too slow, and it was resolved to endeavor to burn it. A dark storm was gathering, and toward evening, covered by its impending blackness, a sergeant and nine privates, with combustibles, cautiously approached, and four of them gained the ditch. While in the act of applying the fire, they were discovered. A volley of musketry was immediately opened upon them, and the sergeant and five of his party were killed; the other four escaped. The attempt was unsuccessful.

On the evening of the nineteenth, a countryman was seen riding along the American lines south of the town, talking familiarly with officers and soldiers. It was a circumstance too common to excite special notice. At length, reaching the great road leading directly into the town, he put spurs to his horse, and, amid a storm of bullets, rode safely to the gate, holding a letter in his raised hand. He was received with the greatest joy, for he was the

* Amoung the most active of these parties was the "Bloody Scout," under the notorious Bill Cunningham. They hovered around the American lamp like vultures, and picked off the patriots in detail. The most active, opponent of this scoundrel was William Beale, of Ninety-Six. He formed a scouting party of Whigs, and soon they became a terror to the Tories. On one occasion, Cunningham and his party plundered the house of Beale's mother, during his absence. On his return, Beale went in pursuit, and approaching Cunningham, that marauder wheeled and fled. The race continued for almost three miles, when Cunningham turned, and with a pistol, shot Beale's horse dead. Beale retreated backward, daring the Tory to follow. The latter fearing a Whig ambush, rode off. On another occasion, Cunningham and his party surrounded a house where Beale and a Whig were stopping. They heard the approach of the Tories, when, rushing to their horses and rattling their swords, Beale gave command as if to a troop. It was dark, and Cunningham, who had thirteen men with him, fled in great haste. Cunningham was so mortified, when he learned that they had been frightened away by a couple of Whigs, that he swore vengeance against Beale.--Letter of James M'Crarken, Esq

[[[Cruger advised of Rawdon's approach.--Assault on the Star Redoubt.--Capture of the Stockade.--A bold Prisoner.]]]

{693}bearer of a dispatch from Lord Rawdon, announcing his approach with a large force. The beleaguered garrison, almost on the point of surrendering (for this was the first intelligence Cruger had received from Rawdon since his evacuation of Camden), were animated with fresh hope, while the besiegers, aware of the approach of succor for the besieged, were nerved to greater exertions. They completed their parallels, and commenced the erection of a Mayham Tower, * from which to fire into the star redoubt. To guard against this advantage of height, Major Greene, the commander of the redoubt, piled bags of sand upon the parapets. On the morning of the seventeenth, a general fire was opened upon the works, and so effectual was it upon the stockade and its vicinity, that the garrison was deprived of water from the rivulet. Had this advantage been maintained, and Rawdon been delayed thirty hours longer, Cruger must have surrendered.

Rawdon managed to elude the vigilance of Sumter, after passing Orangeburg, and now approached Ninety-Six. Greene perceived that he must either storm the works at once, fight Rawdon, or retire. He determined upon the former; and at noon on the eighteenth,[[June 1781]] the Mayham Tower being completed, and two trenches and a mine nearly let into the enemy's ditch, the center battery opened upon the star, as a signal for a general attack. Lieutenant-colonel Campbell, of the first Virginia regiment, with a detachment from the Maryland and Virginia brigades, led the attack on the left; Lieutenant-colonel Lee, with Kirkwood's Delawares, advanced on the right; Lieutenants Duval, of Maryland, and Selden, of Virginia, commanded the forlorn hope of Campbell; and Captain Rudolph that of Lee. Riflemen were stationed in the tower, fascines were constructed to fill the ditch, and long poles, with iron hooks, were prepared to pull down the sand-bags from the parapets. Campbell and Lee rushed to the assault simultaneously. Cruger received the attack with firmness, and, from apertures between the sand-bags, Colonel Greene's riflemen did great execution. Duval and Selden boldly entered the ditch, and commenced pulling down the sand-bags. The parapet bristled with pikes and bayonets, yet they could not reach the assailants. Rapidly the bags were disappearing in the ditch below, and Campbell was pressing to ascend the parapet and fight hand to hand with the garrison, when Captain French, of Delancey's corps, and Captain Campbell, of New Jersey, issued from a sally-port of the star redoubt with a few men, and taking opposite directions in the ditch, fiercely assailed Duval and Selden, at the same time, with bayonets. Terrible was the conflict which followed. The brave patriots were assailed both in front and overhead, yet they maintained their ground for some minutes. At length both leaders of the forlorn hope were wounded, and the whole party retreated to the trenches.

While this bloody scene was transpiring at the star redoubt, one more successful effort for the besiegers occurred at the stockade. Rudulph made his way into the fort, and the enemy, with some prisoners, ** hastily retreated to the main works. This advantage Lee intended to follow up, by entering the town, assailing the fortified jail, and then to assist in reducing the star redoubt; but General Greene, perceiving the slaughter in the ditch, and desirous of saving his troops, ordered Lee to do nothing more than to hold the stockade he had gained. Greene then sent a flag to Cruger, proposing a cessation of hostilities for the purpose of burying the dead. Cruger refused, claiming that service for the victor, whoever he might be. Believing the reduction of the post to be doubtful before the arrival of Rawdon, and unwilling to encounter that general's superior force, Greene withdrew the detachment from the stockade, and prepared for a general retreat. Thus ended the siege of

* For description of the Mayham Tower, and the origin of its name, see an account of the attack upon Fort Watson, page 707.

** Mr. M'Cracken relates, that among the prisoners in one of the redoubts was one named Benjamin Eddins. Lieutenant-colonel Cruger frequently visited him, and often importuned him to eschew Republicanism and join the British army. Eddins at length became tired of these importunities, and one day said to Cruger, '' Sir, I am a prisoner in your power; you may cut out my heart (baring his bosom), or you may drag my limbs and body asunder with ropes and horses; all this will I endure rather than desert my country's flag." Charmed by his boldness and patriotism, Colonel Cruger replied, "Sir, you are too true a rebel to remain here; you are liberated from this moment."

[[[Raising of the Siege of Ninety-Six.--Arrival of Rawdon.--His pursuit of Greene.--Movements of the two Armies.]]]