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Washington's Immortals

Page 47

by Patrick K. O'Donnell


  317 “Come on, my brave Fuzileers[!]” Ibid.

  318 “[The men] broke . . . by dogs.” St. George Tucker to Francis Bland Tucker, letter, March 18, 1781, in Magazine of American History 7 (1881):39.

  318 “Some made such . . . like heroes.” Samuel Houston, Journal, in William Henry Foote, Sketches of Virginia, Historical and Biographical, 2nd series (Philadelphia: J.B. Lippincott & Co., 1855), 146–47.

  318 “Riflemen and musketry . . . the enemy.” Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 378–79.

  318 “fired away fifteen . . . per man.” St. George Tucker to Francis Tucker, letter, March 17, 1781, in Magazine of American History 7 (1881):39.

  318 “[They] continued their . . . ever heard.” Otho Williams to E. Williams, letter, March 16, 1781, Williams Papers, MHS.

  319 “All [the] officers were wounded.” Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns, 275.

  319 “I saw Lord . . . the woods.” Lamb, Original and Authentic Journal, 362.

  319 “The first [Maryland] . . . 1st regt.” John Eager Howard to John Marshall, letter, 1804, Bayard Papers, MHS.

  320 “flattering himself with . . . finishing blow.” Scheer and Ranken, Rebels and Redcoats, 449.

  320 “Ford ordered a . . . some distance.” Pension application of William Davie, NARA.

  320 “The Second has . . . was ordered.” Williams Papers, MHS.

  321 “Col. Morris calling . . . to retire.” Nathanael Greene to Samuel Huntington, letter, March 16, 1781, and Greene to Catherine Greene, letter, March 18, 1781, Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 7:433–34 and 446.

  321 “Capt. Gibson, Deputy . . . take them.” Gunby, Colonel John Gunby, 51; John Eager Howard to John Marshall, letter, 1804, Bayard Papers, MHS.

  321 “Face about.” Ibid.

  321 “[We] immediately engaged . . . continued firing.” John Eager Howard to John Marshall, 1804, Bayard Papers, MHS.

  321 “They fired at . . . to meet.” Thomas Baker, Another Such Victory (New York: Eastern Acorn Press, 1981), 65; pension application of Daniel Spence, July 3, 1845, NARA.

  321 “were thrown into confusion by a heavy fire.” Charles, Earl Cornwallis to George Germain, March 17, 1781, Cornwallis Papers, UK Public Record Office (PRO).

  322 “The swords of . . . lay dead.” Pension application of Philemon Holcombe, April 14, 1834, NARA.

  322 “[I] was wounded . . . to others.” Pension application of Peter Francisco, NARA.

  322 “bore a conspicuous part as a soldier . . . when the Maryland troops came to the charge, he bayonetted seven of the enemy.” National Intelligencer 13 (February 1837).

  322 “They bayoneted and . . . British Guards.” Otho Holland Williams to Josias Hall, letter, March 1781, Otho Williams Papers, MHS.

  322 “an accidental . . . [at Elizabethtown, New Jersey].” Pension application of James Nowell, February 21, 1811, NARA.

  323 “Smith and . . . only stunned him.” Samuel Mathis to William R. Davie, June 26, 1819, in Revolutionary Sketches of William R. Davie, Blackwell P. Robinson, ed. (Raleigh, NC: Archives and History, 1976).

  323 “a cannon’s being . . . much injured since.” Pension application of James Gooding, June 18, 1821, NARA.

  324 “The Maryland brigade . . . great slaughter.” Henry B. Carrington, Battles of the American Revolution (New York: A. S. Barnes, 1904), 561.

  324 “I observed Washington’s . . . the guards.” Wyatt, Memoirs, 75–76.

  324 “The whole were in our power.” Ibid.; John Eager Howard, Bayard Papers, MHS.

  324 “At this period . . . each army.” Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns, 281.

  324 “Columns of the . . . we retired.” Howard, Bayard Papers, MHS; Wyatt, Memoirs, 75–76.

  324 “with greatest alacrity.” John Hairr, Guilford Courthouse (Cambridge, MA: Da Capo Press, 2002), 129.

  325 “The artillery horses . . . and regularity.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  325–26 “There were two . . . the village.” Caruthers, Revolutionary Incidents, 164–65.

  326 Casualty information from Cornwallis Papers, PRO 30/11/65 and PRO 30/11/103.

  326 “a violent and constant rain.” “Letters of Charles O’Hara,” 177–78.

  326 “40 hours.” Ibid.

  326–27 “I never did . . . the Wounded.” Ibid.

  327 “The night was . . . military life.” Stedman, The History of the Origin, Progress, and Termination of the American War, Volume 2.

  328 “rogues and idiots.” Richard M. Ketchum, Victory at Yorktown: The Campaign That Won the Revolution (New York: Holt, 2004), 141.

  Chapter 38: Hobkirk’s Hill

  329 Details about Oldham from Francis Bernard Heitman, Historical Register of Officers of the Continental Army during the War of the Revolution, April, 1775, to December, 1783 (Washington, DC: F. B. Heitman, 1893), 312.

  329–30 “To the name . . . of fame.” Lee, Revolutionary War Memoirs, 362.

  331 “scattering fire was kept up all night.” Kirkwood, Journal.

  331 “[We] had a smart . . . the Army.” Ibid.

  332 “Burnt a House . . . Enemy’s Redoubts.” Ibid.

  332 “The ugliest officer in the British Army.” Pancake, This Destructive War, 193.

  332 “By arming our . . . sick soldiers.” Lord Francis Rawdon’s Report on the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, http://www.hobkirkhill.org/hobkirk/primary.aspx.

  333 “filing close to the swamps.” Ibid.

  333 “were still washing . . . joined us.” John Eager Howard to John Gunby, letter, March 22, 1782, Bayard Papers, MHS.

  334 “heavy showers of Grape.” Rawdon to Cornwallis, April 26, 1781, in The Remembrancer, or Impartial Repository of Public Events for the Year 1783, pt.1 (London: J. Debrett, 1783), 1.

  334 “[It] put the . . . of them.” Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 25.

  334 “universal blaze of . . . his soul.” Pension application of Guilford Dudley, October 12, 1832, NARA.

  334 “The Enemy were staggered . . . left retiring.” Nathanael Greene to Samuel Huntington, April 27, 1781, Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 8:158.

  334 “to charge bayonets without firing.” Otho Holland Williams to his brother Elie Williams, letter, April 27, 1781, http://southerncampaign.org/hobkirk/ps.html.

  334 “an ornament to his profession.” Nathanael Greene to Samuel Huntington, April 27, 1781, Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 8:157.

  334 “the promising young . . . amiable girl.” Otho Holland Williams to his brother Elie Williams, letter, April 27, 1781.

  334 “confusion and [the men] dropped out of line.” Gunby, Colonel John Gunby, 73.

  335 “exerting himself.” John Eager Howard to John Gunby, March 22, 1782, Bayard Papers, MHS.

  335 “I aided the . . . personal exertions.” Pindell, “Militant Surgeon,” 318.

  335 “ordered him to . . . the cannon.” Samuel Mathis, letter, 1819, in Thomas J. Kirkland and Robert MacMillan Kennedy, Historic Camden, Volume 1 (reprint, Nabu Press, 2012).

  336 “fought like bulldogs . . . of action.” Ibid.

  336 “hung around his neck in his bosom.” Ibid.

  336–37 “A number . . . as Deserters.” Rawdon to Cornwallis, April 26, 1781, in The Remembrancer, 2.

  337 “The dye is . . . became swelled.” Pindell, “Militant Surgeon,” 309–10.

  337 “Ford died a . . . still left.” Otho Holland Williams to his brother Elie Williams, letter, April 27, 1781.

  337 “If white men . . . to him.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  337 “that Capt. Smith . . . for mercy.” Samuel Mathis, letter, 1819.

  338 “Nothing can be . . . the army.” Babits, Long, Obstinate, and Bloody, 183.

  338 “all the most obnoxious loyalists.” Lee, Revolutionary
War Memoirs, 345.

  338 “commandant of the . . . and wounded.” Pension application of Guilford Dudley, NARA.

  338 “a smile of complacency.” Ibid.

  338 “We fight, get beat, rise and fight again.” Nathanael Greene to George Washington, May 1, 1781, in Correspondence of the American Revolution, Jared Sparks, ed. (Boston: Little, Brown, and Company, 1853), 3:299.

  338 “feel the Effects of British tiriny,” Williams Papers, MS908, MHS.

  338 “stripped him, bound . . . bare back.” Johnson, Sketches, 2:97.

  Chapter 39: Ninety Six

  339 “[Ninety Six] must be . . . upon it.” Cornwallis Papers, PRO.

  340 carried to 96 . . . that place.” Pension application of Major Joseph McJunkin, NARA.

  343 “amid the thunder . . . every side.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 422.

  343 “carried . . . on his shoulder . . . was stationed.” National Intelligencer (February 1837):247.

  344 “in an attempt . . . Breast works.” Pension application of Ransom Day, NARA.

  344 “a [musket] ball . . . his shoulder.” Alexander Garden, Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America (1822; reprint, London: Forgotten Books, 2013), 408–9.

  344 “To this end . . . be quick.’” Ibid.

  344 “got his skull bone broke.” Pension application of John Bantham, NARA, S44344, transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris.

  344 “had a furlough . . . his wound.” Pension application of Briant Munrow, NARA, S34444, transcribed and annotated by C. Leon Harris.

  345 “Gloom and silence . . . the troops.” Lee, Revolutionary War Memoirs, 130.

  346 “Army in good . . . constantly saddled.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  346 “Never did we . . . our epicures.” Lee, Revolutionary War Memoirs, 145.

  347 “We fought the . . . of America.” Johnson, Sketches, 2:220.

  347 “Hundreds of my . . . their guns.” Ibid.

  347 “rendered it impossible [to scout], by waylaying the bye-paths and passes through the different swamps.” Bruce Lancaster, The American Revolution (New York: American Heritage, 1971), 307.

  Chapter 40: Eutaw Springs

  348 “Most of [them] . . . or captured.” Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 31.

  349 “determined to fight . . . dangerous consequences.” Alexander Stewart to Charles, Earl Cornwallis, letter, September 9, 1781, in K. G. Davies, ed., Documents of the American Revolution, 21 vols. (Dublin: Irish University Press, 1972–1981), 20:227.

  349 “We halted and . . . such occasions.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  349 “The militia advancing . . . his position.” Lee, Revolutionary War Memoirs, 284.

  350 “through a heavy . . . before them.” Ibid., 465.

  350 “Let Williams advance . . . his bayonet.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 334.

  350 “fell transfixed by each other’s bayonets.” Lee, Revolutionary War Memoirs, 283.

  350 “I pushed on . . . guard them.” Pindell, “Militant Surgeon,” 319.

  351 “nearly all his . . . or wounded.” Ibid.

  351 Details about incident at the Roche house from Patrick O’Kelley, Nothing But Blood and Slaughter: Military Operations and Order of Battle of the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas (booklocker.com, 2005), 3:352.

  351–52 “took off his . . . wounding him.” Ibid., 3:351.

  352 “taking a nail . . . no more.” Draper, King’s Mountain, 354.

  352 “drew all the fire from the windows.” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  352 “soon killed or disabled nearly the whole.” Ibid.

  352 “galling and destructive fire.” Ibid.

  352 “could not be. . . many hours.” Pindell, Militant Surgeon, 319.

  353 “gallant band . . . rushed furiously.” Ibid.

  353 “Victory is ours . . . the battlefield].” Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.

  354 “not less than . . . carry off.” Nathanael Greene, Report of Eutaw Springs, September 11, 1781, Papers of the Continental Congress, NARA.

  Chapter 41: “Conquer or Die”—Yorktown

  355 Details about the makeup of the Life Guard from Fred Anderson Berg, comp., Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units, Battalion, Regiments, and Independent Corps (Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1972), 135.

  355 “sobriety, honesty and . . . and spruce.” Fitzpatrick, Writings of George Washington, 388.

  356 “I thank you . . . of Baltimore.” Scharf, Chronicles of Baltimore, 191.

  357 “The loss of . . . the army.” Don Cook, The Long Fuse: How England Lost the American Colonies, 1760–1785 (New York: Atlantic Monthly Press, 1995), 347.

  357 The estimates about the number of French troops have varied over time. Initially estimates were lower, but a more scholarly analysis has revealed the number to be closer to seven thousand. The numbers of American troops are also debatable. The author used Jerome Greene’s Guns of Independence for a source. John Furling’s Almost a Miracle was also referenced. Cornwallis’s numbers came from his official papers and included sailors although his actual effective force strength was much lower during the battle.

  358 “largely indebted for . . . my table.” Mordecai Gist to Sim Lee, letter, August 7, 1781, in William Hand Browne, Archives of Maryland (Baltimore: Maryland Historical Society, 1930), 47:398.

  358 “the safe arrival . . . the line.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 467.

  358 “Every day we . . . encounter them.” Ibid., 460.

  359 “hem me in . . . could be.” Charles Cornwallis, Correspondence, Charles Ross, ed. (London: John Murray, 1859), 1:95.

  359 “in distress for . . . any kind.” Sir Henry Clinton, The Campaign in Virginia 1781 (London: Benjamin Franklin Stevens, 1888), 1:477.

  360 “I am now . . . six weeks.” Stephenson, Patriot Battles, 349.

  360 “As soon as . . . whole outworks.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 472.

  361 “This place is . . . the worst.” Stephenson, Patriot Battles, 349.

  361 Source for the units at Yorktown: National Park Service Yorktown Order or Battle. “Colonel Cobb, if . . . step back.” Washington Irving, The Life and Times of Washington (New York: G. P. Putnam and Sons, 1876), 618.

  361–62 “My dear General, . . . you yet.” Ibid.

  362 “It is a spent . . . is done.” Ibid.

  362 “I feel great . . . honorable peace.” Mordecai Gist Papers, MSA.

  362 “General Washington ordered . . . the redoubts.” Pension application of John Boudy (Bondy, Bodray), NARA. The author has not been able to verify Boudy’s account, and it is unknown whether other Marylanders participated in the attack.

  362 “We dare not . . . save us.” Charles Edward Cornwallis to Sir Henry Clinton, letter, October 15, 1781, in Cornwallis, Correspondence, 1:124.

  363 “[The fortifications] were . . . remained.” Lamb, Original and Authentic Journal, 378–79.

  363 “On one side . . . manner attended.” Henry Phelps Johnston, The Yorktown Campaign and the Surrender of Cornwallis, 1781 (New York: Harper and Brothers, 1881), 167, quoted in Jerome Green, The Guns of Independence: The Siege of Yorktown, 1781 (El Dorado Hills, CA: Savas Beatie, 2009), 295.

  363–64 “We are not . . . and despair.” Ibid., 294–95.

  364 “The British officers . . . of fortitude.” Ibid., 299.

  364 “His defense of . . . determined Officer.” Mordecai Gist to John Sterrett, October 12, 1781, Mordecai Gist Papers, MHS.

  Chapter 42: The Last Battle

  369 “[The British] being . . . our hands.” W. Wilmot, “A Letter from the South,” Maryland Historical Magazine 5, no. 4 (December 1910):330–40.

  369 “naked and full of vermin.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 474.

  370 “strike at [the
British] . . . find them.” William Pierce Jr. to Mordecai Gist, letter, August 23, 1782, Mordecai Gist Papers, MHS.

  370 “[The surrounding area was] . . . impracticable.” Mordecai Gist to John Sterrett, letter, April 12, 1782, Mordecai Gist Papers, MHS.

  370 “surrendered unconditionally to . . . became engaged.” Margaret Oswald Chew Howard, MSA.

  371 “love of adventure.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 489.

  371 “The enemy was . . . ‘four balls.’” Francis B. Culver, “The Last Bloodshed of the Revolution,” Maryland Historical Magazine 5, no. 4 (December 1910):330–40.

  371 “our Colonel Laurens . . . six privates.” Pension application of John Boudy, NARA.

  371 “This was the last . . . American War.” Johnson, Sketches, 345.

  371 “evening given in . . . then died.” Charlestown (South Carolina) Gazette, March 25, [1783].

  372 “This gentlemen, whose . . . the army.” Ibid.

  372–73 “The British moved . . . hearty welcome.” Pension application of John Boudy, NARA.

  373 “declaring the cessation . . . Britannic Majesty.” “A Century of Lawmaking for a New Nation: U.S. Congressional Documents and Debates, 1774–1785,” Journals of the Continental Congress, 1774–1785, 34 vols. (Washington, DC: Government Printing Office, 1904–1937), 24:24.

  373 “His Britannic majesty . . . part thereof.” Ibid., 26:238.

  373 “with unfeigned satisfaction . . . her commerce, her future grandeur and importance in the scale of nations.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 491.

  Chapter 43: “Omnia Reliquit Servare Rempublicam”

  375 “The United States . . . your communications.” Scharf, History of Maryland, 499.

  375–76 “retiring from the . . . public life.” Ibid., 499–500.

  376 “Few tragedies ever . . . of Congress.” Ibid., 500.

  376 “I feel eased . . . domestic virtues.” Ibid., 501.

  376 Information about the Society of the Cincinnati. Ibid., 502.

  377 “to preserve the . . . their orphans.” Ibid.

  379 “a cross, morose . . . speaking terms.” Williams Whiteley, “Revolutionary Soldiers of Delaware,” read before the two houses of the Delaware legislature, February 15, 1875, 47–48.

  379 Information about Philpot’s nightmares from pension application of Bryan Philpot, NARA.

 

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