The Swamp Fox

by John Oller

  137enemy’s leaders are considered fair targets: Stacey R. Whitacre, “An Analysis of Lead Shot from Fort Motte, 2004–2012: Assessing Combat Behavior in Terms of Agency” (master’s thesis, University of South Carolina, 2013), 29.

  137Watson sent his men: James, 57.

  137plantation of John Witherspoon, whose daughter was engaged: James, 57–58, 85n5; Ree Herring Hendrick, Lineage and Tradition of the Herring, Conyers . . . and Hilliard Families (n.p., 1916), 62–63; Joseph G. Wardlaw, Genealogy of the Witherspoon Family (Yorkville, SC: printed at the Enquirer Office, 1910), 40, 62. Although James placed John Witherspoon’s plantation “a mile above the bridge,” it was a mile or so below the bridge, on the south (west) side of the Black River. Davis, Hunting Memoirs, chap. 1; James A. Wallace, History of Williamsburg Church, a Discourse Delivered on Occasion of the 120th Anniversary of the Williamsburg Church, July 4th, 1856, Kingstree, SC (Salisbury, NC, 1856), 64; Parker, 442. The location is near the well-known Cooper’s Country Store in present-day Salters.

  137“he never saw such shooting in his life”: James, 57.

  137The next day . . . three hundred yards: James, 57–58; Daniel Johnson, Blood on the Marsh, 477–478.

  137Watson withdrew . . . to Blakely’s: James, 57; Davis, Hunting Memoirs, chap. 1. It is unclear whether this is the same Blakely’s at which Watson camped a week earlier.

  138“neutral person . . . carry on this war”: Watson to FM, March 15, 1781 (Gibbes, 38).

  138Marion promptly agreed: FM to Watson, March 16, 1781 (Gibbes, 41).

  138“In answer to your letter . . . British troops”: FM to Watson, [March 15], 1781 (Gibbes, 38).

  138Seeking the last word . . . Whig atrocities: Watson to FM, March 15, 1781 (Gibbes, 39).

  138“thought right . . . all countries”: Watson to FM, March 16, 1781 (Gibbes, 41).

  138he was willing to hang: O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 564–565; Loftis R. Munnerlyn Pension, S18136; Parker, 56; FM to NG, March 17, 1781 (NGP10:513).

  138had his men detain . . . Cornet Thomas Merritt: Jenkins, Experience, 18–19; John Graves Simcoe, Simcoe’s Military Journal: A History of the Operations of a Partisan Corps, Called the Queen’s Rangers (1787; repr., New York, 1844), 244–245.

  139Balfour and Saunders protested: Balfour to FM, March 21, 1781 (Gibbes, 42); Saunders to FM, March 24, 1781 (ibid., 42–43).

  139by March 18 . . . “outflanked” . . . chose not to pursue Watson: James, 58–59; Rankin, 173–174; Parker, 236, 469; Watson to Saunders, March 20, 1781, Bancroft Collection, NYPL; John Scott Pension, S32508 (quotation). Watson would later describe the engagement somewhat differently, saying his infantry managed to repair the bridge to facilitate a crossing. Watson, “Narrative,” 58.

  140On March 21 . . . Trapier’s Plantation: Smith, “Archaeological Perspectives,” 186; O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 698n1373.

  140“They will not . . . behind every tree”: Weems, 180. The source of this anecdote may have been Benjamin Trapier, a French Huguenot who provided Marion’s men with corn, rations, and fresh horses during the Revolution. Lee G. Brockington, Plantation Between the Waters: A Brief History of Hobcaw Barony (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006), 25; Linder and Thacker, Rice Plantations, 17. Possibly it was Paul Trapier, who took British protection in July 1780. Rogers, History of Georgetown County, 159.

  140he headed back along the Pee Dee: James, 59; Parker, 471.

  140around March 26 . . . Doyle had found and destroyed: Parker, 230, 471; Balfour to Saunders, April 2, 1781, Saunders Papers, UNB. For many years historians believed Marion called off his pursuit of Watson at Sampit Bridge on March 28 after learning of the destruction of the Snow’s Island camp. The more recent consensus is that the Sampit Bridge encounter was on or about March 20, before Doyle even left Camden for Snow’s Island on March 22. This conclusion is based on the March 20 letter Watson wrote to Rawdon from Chovin’s plantation, about ten miles from Sampit Bridge, saying he would be in Georgetown that afternoon. Doyle’s raid on the Snow’s Island camp was around March 25 or 26, a few days after Marion stopped chasing Watson. Parker, 236, 442, 469, 504n516; Smith, “Archaeological Perspectives,” 230–231n52; Diary of Henry Nase, March 22, 1781.

  140New York Volunteers . . . leaving fifteen: Rankin, 175–176; Sherman, Calendar, 78, 450. One loyalist newspaper identified Doyle’s force as the Volunteers of Ireland, another provincial unit, probably because he had commanded it earlier or because his brother, Major John Doyle, succeeded to that command around the same time. Royal Gazette (Charleston), March 31–April 4, 1781; Sherman, Calendar, 81; Saberton, CP1:185n5; 2:119n126; Diary of Henry Nase, March 15, 22, 1781.

  141Merritt . . . made his escape: Rankin, 176. According to Saunders Merritt escaped on his own just before Doyle’s raid. Simcoe’s Military Journal, 240, 245–246.

  141Bull Pen . . . “made of logs”: Simcoe’s Military Journal, 245.

  141“Marion’s repository . . . on Snow’s Island”: Royal Gazette (Charleston), March 31–April 4, 1781.

  141Doyle . . . did not linger . . . Marion did not pursue: Rankin, 175–177; James, 59; Parker, 227–228, 309; Diary of Henry Nase, April 1, 1781. As Smith points out, that Doyle withdrew to Witherspoon’s Ferry is support for the view that the base camp was located on the island itself rather than at Dunham’s Bluff. Smith, “Archaeological Perspectives,” 263.

  141Burch’s Mill . . . issued an order: O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 525.

  142“skulking position”: Horry, “Journal,” SCHGM 38, no. 3 (July 1937): 82.

  142Watson, refreshed . . . was confident: Watson, “Narrative,” 58; Smith, “Archaeological Perspectives,” 190–191. James puts Marion’s force at five hundred and Watson’s at nine hundred, both of which seem inflated. James, 59–60.

  142Elizabeth Jenkins . . . refused to believe: Jenkins, Experience, 25–27.

  142only five miles away: James, 60.

  142two rounds per man . . . council of war: James, 60.

  142“made an animated appeal . . . remain with him longer”: Samuel McGaughy Pension, W9981.

  143They unanimously resolved . . . not a viable option: James, 60.

  143Messengers came in . . . Lee was on his way: James, 60; Rankin, 183–184; NG to Lee, April 4, 1781 (NGP8:46); NG to FM, April 4, 1781 (NGP8:47).

  CHAPTER 16: “A WAR OF POSTS”

  144Ganey’s Tories . . . back south to Georgetown: James, 60–61; Watson, “Narrative,” 58; Bass, Swamp Fox, 168.

  144By April 14 Lee had arrived: FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (NGP8:139).

  144“long, obstinate, and bloody”: NG to Joseph Reed, March 18, 1781 (NGP7:450).

  144heavy losses . . . could not go on: Buchanan, 378–383; Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 182–184.

  144“They had the splendor, we the advantage”: NG to von Steuben, April 2, 1781 (NGP8:25).

  144Cornwallis withdrew . . . elected not to follow: Buchanan, 383.

  144“universal spirit of revolt”: Cornwallis to William Phillips, April 24, 1781 (CP4:116).

  145under international law: Swager, The Valiant Died, 51; Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 200.

  145eight thousand soldiers . . . would leave the outposts exposed: Pancake, This Destructive War, 190, 203; Aiken, 162.

  145Greene had repeatedly asked . . . plan was dropped: NG to Lee, January 15, 1781 (NGP7:123); NG to FM, January 19, 25, 1781 (ibid., 145, 194–195); FM to NG, January 20, 27, 31, 1781 (ibid., 164, 207, 229).

  146three-hundred-strong Legion: Lee, Memoirs, 2:53.

  146Lee . . . argued . . . eighty men: James, 61.

  146On April 15 they arrived: FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 57).

  146“if they wanted . . . take it”: James McKay, Robert Robinson, and Thomas B. Campbell, “Journal of the Blockade at Scott’s Lake, [SC] Fort Watson, 15–23 April 1781,” SCAR 4, no. 2.1 (April–June 2007): 52 (entry under April 15).

  147The fort was small . . . 114 defenders: Leland G. Ferguson, “Exploratory Archeology at the Scott’s
Lake Site (38CR1) Santee Indian Mound—Ft. Watson Summer 1972,” Research Manuscript Series, Book 30 (Columbia: University of South Carolina, South Carolina Institute of Archeology and Anthropology, 1973), 9, 15, 38, scholarcommons.sc.edu/archanth_books; James, 61; Watson, “Narrative,” 57; FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 57); Balfour to Clinton, May 6, 1781 (CP6:244 and n79).

  147Lee and Marion initially thought . . . well struck water: FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 57); Lee, Memoirs, 2:51; McKay, “Journal of the Blockade,” April 17, 18, 19, 20, 22, 1781; Ferguson, “Exploratory Archeology,” 43–44.

  147“finish the business” in “five minutes”: Lee to NG, April 18, 1781 (NGP8:113).

  147starting to run out of ammunition . . . threatening capital punishment: FM to NG, April 21, 1781 (NGP8:129); FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 57); Lee, Memoirs, 2:51–52; McKay, “Journal of the Blockade,” April 18, 19, 1781; Jenkins, Experience, 24; Rankin, 187–188; O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 527.

  148Captain Snipes . . . Marion’s order meant nothing: Abel Kolb to Snipes, April 1781 (Gibbes, 52); Snipes to Kolb, April 16, 1781 (ibid., 52–53); Kolb to FM, April 18, 1781 (ibid., 55–56); John L. Frierson, “Col. Abel Kolb–SC Patriot Militia,” SCAR 3, no. 5 (May 2006): 28.

  148Marion complained . . . Sumter responded dismissively: Sumter to FM, April 30, 1781 (Gibbes, 64–65).

  148“particular direction”: Ibid., 65.

  148“Sumter’s Law”: Bass, Gamecock, 144–145; Haw, John and Edward Rutledge, 158; Powers, “In Defense of Sumter,” 32–33.

  148“one grown negro . . . one small negro”: Richard Hampton to John Hampton, April 2, 1781 (Gibbes, 48).

  148he was in the minority: Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 194–195; Bass, Gamecock, 146, 178. Greene urged Marion to support Sumter’s Law. NG to FM, May 17, 1781 (NGP8:276–277).

  148Marion also received . . . “generous and humane”: Balfour to Moultrie, March 1781 (Moultrie, Memoirs, 2:171–172); Moultrie to Balfour, March 31, 1781 (ibid., 174).

  148“I know . . . generous and the brave”: Moultrie to FM, April 16, 1781 (Gibbes, 52). Of the three alleged murders details can be found for only one. The unarmed John Inglis was shot, apparently by mistake, by Simon Fraser, a soldier under William Harden, an early member of Marion’s brigade who was operating independently in the Lowcountry at the time. To retaliate some loyalists took Fraser prisoner in September 1781 while he was bearing a flag of truce for a prisoner exchange. Harden to NG, November 7, 1781 (NGP9:543–544 and nn1, 4); Gould to NG, November 8, 1781, 546 (NGP9:546); Alexander Garden, Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War in America, with Sketches of Character Illustrative of the Talents and Virtues of the Heroes and Patriots, Who Acted the Most Conspicuous Parts Therein (Charleston, SC, 1828), 145–147.

  149“neglected . . . long letter”: Lee to NG, April 20, 1781 (NGP8:125).

  149Lee, himself unhappy . . . “despaired of success”: Ibid.; Lee, Memoirs, 2:51 (quotation).

  149Colonel Hezekiah Maham . . . “wooden machine” . . . McKay raised the white flag: FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 57); Lee, Memoirs, 2:51–52; McKay, “Journal of the Blockade,” April 21, 23, 1781 (quotation at April 21); Ferguson, “Exploratory Archeology,” 17, 29; James, 61; John Thomas Scharf, History of Maryland, from the Earliest Period to the Present Day (Baltimore, 1879), 2:417.

  150“We were reduced . . . any longer”: McKay, “Journal of the Blockade,” April 23, 1781.

  150generous terms: “Terms of Capitulation Proposed by Lieutenant McKay, Commandant of Fort Watson,” SCAR 4, no. 2.1 (April–June 2007): 52.

  150“advice . . . reduction of the fort”: FM to NG, April 23, 1781 (Gibbes, 57).

  150“in some degree”: Lee to NG, April 23, 1781 (NGP8:139).

  150After the patriots razed . . . Bloom Hill: Ibid., 58; Lumpkin, 179; McCrady, 175–176; Rawdon to Cornwallis, April 26, 1781 (CP4:180).

  151“When I consider . . . world in general”: NG to FM, April 24, 1781 (NGP8:144).

  151“spirit, perseverance and good conduct”: NG to FM, April 26, 1781 (NGP8:150–151).

  151Rawdon at Hobkirk’s . . . had to strike: Bass, Gamecock, 157; Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 186; Rawdon to Cornwallis, April 25, 1781 (CP4:179).

  151Sumter refused . . . disgusted Greene: Bass, Gamecock, 158–160; Pancake, This Destructive War, 199.

  151tactical victory . . . confused by an officer’s order: Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 186–188; Gordon, Battlefield History, 149–151; Lumpkin, 182–183; Parker, 278–279.

  151“By mistake . . . more than we did”: NG to FM, April 27, 1781 (NGP8:160).

  151“We fight . . . fight again”: NG to Lafayette, May 1, 1781 (NGP8:183).

  152Greene was crestfallen . . . both sides had suffered: Carbone, Nathanael Greene, 188; Golway, Washington’s General, 270; McCrady, 205, 221–224; Gordon, Battlefield History, 151.

  152“would have crawled . . . hand and knees”: Watson, “Narrative,” 58.

  152on May 7 . . . get around Marion and Lee: Rawdon to Cornwallis, May 24, 1781 (CSR17:1031); FM to NG, May 6, 1781 (NGP8:215); Watson, “Narrative,” 58–59; Dornfest, “John Watson,” 49–50; Lee, Memoirs, 2:67–71.

  152The fall of Fort Watson . . . Rawdon evacuated Camden: McCrady, 227–228; Gray, “Observations,” 157–158; Lee, Memoirs, 2:72–73; Rawdon to Cornwallis, May 24, 1781 (CSR17:1032–1033); Parker, 278.

  152He marched south . . . to the relief: Lee, Memoirs, 2:73.

  CHAPTER 17: BALL OF FIRE

  153on May 6 . . . “obstinate, and strong”: FM to NG, May 6, 1781 (NGP8:214); FM to NG, May 12, 1781 (ibid., 246) (quotation).

  153Rebecca Motte . . . intelligence to Marion: Steven D. Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong”: The History and Archaeology of the Siege of Fort Motte (Columbia: University of South Carolina, South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology, 2007), 12–13, scholar commons.sc.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1052&context=anth_facpub.

  153three-story mansion . . . apertures for guns: Ibid., 21–22, 50; Lee, Memoirs, 2:73–74.

  153force of 184 . . . Lieutenant Donald McPherson: Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong,” 22 and nn51, 53; Rawdon to Cornwallis, May 24, 1781 (CSR17:1033); Balfour to McPherson, January 21, 1781, in SCHGM 17, no. 1 (January 1916): 3–4; Lee, Memoirs, 2:74; Rankin, 201; O’Kelley, Unwaried Patience, 529; Royal Gazette (Charleston), May 26–30, June 2–6, 1781. Although most contemporaneous sources refer to the commander as a “Lieutenant” McPherson (with no first name), the Tory militia commander at Fort Motte, Levi Smith, identifies him as Captain Charles McPherson of the DeLancey Corps. Royal Gazette (Charleston), April 13–17, 1781.

  15384th Regiment of Foot: Gavin K. Watt, I Am Heartily Ashamed, vol. 2, The Revolutionary War’s Final Campaign as Waged from Canada in 1782 (Toronto: Dundurn Press, 2010), 429n12.

  154150 partisans . . . Lee figured: FM to NG, May 6, 1781 (NGP8:214); Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong,” 23; Piecuch and Beakes, Lee, 163; Lee, Memoirs, 2:74; James, 66.

  154Abel Kolb . . . Tories then took a torch: Gregg, Old Cheraws, 357–361; Frierson, “Col. Abel Kolb,” 28–29; Marika Ann Manuel-Kolb, “Descendants of Dielman Kolb” (no. 119), Genealogy.com, August 25, 2005, www.genealogy.com/ftm/k/o/l/Marika-A-Kolb/GENE3–0011.html.

  154Marion felt compelled . . . Greene . . . was sorry: NG to FM, May 6, 1781 (NGP8:211); Gregg, Old Cheraws, 360, 367.

  154Lee had let slip: Lee to NG, May 2, 1781 (NGP8:192).

  155“getting good horses”: Sumter to NG, May 2, 1781 (NGP8:193–194).

  155“I am told”: NG to FM, May 4, 1781 (NGP8:198–199).

  155“sixty or eighty good dragoon horses”: NG to FM, May 6, 1781 (NGP8:211).

  155“I acknowledge . . . for some time”: FM to NG, May 6, 1781 (NGP8:214–215).

  156Greene immediately backed off . . . “in the midst . . . to the end”: NG to FM, May 9, 1781 (NGP8:230–231).

  156Marion pretended . . . would send more: FM to NG, May 11, 1781 (NGP8:242).

  156“r
apidity” . . . to the last: Lee, Memoirs, 2:75.

  157it was Marion who approached: Weems, 220.

  157Lee . . . alone who spoke to her: Lee, Memoirs, 2:77.

  157Mrs. Motte was living: Ibid., 74; James, 66; Bass, Swamp Fox, 189; Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong,” 14, 16.

  157“best wines of Europe”: Lee, Memoirs, 2:77.

  157she instantly agreed . . . thought hers better suited: Ibid.

  157Nathan Savage . . . slung it: James, 67; Parker, 229.

  157bow . . . musket . . . by hand: Lee, Memoirs, 2:78–79; James, 67; Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong,” 25–26. Rawdon told Cornwallis that the house was “set in flames by fire arrows.” Rawdon to Cornwallis, May 24, 1781 (CSR17:1033).

  157men to the roof . . . May 12 . . . leveled: James, 67; Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong,” 26, 34, 52; Conrad, NGP8:253n8; Greene to Samuel Huntington, May 14, 1781 (Gibbes, 71).

  158“sumptuous dinner”: Lee, Memoirs, 2:80.

  158wine was brought out, “we were all . . . like brothers”: Weems, 221–223.

  158formal surrender ceremony: Rankin, 206.

  158returned some private British correspondence: Rawdon to Lee, May 14, 1781 (Gibbes, 70).

  158Lee thought he deserved: Lee, Memoirs, 2:79–80.

  158Legion had surrounded and massacred: Royster, Light-Horse Harry Lee, 37–38; Jim Piecuch, “‘Light Horse Harry’ Lee and Pyle’s Massacre,” Journal of the American Revolution, June 19, 2013, allthingsliberty.com/tag/pyles-massacre; Buchanan, 363–364.

  158Three were executed . . . Hugh Miscally: Smith et al., “Obstinate and Strong,” 28–29; Smith, “Archaeological Perspectives,” 186; Weems, 223; Royal Gazette (Charleston), April 13–17, 1782.

  158“I will let you know . . . not Colonel Lee”: Royal Gazette (Charleston), April 13–17, 1782.

  159“the humanity of Marion could not be overcome”: Lee, Memoirs, 2:79.

  159the Americans lost . . . Allen McDonald: Rankin, 206; James, 67; Daniel Johnson, Blood on the Marsh, 485, 559. McDonald had also carried the regimental colors at the assault on Savannah in 1779.