The Battle Of Fishing Creek: "Blood Ban" Tarleton Routes Sumter -- August 18, 1780

Tarleton's British Legion Cavalry attacking Sumter's men at Catawba Ford along the Catawba River
in Chester County, SC.

 The Battle of Fishing Creek

"Bloody Ban" Tarleton Routes Sumter

Friday, August 18, 1780 

By: C.W. Roden 

(Part 10 of a 15 part series)

Heading north along the western bank of the Catawba River at a leisurely pace, Brigadier General Thomas Sumter was unaware of the disastrous outcome at Camden, unaware that Major General Horatio Gates, the so-called "Hero of Saratoga" had abandoned his own army and retreated into North Carolina to avoid being captured. 

It wasn't until the evening of Wednesday, August 16th that a dispatch rider, 13-year-old Andrew Jackson, from Major William Richardson Davie informed Sumter of the disaster at Camden and the disgraceful retreat of General Gates -- whom Davie had encountered only hours before.

Despite this alarming news, Sumter did not increase his pace.

Among Sumter's force were about 700 mounted militia and 100 Maryland Continentals and two artillery pieces detached to his force by Gates only a few days before. Traveling with Sumter's force were also fifty wagons full of captured British supplies and about 250 prisoners of war. The latter was severely slowing Sumter's usual quick progress.

Unwilling to abandon his captured plunder, Sumter and his men continued to move slowly north along the river towards Charlotte and safety.

The Pursuit of Sumter

In the immediate aftermath of his decisive victory just north of Camden, Lieutenant General Charles Lord Cornwallis gave orders to the Loyalist British Legion commander Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to pursue Sumter's backcountry militia and recapture the prisoners and supplies taken by the Patriot leader.

Lord Cornwallis considered Sumter such an annoyance that he called him one of his "great plagues" -- an accurate description given the work that Patriot militia under his command had accomplished disrupting British outposts in the backcountry over the course of the summer. He gave Tarleton orders to capture, or kill, Sumter if possible.

The British Legion had just returned to camp following their pursuit and slaughter of routed Patriot militia and Continentals following the retreat from Camden. Tarleton was more than eager to take up his mission and immediately set out up the eastern bank of the Catawba River with about 350 men -- including a detachment of the 71st Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders) riding double with the Legion cavalry.

The proud English aristocrat sought revenge for the defeat of a detachment of his own British Legion under Captain Christian Huck at Williamson's Plantation the month before at the hands of Patriot militia from Sumter's command. It had been a blow to the reputation of his Legion as a force to be feared in the backcountry. 

By the evening of Thursday, August 17th, Sumter had crossed the rover and only moved as far as Rocky Mount, setting up camp in the open along the riverbank not far from the now abandoned British outpost. From the other side of the river, Tarleton could easily spot the partisan camp, seeing their cooking fires in the darkness. To keep his own position secret, Tarleton ordered his own men not to build fires. Crossing over the next morning and moving with characteristic speed, he reached the site of Sumter's camp, once again finding that Sumter had already moved on. Picking around 160 dragoons from his Legion and leaving the infantry to cover his rear and follow at their own pace, Tarleton continued the pursuit.

The stifling 90F degree August heat and the difficult conditions continued to slow Sumter's progress. About noon, after an eight-mile march, Sumter halted his force near Catawba Ford (in modern-day Chester County), where Fishing Creek feeds into the Catawba River.

In spite of warnings he had received, Sumter took no special security precautions, save for a few sentries posted along the road. Most of his men were using the halt in the march for rest and recreation. They stacked arms and relaxed, many taking the opportunity to swim and bathe in the creek, while others, including Sumter himself, decided to take a nap in whatever shade they could find. Sumter rested underneath one of the captured wagons.

Fishing Creek in Chester County, South Carolina as it would
have appeared in mid-to-late August in the summer of 1780.

The Battle

Tarleton's dragoons finally caught up to Sumter that afternoon, overwhelming the posted sentries before they could raise the alarm. He quickly formed them for attack. Despite being outnumbered about four-to-one, Colonel Tarleton and the British Legion dragoons charged into the Patriot camp, catching the militia and Sumter completely by surprise and quickly gaining control of the stacked arms.

The Patriot militia, many of which were caught literally with their pants down, were completely routed. Sumter woke from underneath the wagon as the green-coated Legion cavalry swept into the camp. Unable to get to his own horse, he cut the harness of a draft horse from the wagon and, riding bareback, tried to rally his panicked men. Ultimately, this proved futile as the Patriots were routed; each man for himself in the escaped. General Sumter fled into the nearby woods half-dressed, leaving behind his hat, coat, and boots; barely escaping capture himself. Sumter was picked up by Captain John Steele and carried to another horse. Riding nonstop, Sumter reached the American Major William Richardson Davie’s camp at Charlotte, North Carolina two days later.

The British Legion cavalry virtually decimated the militia and Continentals. The losses were one-sided and severe. The Patriots lost about 150 men killed and wounded, and more than 300 prisoners were taken. The Legion also freed the 250 captured British prisoners and captured all of Sumter's supplies and captured war material, including: 800 horses, 1,000 individual weapons, and his two artillery pieces. Tarleton himself only lost 16 men killed and wounded.

Perhaps the only positive story to come of the affair for the Patriots was the daring escape of militia officers Lieutenant Colonel Henry Hampton and Colonel Thomas Taylor. Both officers had been taken prisoner by Tarleton, but managed to cut through their rope-tied hands with a pocketed knife and flee into the swamp. Colonel Hampton was the brother of Lieutenant Colonal Wade Hampton of the 2nd South Carolina Regiment and the grandfather of future Confederate General Wade Hampton III.

Not long after the battle, the rest of the British Legion infantry and the detachment of Highlanders that had been left behind arrived to help take charge of the prisoners and recaptured supplies.

"Blood Ban" Tarleton and his British Legion had their vengeance.


Aftermath

Two days later, following the battle at Fishing Creek (also known as the Battle of Catawba Ford) Sumter arrived in Charlotte and joined up with Major Davie's militia. He was a brigadier general without servant, soldiers, or baggage. He would soon gather another force of upcountry militia for the coming campaign that many of them now dreaded. Many of the Patriot militiamen from the District Between the Broad and Catawba Rivers who'd avoided capture by Tarleton's Legion would continue to resist the Loyalist militias and their British allies on their own over the course of the next couple of months.

The defeat of Gates at Camden and the routing of Sumter at Fishing Creek were terrible blows to the morale of the upcountry partisans. Lord Cornwallis, on the other hand, was jubilant. The news of the twin defeats would reach London, making the earl the toast of the capital. When the Comte de Vergennes, King Louie XVI's foreign minister, learned of the defeats, he believed that the American cause was lost. He floated a peace feeler based on uti possidetis ("as you possess") that would have left South Carolina and Georgia as British colonies.

Tarleton himself believed that the defeat of Sumter would be enough to eliminate any further organized resistance to the Crown in the upcountry. Lord Cornwallis himself was not as certain of that since Sumter himself had not been captured, or killed. None-the-less, the British general now felt that the time was right to begin the next step in the conquest of the American South -- the invasion of North Carolina.

However, all was not lost to the upcountry South Carolina Patriots. Help would soon come from an unexpected ally from the North Carolina Appalachians and the British Southern strategy would find itself coming to a grinding halt -- the beginning of which will be discussed in detail in the next chapter of this series.

Monument near the site of the Battle of Fishing Creek
(also known as the Battle of Catawba Ford) near Great Falls,
SC in Chester County.

For more information about the Battle of Rocky Mount and its significance to American history please consult the following sources that were used to help with this blog post:

 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of the American Revolution  

by Walter Edgar (2001) ISBN 0-308-97760-5

The Battle of Rocky Mount: Sumter Goes On The Offensive -- August 1, 1780

A simple granite marker on the spot where the
British outpost at Rocky Mount sat in 1780-81
marks the site of the battle of Rocky Mount on
Thursday, August 1, 1780.
The marker is located on SR 20 2.4 miles from
HWY 21 in Fairfield County, just south of the
town of Great Falls, SC.

 
The Battle Of Rocky Mount

Sumter Goes On The Offensive

Tuesday, August 1, 1780

By: C.W. Roden 

(Part 7 or a 15 part series) 

In the aftermath of Huck's Defeat at Williamson Plantation, General Thomas Sumter received word from his camp at Old Nations Ford near Charlotte, North Carolina that Major General Horatio Gates "The Hero of Saratoga" had arrived in North Carolina, and assumed command of the Southern Department from Major General Johann de Kalb. Gate's Southern Army now consisted of around 1,200 Maryland and Delaware Continentals, 120 dragoons, and three artillery companies.

Intelligence gathered by Sumter's partisans showed that the British army stationed at Camden had only around 700 soldiers. Gates would soon begin a campaign to invader and take back the State of South Carolina from the British occupation.

Sumter, now with a brigade of around 600 Patriot militia under his command, was eager to start his own campaign to drive the British and Loyalist forces from their northern outposts at Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock. His home had been burned down by elements of Tarleton's Legion cavalry back in May and Sumter was ready to repay the British and their Loyalist allies back.

Sumter's forces consisted of the militia from the upper Broad and Catawba River district (Chester County) were commanded by now Colonel John McClure, while Colonels Andrew Neel and William "Billy" Hill commanded the reconstituted New Acquisitions District (York County). Colonel William Bratton now commanded a smaller battalion of volunteers formed from the congregations of Bethesda, Beersheba, and Bullock's Creek churches. Also joining Sumter's forces were 35 Catawba Indians led by General New River, with General Billy Ayers and Major Jacob Ayers. 

Sumter had learned from a spy that the defenses might be susceptible to small arms fire, a clear benefit since Sumter lacked any sort of field artillery. While the latter was certainly true, the former it turned out was misinformation and the spy might well have been a double-agent working for the British commander of Rocky Mount, Lieutenant-Colonel George Turnbull of the New York Volunteers.

On Friday, July 28th, he broke camp and moved his brigade down to Land's Ford (now Landsford Canal State Park) an important crossing on the Catawba River between modern-day Chester and Lancaster Counties, where he was joined by Major William Richardson Davie and his dragoons, along with additional North Carolina militia from Mecklenburg, Rowan, and the Waxhaws area at their camp at Waxhaw Presbyterian Meeting House.

Two months before Virginia Continental soldiers wounded during the Battle of the Waxhaws (Buford's Massacre) were brought to Waxhaw Presbyterian Meeting House where some died and are still buried in the historic cemetery on the site of the modern-day Historic Waxhaw Presbyterian Church.

Born into a Scottish family in Cumberland, England in 1756, William Richardson Davie emigrated with his family to America in 1764 and grew up from age nine in South Carolina. He was named for his maternal uncle, William Richardson, a prominent local Presbyterian minister, and when Richardson died, Davie always used his full name to honor his uncle.

Because he carried out his civil and political life in North Carolina and later in life retired to Lands Ford (Landsford) on the Catawba River in South Carolina, Davie is claimed by both States. Among other achievements after the war, Davie would become governor of North Carolina and the founder of the University of North Carolina.

In 1779, Davie was commissioned a Captain in the North Carolina Light Dragoons Regiment and was seriously wounded at the Battle of Stono Ferry on Sunday, June 20, 1779. He returned home to recover, after which he was then promoted to Major under Colonel Robert Irwin and Colonel Caleb Phifer in the Mecklenburg County Regiment of Militia.

After the fall of Charleston, Major Davie was given command of his own Independent Corps of Light Horse with the mission to harass British communications between their posts at Hanging Rock and Camden. His cavalry was often reinforced by South Carolina Militia under Major Robert Crawford (Turkey Creek Regiment), thirty-five Catawba warriors under their Chief General Newriver, and a part of the Mecklenburg County Regiment of Militia commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John William Hagan.

During the summer and fall of 1780, Davie used his own funds to raise and equip his own force of cavalry and mounted infantry. Noted for his dash and courage, as well as his excellent swordsmanship, by the end of the war Davie was reputed to have killed with his own saber more of the enemy than any other officer in the American army.

Also among Major Davie's militia was 13-year-old boy Andrew Jackson, the future 7th President of the United States of America and resident from the Waxhaws who'd previously witnessed the bloody results of Buford's Massacre. Jackson served as a courier for Davie's militia and often had to deliver dispatches through hostile backcountry territory in the summer and fall of 1780.

Major Davie and his men had been doing their job of harassing British supply lines, capturing a convoy of supplies at Flat Rock on Thursday, July 20th and had been involved in a small skirmish at Beaver Creek Ford (both in modern-day Kershaw County) on the same day.

Meeting there along the banks of the Catawba River on the afternoon of Sunday, July 30th that Sumter made the plans for the campaign. His forces would attack the Rocky Mount outpost, while Davie's militia would move towards Hanging Rock and later be joined by Sumter once Rocky Mount was secure. 


The Battle

Rocky Mount itself sat on a hill overlooking the Catawba River and consisted of three logs buildings surrounded by wooden and earthen abatis as fortification against attacks. The buildings themselves were wooden clapboard siding on the outside, but another wall had been built on the inside to fortify them better against rifle fire.

Since learning the news of Huck's defeat, Colonel Turnbull predicted that the rebels would soon pay him a visit and made efforts to strengthen his defenses against an attack by Patriot militia. He had in his garrison about 150 British Provincials, including the remaining members of Huck's unit of the British Legion cavalry and New York Volunteers that escaped the disaster at Williamson Plantation, along with some local Loyalist militia that he no longer held any confidence in. He also sent a messenger to Camden requesting reinforcements.

Sumter's force of 600 Patriot militia arrived at Rocky Mount early on the morning on Tuesday, August 1st. The newly promoted Major Richard Winn, with his Fairfield Regiment leading Sumter’s advance, first ran off 100 Loyalists camped outside the fort, many leaving their horses which were captured by the Patriots.

Believing that the intelligence he received that the wooden buildings of Rocky Mount were of flimsy construction Sumter ordered a bold frontal attack. Sumter's force had no cannons, and attempted to penetrate the abatis and the buildings with rifle fire. 

Colonel William Hill later wrote: "This was made under the impression that the enemy was in a large framed house; the walls of which were only thin clapboards, and we supposed that our balls have the desired effect by shooting through the wall…but the enemy…had placed small logs about a foot from the inside of the wall and rammed the cavity with clay…we injure them in no way, but by shooting in their port holes."

With their riflemen providing cover, the patriots under Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Neel charged twice more towards the fortifications with the intent to cut through the abatis. What brief success came with breaking through the tangled obstructions came at a price as Neal, two militiamen, and their Catawba Indian guide were killed. Neel was shot through the hip and fell from his horse dying close to the Loyalist position.

Planning to continue his assault, Sumter sent a message off asking for Turnball’s surrender of the fort. The shooting ceased for an hour before Turnball rejected Sumter’s request by stating, "Duty and inclination induce me to defend this place to the last extremity."

Over the next eight hours, there were several repeated attempts by the Patriots to break through the abatis, or destroy the buildings. Sumter found to his dismay that the intelligence about the strength of the fort was wrong.

A final plan was hatched where two men would cross over open ground under cover fire from their comrades, get behind a large rock near the buildings and attempt to set the buildings on fire with torches and smoke out the Loyalists.

Colonel William Hill himself volunteered for the desperate venture along with a young soldier, Sergeant Jemmy Johnson. Hill and Johnson raced the 100 yards of open ground to the bolder under intense fire from the three houses. Before they could ignite and hurl their firebrands, the Loyalists rushed out of the house and drove the two men back to the Partisan lines with their bayonets. The two volunteers tried again, this time protected by a heavy covering fire from an advanced screen of riflemen. The two men again reached the rock, lit the brands, then threw them onto the shingles of the smaller log house.

The plan seemed to work, despite Johnson being seriously wounded in the action. The roof of the smaller house began to smoke, and then a small blaze began. However one of the South's infamous summer downpours occurred shortly afterwards and extinguished the fire before it could do serious damage.

Completely frustrated in his failure to storm the post, Sumter was then forced to accept defeat and ordered his men to withdraw, suffering eight dead and several wounded. After leaving Rocky Mount, Sumter moved his men back to Lands Ford and his planned rejoining with Davie's forces.

Major Richard Winn wrote that on Wednesday, August 2nd the Rocky Mount garrison was reinforced with "eight hundred men and two field pieces." These troops were the Prince of Wales American Regiment, a Loyalist Provincial force under the command of Major John Carden, which had marched from the British base at Camden to reinforce Hanging Rock. 


The Hanging Of William Stroud Jr.

Sumter was unable to move his campsite until Thursday, August 3rd, due to the high water at Rocky Creek caused by all the rain. At 11 a.m. that morning Sumter crossed the creek with his force, and halted. The partisans "turned out their horses and scattered about in search of roasting ears and green peaches." This was all the men had to eat at the time.

While they were searching for food an alarm was sounded that Carden’s force was less than a mile away, and they had two pieces of artillery. Carden had stopped at Rocky Mount prior to continuing his march to Hanging Rock. Sumter was caught in the open and decided wisely not to fight the Loyalists.

Granite marker honoring the memory of young
William Stroud Jr., a sharpshooter in Colonel Edward
Lacey’s Rocky Creek Militia, hanged on
Thursday, August 3, 1780 about two miles
from Hanging Rock battlefield. 

He ordered Major Winn to take 100 men and delay Carden until they could all withdraw. Winn sent two men ahead, while he gathered the first 100 men who reached their horses. The two men that Winn sent ahead was a Captain Coleman from Georgia and young William Stroud Jr. of Chester County. These two men ventured too close to the British and were captured. The Loyalists had them striped and immediately hung by the side of the road.

According to oral history, Stroud's body was left to hang for six weeks as travelers rode by as a warning. His mother Sarah Stroud, sister Nancy Morris, and Colonel Edward Lacey himself, later cut him down and buried him beneath the tree from which he was hung on a dark, moonless night.

The two sides exchanged long-range fire, but did not get close enough to become engaged in a major skirmish. Major Carden did not anticipate finding hundreds of mounted partisans, and withdrew down the road back to Rocky Mount. Winn pursued them at a distance, but broke off as they neared Rocky Mount. The day after the skirmish Colonel Hawthorne was sent under a flag of truce to bury Colonel Neel.


Diversionary Engagement At Hanging Rock

At the same time as Sumter's assault on Rocky Mount, Major Davie with his force of less than 100 mounted infantry and dragoons planned a diversionary attack 15 miles east at Hanging Rock.

Davie knew his force was too small to take on the and British Provincials and Loyalist militia at the post, but he did find three companies of North Carolina Loyalists under Colonel Samuel Bryan at a farmhouse some distance from, but still in view of, the main camp at Hanging Rock.

Taking advantage of the fact the neither the Patriot or Loyalist militia wore uniforms, only their common farmer and civilian attire, Davie sent half of his men past the sentries and the house. They were not stopped, or even questioned at all. They rode unchallenged past the Loyalist sentinels, dismounted in a lane near the buildings, and opened fire. The other half waited until their comrades opened fire, catching the surprised Loyalists in a deadly crossfire.

The Loyalists fled toward the other end of the lane, but Major Davie had sent his dragoons on a circular path through the woods in anticipation. Cut off at both ends, the Loyalists tried the middle, but Major Davie also predicted that move and sent a small number of dragoons to close that escape route.

The Loyalists were cut to pieces within sight of their companions in the main camp. Before the main Tory force could be organized, Major Davie's troops remounted and withdrew from the scene back towards Lands Ford. Loyalist casualties are not recorded. Major Davie did not lose a man.


Aftermath

The final toll of the battle and subsequent skirmishes were 12 Patriots and 20 Loyalists killed and wounded -- all Americans as was the tragedy of the bloody civil war in the South Carolina backcountry in that dreadful summer and autumn of 1780.

The failed attack on Rocky Mount cost the backcountry Patriot militia one of their best militia commanders in Colonel Andrew Neel, though the destruction against the Loyalists inflicted by Davie near Hanging Rock made up somewhat for the loss.

Sumter was now moving to join up with Major Davie a few days later and their combined strength would be enough to take on the main British forces at Hanging Rock on Sunday, August 6, 1780, which will be explored in the next chapter in this series.

Colonel Andrew Neel is buried with his two brothers and father
at the Historic Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in York County,
South Carolina -- all died in service during the
American Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign.

 

For more information about the Battle of Rocky Mount and its significance to American history please consult the following sources that were used to help with this blog post:

The outstanding books: The Day It Rained Militia by Michael C. Scoggins (2005) ISBN 1-59629-015-3

 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar (2001) ISBN 0-308-97760-5
South Carolina's Revolutionary War Battlefields: A Tour Guide by R.L. Barbour (2002) ISBN 1-58980-008-7

The Burning Of Justice Gaston's Home: The Loyalists Strike Back -- June 11, 1780

The Burning Of Justice Gaston's Home

The Loyalists Strike Back

Sunday, June 11, 1780 

By: C.W. Roden 

(Part 4 of a 15 part series)

In the space of just three days in early June of 1780, those backcountry Patriots living between the Broad and Catawba Rivers who'd been content to sit out the rest of the war following the fall of Charleston the month before struck back against their oppressive Loyalist neighbors and their British allies in two short, but important battles.

These small acts of defiance alone were not enough to completely erase the fear of the British occupiers. Yet they were enough to send a clear message to the British commander at the Rocky Mount outpost, Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull, that the Upstate was not completely in British control. That many of the Patriots in the New Acquisition and the upper District between the Broad and the Catawba Rivers still had not submitted to the Crown's authority, neither would they lay down their arms without a fight.

Lieutenant-Colonel George Turnbull (1728-1809)
Commander of the British and Loyalist forces at
the Rocky Mount outpost near modern-day
Great Fall, SC (1780-1781).
Portrait courtesy of wikipedia.

Since taking command of the post at Rocky Mount days earlier, Turnbull, in keeping with the overall British Southern strategy, had been actively organizing a Loyalist militia regiment to reinforce his own New York Volunteers and detachment of British Legion dragoons. But the incidents at Alexander's Old Field and Mobley's Meeting House had demonstrated the Loyalist militia's lack of fortitude in the face of the more experienced Whig partisans. Turnbull had little confidence at that point in his own militia's abilities.

Loyalist spies informed Turnbull that Patriot militia Colonel William Bratton and Captain John McClure were camped at the Upper Fishing Creek Presbyterian Meeting House -- the church of the local minister, Reverend John Simpson, and were rallying men to their cause, both Patriot leaders winning support with their recent successes.

Turnbull realized that a show of force was going to be necessary to keep the rebels in the District Between the Broad and Catawba Rivers in check.

On Saturday, June 10th, Turnbull dispatched his detachment of the dreaded British Legion dragoons under the command of Captain Christian Huck and mounted militia under Loyalist Captain James Ferguson with orders to either kill or capture McClure, Bratton, Simpson, and other Patriot leaders; as well as commandeer any supplies of wheat, corn, and horses in the area.


The Swearing Captain

Captain Christian Huck of the British Legion cavalry, was born in one of the German principalities of Europe about 1748 and immigrated to Pennsylvania sometime before the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War where he became a successful lawyer in Philadelphia. Because of his outspoken Loyalist views, the State of Pennsylvania branded Huck a "traitor" and confiscated his property in 1778. That same year Huck formed a company of Loyalist militia and joined the British Army in New York where he was commissioned a captain.

By 1780, Huck and his Provincials were a part of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's British Legion cavalry and took part in the Siege of Charleston -- particularly the Battles of Monck's Corner and Lenud's Ferry, both British victories. Huck was also among Tarleton's cavalrymen at the Battle at the Waxhaws the month before where Virginian Continentals under Colonel Abraham Buford were all but slaughtered in what many in the South Carolina backcountry saw as a massacre.

Huck was a loudly profane man who hated the South Carolina Upcountry and had a special dislike of the largely Scotch-Irish Presbyterians that inhabited the region. He was arrogant, short-tempered, profane, and blasphemous to those he considered rebels and traitors to the Crown. His tendency to use such colorful language earned him the nickname "the Swearing Captain."

He considered the Scotch-Irish and Ulster Scots people who lived in South Carolina's upstate and their Christian faith to be beneath him. During his raids on the local farms, Huck and his men would be known to burn the homes of those found with Presbyterian Bibles, swearing blasphemous insults at those he rendered homeless. 

Such statements, matched by his brutal contempt for the local population and their faith, would make Huck's name an anathema across the upper districts alongside his infamous commanding officer, "Bloody Ban" Tarleton.


Huck's Raid On Fishing Creek

On Sunday, June 11th, Captain Huck and his force arrived in the upper Fishing Creek settlements in eastern Chester County with his dragoons and Ferguson's Loyalist militia riding hard toward the Upper Fishing Creek Meeting House where Captain McClure, Colonel Bratton, and most of their Patriot militia, along with a number of Simpson's Presbyterian congregation attending morning worship service. Huck planned to catch them all by surprise.

Huck's forces first stopped at the neighboring home of Janet "Jenny" Strong, a widow and sister of Justice John Gaston. Her family were known to be staunch Patriots. Her eldest son, Christopher, was 20 and had served in the local militia for years. Her younger son, William, was 17 and had joined the local Patriot militia earlier that year. 

Huck's men entered the Strong home and plundered it of anything valuable, with emphasis on corn and wheat. When some of his men entered the barn where her youngest son, William, was hiding and reading his family Bible. The Loyalists shot him dead and dragged his body from the barn into the yard. There several of the Legion soldiers began to hack at the body until the grieving Mrs. Strong rushed from the house and covered her dead son's body with her own to stop the mutilation.

Monument dedicated to the memory of
Reverend John Simpson (1740-1808)
at Fishing Creek Presbyterian Church.

According to one local account, a tame pigeon landed in the yard drawn by some of the accidentally scattered wheat, and was cut in half by Huck's saber. The Loyalist captain then said in mockery to Mrs. Strong: "Madam, I have cut the head off of the Holy Ghost." The grieving woman reportedly responded prophetically to Huck by saying, "You will never die in your bed, nor will your death be that of the righteous!"

Huck then ordered the Strong home and barn burned, leaving Mrs. Strong homeless in the yard with her dead son. The Loyalists then marched on towards the Upper Fishing Creek Meeting House.

As they approached the Loyalists surrounded the building and went inside, finding the place empty with no Rebel militia in sight. From local Tories, they learned that the Whig militia -- tipped off that the Loyalists were on their way -- had already left the day before headed towards the New Acquisitions District (modern-day York County). Furious at missing his chance to capture the Patriot leaders, Huck ordered his dragoons and Captain Ferguson's men to sack and burn the meeting house.

Huck then ordered his men to remount and proceed to the Simpson's home where they hoped to capture the Whig minister. Several of Reverend Simpson's slaves were standing nearby and overhead Huck's declaration to "burn the rascal out." They hastened to the Simpson home to warn them.

Modern-day Fishing Creek Presbyterian
Church is located on SC Highway 32
(Fishing Creek Church Rd.)
near the town of Edgemoor, SC
in Chester County.

A quarter mile away at the Simpson home, the pastor's wife, Mary Simpson, was having breakfast with her children when she heard the sound of gunfire. The slaves arrived just ahead of Huck's Loyalists and alerted Mrs. Simpson of the destruction of the meeting house and Huck's imminent arrival. She directed them to take the children and hide in the woods nearby.

Huck and his Loyalists arrived moments later, demanding that Simpson surrender himself. Mrs. Simpson informed them that he was gone, sending Huck into another blasphemous rage where he reportedly uttered: "God almighty had become a Rebel, but if there were 20 Gods on that side, they would all be conquered!" He ordered the home plundered and burned to the ground.

The Loyalists stole clothes, family silver, and anything of value they could find; even tearing open the feather beds with their bayonets and scattered the feathers in the yard. Huck himself threw the Reverend Simpson's Bible into the fireplace, intending to burn it. Mary Simpson quickly saved it, further enraging Huck. Once the house was aflame, Huck's men also set fire to the barns and an outbuilding that the Reverend Simpson used as a study.

As the British soldiers departed, Mary Simpson ran into the burning study at great risk to her life -- she did in fact suffer terrible burns -- and saved two aprons full of the books. She and her children were now homeless and had to stay with a neighbor.

Huck and his forces then returned to Rocky Mount, having failed in their mission to capture the local Patriot leaders, but also having inflicted some degree of punishment to the rebellious Scotch-Irish Whigs. They'd left a young man murdered in his own yard, a local church and family homes ablaze, and two families homeless.


Aftermath

Huck's raid on the Fishing Creek community, and the subsequent cruelties he and his British Legion detachment and Loyalist militia subjected the local population to over the next month, would add to the terrible reputation of the green-coated Legion; and continued to strike both fear, and a great deal of resentment, to much of the local population along the Catawba River.

As bad as his destruction of the Upper Fishing Creek Meeting House and the Reverend Simpson's home would be, it was Huck's next act of terror that would have long-lasting repercussions to the people of the Chester and York County areas, which will be explored in the next chapter of this series on June 17th.
 

For more information about Huck's Raid on Chester County please consult the following sources that were used to help with this blog post:
The Chester County Historical Society: http://www.chestercohistorical.org/

The outstanding books: The Day It Rained Militia by Michael C. Scoggins (2005) ISBN 1-59629-015-3

 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar (2001)
ISBN 0-308-97760-5

Defiance At Alexander's Old Field: The Backcountry Resists The Crown -- June 6, 1780

Defiance At Alexander's Old Field

The Backcountry Resists The Crown
Tuesday, June 6, 1780

By: C.W. Roden 

(Part 2 of a 15 part series)

After a hot and exhausting journey of over two weeks on foot, Captain John McClure and his Patriot militia men finally reached their homes in what was then known as the District Between the Broad and Catawba Rivers -- now modern-day Chester County -- in South Carolina's sparsely populated backcountry about midday on Wednesday, May 31, 1780.

As it was mentioned in the previous chapter of this series, Captain McClure and his men decided to return home after the surrender of Charleston to the British army two weeks before. McClure, a young man in his mid-20s, arrived at the home of Justice John Gaston, a resident of Fishing Creek and well known local Patriot leader in the community.

It was there that McClure learned of the shocking massacre of Buford's Continentals at the Waxhaws two days before by Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's British Legion. McClure and three of Justice Gaston's sons who were present along with a few other Patriots made an oath declaring that they would never submit nor surrender to the enemies of their country; that liberty or death, from that time forth, should be their motto.

Each of these men had at one time served three years in the company of Captain Eli Kershaw of the 3rd Regiment of South Carolina Militia, with the motto "Liberty or Death" inscribed upon their caps.

This small core group of upcountry Patriots voted that night to continue the fight against the British forces, at the cost of their lives if necessary. They were about to go on the offensive. It was just a question of when and where.


The British Establish Their Rule In The Upstate

After the fall of Charleston and the surrender of the Southern Continental Army a couple of weeks earlier on Friday, May 12th, the British forces began to focus more activities inland and began establishing outposts in the backcountry to reestablish the Crown's control over the rebellious State.

Lord Francis Rawdon, who commanded the 23rd and 33rd British regiments along with his own Volunteers of Ireland (a corps of Pennsylvania-born Provincials) along with Tarleton's Legion and Lieutenant Colonel John Hamilton's mountain Loyalist corps, along with a detachment of Royal Artillery established a major British post at Camden (in modern-day Kershaw County), the largest town in the South Carolina backcountry at the time.

To the west, three battalions of the Royal Provincials and light infantry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Nisbet Balfour held the important frontier post at Ninety-Six (in modern-day Greenwood County) which connected the roads between Charleston and Augusta, with Major Patrick Ferguson and his American Volunteers (local Loyalists recruited along with a force of Northern-born Provincials) were assigned to the country between the Broad and Saluda Rivers. Balfor would later be reassigned to take command of Charleston around early August and Ninety-Six would be placed under the command of Lieutenant Colonel John H. Cruger.

To the east, Major Arthur MacArthur and two battalions of the famed 71st Regiment of Foot (Fraser's Highlanders) covered the country between Camden and Georgetown on the coast, establishing a post near the town of Cheraw in modern-day Chesterfield County.

In order to begin pacifying the upcountry between the Broad and Catawba Rivers, the Crown's forces established a Royal Post of three log fort-like houses at Rocky Mount (the area around what was then the Great Falls of the Catawba River near modern-day Great Falls, South Carolina) under the command of British Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull. The garrison at Rocky Mount would eventually come to include 150 men of the New York Volunteers Provincial Regiment and a troop of some 40 dragoons of the now infamous green-coated British Legion commanded by Captain Christian Huck, a name that would, in due course, become as hated in the upcountry as that of his now infamous young commander, "Bloody Ban" Tarleton.

This force was to begin the process of recruiting local Loyalists to the main British forces to help establish control among the local population.

The reaction of local Loyalists was one of undisguised glee. Many of them were still bitter over their defeat during the Snow Campaign in November of 1775 and other petty humiliations inflicted since then by their Whig neighbors. The Loyalists in South Carolina were ready to avenge themselves against their "traitorous" neighbors. Many family feuds and old scores between bitter neighbors -- some dating back at least a generation -- or would simply be "settled" with robbery and murder under the guise of patriotism and loyalty to one's respective causes.

In some cases Loyalist fathers and brothers fought Patriot sons and brothers and brother-in-laws in the bitter, ugly civil war that would rise from British occupation of the State, and subsequent resistance to the Crown's authority. Neither those loyal to the British Empire nor those loyal to the State of South Carolina and the Continental cause of independence would be entirely clean from the ugliness and horror that would soon follow. 

General Clinton's Proclamation

On Saturday, June 3rd, British Commander In Chief Sir Henry Clinton issued a proclamation to the people of South Carolina that was destined to undermine any efforts at pacifying the State. The proclamation encourage the local population to swear an oath of loyalty to the British Crown and to formally enlist in the new Loyalist forces being formed to fight for the Empire.

The proclamation reads:

"Whereas after the arrival of His Majesty's forces under my command in this province, in February last, numbers of persons were made prisoners by the (British) army, or voluntarily surrendered themselves as such, and such persons were afterwards dismissed on their respective paroles; and whereas the surrender of Charles Town (Charleston), and the defeats and dispersion of the rebel forces, it is become necessary that such paroles should be any longer observed; and proper that all persons should take an active part in settling and securing His Majesty's government, and delivering the country from that anarchy which for some time past hath prevailed; I so hereby issue this my proclamation, to declare, that all the inhabitants of this province who are not prisoners under parole and were not in the military line, (those who were in fort Moultrie and Charles Town at the times of their capitulation and surrender, or were then in actual confinement exempted) that from and after the twentieth day of June instant, they are freed and exempted from all such paroles, and may hold themselves as restored to all the rights and duties belonging to citizens and inhabitants. 
"And all persons under the description before mentioned, who shall afterwards neglect to return to their allegiances, and to His Majesty's government, will be considered as enemies and rebels to the same, and treated accordingly." 

This proclamation enraged the local Patriots.

In one short document, Clinton not only revoked the paroles of the Carolina militia who signed oaths in Charleston, but also required them to take an active part in restoring British control to the State and to take up arms against their friends, family, and neighbors still in arms against the British Empire, or risk being considered enemies of the Crown and suffer the consequences. The proclamation offered no middle ground and forced many who were neutral in the war up till that time to pick a side.

It would prove to be one of the biggest mistakes the British could have done in their efforts to pacify the South Carolina backcountry.

The settlers of the South Carolina Piedmont and Upcountry were mainly Scotch-Irish Protestants, many descended from Ulster-Scots, who'd traveled from Pennsylvania and Virginia via the Great Wagon Road and settled in the Carolinas and Appalachia. These people grew up on their parent's stories of English cruelty in the old country. Now having seen firsthand the brutality of the British Legion at the Waxhaws, and incidents like the burning of Colonel Sumter's home after the fall of Charleston, these people were being forced to choose between loyalty to the British Crown, or being branded outlaws. 

Many of those in the backcountry would not stand to be bullied.

On Monday, June 5th General Clinton would leave South Carolina with much of the British forces to return to New York City and rejoin the main British and Hessian forces there still locked in the stalemate with General George Washington's Continental Army. Departing from British occupied Charleston with British Admiral Mariot Arburthnot aboard the British warship HMS Romulus, Clinton would leave behind Lieutenant General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a corps of about 5,000 British and Provincial soldiers. Clinton was confident that the small number of British regulars were enough to pacify the rebellious former colony long enough for new recruits of Loyalists to take over control. Many of these new recruits would then join Cornwallis as he would march north later that year into North Carolina and then to Virginia, repeating the same process and catching Washington's Continentals and the Continental Congress in Philadelphia between two large British armies.

Feeling secure now that his southern strategy was beginning to take shape, Clinton left South Carolina confident that his final proclamation would be the final nail in the coffin of resistance in the Southern State.


First Act Of Defiance In The Backcountry

From his newly established base at Rocky Mount, one of Colonel Turnbull's first acts was to send soldiers to distribute handbills among the people calling upon them to meet him at Alexander's Old Field near the small community of Bechamville near the Catawba River the next day on Tuesday, June 6th and to enroll their names as loyal subjects of King George III and receive British protection. 

Soon after doing this, a Loyalist militia captain named Henry Houseman visited the home of Justice John Gaston.

Gaston lived in his home about two miles south of Ceder Shoals on the south side of nearby Fishing Creek in modern-day Chester County. He'd served previously as justice of the peace under both the Royal and State governments, and was known to be a prominent Patriot in the area with a great deal of influence. Houseman believed that the old justice could and would bring many of his neighbors around to his way of thinking.

After treating his guest with proper Southern courtesy, Justice Gaston listened to Houseman's request and firmly rejected it. Houseman warned Gaston against causing any trouble for his sake before he departed. Justice Gaston sent his sons to various places in the community for men to meet at his house that same night. By midnight 33 men arrived, including Captain McClure. They were clad in hunting-shirts and moccasins, wool hates and deer-skin caps, each armed with a hunting knife and a rifle. 

The historic marker for the site of Justice John Gaston's home is
located on SC Highway 9 just west of Fishing Creek Bridge
between the Town of Richburg and Fort Lawn, SC.

The group were just as outraged as Gaston had been that Housemen was trying to force their loyalties and understood exactly what needed to be done. Captain John McClure led the group early the next morning as they set out down the Old Indian Trail running from upper Fishing Creek to lower Rocky Creek coming upon Alexander's Old Fields before daybreak.

The term "Old Fields" refers to large prairies, or open fields, that already existed when European settlers first arrived. It is presumed that these field were created by the local Native American tribes when they'd burned large areas of forests when hunting herds of wild game. The field was named for an early area settler.

Captain Houseman was there with a group of armed Loyalists along with others from the surrounding neighborhood gathered at the field, some 200 in number. Many of the latter had no real desire to take British protection, but most believed that they had no choice. 

The armed Patriot militia, seeing their neighbors and friends present on the field took extra careful aim at the armed Tories. Many of the locals had already taken the oath of allegiance when McClure's men opened fire from the trees, dropping several of the armed Loyalists.

The sudden attack took the Loyalists completely by surprise. A general stampede of men took place as the group scattered. Some dropped to the ground to play dead as the Patriot militia continued to fire at Houseman's Loyalist militia in the open field. The Loyalists managed to return fire only once before withdrawing from the field and retreating back to their outpost at Rocky Mount. 

The small battle took only a few minutes, resulting in 4 Loyalists killed and several more wounded. McClure's Patriots suffered only two wounded and none killed. Nine of the people who took the British oath were taken prisoner and ultimately paroled, or renounced their oaths and joined McClure's militia. A few of these men would pay later that summer when they were captured and hanged by the Loyalists for violating their oaths to the Crown.

Justice Gaston had seven sons, all of whom fought to maintain the independence of South Carolina and America. Four of them would die in that service.


Aftermath

The actions of Justice Gaston and Captain McClure's men would be the very first act of resistance to British rule in South Carolina's backcountry. The victory, though small, came just after the Fall of Charleston and Buford's Massacre and greatly raised the morale of the upcountry Patriots. It was the linchpin of resistance in South Carolina. The battle and routing of Houseman's Loyalists would spur even greater resistance throughout the backcountry.

Another equally important act of defiance against the British and their Loyalist allies would take place two days later on June 8th at a place called Mobley's Meeting House in modern-day Fairfield County, which we will talk more about in the next chapter in this series.

Marker at the site of the Battle of Beckhamville
(Alexander's Old Fields) on June 6, 1780.

Historical marker at the site of the battle is located in
Chester County, SC near the intersection of SC 97 and SC 99
near the town of Great Falls.

For more information about The Battle of Beckhamville please consult the following sources that were used to help with this blog post: 

The outstanding book: The Day It Rained Militia by Michael C. Scoggins (2005) ISBN 1-59629-015-3

and the Chester County Historical Society at their website: http://www.chestercohistorical.org/

Visiting The Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies At Landsford Canal State Park on U.S. Memorial Day Weekend

Greetings & Salutations, Y'all!

Here in South Carolina and the United States this is U.S. Memorial Day weekend. For many Americans, this is a three-day weekend honoring those U.S. military personal who gave the ultimate sacrifice in defense of the United States in all of this country's wars.

In addition to the solemn act of visiting and decorating the graves of the honored dead, the holiday -- which falls on the final Monday of May each year -- is also a weekend where many American citizens celebrate the unofficial start of the coming summer time activities, especially the younger people who get out of school for the next few months.

Many honor this holiday by various means from large family gatherings and backyard parties, to the humble act of decorating the graves of U.S. military service personal -- sometimes both depending on the person. 

I spend the Friday before this year's U.S. Memorial Day weekend enjoying a nice peaceful drive out to nearby Landsford Canal State Park in northeastern Chester County, South Carolina, along the Catawba River in order to enjoy a special one-a-year treat. 

The state park is the home of the largest known stand of beautiful Rocky Shoals Spider Lilies (Hymenocallis coronaria), which are only known to grow in the Southern U.S. States of South Carolina, Georgia, and Alabama. 

The peak time of the year to see them in full bloom is mid-to-late May when these rare flowers blanket the rocky shoals of the Catawba River in a beautiful white and green.

I captured some really great shots of these amazing flowers for y'all to enjoy, along with some other shots of the beautiful views along the river hiking trail and the lock ruins that the park is named for.  

I took a moment to sit at this bench and just enjoy the view and
the sounds of nature.

I did, thank you.

A beautiful American Five-lined Skink (Plestiodon fasciatus).
The blue tail signifies that its a juvenile.

Overall, it was a peaceful way to spend a beautiful spring day and enjoy the wonders of this world God blessed us with.

That being said, when I returned and drove through my hometown of Chester, I made it a point to make a few stops along the way to honor and to remember the men and boys from Chester County who sacrificed themselves in America's wars for my peaceful day off. 

Thank you....you are not forgotten!