Sunday, March 17, 2024

ARP303 John's Island

 Last week we covered the continued fighting in South Carolina following the surrender of the main British army in the south under General Cornwallis at Yorktown, Virginia.  In South Carolina, General Nathanael Greene and the militia under General Francis Marion were pushing the British into an ever-shrinking circle around Charleston.  The new British commander in Charleston, General Alexander Leslie, was consolidating his forces as best he could to hold onto whatever parts of the state that he could.

Both sides remained concerned that some peace settlement might rely on what territories armies held at the time, meaning that forcing the British out of Charleston entirely would help to ensure recognition of South Carolina’s independence.

Return of Sumter & Laurens

With word of the victory at Yorktown, General Thomas Sumter returned to Greene’s camp.  Recall that back in Episode 292, General Sumter had tried to disband his militia army and personally traveled back to North Carolina.  Part of this was Sumter’s anger at orders from Greene and Governor Rutledge to stop the looting of loyalist properties, which Sumter relied on to pay his army.  Part of this was capturing slaves that belonged to loyalists to pay his soldiers for continued service.  

The general had also ticked off Marion and his militia as well as Greene for his poor leadership at Quinby’s Bridge. So with most people unhappy with him, as he was with them, Sumter tried to disband his army and go home, at least for a short timeout.

Thomas Sumter
After Sumter’s departure, General Greene and Governor Rutledge had put Francis Marion in charge of most of the militia.  Sumter, who was more senior to Marion, could reasonably reclaim command of the militia, but with everyone annoyed at him, no one else wanted that to happen.  Greene avoided a major political fight by giving Sumter and Marion separate commands.  Greene was moving Marion’s men to the area around Charleston, especially to the south, where they wanted to prevent any British overland travel between Charleston and Savannah, as well as making it more difficult for the British to forage in those areas.  

Greene tasked Sumter with keeping a lid on the Tory activity around Orangeburg, to the northwest of Charleston.  There was still a large German speaking loyalist population there that required continued monitoring so that they did not regroup and try to cause more problems. This was also during this time in late November that William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham was wreaking havoc in the area. Sumter was tasked with taking on that as well, working with General Andrew Pickens to take out Cunningham and his loyalists.

The other key officer returning to South Carolina in late 1781 was Colonel John Laurens.  Since he was a Continental officer, he came under the direct command of General Greene.  But Laurens was more than just a colonel.  He was the son of the former president of the Continental Congress, Henry Laurens - who headed one of the wealthiest and most powerful families in South Carolina.  Colonel Laurens had recently completed a diplomatic mission to France to obtain more French assistance for the Continental Army.  Colonel Laurens had been General Washington’s aide for many years, and was close friends with the Marquis de Lafayette and Alexander Hamilton.  His political connections made him far more important than his rank.

Laurens had returned from France in time to rejoin the Continental army for the Yorktown Campaign.  He personally led a regiment in the final assault on Redoubt #10 at Yorktown and was then part of the negotiating team that accepted Cornwallis’ surrender.  Cornwallis, in addition to his military title, held the position as constable of the Tower of London - where Laurens’ father was currently a prisoner.  So Laurens had effectively captured his father’s jailer.  

Following the surrender at Yorktown, tried to get approval to exchange Cornwallis for his father. That was still undecided when Washington left Yorktown for Philadelphia, and Laurens finally returned to South Carolina. After his arrival in early December, Laurens began to push for political changes, in addition to his military service.

Garden’s Plantation

Laurens began working with Marion’s efforts south of Charleston.  He combined forces with Light Horse Harry Lee’s legion.  Colonel Lee had also just recently returned, after a trip to Virginia that lasted about two months.  Greene had sent Lee back to Virginia in September, hoping that Lee could persuade Washington to send more reinforcements to South Carolina.  That mission was largely unsuccessful, but it did allow Lee to observe the end of the Yorktown campaign, and allowed him to be present at the Cornwallis’ surrender.  His legion set up camp at McQueens Plantation, just west of Charleston, with an eye toward taking John’s Island, just south of the city.

John Laurens

He was close enough to Charleston that he could see what was happening there. He also had several conflicts with loyalist militia. On December 19th, a company of Lee’s soldiers under the command of Captain James Armstrong attacked a loyalist company under the command of Captain Ludwig Kienen, killing several and taking the rest prisoner, including Captain Kienen.

The following day, Captain Armstrong was waiting to meet a spy at the Garden’s Plantation when he spotted another company of loyalists.  This time, the enemy was a company of New York provincials commanded by Major John Coffin.  

A native of Boston, Coffin was a loyalist who joined the British army in time to fight at Bunker Hill.  By 1777, he had risen to major, commanding loyalist volunteers from New York.  Coffin and his New York volunteers had been deployed south, where they saw considerable action in South Carolina and Georgia.

Commanders in Charleston had tasked Coffin with tracking down the rebels who had captured Captain Kienen the day before.  When Coffin’s provincials saw the enemy, they withdrew.  Armstrong’s patriot militia gave chase.  

The loyalist withdrawal had been an effort to draw the enemy into an ambush, which was successful.  Captain Armstrong’s men quickly found themselves being attacked from all sides by a larger force.  Armstrong charged at the enemy, but they did not break.  Armstrong’s company was cut down, with the men killed or captured.  Armstrong’s horse fell and a loyalist soldier took him prisoner.  The loyalist had to fight off several of his own comrades to keep them from killing Armstrong.  The following day, the loyalists exchanged Armstrong for the return of Captain Kienen.

Slaughter Field & Daufuskie Island

As 1781 was coming to an end, the active skirmishing only continued. On December 23, a small militia company under the command of Captain Benjamin Oden was camped in a field northwest of Blackville, about a day’s march from Orangeburg.  A group of loyalists attacked in a pre-dawn raid, killing sixteen men and forcing the rest to scatter.  The dead and dying were left in the field for several days, giving it the name Slaughter Field.  

Another terrible story of attacks and revenge was unfolding further to the south.  Near the southern tip of South Carolina, a local patriot militia held Hilton Head Island.  Just to the south on Daufuskie Island, a loyalist regiment held sway.

In late December, a group of loyalists under the command of Captain Philip Martinangel crossed the water over to Hilton Head to ambush a patriot militia officer, Captain Ambrose Davant.  The loyalists caught Devant riding near his plantation and shot him.  The wounded patriot was able to escape and ride to a neighbor’s plantation.  His wound was mortal and he soon died, but not before telling friends that Martinagel’s loyalists had shot him.

Davant’s friend Captain John Leacraft, organized a retaliatory raid.  His patriots crossed over to Daufuskie Island in search of Martinangel.  They found him on Christmas night in bed.  According to one account, Martinangel was sleeping with his infant daughter next to him.  They slit his throat, killing him without waking his daughter.  The daughter awoke later from the feel of her father’s blood all over her.  Her screams alerted the servants.  

Incidents like these were happening all over South Carolina.  Neighbors continued to attack neighbors often simply out of revenge.  Loyalists were becoming increasingly desperate, while patriots were looking to end the violence of those who refused to accept the patriot victory.

Johns Island 

Greene’s main army was still trying to tighten the noose even further on the British in Charleston itself.  Greene knew that the local skirmishing throughout the state would only end once the British were forced to abandon Charleston entirely.

Greene was still pushing to get an army large enough to take on Charleston directly, but in the meantime, focused on harassing British troops at the edges.

With Greene’s support, Colonels Laurens and Lee targeted Johns Island for their next attack.  The island sat just south of Charleston.  British ships protected the island.  James Craig and the 82nd of Foot, which had recently evacuated Wilmington, had been assigned to protect the island.  Craig had just received a promotion to lieutenant colonel and commanded a brigade of about 500 regulars and loyalists.  The British used the island primarily to graze horses, as well as cattle needed to feed the garrison in Charleston.

The patriots did not have boats to cross over onto the island, but determined that there were a couple of times each month when the tide was low enough at night that they could cross over through waist high water to get to the island.  The attack would be especially risky since the tide was only low enough for a few hours. The troops would have to cross, conduct their raid, then retreat back to the mainland before the water rose too high.  Otherwise, they would find themselves trapped on the island.

The raiding force planned to cross on the night of December 28. The men got into position, but discovered there was another large British force on James Island.  If the patriots attacked John’s Island, these reinforcements would leave them outnumbered and potentially trapped on the island.  In the end, Lee and Laurens called off the attack.

They would have to wait another two weeks for the tides low enough at the right time of night to try again. On the night of January 12, 1782, they made their second attempt. This time, the main army under General Greene was camped nearby.  It could cause a diversion in case the British tried to send reinforcements to John’s Island.

Laurens sent the first division under Lee’s command across the shallows at about 1:00 AM on the 13th.  As they crossed silently, they could hear British soldiers on nearby gunboats calling out “all’s safe.”  Laurens was supposed to oversee a second column under James Hamilton across the cut, but Hamilton’s division was missing.  They finally showed up over an hour later, with Hamilton informing Laurens that their guide had abandoned them and they got lost.  At this point, the tide was already beginning to rise.  In a few hours it would be light.  Lee’s division would be trapped on the island with too few men to engage the enemy.  Laurens again called off the attack and recalled Lee’s division to the mainland.

After this attempt, the leadership decided that a land crossing dependent on the tide simply would not work.  They decided they would have to attack with boats. To do that, they would need to drive off the British gunboats protecting the island.  Greene brought up artillery to fire on the boats the following day.  This resulted in a back and forth artillery duel, but the British boats refused to withdraw.

Hearing the artillery fire and fearing a full assault on the island, Colonel Craig opted to evacuate the island.  His regulars and militia evacuated the island as the gunboats dueld with the Continentals.  The following day, after the army had abandoned the island, the British gunboats also withdrew.

On the 15th, Laurens led a small force of cavalry and infantry onto the island, confirming the British camp had been abandoned. They managed to capture a few stragglers and a few supplies, but the enemy was gone.  They did attack one British schooner loaded with most of the regimental supplies, but after a brief firefight, the schooner escaped.

Craig ended up moving his regulars to James Island within cannon shot of Charleston itself.  With John’s Island abandoned, but too risky to hold, the Continentals also withdrew, leaving the island a no man’s land.

Videau’s Bridge 

To the north of Charleston, Greene relied on local militia to keep the British in check.  General Marion spread out the militia in small groups to cover the area.  Back in Charleston, British General Leslie believed that the small and scattered groups of militia would be vulnerable to attack.  He deployed Major William Brereton, a British regular officer in command of provincial troops. 

Brereton had come from an Irish family that had moved to England in the 1500’s.  His ancestor and namesake had been a courtier to Henry VIII.  His family had a long military tradition.  His father and uncles had all been officers.  One of his older brothers had been killed while serving under General Braddock at the battle of the Monongahela.

William had purchased his first commission at the age of 17 in 1769.  By the time the Revolution began, he was a captain of a grenadier company.  He served in the Philadelphia Campaign and purchased a promotion to major in April of 1781.  He was a highly experienced officer, as were the men who served under him.

Brereton led a brigade which included his own regiment of regulars, as well as several smaller regiments of loyalist provincials, including the mounted NY Provincials under Major John Coffin.  In all, Brereton had a force of about 360 men.  HIs men crossed from Charleston onto Daniel’s Island to the north, searching for forage and any enemy that cared to take on their forces.

In response, Militia Colonel Richard Richardson, Jr. led a local militia to confront the enemy.  Richardson’s father had been a prominent patriot who served in the government and also as a militia general.  Richardson, Sr. had been captured at Charleston when the British invaded in 1780.  After getting very ill, he was released on parole but died at home a few weeks later.  You may recall in an earlier episode, I mentioned that Banastre Tarleton dug up Richardson’s body and desecrated it in an attempt to goad the patriots.

His son, Colonel Richard Richardson, Jr. had some experience, and was also working with a brigade of militia that had not fought together much as a unit.  When he learned of the enemy’s advance on Daniel Island, He called on General Marion to send reinforcements. Marion sent a regiment of South Carolina Dragoons to assist.  In total, Richardson’s militia force totaled about 400 men, a bit larger than the enemy he faced.

On January 3, the British were camped at the Brabant Plantation, the home of the Reverend Robert Smith.  Aware that rebel militia might be in the area, Major Brereton deployed a guard at nearby Videau’s Bridge, one of the main approaches to the plantation.

Richardson approached the bridge in an attempt to reconnoiter the enemy.  The British pickets spotted him and tried to apprehend him.  Richardson fled back to his army, with the loyalist provincials following closely behind.  Once he reached his own lines, he wheeled around his horse and ordered his men to charge.  The South Carolina Dragoons charged forward, forcing the provincials to withdraw back to Videau’s Bridge.

There, Major Coffin led a counter charge with his provincial cavalry.  Many of the patriot militia scattered and ran.  Some remained but were outnumbered and cut down.  As the patriot militia fled, the provincials pursued them, chasing the soldiers for about six miles in a running battle.  Afraid that they would be drawn too far away from their lines, the provincials gave up the chase and returned.

At the end of the day the Americans lost 9 killed, 6 wounded, and 15 missing.  The British reported 4 killed, 14 wounded, and 1 captured.  With the American militia scattered, the British continued their foraging.  

A week and a half later, the provincial militia under Major Coffin had ridden further inland, back to Dorchester, the site of another skirmish about six weeks earlier that I discussed last week.  Coffin’s horsemen managed to surprise a small patrol of Continental Dragoons under the command of Lieutenant John Kelly.  

Taken by surprise, Kelly surrendered along with seven of his men.  Coffin brought them back to Charleston as prisoners.  This is sometimes known as the second battle of Dorchester, although there did not seem to be much, if any, fighting on that day.

Lull in the fighting

The British did not remain in the field much longer.  They returned to Charleston.  Because they had lost so much grazing land, General Leslie ordered the destruction of 200 horses that they could no longer feed.  

Similarly, the patriots were also finding it difficult to feed horses.  Around this same time, South Carolina Governor Rutledge ordered the state troops and militia to send home their horses, as the state would no longer pay to feed them.  This led to many of the militia going home as well, since the men did not want to fight on foot.

With both sides running so low on supplies, the skirmishing seemed to slow down for the next few weeks.  This lull in fighting also coincided with the return of civil government to South Carolina.  In late 1781, the state had held new legislative elections.  The new legislature met in early 1782 to put in place new policies for the state.  

And I will discuss that more next week, as the legislature handles several important issues for the future of the state.

- - -

Next Episode 304 Return of SC Government (Available March 24, 2024)

Previous Episode 302 Cloud's Creek Massacre

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Further Reading

Websites

Barnwell, Robert Woodward Loyalism in South Carolina, 1765-1785, Ph.D. Thesis, Duke University, 1941. 

Crow, Jeffrey (ed) The Southern Experience in the American Revolution, Univ. of NC Press, 1978.

Landrum, John Colonial and Revolutionary History of Upper South Carolina, Greenville, SC: Shannon & Co. 1897 

McCrady, Edward The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783, New York: The Macmillan Co. 1902.  

Ramsay, David The History of the Revolution of South-Carolina, from a British province to an independent state, 1749-1815, Vol. 2, Trenton: Isaac Collins, 1785. 

Simms, William G. The Life of Francis Marion, New York, Derby, 1854. 


Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Bass, Robert D. Gamecock: The Life And Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter, Holt, Rinehart and Winston, 1961 (Read on Archive.org). 

Buchanan, John The Road to Charleston, Univ. of Va. Press, 2019. 

Massey, Gregory D. John Laurens and the American Revolution, Univ. of SC Press,  2000 (borrow on archive.org). 

O’Kelley, Patrick Nothing But Blood and Slaughter: The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, Vol 3, 1781, Booklocker, 2005. 

Oller, John The Swamp Fox: How Francis Marion Saved the American Revolution, Da Capo Press, 2016. 

Pancake, John S. This Destructive war: The British Campaign in the Carolinas, 1780-1782, Univ. of Alabama Press, 1985 (borrow on archive.org).

Weigley, Russell Frank The Partisan War: The South Carolina Campaign of 1780-1782, Columbia: Univ of South Carolina Press, 1970 (borrow on archive.org). 

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sunday, March 10, 2024

ARP302 Cloud's Creek Massacre


Last week, we covered some of the violence between patriot and loyalist militias in North Carolina as the last British soldiers evacuated that state.  This week, we turn to South Carolina.

Leslie Commands Charleston

Around the time of Yorktown, General Clinton sent General Alexander Leslie to take command of the British army at Charleston.  The 50 year old general came from an old Scottish family. He was named after his ancestor who had fought as a leading officer in the English Civil War.  

Gen. Alexander Leslie
General Leslie had served in America for 14 years, and was already serving in Boston when the war began. Like many, he was sick of the war by 1781, and made multiple requests to General Clinton to return home to Britain.  Leslie had served in the Carolinas under General Cornwallis.  Clinton had ordered him to go to Virginia in 1780. But after only a few weeks there, Cornwallis sent orders for him to bring his force down to Charleston.  This was shortly after Cornwallis has lost his loyalist militia at King’s Mountain and he desperately needed reinforcements.

After Guilford Courthouse, Leslie returned to New York for health reasons.  Leslie remained in New York during the Yorktown Campaign but with the loss of Cornwallis’ army at Yorktown, the southern theater needed a new commander.  Clinton sent Leslie to Charleston, where he arrived on November 8, 1781. 

Leslie’s orders were to protect as many British outposts as possible. But by this time, there was little to protect other than the forces right around Charleston and Savannah.  Leslie almost immediately ordered the evacuation of Wilmington, which we covered last week.  He planned no offensive operations, instead worrying about defending and feeding his army, and the many thousands of loyalist refugees in and around Charleston.

Bloody Bill Cunningham

The tactical decision by the British at Charleston to remain hunkered down did not reduce the violence or brutality that continued to take place between loyalist and patriot militia groups throughout the Carolinas.  Loyalists found themselves increasingly vulnerable and fought back whenever they could.

One of the most prominent loyalists in the field in the fall of 1781 was William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham, who stood out for his brutality in an already brutal war between South Carolinians.  Cunningham grew up near Ninety-Six in western South Carolina.  It was a loyalist community. Many of his cousins were key loyalist organizers when the war broke out.  His cousin Robert Cunningham refused to sign an early truce with the patriots in South Carolina in 1776, and continued to fight until caught and imprisoned.

Despite his loyalist family and community, William joined a patriot militia when the war began.  He fought well in the Cherokee campaign.  His company also battled against loyalists, which included fighting his own cousin, Patrick. 

Different sources give different reasons for his decision to abandon the patriot cause and join the loyalists.  According to one source, William committed some infraction, went before a court martial and was whipped for his offense.  After this, he deserted his company and fled to the loyalist stronghold in East Florida.  According to another source, Cunningham was denied a promised promotion when his militia was reactivated in June, 1776.  Cunningham, at first refused to turn out for duty. When he did, had a bad attitude and tried to resign.  For this, he was arrested and whipped, then discharged.  He then fled to Savannah, Georgia.

Whatever the exact details, there was obviously some personal conflict and problem that caused Cunningham to change sides.  These appeared to be for non-ideological purposes.

Cunningham remained gone for two years.  During this time, a group of patriots led by Captain William Ritchie kicked his father out of the family home due to loyalist sympathies.  The patriots also murdered his invalid brother.  Cunningham knew Ritchie.  The two had served together in the patriot militia. In 1778, Cunningham returned from his exile.  He rode up to Ritchie’s house, confronted him in front of his family, then shot and killed him.  After that, Cunningham disappeared again for another two years.

In 1780, when the British took Charleston, Cunningham joined his cousin’s loyalist regiment and fought at the battle of King’s Mountain.  Like many loyalists there, he was taken prisoner, but managed to escape while being marched to prison.  He returned to active duty and received a commission as captain in the loyalist militia.

In October of 1781, Cunningham received a promotion to major and was continuing the stuggle in a loyalist militia army under the command of his cousin General Robert Cunningham.  

Bloody Scout

Word of the British loss at Yorktown had caused the British forces in South Carolina to withdraw mostly back to Charleston.  But for the local loyalists were were ready to fight to the death, the conflict became even more desperate.

On November 6, a loyalist militia fighting alongside Chickamauga Indians raided western settlements near modern day Spartanburg.  Captain William Bates commanded the loyalists.  War Chief Dragging Canoe led the Chickamauga.  I’ve mentioned Dragging Canoe in earlier episodes.  He had a particularly brutal reputation in the frontier battles in what is today Tennessee.

Locals fled to Fort Gowan, which offered some protection.  But as the fort’s defenders ran out of ammunition, they surrendered on the condition that the loyalists protect them from the Indians.  Captain Bates agreed.  As soon as the fort surrendered and opened its gates, Bates ordered his forces to kill everyone.  Almost all the civilians were murdered.  A few were taken as prisoners to be taken to Indian camps, where they would be tortured and then burned at the stake.  One of the few survivors was a woman who was scalped and left for dead at the fort, but managed to survive.  Sadly, the Fort Gowan massacre was not an isolated incident.

A day after the Fort Gowan Massacre, about 80 miles south near Cloud’s Creek, a group of loyalists Headed by Captain Neely Cargill captured three patriots at the home of a local militia captain.  The loyalists simply marched their prisoners to a nearby swamp and executed them.  In response, two patriots militias under Captain Solomon Pope and Captain James Butler tracked down Cargill’s loyalists and executed all of them.

Just over a week later, Captain Butler and Captain Sterling Turner encountered a loyalist foraging party under Colonel Hezekiah William who were trying to steal some cattle. Neither group could get the upper hand, but eventually agreed that the loyalists could leave if they returned the stolen cattle.  During the firefight the patriots had managed to kill a loyalist, Captain William Radcliff.

Bloody Bill Cunningham was a friend of Radcliff’s and vowed revenge.  By this time, Cunningham was riding with a large force of loyalist militia.  Accounts differ on the size, but some accounts say he had a force of about 300 men.

The day after the attack that had killed Radcliff, the patriot force of about 30  encamped near Clouds Creek, at the home of a family named Carter.  A hard rain had made the men miserable and got most of their powder wet.  The men took shelter in the Carter house.

Cunningham’s loyalist force of about 300 attacked them and surrounded the home. A brief firefight began but the patriots asked for terms.  As the two sides were discussing terms, a patriot shot and killed one of Cunningham’s loyalists.  With that fighting resumed.

Eventually, the patriots ran out of ammunition and agreed to surrender.  After disarming their prisoners, Cunningham and the loyalists put all of them to the sword.  Only two or three patriots survived.  One of them was a man named Benjamin Hughes who managed to dive into the creek and hide under some driftwood during a cattle stampede that had distracted the enemy.  The other was a man named Bledsoe. It is not clear why they didn’t kill him, it’s possible they thought Bledsoe was a loyalist sympathizer.  After they split the skull of Bledsoe’s friend as he stood next to him, Bledsoe appeared to have some sort of breakdown and, according to others, was never right in the head again.  Several of the prisoners were beheaded.  Others were tortured before being killed.

The massacre at Cloud’s Creek was only the beginning of a rampage for Cunningham, which became known as the Bloody Scout.  

The following day, Cunningham tracked down a former loyalist officer, John Trowles, who had begun collaborating with the patriots.  He executed the man in front of his wife and son.  Later that day, Cunningham visited the blacksmith shop of the man’s brother.  After allowing the man to re-shoe his horses, he then murdered the blacksmith, his son, and a slave who worked in the shop.  After burning all the buildings, Cunningham’s men rode on.  Over the next few days they loyalists tracked down more men who they deemed to be collaborators, executing them and burning their homes.  Several of the victims were in beds recovering from wounds and unable to defend themselves.

The loyalists next found a small group of patriot militia at the home of their Colonel Joseph Hayes.  The patriots defended themselves but then surrendered after Cunningham set the house on fire.  After the surrender, witnesses say that Cunningham personally murdered every prisoner.

A few weeks later, on December 7, a smaller group from Cunningham’s force under Captain John Crawford attacked General Andrew Pickens’ blockhouse and captured a convoy of patriot wagons.  Some of the patriot guards were able to flee, but the loyalists burned the wagons and took several prisoners.  Among them was John Pickens, the brother of General Andrew Pickens.  The loyalists rode their prisoners back to the Cherokee nation, where they tortured and murdered the prisoners.  Pickens, as the brother of a patriot general was singled out for a particularly brutal torture.

The day following his brothers’ capture, General Pickens took personal command of the militia army that was tasked with tracking down Cunningham’s marauders.  They came across a camp of twenty loyalists who were all slaughtered.  Cunningham had spread out his force so that the attack on the first camp alerted the others to flee.

Cunningham personally fled into the swamps and escaped. Eventually Cunningham was able to make his way back to Charleston.  According to some accounts, Cunningham had executed a total of 79 men during his rampage.

Greene Returns to the Field

While provincial and loyalist militia battled it out, Continentals General Nathanael Greene was focused on Charleston.  Following the Battle of Eutaw Springs in September, the army returned to the high hills of Santee.  Greene was focused on putting together an army to confront the British at Charleston.  

That was going to prove difficult  The main Continental force was focused on Yorktown at the time.  All men and resources that might have been used on South Carolina were being redirected to Virginia. On top of that, the small army that Greene did have was struck hard with malaria, putting the vast majority of his men out of commission.

Washington sent Greene more Continental reinforcements under the command of General Arthur St. Clair.  The reinforcements were supposed to include a few regiments of regulars from Virginia.  However, even after Yorktown, Virginia state officials were still afraid of another attack.  They refused to allow the Virginia Continentals to leave the state, and even recalled many of the Virginians who were with Greene at the time.  As a result, Greene ended up without many more men than he had before St. Clair arrived.

Greene did get some more assistance locally.  Before Eutaw Springs, he had called on the Overmountain men to return to the fight.  Although they did not march in time to particpate at Eutaw Springs, they finally did arrive in late October 1781.  John Sevier brought several companies of riflemen to Greene’s Camp as did Isaac Shelby.   Greene sent these men to fight support Francis Marion’s militia efforts around Charleston.

Fairlawn

The British still maintained a series of outposts within a 35 mile radius of Charleston.  These outposts were critical toward the collection of forage, and still protected a great number of loyalist families, many of whom had settled there after being forced to leave their homes that were under patriot control.

Colonel Marion spent the late fall trying to harass these outposts and look for weaknesses.  They were also trying to track down and kill Bloody Bill Cunningham and his men during this time.  In mid-November, about 400 militia, made up mostly of the men that Shelby and Sevier had recently brought.  This brigade targeted the Fairlawn Plantation, part of the British force near Monck’s Corner. 

The plantation house itself was a large brick building that had been converted into a fort.  It was surrounded by abatis and other defenses.  Although the fort contained only about 50 British regulars, Maham determined that a direct assault on the house without artillery would be too costly.  

Instead, they destroyed the plantation’s outbuildings as the small loyalist garrison inside the main house watched.  When the militia attacked the plantation on the morning of November 17, they were primarily concerned with capturing loyalist horsemen that were acting as scouts and foraging patrols for the British, as well as seeking the recapture of escaped slaves that had fled into the British lines.

The patriots did not find the cavalry or slaves they were seeking.  They did find that one of the outbuildings, known as the Colleton House, was being used as a British hospital.  Many of the wounded there were recovering from wounds incurred at the battle of Eutaw Springs.  When the patriot cavalry arrived, the medical staff put up no resistance and surrendered immediately.  

Maham’s men took prisoners of about 300 wounded patients and medical staff.  About half of the patients were well enough to ride and were taken as prisoners.  The medical staff, along with the other half of prisoners who could not ride, were paroled and allowed to remain onsite.  The patients who were paroled and remained were removed from the house so that the patriots could burn it. The militia also captured about 300 muskets on the site.

The British, under General Alexander Stewart, got word of the raid, and set out after Maham’s patriots that same day. But the militia rode all the way back to Greene’s camp, about fifty miles away, riding all night to arrive the following morning.

The British protested to General Greene about burning a hospital and leaving the seriously wounded outside, where many died.  After an inquiry, Greene seemed to concede that burning the hospital, which Maham believed necessary to destroy all the British supplies held there, was probably not appropriate. Greene, however, also pushed back at British criticism, given the terrible treatment of American prisoners in British hands in Charleston.

Following the raid, General Leslie in Charleston ordered the garrison to abandon the post at Fairlawn, and pulled back many of the other British outposts closer to Charleston, where the main British force could support them within a few hours if needed.

Dorchester

Following the pullback, one of the most distant outposts remaining was at Dorchester, about 19 miles from Charleston.  The main British army that had fought at Eutaw Springs under Colonel Alexander Stewart was camped there.  Stewart was still away recovering from his wounds, so the command fell to Major John Doyle.  The British camp had about 850 regulars and provincial soldiers.

General Greene moved the main Continental Army out of the High Hills of Santee in November, looking for an opportunity to attack the British.  The bulk of the Continental Army set up camp at the Round O Plantation, about  35 miles west of Charleston.  A pretty large portion of his army was sick with malaria. They were also still guarding several hundred prisoners from Eutaw Springs.

Greene left the bulk of the army there and rode out with a reconnaissance party of about 200 cavalry and 200 infantry toward the British position at Dorchester.  

Greene advanced on the British position at Dorchester.  On December 1, an American advance force under Colonel Wade Hampton ran into an enemy reconnaissance party of about 50 cavalry from Dorchester.  A brief fight took place with about ten killed and twenty wounded.  The British horsemen retreated back to Dorchester to alert the main army there.

Although the British outnumbered the Americans by more than 2-1, Greene continued to advance on the fort with his 400 men.  The British commander, Major Doyle identified Greene among the officers leading the column toward him.  Doyle believed that Greene’s presence meant that the whole Continental Army was coming up behind him.

Based on that, Doyle ordered the destruction of the fort’s stores and dumped many of their guns in a nearby river.  Doyle knew the enemy needed supplies and wanted to make sure they did not get his.  After dark the British abandoned the fort and marched to within five miles of Charleston.

The following morning, Greene’s army entered the abandoned fort and recovered two artillery pieces.  The enemy was gone and most of the supplies were destroyed.

Colonel Stewart learned of the withdrawal of his forces from Dorchester.  He was well enough, at this point, to ride out and take command again. Stewart planned to advance and take on the Continentals.  

Before he could, though, Greene withdrew.  Greene’s men were without blankets, and he was down to less than four rounds of ammunition per man.  Until he could get more supplies, he could not engage in a major clash with the enemy.

Greene deployed Colonel Hampton’s dragoons to keep open the lines of communication with Colonel Marion’s militia army.  He also deployed Light Horse Harry Lee’s cavalry to prevent any British reconnaissance parties from discovering just how small a force Greene really had with him.  Even after Greene withdrew to the Round O Plantation to link up with his main army, he had only about 800 men ready for action, and still had no ammunition.

Fortunately for the patriots, Lee’s efforts were effective.  A few weeks later, General Leslie wrote to Lord Germain in London, about the frustration over the quality of his cavalry, and that he could get no good intelligence about the enemy.

Leslie also wrote “It is with much sorrow that I am obliged to inform your Lordship of the almost total revolt of this Province, since our misfortune in Virginia many persons in whom we placed confidence have abandoned us.”  In short, the British commander seemed to believe that British influence in South Carolina was coming to an end.

Next week, the fight for South Carolina continues with a series of skirmishes around Charleston.  Also, General Thomas Sumter and Colonel John Laurens also return to the fight.

- - -

Next Episode 303 Return of SC Government (Available March 17, 2024)

Previous Episode 301 Evacuation of Wilmington

 Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

 Follow the podcast on Twitter @AmRevPodcast

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Further Reading

Websites

William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham https://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/loyalist_leaders_sc_william_cunningham.html

Waters, Andrew “William ‘Bloody Bill’ Cunningham and the Bloody Scout” Journal of the American Revolution, July 8, 2021: https://allthingsliberty.com/2021/07/william-blood-bill-cunningham-and-the-bloody-scout

Incident at Fair Lawn Plantation: https://www.southern-campaigns.org/wp-content/uploads/2021/09/Fair-Lawn-Raid-v.1.5.pdf

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Biographical Sketch of the Career of Major Wm. CunninghamThe Southern and Western Literary Messenger and Review, 1846-09: Vol 12, Sept. 1846. 

Biographical Sketch of the Career of Major Wm. Cunningham, continued” The Southern and Western Literary Messenger and Review, 1846-10, Vol. 12, Oct. 1846: 

Barnwell, Robert Woodward Loyalism in South Carolina, 1765-1785, Ph.D. Thesis, Duke University, 1941. 

Crow, Jeffrey (ed) The Southern Experience in the American Revolution, Univ. of NC Press, 1978.

Landrum, John Colonial and Revolutionary History of Upper South Carolina, Greenville, SC: Shannon & Co. 1897 

McCrady, Edward The History of South Carolina in the Revolution, 1780-1783, New York: The Macmillan Co. 1902.  

Ramsay, David The History of the Revolution of South-Carolina, from a British province to an independent state, 1749-1815, Vol. 2, Trenton: Isaac Collins, 1785. 

Simms, William G. The Life of Francis Marion, New York, Derby, 1854. 


Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Ferling, John Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021. 

O’Kelley, Patrick Nothing But Blood and Slaughter: The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, Vol 3, 1781, Booklocker, 2005. 

Pancake, John S. This Destructive war: The British Campaign in the Carolinas, 1780-1782, Univ. of Alabama Press, 1985 (borrow on archive.org).

Buchanan, John The Road to Charleston, Univ. of Va Press, 2019. 

Weigley, Russell Frank The Partisan War: The South Carolina Campaign of 1780-1782, Columbia: Univ of South Carolina Press, 1970 (borrow on archive.org). 

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.


Sunday, March 3, 2024

301 Evacuation of Wilmington


Last week, General Cornwallis surrendered his army at Yorktown, marking the last major campaign of the American Revolution.  At the time, however, no one knew that this would be the final campaign. The main British army remained in New York.  Another army held Charleston, South Carolina.  British soldiers continued to hold other coastal towns.

Steps After Yorktown

The day after the surrender, George Washington sent Admiral de Grasse a message proposing that the combined forces move south to Charleston and take out the British garrison there.  Washington believed they could take Charleston in two months and that this would destroy the last hope of a British comeback.

The French admiral had already overstayed his time in North America.  It was already late October, 1781, and he had planned to return to the West Indies by this time.  That was his primary military mission.  In order to ensure there was no last ditch effort by a British fleet to retake Yorktown and rescue Cornwallis’ army, de Grasse remained off the coast of Virginia for about two weeks.  He proposed assistance by sailing Lafayette’s division down to Wilmington, North Carolina, to take out the loyalist stronghold there.  But in the end rejected doing even that.

When de Grasse told Washington that he was returning to the West Indies without engaging in any more actions in North America, Washington requested that he at least consider returning in the spring for another campaign. The admiral would not make any commitments, replaying that his poor health prevented him from making any plans for the following year.

With the departure of the French fleet in early November and the removal of the British prisoners inland, Washington’s army left Yorktown. Rochambeau’s French Army would remain in Williamsburg over the winter.  Washington deployed a few Continental regiments south to join up with Nathanael Greene in South Carolina.  The bulk of the Continental Army marched north, back to the area around New York City to continue challenging the British presence there.

On his way back, Washington, along with his wife Martha, stopped at the home of his brother-in-law to visit his stepson Jack Custis, who was recovering from camp fever that had afflicted so many on the Yorktown campaign.  Custis died while his parents were visiting.  Washington took a grieving Martha back to Mount Vernon, where they mourned the death of her only remaining child.  The rest of the Continental Army marched north without their commander.  After a week, the Washingtons left Mount Vernon for Philadelphia to confer with Congress.  After that, he moved to his new headquarters in Newburgh, New York.

Major James Craig

As I mentioned, Washington had hoped to deploy General Lafayette to take the British outpost at Wilmington, North Carolina, with the assistance of the French fleet.

Major James Craig
The actual British presence in Wilmington consisted of a single regiment, the 82nd of foot under Major James Craig.  The commander came from a Scottish family and had been an officer since his commission as an ensign in the army in 1763 at age 15.  In 1774, Lieutenant Craig transferred to America.  A year later, he was wounded in the assault at Bunker Hill.  After his recovery, he transferred with his regiment to Quebec, taking part in the invasion of New York.  He was wounded twice during that campaign before surrendering with the rest of the army at Saratoga.  The son of a judge, Captain Craig also served as judge advocate under Burgoyne and helped negotiate the surrender terms.

His notable leadership led General Burgoyne to recommend his promotion to major and given command of the 82nd regiment.  Craig spent some time recovering from battlefield injuries. His regiment spent a couple of years in Canada, where he primarily presided over court martials. before being brought to the Carolinas following the British occupation of Charleston in 1780.

Shortly after his arrival in Charleston in January, 1781, General Cornwallis ordered Major Craig to occupy Wilmington.  The town served as a British supply base, collecting food from the surrounding region to ship to the British garrison at Charleston.

At Wilmington, Craig actively built up defenses for his regiment.  He sent patrols into the surrounding region, seizing supplies and arresting suspected patriot leaders, as well as confiscating their property.   After Cornwallis fought at Guilford Courthouse, his army took shelter at Wilmington for several weeks, before marching north to Virginia.  The British leadership saw Craig as an active and capable officer. The patriots came to despise him as a cruel and brutal opponent.

Loyalist David Fanning

Many loyalists joined Craig at Wilmington, strengthening the British position. Among these was the loyalist David Fanning. Orphaned at a young age, Fanning grew up in Virginia, before moving to western South Carolina a few years before the war began.  He enlisted in a loyalist regiment when the war began and initially served as sergeant.  He fought in several early skirmishes between loyalist and patriot militia in the state, and was captured several times.  During much of the early war years, when southern loyalists were trying to lay low, Fanning was either commanding loyalist militia in the field, or in hiding from patriot militia, or a prisoner.

In 1779, he accepted a pardon from Governor Rutledge and returned home.  Less than a year later, the British captured Charleston.  Fanning once again took command of a loyalist militia and set about attacking patriot strongholds.  Following the patriot victory at King Mountain in late 1780, Fanning had to leave South Carolina.  He lived quietly in North Carolina until General Cornwallis moved into the state.  Once again, Fanning recruited loyalist militia and fought against the patriots.

When the British Army retreated to Wilmington after Guilford Courthouse, Fanning maintained an inland base at Cox Mill, near Charlotte.  Major Craig granted him a commission in July, 1781 as colonel of loyalist militia.  On that authority, Fanning collected a force of 22 loyalist companies from the surrounding region.  Rather than keep his force together, he typically rode with a few dozen men who could strike hard and move quickly.  His men attacked the homes of patriots, captured and destroyed enemy supplies and skirmished with the patriot militia.

One of his first missions after gaining his commission in July was to attack a patriot court martial that was trying several loyalists who were likely to be executed.  Fanning rescued the prisoners, and took 56 prisoners of his own, including court officials and patriot militia officers.  Over the course of the summer and early fall, he fought dozens of skirmishes with the patriot militia, as the patriots were increasingly taking control of North Carolina. 

Hillsborough

By September, 1781, Fanning found his loyalist militia had grown to nearly 1000 men.  Despite the fact that the British army had largely abandoned North Carolina, the loyalists had faith in Fanning’s ability to fight and lead.  He was joined by several other loyalist militias, increasing his army to well over a thousand.

After conferring with Major Craig in Wilmington, Fanning took the bulk of his militia army on a new mission.  In June, the patriots had elected a new Governor of North Carolina, Thomas Burke. Governor Burke had set up in Hillsborough.  Burke was focused on establishing patriot rule in the state and wiping out loyalist militias like those under Fanning.  

Colonel Fanning set out in September to capture the new governor.  Because many of his new volunteers did not have arms, Fanning took the 600 or so who were armed and marched on Hillsborough.  After a night march, his loyalists arrived at Hillsborough early in the morning on September 12.  He divided his men into three divisions and surrounded the town.  

Fanning’s men surrounded the Governor's mansion, where the Governor and his aides were mounting an armed defense.  Fanning called for a parley and assured the governor that if he surrendered, his life and those of his aides would be spared.  The governor surrendered and was taken prisoner.  There was a small contingent of Continentals in the town who set up a defense inside a barricaded church.  These were newly enlisted Continentals without much training or experience.  They also eventually surrendered after a brief firefight.

Fanning also released thirty loyalist prisoners being held in the Hillsborough jail.  These men had been condemned to death and expected to be hanging from a gallows later that day.

By 9:00 AM, Fanning’s loyalists had secured the town, taking over 200 prisoners, including the governor, the city council as well as the Continental soldiers and militia.  In the fight to capture the town they had killed 15 and wounded another 20.  The loyalists suffered only one man wounded.

After securing the town, the loyalist militia looted some homes and got drunk on a great deal of liquor that they discovered in town.  Colonel Fanning had to restore order in his army and was able to leave town by about 2:00 PM.  Fanning feared that patriot militia in the area would engage in a counter attack.  He marched his army back toward Cox Mill, although some of the loyalist militia who were too drunk to keep up with the column as it withdrew were captured by patriot militia who pursued the column.

Lindley’s Mill

Fanning was correct that the patriots would come after him.  North Carolina Militia General John Butler got word of the loyalist attack on Hillsborough and the capture of the governor. He assembled a patriot militia that hoped to catch Fanning’s column as it withdrew and to free the governor and other top officials.

Butler was an experienced leader who had fought in several battles, including Camden and Guilford Courthouse.  He remained in North Carolina with his militia when the Continentals under Nathanael Greene moved into South Carolina.

On September 13, the day after the raid on Hillsborough, Butler’s patriot militia set up an ambush at a ford across Cane Creek, near Lindley’s Mill.  When the head of Fanning’s loyalists began to cross the ford, Butler’s patriots fired a volley into the enemy.  

Hearing the gunfire, Colonel Fanning secured his prisoners to the rear and galloped forward to take command of the fight.  As his men engaged the patriots, he sent another contingent around behind the enemy to strike them from the rear.

Even after getting attacked on two sides, the patriot militia under Butler maintained their fire. Fanning was shot in the arm and had to turn over command to Colonel Archibald McDugald. The battle continued for several hours before the patriots finally withdrew.  

The battle was exceptionally bloody.  With just over 1000 men engaged, casualty rates totaled over 250.  There are no good records of the casualties, and most of these men were militia in civilian clothing, so it is not clear how many men were lost on each side.

Livingston’s Creek

Colonel McDugald continued to lead the loyalists.  The column moved more slowly since they were carrying a large number of wounded, and many of the horsemen had lost their horses in the battle and were traveling on foot.  The following morning the patriots attacked the column again, but this was a much smaller group of less than two dozen men, who were quickly dispersed.

On September 23, about ten days after the skirmish at Lindley’s Mill, a group of patriot militia struck the column again - still attempting to free Governor Burke and the other prisoners taken at Hillsborough. The loyalists fell back into defensive lines near Hammond’s Creek Bridge.  The bulk of the loyalists fought a delaying action while Colonel McDugald marched the prisoners toward Wilmington.  

As the loyalists reached Livingston’s Creek, they encountered another column of infantry marching toward them from the other direction.  It turned out that Major Craig had received word of Burke’s capture and personally marched out with a detachment of regulars to provide support.  A group of fifty patriot horsemen attacked the group, but withdrew in the face of Craig’s regulars.  The British pursued the horsemen for a few miles before running into a defensive position on the road, controlled by 200 patriots from the militia army under John Butler  Although the British were outnumbered, they charged the defenses, and forced the militia to run away.  With that, Craig was able to get his column and his prisoners back to Wilmington.

Bear Swamp

A few weeks later, Fanning’s loyalists captured a patriot named James Harding.  After being brought back to Fanning’s camp as a prisoner, Harding convinced the loyalist colonel that he was a loyalist himself and had been looking for an opportunity to escape from the patriots.

After several days in camp Harding informed Fanning of a company of militia camped nearby on Deep River.  Harding offered to meet with the militia and lead them into a loyalist ambush.  After doing so, Harding returned and rode with Fanning’s loyalists to the ambush site.  

As it turned out, Harding was still a patriot. He had informed the militia commander that he would lead the loyalists into a patriot ambush.  At the site, Harding gave a signal and dashed toward the patriots hidden in the woods.  The patriots fired a volley, killing and wounding several loyalist horsemen.  Fanning and the bulk of his column escaped.

Wilmington

Loyalists had hoped that Governor Burke’s capture would break the patriot spirit and inspire popular opinion to believe that the loyalists could control North Carolina.  In fact, the incident had the opposite impact as more patriot militia turned out to fight.

In addition to General John Butler, another military leader had recently returned to the state.  General Griffith Rutherford had been a militia officer in North Carolina for over twenty years and also served in the colonial legislature.  He fought the regulator movement before the war, and was an experienced Indian fighter against the Cherokee. He was a firm patriot who began war against the loyalists in the Snow Campaign of 1775.  Rutherford had led his militia in the battles taking place in South Carolina and Georgia.  In 1780, he called out his militia army to fight under Horatio Gates at Camden. 

Although many soldiers fled the field and Camden, Rutherford did not.  He fought until the enemy shot him in the leg.  Another soldier slashed his head with a saber.  Rutherford survived his wounds, but was taken prisoner.  He spent time in a Charleston prison before being moved to St. Augustine in East Florida.  

In June, 1781, Rutherford was exchanged.  The British delivered him to Philadelphia.  He returned to North Carolina to find that the loyalists had stripped everything of value from his plantation.  Shortly thereafter, he began planning a campaign to recapture Wilmington.  

Following the battle of Lindley’s Mill, Rutherford called out the militia for a campaign to recapture Wilmington.  Within two weeks, he had a militia army of 1100 men under his command.  His forces joined with the smaller militia army under General Butler, giving a combined army of about 1400 by early October.

The army overran a loyalist outpost at Rockfish Creek on October 15.  The loyalists, who numbered between 300 and 600, fell back.  They made a stand nearby on a hill that covered the road out of Raft Swamp.  The loyalists disassembled the bridge so that the enemy could not approach quickly.  

A division of patriot dragoons under the command of Major Joseph Graham rode up to the bridge.  Although the bridge was disable, they found they could easily ford the swampy land and charged the loyalist lines.  The surprised loyalists fired one volley, then broke and ran. The patriot horsemen ran them down, cutting the fleeing loyalists to pieces with sabers.  A few dozen loyalists paused for a delaying action that allowed many others to escape. The patriots killed most of these defenders before they also fled into the nearby swamp, where the patriots would not follow.  This was the last significant opposition before all the loyalists withdrew into Wilmington.

That same day, Colonel Fanning felt sufficiently recovered from his wound at Lindley’s mill to gather about 170 mounted loyalists near Brush Creek.  The patriots had been trying to hunt down Fanning, who had been in hiding since his injury.  

Fanning received word that a division of 600 militia were marching on his position.  Some of his loyalists fled, fearing they would be overrun.  Fanning formed the rest into two defensive lines and prepared to receive the enemy.  It’s not clear how many enemy engaged in this fight, but it resulted in a firefight of about an hour, during which the loyalists lost three killed and three wounded. The patriots had one killed and several wounded before pulling back.  

At that point, Fanning expected the enemy would regroup and return in greater numbers.  His men dispersed and made their way up into the Uwharrie Mountains.

The militia concentrated at Brown Marsh, about 50 miles from Wilmington, to prepare for an assault on the town.  Acting Governor Alexander Martin, who replaced Thomas Burke, addressed the army and encouraged them to expel the remaining British and loyalist forces from the state.  On October 23, Rutherford deployed the bulk of his mounted militia, about 300 men, to the southwest side of Cape Fear while the larger army of militia marched on foot to assault Wilmington from the north.

In Wilmington, Major Craig had his regiment of regulars, along with a loyalist army that was ready to fight the oncoming army.  He was confident, not only that he could defend the city, but was prepared to mount an offensive against the patriot militia if he could just get more supplies from Charleston.  Instead, word arrived from Alexander Leslie, the new British commander at Charleston that General Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown and that Craig should evacuate his army in Wilmington by ship and sail to Charleston.

Craig was not happy about the orders.  He had sufficient ships for his soldiers, but would have to leave behind a great many loyalists and civilians who would suffer the wrath of the patriots.  The final evacuation took several weeks.  Craig spiked the cannons that he could not take with him and burned tons of supplies to deny them to the enemy. On November 17, Light Horse Harry Lee arrived to inform the militia of the British surrender at Yorktown.  By this time the militia army under Rutherford was camped only four miles from Wilmington. 

As the American militia entered Wilmington on the morning of November 18, They were able to skirmish with the last company of regulars as they were boarding transport ships.  The British finally boarded the last transports, which carried them out of the city, down toward Cape Fear and the Atlantic as patriot militia advanced into the city in time to watch the ships sail away.

The evacuation of Wilmington ended the British presence in North Carolina.  

Next week, we will take a look at the continuing war in South Carolina.

- - -

Next Episode 302 Cloud's Creek Massacre (available March 10, 2024)

Previous Episode 300 Surrender at Yorktown

 Contact me via email at mtroy.history@gmail.com

 Follow the podcast on Twitter @AmRevPodcast

 Join the Facebook group, American Revolution Podcast 

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American Revolution Podcast Merch!

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American Revolution Podcast is distributed 100% free of charge. If you can chip in to help defray my costs, I'd appreciate whatever you can give.  Make a one time donation through my PayPal account. You may also donate via Venmo (@Michael-Troy-20) or Zelle (send to mtroy1@yahoo.com)


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Further Reading

Websites

Rosenbert, Chaim M. “James Henry Craig: The Pocket Hercules” Journal of the American Revolution, Oct. 20, 2017: https://allthingsliberty.com/2017/10/james-henry-craig-pocket-hercules

James Craig: https://amrevnc.com/biographies/james-craig

James Henry Craig: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/craig_james_henry_5E.html

Parker, Herschel “Absolving David Fanning - From Dreck to Rumph” Journal of the American Revolution,  Nov. 24, 2015: https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/11/absolving-david-fanning-from-dreck-to-rumph

David Fanning: https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/fanning-david

David Fanning: http://www.biographi.ca/en/bio/fanning_david_6E.html

Thomas Burke: https://northcarolinahistory.org/encyclopedia/thomas-burke-1744-1783

Thomas Burke: https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/burke-thomas

John Butler: https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/butler-john

Griffith Rutherford: https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/rutherford-griffith

Battle of Little Raft Swamp: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_little_raft_swamp.html

Engagement at Raft Swamp: https://www.ncpedia.org/raft-swamp-engagement

Battle of Hillsborough https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_battle_of_hillsborough.html

Griffith Rutherford: https://www.ncpedia.org/biography/rutherford-griffith

Battle of Lindley’s Mill: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_battle_of_lindleys_mill.html

Battle of Lindley’s Mill: https://www.ncpedia.org/lindleys-mill-battle

Battle of Lindley’s Mill: https://www.lindleymills.com/about-lindley-mills/history/battle-of-lindley-s-mill.html

Battle of Seven Creeks: https://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_seven_creeks.html

Battles of 1781: https://revolutionarywar.us/year-1781

Wilmington Campaign of 1781: https://www.ncpedia.org/wilmington-campaign-1781

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Caruthers, E. W. A Brief History of Col. David Fanning, Weldon, N.C. : Harrell's Printing House, 1888. 

Connor, R. D. W. Revolutionary leaders of North Carolina, Greensboro, N.C. State College, 1916. 

Crow, Jeffrey (ed) The Southern Experience in the American Revolution, Univ. of NC Press, 1978.

Fanning, David The Narrative of Colonel David Fanning, Richmond: Private Distribution, 1861. 

Books Worth Buying
(links to Amazon.com unless otherwise noted)*

Ferling, John Winning Independence: The Decisive Years of the Revolutionary War, 1778-1781, Bloomsbury Publishing, 2021. 

O’Kelley, Patrick Nothing But Blood and Slaughter: The Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, Vol 3, 1781, Booklocker, 2005. 

Pancake, John S. This Destructive war: The British Campaign in the Carolinas, 1780-1782, Univ. of Alabama Press, 1985 (borrow on archive.org).

Philbrick, In the Hurricane’s Eye: The Genius of George Washington and the Victory at Yorktown, Penguin Books, 2019. 

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.