American Revolution Podcast

Sunday, July 7, 2019

Episode 104: Submarine Warfare

Continental Army in Disarray

At the end of August, 1776, Washington’s army had escaped from Brooklyn, almost by miracle, back to Manhattan, leaving the British in control of Long Island. Washington’s devastated army was in chaos. Morale was low and desertions were going through the roof. It’s as if the soldiers did not want to be stuck in New York City when the British made their next offensive. Most expected Howe would to land soldiers north of the city and trap Washington’s army on the southern tip of Manhattan, with a British army to the north and the British Navy controlling the harbor to the south and the rivers to the east and west.

With the cannons of the British Navy, Howe’s army easily could have crossed anywhere along the East River and attacked the patriots. The British had over 400 ships in and around New York, including several large Men-of-War. Given the deep water all around Manhattan, they could bring artillery fire or land soldiers and marines anywhere they wanted at any time. Rather than attack though, Gen. Howe took another pause and once again tried to pursue diplomacy.

Attacking the Fleet

During the pause, Washington had time to shore up his defenses on Manhattan. But no matter how much time he had, he faced the reality that the British controlled the Hudson River (sometimes called the North River at the time) as well as the East River, and all of New York Harbor. That made any defense of the city impossible. The British Navy had already proven that the Continental forts defending the rivers were useless. The Continentals had tried to sink ships in the rivers and create other obstructions that would block Admiral Howe’s ships, but nothing stopped them.

Washington, of course, had no navy to come to his aid. Most of the small Continental navy remained locked up in Rhode Island. The few ships that were roaming the Atlantic, along with many privateers could harass isolated British ships, or perhaps even very small convoys, but nothing that dared take on the armada at New York. So if they wanted to do anything, they needed to get creative.

David Bushnell

The patriots were nothing if not creative. David Bushnell headed a small team of inventive men looking for a way to attack the British navy.

Bushnell's Turtle (from Wikimedia)

Bushnell is a pretty interesting character. He was the son of a Connecticut farmer. He wanted to attend college but could not afford it. For years, he worked the family farm for subsistence. While growing up, he attended school, borrowed books when possible, and expressed an interest in mechanics and engineering. Even so, there seemed to be little chance that he would ever escape farm life.

When his father died in 1762, the 22 year old David and his younger brother Ezra had to take over the family farm. It was hard work with little reward. When his younger sister died in 1769, David’s mother remarried. No longer feeling obligated to support his family, David sold his half of the farm to Ezra and finally pursued his dream of college. Even though he now had the tuition money, he was not ready to pass the entrance exam. Undeterred, David moved in with a tutor and spent the next two years working in a local shipyard and studying science and Latin with his tutor. Finally, at the ripe old age of 31, he started school. At a time when many students started college at 15 or 16, his classmates called him the old man.

As a member of the graduating class of 1775, Bushnell attended Yale in the years leading up to war. Expecting a fight, he devoted his studies to developing ways of exploding gunpowder underwater. While underwater explosives are taken for granted today, the ability to ignite a device underwater that had to stay dry and needed oxygen in the air to explode properly was quite a challenge at the time. Working with his math professor, Bushnell developed and tested a gunpowder mine that could ignite from a flintlock attached to a clock mechanism, in other words a time bomb. He designed small waterproof test devices that he successfully ignited under water.

David Bushnell
(from FindaGrave)

Still getting the explosives to the the ships where they could do damage seemed an impossibility. Guards aboard ship would spot any vessel approaching a warship. They could raise an alarm and fire on any ship before it could get close enough to explode any device. No surface ship could approach a naval vessel, even at night.

Bushnell also found an intriguing idea for a delivery device. Yale’s library had a book Inventions or Devices, published in 1578 by William Bourne of the Royal Navy. Bourne conceived of and described a wooden enclosure with leather tanks that could take in or force out water to raise or lower the device in the water. Bourne never build such a device, but it gave Bushnell an idea for building one of his own. Bushnell also drew inspiration from several others books and articles in the school library.

Bushnell was weeks away from graduation when word of Lexington and Concord reached Yale’s campus in April 1775. The school closed down for a few weeks, but eventually reopened, allowing students to take their final exams and graduate in July. Many of his classmates headed for Boston to join the new Continental Army. Bushnell headed back to his family farm in Old Saybrook Connecticut to continue his work on a top secret underwater device.

Building the Turtle

Bushnell kept his project a secret from almost everyone. With his meager resources, he purchased a small island on the Connecticut River and built a small shack. There, he told everyone, he was going to become a fisherman. He would need some help to build his invention. His brother brother Ezra had already enlisted and was serving at the siege of Boston. Fortunately, Ezra’s commanding officer was one of David’s Yale classmates, Nathan Hale, who was still a year away from giving his one life for his country. Bushnell discussed his project with Hale, who allowed Ezra to return home and assist his brother. Bushnell also recruited a local artisan named Isaac Doolittle to work on a clock mechanism to trigger the explosive.

They made the vehicle by carving out two solid pieces of oak, leaving only one seam to waterproof. They fastened iron hoops around the wood, like a barrel, to keep it together. The vehicle was only about seven or eight feet long about six feet high and three feet wide, barely enough room to seat the pilot. Since it was shaped like a turtle shell, they named it the Turtle.

To travel underwater, they developed what they called a "windmill propeller" but is actually a forerunner of the modern screw propeller that others claimed to have invented half a century later. They used a hand crank and foot treadles, similar to what was used with other machinery of the time, to turn the propellers.

Sketch of Turtle (from NavSource)

Snorkels supplied air for the pilot, meaning that the vessel would have to travel near the surface for most of the trip, then rely on the air inside the small operator area when descending near the target. On the top, they attached a hatch made of wood and brass, with windows on all four sides as well as on top so that the pilot could see where he was going. The windows also provided light when on or near the surface.

The pilot had no light while underwater. They had tried using a candle, but that quickly burned through the small amount of air in the cabin while submerged. Instead they added foxfire, a wood fungus that gave off a glow. They added this to the tip of the compass and the barometer so that the pilot could see direction and depth while underwater and in the dark.

The pilot controlled descent underwater by allowing water into the bottom of the vessel, around the pilot's feet. Several hundred pounds of lead ballast kept the vehicle from being too light, while adding or removing a little water was enough to help it descend or rise, combined with a vertical propeller that the pilot could also use.

A small team built an underwater mine, containing about 150 pounds of black powder. A screw would allow it to be attached to the bottom of a ship. The Turtle would tow the mine on a chain floating alongside the submarine. Doolittle, who was a clock maker and metal worker by trade, developed a timing device that would allow the pilot to trigger the device then have a few minutes to escape before a flintlock from a gun fired a spark into the gunpowder to trigger the explosion.

During the last summer and fall of 1775, The team tested the Turtle, for weeks on the Connecticut River. David had tried to pilot the Turtle himself, but found he did not have the necessary strength and stamina. Instead, brother Ezra took over as pilot. The men successfully tested their invention by attaching a mine to a wrecked ship and successfully exploded it.

The plan was to propel the Turtle along the surface at night until it got close to a ship. Then, it would descend underwater, where the pilot would attach the explosive to the bottom of the ship with a screw, set the timing device, and move away before the explosion. The pilot had to perform the entire underwater portion of the operation in 15 to 20 minutes. Otherwise he would run out of air.

The team originally planned to move up to Boston to use against the fleet there. However, they found they could not use the Turtle in winter. The Ice made it too hard to navigate. Also, the foxfire which provided needed light, did not glow in cold weather.

Keeping the Project Secret

Bushnell had attempted to maintain as much secrecy as possible around his project. Still, he eventually needed to tell some people. He hoped to get some funding from the Connecticut government and made a proposal to the Governor. The amount offered was so small that Bushnell decided not to take it. The presentation, however, meant that Governor Trumbull knew about the project and discussed it with others.

Bushnell also confided in a close friend, Benjamin Gale, who was an inventor and who Bushnell hoped could help with some of their technical problems. Gale, with Bushnell’s permission, reached out to the most prominent scientist on the continent, Benjamin Franklin.

Turtle in Harbor

One a trip from Philadelphia to Boston, Franklin made a stop in Old Saybrook to get a look at this new contraption. There are no specific records of what he saw, but Franklin apparently did discuss the project with Washington when he arrived in Boston.

The obvious reason for secrecy was that Bushnell did not want the British to find out about his project and send out a team to destroy it. Loyalist spies did get word of the project and alerted both General Gage and Royal Governor William Tryon of New York. Fortunately for Bushnell, both took note of the intelligence, but did not think it important enough to do anything about it.

Bushnell hoped to launch an attack on the fleet in Boston Harbor in the spring of 1776. The original idea was that the British in Boston only received supplies by sea, and primarily defended their positions with naval cannons. If the colonists could threaten the navy in Boston Harbor, the army would have to abandon the city. Before he could deploy the Turtle there, the fleet evacuated to Halifax in March after the Continentals occupied Dorchester Heights, something I discussed back in Episode 86.

Bushnell had to wait for a new opportunity to test his craft in combat. When the British fleet anchored in New York Harbor in June, the team selected Admiral Howe's flagship, the HMS Eagle as the target.

The Attack

Both Governor Trumbull of Connecticut and George Washington approved the attempt. The team loaded the Turtle aboard a ship on the Connecticut River where they had been testing, and took it to a point near New York Harbor.

Execution of the plan, however, ran into numerous problems. First the pilot Ezra Bushnell got sick. Historians widely believe that Ezra came down with Typhus, one of the epidemics sweeping through the Continental camp at the time. This man would be out of commission for weeks, if he survived it at all.

The team had to recruit a new pilot for the secret mission. They did not tell the volunteer what the mission was until after he joined the team, out of the need for secrecy. General Samuel Parsons, also from Connecticut, recommended his brother-in-law, sergeant Ezra Lee to pilot the Turtle for its first mission.

The team put Lee through several weeks of training before he was ready. Finally, once he was familiar with all the controls, the team brought the Turtle overland to New York Harbor. On the night of September 6, about a week after Washington had retreated from Long Island back to Manhattan, the team launched its attack.

Right away, the mission ran into problems. The Turtle, which took a huge effort to propel forward had to fight an outgoing tide. Lee describes his attempt to reach the enemy ship: “We set off from the City, the Whale boats towed me as nigh the ships as they dare go, and then they cast me off. I soon found that I was too early in the tide, as it carried me down to the [transport] ships. I however, hove about, and rowed for 5 glasses [2½ hours], by the ship’s bells, before the tide slackened so that I could get along side the man of war, which lay above the transports.”

Turtle under the HMS Eagle (from NavSource)

By the time lee had worked himself close enough to his target, it was close to dawn and Lee was exhausted. Still he descended underneath the ship and attempted to attach the explosive. “When I rowed under the stern of the ship, could see men and deck and hear them talk-then I shut all doors, sunk down, and came up under the bottom of the ship, up with the screw against the bottom but found that it would not enter.”

There is some debate about why Lee could not attach the explosive to the bottom of the ship. Some have claimed the Eagle had a copper cover underneath the ship to prevent barnacles from attaching and slowing down the vessel. Others have argued that no, the Eagle did not get a copper bottom until years later and that even if it did, the drill should have been able to bore through it. Another theory is that Lee was simply unlucky enough to hit on an iron plate near the rudder, which the drill could not penetrate. Whatever the problem was, Lee could not attach the bomb.

Since it had taken him so long to reach the ship and he did not have time to pull away, ascend to get more air, and go back for another try. With dawn quickly approaching, Lee had to make his escape before being discovered. As he pulled away from the Eagle, British sentries saw the vessel and sent several guard boats after him to discover what this was. The Turtle could not outrun a rowboat, so Lee was in real trouble.

Lee detached his explosive and set the timing device, hoping to take out his pursuers, and possibly himself as well. As he put it, he “let loose the magazine in hopes, that if they should take me, they should likewise pick up the magazine, and then we should all be blown up together…” The explosive drifted away from the Turtle, and a few minutes later, exploded harmlessly away from everyone, sending a column of water into the air. That was enough for the British sailors to call off their pursuit. After seeing one wooden device explode, they did not want to get near the other wooden device that they saw, for fear it was another explosive as well.

The British turned back. Lee was able to propel the Turtle back to the American lines near the shore.

End of the Experiment

The Americans recovered the Turtle and prepared for a second attempt further up the Hudson river. The British, now alerted to the danger, discovered the vessel on two subsequent attempts to make contact with the enemy and fired on it. In both cases, the pilot was able to make his escape, but without being able to attach the explosive. Shortly after this, the British navy sank the transport vessel carrying the Turtle. With the loss of the vessel after three unsuccessful attempts, the American submarine project came to an end.

Mine used to destroy a British
ship near Philadelphia
(from Wikipedia)

So, the project was a failure. The Turtle did not damage any British ships and forced no British reaction other than keeping nighttime sentries aboard ship a little more alert. Admiral Howe did not see the technology as a threat and did not change his ship deployments. Still, it is pretty amazing that that Patriots built and deployed a submarine at all. During the war, the project remained secret. It did not become well known until long after the war ended.

Bushnell later wrote that he had recovered the Turtle from the shipwreck. If he did, the Americans never used it again. Some speculate that he recovered and hid the parts for future use. If he did, the chance never came because the Americans never tried this experiment again for the rest of the war.

Although this was the end of the Turtle, Bushnell continued his efforts to sink British ships with his underwater explosives. The following year, the Americans deployed underwater mines with spring loaded triggers. Any ship that hit the mine could trigger an explosion. By this time, the British had occupied Philadelphia, so the Americans deployed about twenty mines in the Delaware River, just upstream from the city. They successfully blew up a barge, killing four sailors. It was enough to alert the entire city to a possible attack. Sentries fired at the mines, destroying several, while the remainder floated past the city. Sadly, one of the mines which floated past Philadelphia caught the attention of a couple of boys fishing. It exploded and killed them as they attempted to haul the strange device into their boat.

Bushnell took a captain’s commission in the Continental army and served in the newly formed Corps of Sappers and Miners, what eventually became the Army Corps of Engineers. After the war, he returned to Connecticut, but after the death of his brother Ezra in 1787, he left for good. Some say he want to France. There is some evidence that Bushnell tried to make contact with French Ambassador Thomas Jefferson, in hopes of selling his submarine to the French Navy.

A few years later, a man named David Bush moved to Georgia, working as a teacher and physician. When he died years later, he left his small estate to Ezra’s children, thus revealing his true identity. It’s not clear why Bushnell changed his name and moved to Georgia, but he died without his friends and neighbors knowing about his exploits during the war. The submarine would have to wait almost another century before the Confederates would try to use it again during the Civil War.

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Next Episode 105: Staten Island Peace Conference

Previous Episode 103: The Battle of Brooklyn

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Sunday, June 30, 2019

Episode 103: The Battle of Brooklyn

When we last left New York, General Howe commanded a combined force of about 32,000 British and Hessian soldiers on Staten Island, supported by his brother Admiral Howe, with over 10,000 sailors on over 400 ships. The regulars had had time to recover from their sea voyages, and were in top condition after living on Staten Island for weeks, with plenty of fresh food and exercise.

Opposing them General Washington has less than 10,000 Continental soldiers and perhaps another 10,000 or so militia that might be available. Even most of the Continental soldiers had no combat experience nor even much drilling for combat. Most of the veterans of Concord and Bunker Hill had left the army at the end of 1775, replaced by new recruits. As at Boston, disease continued to ravage the army, with smallpox, dysentery, and other diseases filling military hospital camps with nearly 6000 soldiers unfit for duty. Among the sick was General Nathanael Greene who had been in command of the Long Island defenses until he fell ill. In his place, Washington gave command to General John Sullivan, just back from losing Canada.

Washington’s army had spent the past nearly six months improving their defenses and anticipating possible enemy attacks. Washington was not sure if the British would make a direct assault on New York City, or attack on Long Island or Northern New Jersey and then come at Washington from one of the sides. The British fleet might also sail up the Hudson, land behind Washington's forces, and cut him off from retreat. As a result, Washington spread his army all over the region to be ready for any of these possibilities.

Landing on Long Island

On the night of August 21, a brutal thunderstorm struck the region. Witnesses reported a torrential downpour lasting over three hours, with nearly continuous lightning strikes. Along the East River, a single strike killed ten soldiers encamped along the bank. In town another strike killed three officers. Dozens of homes caught fire and burned during the storm. Many saw the violent storm as an omen of terrible things to come.

The next morning, the skies were clear and all had returned to normal. British warships deployed along the coast of Long Island to cover the troop transports soon to follow. The first group of 4000 soldiers under Generals Clinton and Cornwallis crossed from Staten Island to Long Island across Gravesend Bay, just south of where the Verrazano Narrows Bridge now stands. The handful of Pennsylvania riflemen assigned to the area, fled without engaging the enemy, driving off cattle to deny them the enemy.

British Fleet in NY Harbor (from revolutionary-war)

The well planned landing went off flawlessly. By noon the British had landed 15,000 men, with another 5000 still on the way. Rather than attacking immediately, the British set up camp and began to establish defenses. Again, they were in no hurry.

Back in New York, General Washington received reports that around 8000 British had landed at Long Island. Concerned that this was still a feint, Washington kept the bulk of his forces in the city, prepared for a frontal assault. He deployed only around 1500 reinforcements across the East River to Brooklyn, bringing total the total number of defenders on Long Island to a little under 6000. Washington also appeared to be unhappy with General Sullivan’s leadership, and the lack of order and discipline among the soldiers on Long Island. On August 24, two days after the regulars had landed, Washington sent General Israel Putnam as field commander over Sullivan on Long Island.

For reasons, I have never completely understood, the British Navy did not bother to move up the East River. If they had, they would have prevented Washington from deploying reinforcements and also cutting off the most obvious line of retreat for the forces on Long Island. It could be that Admiral Howe feared damage from the shore batteries. For several days, the winds blew unfavorably for moving up river. Trying to run past the batteries against the wind might have been too great a danger for the fleet.

It could also be that the Howes did not want to cut off the lines of retreat. That is why they also rejected General Henry Clinton’s plan to land forces up the Hudson River, north of the city, and cut off the Continental Army from any retreat. Leaving open a line of retreat would reduce the will of the enemy to stand and fight. If they took New York easily, perhaps the rebels would be more inclined to consider a negotiated peace.

Whatever the reason, the British took no action in the Hudson or East Rivers. They landed their army on Long Island and set up camp. Local Tories flocked to the army, greeting them as liberators. Although the patriots had made some efforts to destroy crops and drive off livestock, there was still plenty for the regulars to enjoy.

The regulars also saw how well the colonists were living. The standard of living in New York was far higher than that of most commoners in England or in the German States where the soldiers had grown up. Many officers confirmed their views that the colonists were a bunch of whiners who did not realize how good they had it. It made them all the more eager to crush this rebellion, and perhaps be rewarded with lands of their own in this prosperous countryside.

The Lines

For several days, the British Army camped on Long Island, in no particular hurry to do anything. This gave Washington plenty of time to assess the numbers he faced and to send over additional reinforcements. Even so, he only had a total of between 9000 and 10,000 soldiers to face over 20,000 attackers supported by navy cannons. The Continentals concentrated the bulk of their forces around the forts they had built in Brooklyn. They deployed only around 3000 inexperienced soldiers to defend the Gowanus Heights, the hilly defenses stretching along nearly six miles.

The Continentals had no cavalry to keep an eye on enemy deployments, and not much in the way of civilian spies willing to help them. Washington still kept his best generals in New York, still fearing a direct assault on the city. General Israel Putnam controlled Long Island from Brooklyn. On the front lines, he relied on General Sullivan, who had never impressed him, and General William Alexander (Lord Stirling) who had only just joined the Continental Army.

The Continentals seemed to hope that the British and Hessians would make a frontal assault on their entrenched lines. Even if they did overwhelm the American lines with superior numbers, Washington hoped they could be bloodied in the assault, just like they had done at Bunker Hill.

Jamaica Pass

In the British Camp, Washington’s hope seemed to be a realistic one. General Howe seemed to favor a direct assault on the Continental lines, overwhelming the enemy and pushing them back against the East River. Second in command General Clinton, though, had other ideas. Clinton had grown up on Long Island when his father was governor of the colony. He knew the land probably better than any other general on either side.

Map of British landing (from Wikimedia)

In evaluating the land and speaking with locals, Clinton discovered that the Continentals had placed defenses at the three mains passes through the Gowanus Heights. But for some reason, they had left a fourth pass, known as the Jamaica Pass, unprotected, perhaps because they thought it was too far to the east and that no one would bother to go that far around. Clinton decided it was the perfect place to move his army and then roll up the Gowanus Heights defenders from behind in a flanking maneuver.

Clinton was always proposing such flanking maneuvers and Howe always rejected them. He had rejected such a plan at Bunker Hill and also a similar plan to attack New York City from behind. Howe also rejected Clinton’s plan for Long Island. Clinton realized that arguing with Howe directly was pointless. The two men had come to loathe one another, and Clinton’s reputation had taken a big hit after the his failure to accomplish anything during his brief independent command in the Carolinas. Instead of arguing the point with Howe directly, Clinton sent several of his respected junior officers to plead with Howe to give more consideration to the plan. Perhaps out of a fear of another Bunker Hill, Howe relented and gave Clinton permission to take his army out to the Jamaica Pass and run his flanking maneuver.

On the evening of August 26, Clinton led 10,000 soldiers, about half of the British force on Long Island, on the six mile march to the Jamaica pass. To keep the march a secret, they took prisoner anyone they met along the way. Unlike Massachusetts, Long Island did not have any patriot riders ready to alert anyone to the night march. When they arrived at the Jamaica Pass, five Continental officers on horseback approached them, thinking they were Continental forces. The British captured them without firing a shot. Under interrogation, they learned that these five men were the only soldiers deployed to cover the pass. By dawn, Clinton had led his army through the pass and had crossed the Gowanus Heights without encountering any enemy fire.

The Battle of Brooklyn

On the morning of August 27, General Howe deployed his remaining forces on a direct march against the rebel forces at Brooklyn. The army moved forward slowly, with its lines in place by dawn. British artillery opened fire. British regulars and Hessians marched forward to test the Continental lines on the heights. Lord Stirling commanded the Continentals defending the heights, among his soldiers were the famed Smallwood's Maryland Regiment and Haslet’s Delaware Regiment. These were two of the Continental Army’s best equipped and trained regiments. In both of their cases, their regimental commanders were missing, having been called to New York for court martial duty. But the regiments fought with distinction, along with others from Connecticut and Pennsylvania, 1600 Continental soldiers held back the advancing British and Hessians for hours.

Haslet's Delaware Blues on Long Island (from Wikimedia)

General Sullivan also arrived at the battlefield with additional reinforcements. For much of the morning, the enemy would approach within about 200 yards, but then pull back in the face of enemy fire. The Continental officers were impressed with the ability of their army to stand toe to toe with the enemy in open field.

Then at around 9:00 AM, Howe fired a special signal gun, at which point Clinton’s forces, which had taken all of the Gowanus Heights defenders from behind, now descended on the main Continental forces at Brooklyn. Sullivan and Stirling now faced not only 10,000 enemy in front of them, but another 10,000 attacking them from behind. They eventually realized the British and Hessians in their front were not attempting to overwhelm them, but simply had been distracting them while Clinton’s army came around behind them.

The Americans defended themselves admirably in the face of the overwhelming assault. Some soldiers covered the retreat of others, who had nowhere to go but into the Gowanus swamp. Some drowned, but many eventually made their way back to the Continental forts at Brooklyn.

The Maryland regiment under the command of Stirling continued to hold off the enemy, giving other Continentals time to withdraw, but were soon overwhelmed. The attacking Hessian soldiers attacked without mercy, bayoneting soldiers who tried to surrender. The British did take hundreds of prisoners, including Generals Sullivan, Stirling, and Nathaniel Woodhull. Stirling refused to surrender his sword. Instead, he fought his way through the British lines to hand is sword to the Hessian General Von Heister. I had not mentioned General Woodhull until now. He was a militia general, not part of the Continental Army. After his capture, an officer slashed him on his head and arm for refusing to say “God Save the King.” The wounds led to an infection which killed him about two weeks later.

Washington crossed the East River from Manhattan to Brooklyn that morning, and worked with Putnam to restore order. By 10:00 AM Washington and Putnam watched hundreds of fleeing soldiers straggling into their lines. At the same time, the British Navy attempted to move up the East River, thus cutting off more reinforcements from New York and also the only line of retreat against the advancing British Army.

The Battle Ends

Then, around noon, with the British entirely in control of the field of battle, General Howe called a halt to the advance. Many of the officers and men, wanting to push forward and deliver the final death blow to the Continental army, grew frustrated with the orders to stop pursuing the fleeing rebels. Again, it is hard to guess Howe’s true motives, but the best argument is that he did not want to run uncontrolled into a concentrated and embedded enemy that could end up driving back the British or inflicting terrible casualties on the British as they overran the forts.

Despite ending early, the British had won the day by any measure. They held the field that they planned to take, with only about 400 casualties. By comparison the patriots had taken about 1100 casualties and about an equal number taken prisoner.

Retreat

The next morning August 28, Washington found the remainder of his army facing the British lines, and with his back against the East River. He brought over another 1200 reinforcements from New York, but even with reinforcements, he had only around 9000 soldiers while facing about 15,000 of the enemy with another 5000 or so in reserve.

The British began digging a series of trenches, moving slowly toward the patriot lines. This was the traditional slow and safe way to take an enemy fort with a minimum of casualties. With the numbers on their side, the British would almost certainly move close enough to blast the fort walls with their cannon and then take the fort if the patriots still refused to surrender.

Later in the day though, the weather changed. A downpour soaked both sides. They attempted to continue their fire at one another with increasing frustration at their waterlogged weapons. The British continued to advance their trenches, slowly pushing toward the patriot position for a final assault.

The following day, August 29, it seemed like the continuing bad weather was the only thing holding back the final British assault. If Howe managed to capture Washington’s 9000 man army that likely would have been the end of the war. The remaining troops in New York almost certainly would have fled and scattered.

Thomas Mifflin
(from Wikimedia)

Washington held a council of war with his senior officers. They agreed that they needed to retreat across the river to New York before the winds changed and the British Navy moved up the East River. General Thomas Mifflin proposed the retreat, but also volunteered his Pennsylvania regiment to serve as the rear guard, meaning they would cover the retreat and be the last to leave Long Island.

The problem was getting an army of 9000 across the river without the British noticing. Washington’s best bet would have been to have his men rush over the Brooklyn Bridge back to Manhattan. The major flaw with that plan was that the bridge would not be built for another century, and they could not wait that long. Rowing and army across the river in small boats in the face of the enemy would be nearly impossible. Even if the navy could not move up the East River yet, Howe’s army could easily overrun the Continentals as they waited on the river bank.

They decided to move the men in secret that night, getting as many over as possible before the British discovered what they were doing. Colonel John Glover’s Marblehead regiment, all experienced mariners, gathered all the boats they could find. Washington issued orders that the men should be ready to move that evening for a night attack on the enemy. Many soldiers thought it was crazy to mount a night attack, and were greatly relieved when they found out it was a ruse to keep secret the fact that they were being marched down to the river to retreat to New York.

Retreat from Brooklyn (from HistoryNet)

As soon as the sun went down, Glover’s regiment began ferrying the army across the river, starting with the wounded and least experience fighters. Others kept campfires burning and made as much noise as possible so that the British would think the whole army remained in camp. The wind and rain though, made crossing the mile wide river impossible. The crews informed Washington that a they could not make the retreat. Then, around 11:00 PM, the winds suddenly died down and they began transporting the troops back to New York.

Everyone worked in silence, the biggest fear being the British would discover the retreat and launch an attack on the remaining forces. General Mifflin, still covering the front lines heard the British digging trenches all night, always moving closer toward the American lines.

Finally, around 4:00 AM a major came to inform Mifflin that they were ready to evacuate his troops. Mifflin was shocked that Washington was able to get his army across the river that fast. He even questioned the Major’s orders. But the Major was adamant that the had just been over all the Continental lines and that Mifflin’s men were the last to go. Mifflin took his troops down to the river, only to find that there were still thousands of soldiers waiting to cross. Washington rode up and told Mifflin he had ruined everything. By abandoning the lines, the British would realize the retreat was afoot and would march in and capture all the soldiers waiting to cross.

Mifflin, of course, angrily responded that he was following orders he was told were from Washington. They soon realized the major had been mistaken in telling Mifflin to leave his post. Mifflin marched his regiment back to the front lines, fortunately, without the enemy noticing its absence.

When dawn came, much of the army remained in Brooklyn waiting to cross. At any moment, the British would discover the retreat and capture the remaining army, including Washington, who would not cross before the rest of his men did. As the sun rose, the army experienced yet another miracle of weather. A heavy fog set in, making it impossible for anyone to see more than a few feet in front of them. The retreat continued that morning under fog, just as effectively as it did under the cover of darkness.

By early morning, Mifflin’s final regiment pulled off the line and crossed into New York. Washington took one of the last boats across the river. Within an hour of the final crossing the fog lifted and the British discovered the enemy had vanished. All 9000 soldiers had escaped. Although Washington had lost the battle, his army lived to fight another day.

Next Week: The Americans build a submarine and attack the British Navy.

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Next Episode 104: Submarine Warfare

Previous Episode 102: Cherokee War in the South

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You can support the American Revolution Podcast as a Patreon subscriber. This is an option for people who want to make monthly pledges. Patreon support will give you access to Podcast extras and help make the podcast a sustainable project. Thanks again!

Further Reading

Websites

Kennedy, Roger The Battle For Brooklyn, 1776, Hudson Park Library, 2009:
https://www.nypl.org/blog/2009/05/22/battle-brooklyn-1776

Roger, J. David and Watkins, Conor Washington’s Escape from Brooklyn Heights Aug 1776: http://web.mst.edu/~rogersda/umrcourses/ge342/Washington's%20Escape%20from%20Brooklyn-Oct24-2006.pdf

Cohn, Benjamin The Legend Of General Nathaniel Woodhull, 2016:
http://bklyner.com/the-legend-of-general-nathaniel-woodhull-held-prisoner-in-old-new-utrecht-bensonhurst

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

The Detail and Conduct of the American War, under Generals Gage, Howe, Burgoyne, and Vice Admiral Lord Howe, (original reports and letters) The Royal Exchange, 1780

Long Island in the American Revolution, NY State Am. Rev. Bicentennial Comm. (1976).

Adams, Charles Francis "The Battle of Long Island Vol 1", American Historical Review, 1896.

Carrington, Henry Battles of the American Revolution, 1775-1781, A.S. Barnes & Co. 1876.

Field, Thomas Warren The Battle of Long Island: With Connected Preceding Events, and the Subsequent American Retreat, Long Island Historical Society, 1869.

Force, Peter American Archives, Series 5, Vol 1, M. St. Claire Clarks, 1837.

Force, Peter American Archives, Series 5, Vol 2, M. St. Claire Clarks, 1837.

Fraser, Georgia The Stone House at Gowanus, Scene of the Battle of Long Island, Witter & Kintner, 1909.

Johnston, Henry The Campaign of 1776 Around New York and Brooklyn, Long Island Historical Society, 1878.

Martin, Joseph Plumb The Adventures of a Revolutionary Soldier, 1830 (This is a copy of the original print, but in poor quality. You can borrow a better quality copy or listen to a free audio copy of the book).

Onderdonk, Henry Revolutionary Incidents of Suffolk and Kings Counties: with an account of the Battle of Long Island and the British prisons and prison-ships at New York, Leavitt & Co. 1849.

Smith Eugénie Marie Rayé The Battle of Brooklyn (Poem), National Society DAR, 1913.

Tomlinson, Abraham; Dawson, Henry B. New York city during the American revolution : Being a collection of original papers (now first published) from the manuscripts in the possession of the Mercantile library association, of New York city by New York (N.Y.). Mercantile Library Association;
Privately printed for the Association, 1861.

Ward, Samuel The Battle of Long-Island: a lecture, William Osborne 1839.

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

Daughan, George C. Revolution on the Hudson: New York City and the Hudson River Valley in the American War of Independence, New York: W.W. Norton & Co. 2016.

Ellis, Joseph Revolutionary Summer: The Birth of American Independence, New York: Alfred A. Knopf, 2013.

Fleming, Thomas 1776: Year of Illusions, New York: W.W. Norton & Co., 1975.

Gallagher, John J. Battle Of Brooklyn, 1776, Da Capo Press, 1995 (book recommendation of the week).

Grasso, Joanne S. The American Revolution on Long Island, History Press, 2016

McCullough, David 1776, New York: Simon & Schuster, 2005.

Schecter, Barnet The Battle for New York, New York: Walker Publishing, 2002.

Wheeler, Richard Voices of 1776: The Story of the American Revolution in the Words of Those Who Were There, 1997.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.

Sunday, June 23, 2019

Episode 102 Cherokee War in the South

While the British were focusing their forces on New York and to a lesser extent Canada, the southern colonies / states could not take it easy. Southerners had defeated an organization of Tory militia at Moore’s Creek Bridge North Carolina in February 1776. They had then defeated the regulars at Fort Sullivan outside of Charleston South Carolina in June.

British Indian Agents

But even with the Tories captured and dissipated, and the British Army and Navy chased back north in abject failure, there was still one hostile group with which to contend. On July 1, 1776, the Cherokee began a series of coordinated raids on western settlements all through Georgia, the Carolinas, and even Virginia.

Cherokee Warriors (from Wikimedia)

Patriots accused the area’s British agent, John Stuart, for encouraging the Cherokee to go to war. Stuart had tried to encourage the Cherokee to fight in 1775 and early 1776, even supplying them with ammunition. But Stuart had been forced to flee from his home in Charleston to St. Augustine Florida in early 1776. Stuart had made clear that the British would be happy if the Cherokee attacked rebel forces, but he now had to operate from afar. To make things even more difficult, patriots kept his family under house arrest in Charleston.

Another loyalist named Alexander Cameron, who had a Cherokee wife, was apparently more active in motivating the Cherokee to go to war. When he left his farm to join the Cherokee in the spring, many were concerned that his intentions were to start a Cherokee uprising. Those concerns proved correct, though Cameron was far from the only instigator.

Treaty of Sycamore Shoals

The Cherokee did not need much provocation. They believed, correctly, that the colonists would continue to push them further west, out of their lands. The main reason they were not fighting, was a fear that the colonists would win a military confrontation as had happened during the Cherokee Uprising in 1760 that I discussed way back in Episode 15. Now the British Indian agents only had to say, go for it. Britain would not back up the colonies because they were in rebellion, the Cherokee saw the opportunity to fight back.

The most recent incident that had convinced the Cherokee of the need to fight was the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, signed in March 1775. There a group of colonists from North Carolina, with Daniel Boone acting as their agent, agreed to purchase about 20 million acres of land covering most of what is today Kentucky and part of northern Tennessee. In exchange the various tribes received roughly £10,000 in cash, debt forgiveness, and trade goods.

Land purchased under Treaty of Sycamore Shoals
(from Wikimedia)

At the time, the treaty violated the King’s Proclamation of 1763, which forbade colonists from moving into lands west of the Appalachian Mountains. Many Cherokee Chiefs also objected to the Treaty and refused to sign. Those who did agree took all the cash and prizes offered. Many later argued they thought they were simply granting hunting and travel rights over the territory, or temporary leases, not exclusive ownership. By 1776, most Cherokee recognized that enforcement of this treaty would spell their doom.

Cherokee Chiefs from all over the region met and debated the merits of an all out attack. They were convinced that military victory was the only way to prevent further colonial encroachments onto their land. Also attending the meeting were representatives of the Iroquois, who still maintained official neutrality. However, those attending the conference encouraged the Cherokee to go to war, and told the assembled about patriot attacks on Iroquois settlements farther north. Delaware and Shawnee representatives from the Ohio Valley had similar stories to tell.

British agents let be known that they would supply arms and ammunition. They also hoped the Cherokee would coordinate their attacks with General Henry Clinton’s attacks along the coast, which I already discussed in the Battle of Fort Sullivan, fought at the end of June.

Seizing the opportunity while the colonists and British were divided, the summer of 1776 seemed like the ideal time for the Cherokee to reassert control and take back the frontier. With British logistical support and promises that the King had no objections to them retaking this territory, this was their best opportunity to push back the colonists and reclaim their land.

McCall Expedition

Patriots were well aware of Cherokee support for the Tories in the western parts of the colonies and also heard stories about the plans for an all out war. In June the patriot militia sent a small contingent of 33 men led by James McCall, to visit the Cherokee villages in the Carolina backcountry. Their purported mission was to negotiate for the return of stolen property on earlier raids. Their true, secret mission was to capture the British Indian Agent Alexander Cameron and bring him back as a prisoner. They met with several villages without incident.

On the evening of June 26, McCall met with a group of elders at the Cherokee village of Seneca. There, a group of warriors burst into the room and took him prisoner. At the same time, another group attacked his soldiers, who were camped just outside of town. The Cherokee killed four men, but the rest escaped, spending the next few weeks quietly making their way back east to friendlier territory. Captain McCall remained a prisoner for several months, regularly threatened with torture and death. Months later, he was able to make his escape with the help of a friendly female Cherokee and made his way to Virginia.

Cherokee Attack

The July 1 attacks struck all along the western borders of the southern colonies, hitting isolated farms and villages, ruthlessly killing men, women, and children. They took some prisoners to return to camp as slaves. The Cherokee tortured some of their prisoners to death, including children. There was a reason settlers genuinely feared the natives.

The Cherokee were clearly siding with the British in their attacks, not striking at colonists randomly. Loyalist farms and towns marked their homes with “passover poles,” basically a pole with a white cloth wrapped around it, so that the Cherokee would know to pass over them without harm. As for the patriots, anyone not killed in the first strike fled to area forts, for protection, while the militia mobilized to do battle.

Gen. Charles Lee

These attacks came on the heels of the American victory at Fort Sullivan at the end of June. General Charles Lee was still in the Carolinas when the attacks began. As commander of the Southern Department, Lee provided some strategic advice, but did not seem ready to deploy his Continentals anywhere, or march himself into the field of battle. Instead, he remained near the coast, moving down to Savannah at one point. He planned to attack British outposts in Florida, but nothing seemed to come of it. Militia did most of the fighting along the frontier and Lee did not seem to bother himself that.

Instead, Lee spent much of his time writing letters to Washington in New York and Congress in Philadelphia. During this time, he seemed deeply concerned of rumors that a British general might join the Continental cause and be placed ahead of him in the command structure. He also wrote to the French Governor of Haiti asking for arms and ammunition, though it does not appear that got very far with that either. Most of the fighting consisted of short hit and run raids rather than major campaigns that would need a strategic commander. As a result, Lee accomplished rather little.

Inland though, fighting broke out all over. It is going to be impossible to discuss every little raid or massacre that took place over the summer without making this a 20 part episode, so I’ll try to cover a few of the larger events only.

Western Raids

While there were few colonists living as far west as present day Tennessee and Kentucky, those few who were there, deep inside Cherokee territory, found themselves surrounded by hostile warriors, although I guess I need to start calling the colonists Americans, since after July 4, the people living in the south considered themselves living in states independent of Britain. One of the Chiefs who had opposed the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals and who had walked out of the signing was a man named Dragging Canoe. He became a leading warrior in the Cherokee raids. On July 20, at an area known as Indian Flats in present day Tennessee, Dragging Canoe sent an advance party forward looking for militia. The militia ambushed the advance party and wounded several. About 150 militia chased the retreating party back to the main body of Cherokee. The two sides fought a pitched battle in which the Cherokee suffered 13 killed and more wounded, including Dragging Canoe. The militia suffered only four wounded before the Cherokee broke off the attack and retreated.

Fort Caswell (from Wikimedia)

Around the same time, the Cherokee began to lay siege to another inland fort where a small group of Americans had gathered for protection. A militia force of about 75 defended Fort Watauga, aka Fort Caswell. The Americans, discovered the Cherokee before the attack and successfully secured the fort. The Cherokee attacked for about three hours, attempting to set fire to the fort wall. One woman fended off such an attack by dumping boiling water over the wall. After the initial attack failed, the Cherokee began to besiege the fort. Following his retreat from Indian Flats, Dragging Canoe joined the siege with his warriors. The Cherokee managed to capture at least two defenders who left the fort. They burned one of them at the stake, a teen aged boy. They also planned to burn a captured woman but relented when another long time female prisoner who lived with the Cherokee for years begged them not to kill her. After about two weeks, a large militia relief force arrived to break the siege.

McDowell’s Station (NC)

In North Carolina, Cherokee raids killed dozens along the Catawba River, leading about 120 women and children to take refuge at an area fort commanded by Militia Lt. Col. Charles McDowell. The fort only had about ten soldiers. The Cherokee had ambushed another contingent of eight soldiers in nearby Quaker Meadows, killing and scalping seven while an eighth survived by hiding under a log and returned to tell the tale. The remaining soldiers at what became known as Fort McDowell were able to hold the Cherokee at bay for several weeks until a larger militia relief force arrived.

Lindley’s Fort (SC)

A number of settlers in South Carolina took refuge at Lindley’s Fort (aka Lyndley’s Fort). A group of about 150 militia also took shelter there while awaiting a larger contingent to do battle with the Cherokee.

A around 1:00 AM on the morning of July 15, a group of nearly 200 attackers, about half Cherokee and half loyalist militia, attacked the fort, thinking it was only civilians, and not realizing the militia had entered the fort only a few hours earlier. Both sides traded shots all night until the attackers learned a much larger relief force was on the way. They broke off their attack and left the fort, but the much larger force of around 430 patriot militia pursued them and captured 13 of the attackers. The prisoners were shipped to the jail at Ninety-Six.

Georgia

North Georgia saw some raiding, but much of its frontier was spared by the fact that mostly Creek Indians lived there, not Cherokee. The Creek had debated going to war alongside the Cherokee. However, the southern colonies and the Continental Congress had requested the services of George Galphin, a popular trader who had a good relationship with the Creek Chiefs. Galphin managed to keep the Creek out of the war and reduced Georgia’s exposure to Indian Attack.

Patriots Fight Back

The Patriots, of course, organized themselves quickly to meet the serious Cherokee threat. As I have already alluded to in the relief of several besieged forts, by early August, the Patriots had militia brigades in the thousands from Virginia, North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia, marching through the backcountry to relieve outposts and protect civilians.

The patriots also had more than protection on their minds. They aimed to push the Cherokee out of the frontier area once and for all. This meant a brutal campaign of burning Cherokee villages, killing men, women, and children, and stealing or destroying all Cherokee crops and food stores, which would inevitably lead to starvation later in the year.

Rutherford Expedition (from Sutori)

One campaign known as the Rutherford Campaign, was led by militia General Griffith Rutherford, through what is today western North Carolina and eastern Tennessee. Rutherford teamed up with another large brigade from South Carolina. They also had the support of the Catawba Indians who occupied limited areas on the northern frontier. The combined force burned dozens of Cherokee villages during the late summer and early fall. The army fought several pitched battles with Cherokee warriors, including Dragging Canoe. The militia’s superior numbers and better access to arms and ammunition eventually forced the Cherokee to retreat to the west.

Another group from Virginia led by Militia Colonel William Christian, sometimes called “Christie” led nearly 2000 Virginia militia on a rampage over the fall and early winter of 1776, driving the Cherokee out of southern Virginia and northern North Carolina.

The fighting, which went on for months, brought out savagery on both sides. Provincial governments paid for Cherokee scalps. Soldiers on both sides made little distinction between combatants and civilians. Fighting was often hand to hand, and neither side had much interest in accepting a surrender. You won or you died. Death was usually preferable to either side than to be captured. Americas were happy to torture any captured Cherokee as payback for what the Cherokee were doing with American prisoners.

By some estimates, the patriots had killed over 2000 Cherokee, out of a population of an estimated 13,000. The Cherokee had only about 3000 armed warriors, but many of those killed were civilians, including women and children. Patriots burned at least 52 Cherokee towns, and innumerable smaller encampments.

The Catawba had allied themselves with the patriots and assisted in attacks on the Cherokee. Only a small number of Creek joined the fight, with most of the Creek opting for neutrality. Even worse patriots’ scorched earth policy of burning all villages and food stored met that many Cherokee would go without much food or shelter over the winter.

Attempts on St. Augustine

The fighting continued throughout the summer and fall, and into the winter. General Lee worked out a plan with General Moultrie to mount an expedition against St. Augustine. This was where British Indian agents continued to operate and attempt to encourage the Indians to fight the patriots. Others agents operated out of Pensacola and Mobile, but those were farther away. St. Augustine also held some prisoners of war, making it an attractive target for the Continental Army. General Lee had actually set off on an expedition against St. Augustine in September, when he received orders to return to New York.

Around the same time, General Moultrie received notice that the Continental Congress had granted him a commission as a brigadier general in the Continental Army. General Moultrie mounted several expeditions to St. Augustine, but resistance from Creek Indians, the offensive measures by British Regulars in St. Augustine, and most importantly, malaria outbreaks among the soldiers caused all expeditions to turn back before reaching St. Augustine.

Surrender

By spring 1777, most of the older chiefs were ready to make peace with the Americans, ceding land and returning captured property. In May the South Cherokee signed the Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner, where the Cherokee ceded almost all of their land in what is today South Carolina, as well as parts of Georgia. In July, the Middle and Northern Cherokee, in the Treaty of Long Island of Holston confirmed the cession of the lands from the Treaty of Sycamore Shoals, as well as additional lands to Virginia and North Carolina. In total, the treaties to end hostilities cost the Cherokee over five million acres of land. The treaties also required the Cherokee to return any prisoners, as well as stolen horses, runaway slaves, or other property. They also agreed to turn over any loyalists or British agents to Fort Rutledge for trial. Beyond land, one Chief even offered 500 warriors to fight alongside the patriots against the British, though the Americans declined this offer.

Treaty of DeWitt's Corner

The final Article of the Treaty of DeWitt’s Corner ended with “The hatchet shall be forever buried, and there shall be a universal peace and friendship established between the Cherokee and South Carolina and Georgia” So, yeah, after this treaty, a close and tender relationship could grow into peace and harmony between the two groups. Except, no there was no way that would happen, and no one seriously believed it even at that time.

Many of the younger warriors refused to surrender. Although they could not continue to fight in the face of overwhelming forces. They moved their warriors further west, into what is today mid-Tennessee and northern Alabama. Dragging Canoe was one of these chiefs. He formed a confederacy of displaced Tories, his own Cherokee, as well as members of Chickasaw, Choctaw, Creek, and Shawnee tribes who all wanted to continue the fight against the settlers. They would continue to raid and attack settlements for the remainder of the war, and would continue for more than a decade after the British recognized American independence.

So, once again, the Cherokee battling the settlers only led to another large loss of land, just as it had in 1760. Beyond that, the raids accomplished almost nothing for the British, except perhaps tying up a few munitions, men, and supplies that might have been deployed further north. But the Continental Army did not deploy any troops south beyond those who probably would have been there as a guard against a British coastal landing anyway. Most of the fighters came from local militia. If anything, the attacks mostly provided the militia with combat experience that benefitted them when the British tried to attack the south a few years later. The experience also meant that the Cherokee would be unwilling to engage and cooperate with British regulars during that later invasion. The Cherokee had been weakened, and also had no assurance that future cooperation would not result in the loss of even more land and property to the southern states.

- - -

Next Episode 103: The Battle of Brooklyn

Previous Episode 101: The British Land at Staten Island

Click here to donate

Click here to see my Patreon Page

You can support the American Revolution Podcast as a Patreon subscriber. This is an option for people who want to make monthly pledges. Patreon support will give you access to Podcast extras and help make the podcast a sustainable project. Thanks again!

Further Reading
Resources to learn more about today’s topic.

Websites

John Stuart: http://www.ncpedia.org/biography/stuart-john

Cherokee in the Revolutionary War: http://www.ncpedia.org/cherokee/revolutionarywar

Cherokee War (1776): http://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cherokee-war-1776

Treaty of Sycamore Shoals: http://www.self.gutenberg.org/articles/Treaty_of_Sycamore_Shoals

The Treaty of Sycamore Shoals: http://www.foresthistory.org/ASPNET/Publications/region/8/daniel_boone/chap8.htm

A Revised History of Fort Watauga, by Brian Compton (E.Tenn. State U. Master's thesis, 2005): https://web.archive.org/web/20080228200145/http://etd-submit.etsu.edu/etd/theses/available/etd-1221104-112846/unrestricted/ComptonB011305f.pdf

Battle of McDowell’s Station:
http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_mcdowells_station.html

Battle of Quaker Meadows: http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_quaker_meadows.html

Battle of Lindley’s Fort: http://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/revolution_lyndleys_fort.html

Capt. McCall & Alexander Cameron in the Cherokee War, by Wayne Lynch JAR (2013): https://allthingsliberty.com/2013/04/captain-mccall-and-alexander-cameron-in-the-cherokee-war

George Galphin and the War in the South, 1775-1780 by Bryan Rindfleisch (JAR 2015).
https://allthingsliberty.com/2015/09/george-galphin-and-the-war-in-the-south-1775-1780

Treaty of Dewitt’s Corner (May 1777): http://teachingushistory.org/documents/dewittscorner.pdf

The Treaty of Long Island of Holston (July 1777):
http://www.thereddoorcasino.com/notoweega/index.php/public-documents/139-the-treaty-of-long-island-of-holston-july-1777

Free eBooks
(from archive.org unless noted)

Drayton, John Memoirs of the American Revolution: From its Commencement to the Year 1776, inclusive, as relating to the state of South-Carolina, Vol II, A.E. Miller, 1821.

Force, Peter American Archives, Series 5, Vol 2, M. St. Clair & Peter Force, 1837.

Force, Peter American Archives, Series 5, Vol 3, M. St. Clair & Peter Force, 1837.

Gibbes, Robert Documentary History of the American Revolution, consisting of letters and papers relating to the contest for liberty chiefly in South Carolina, 1764-1782, Vol 2, D. Appleton & Co. 1855.

McCall, Hugh The History of Georgia, Vol. 2, William T. Williams, 1816.

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

Dean, Nadia A Demand of Blood: The Cherokee War of 1776, Valley River Press, 2012 (book recommendation of the week).

Hatley, Tom The Dividing Paths: Cherokees and South Carolinians through the Era of Revolution, Oxford Univ. Press, 1995.

Lumpkin, Henry From Savannah to Yorktown: The American Revolution in the South, Univ. of South Carolina Press, 1981.

Mazzagetti, Dominick Charles Lee: Self Before Country, Rutgers Univ. Press, 2013.

Raphael, Ray, A People's History of the American Revolution, New Press, 2001.

Vine, Deloria Jr. & DeMallie, Raymond J. (eds) Documents of American Indian Diplomacy: Treaties, Agreements, and Conventions, 1775-1979, Univ. of Oklahoma Press, 1999.

* As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases.