sight of his enemy, who had selected a strong position on Blackstock Hill, on the eastern banks of the river. Here prudence would have dictated to Colonel Tarleton a pause. The residue of the sixty-third regiment, the Legion and light infantry, were following with all possible dispatch, and in one hour might have joined him. There was no possibility of his enemy's escape without battle; and the co-operation of his infantry was indispensable to secure victory. But delay did not comport with the ardent zeal or the experience of Tarleton, and he bodly advanced to the assault. "That part of the hill," says McKenzie, in his strictures on the campaigns of Tarleton, "to which the attack was directed, was nearly perpendicular, with a small rivulet, brushwood, and a rail fence in front. The rear of the Americans, and part of their right flank, was secured by the river Tyger; and their left was covered by a large log-barn, into which a considerable division of their force had been thrown, and from which, as the apertures between the logs served them for loop-holes, they fired with security. British valor was conspicuous in this action, but no valor could surmount the obstacles that here stood in its way. Of the sixty-third regiment, the commanding officer, two others, and one-third of the privates fell.* Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, observing their situation, charged with his cavalry; but unable to dislodge the enemy, either from the log barn on his right, or the height on his left, he was obliged to fall back. Lieutenant Skinner, with a presence of mind useful to such emergencies, covered. the retreat of the sixty-third; and in this manner did the whole party continue to retire, till they formed a junction with their infantry, who were advancing to support them, leaving Sumter in quiet possession of the field. This officer occupied the ground for several hours; but having received a severe wound, and knowing that the British would be re-enforced before the next morning, he thought it hazardous to wait. He accordingly retired, and taking his wounded men along with him, crossed the rapid river Tyger. The wounded of the British detachment were left to the mercy of their enemy; and it is doing but bare justice to General Sumter * Major Money, Lieutenant Gibson, Lieutenant Cope; the infantry amounted only to eighty. What presumption! to expect to dislodge an officer acknowledged to be the most brave, posted on ground chosen by himself, at the head of five or six hundred troops, whose valor had been often before tested, with one hundred and sixty, mostly dragoons. The British cavalry could not act with effect from the nature of the ground, as was evinced by the nugatory attempt made by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton at their head. to declare that the strictest humanity took place upon the present occasion they were supplied with every comfort in his power." This faithful and plain relation was made from the representations of officers in the action. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, however, viewed his own conduct in the most favorable light; and not only considered the assault warrantable, but even claimed the victory. If the principle, on which his pretension is founded, be correct, nothing short of exterminating success can give title to victory. What more could the assailed party have done than to fight, to retain his ground, bury the dead, and take care of the enemy's wounded? Of his own wounded, General Sumter had but four to take care of, and of his own dead, but three to bury. But he did not wait until Colonel Tarleton might return with a superior force, and as Tarleton did return and occupy the field of battle on the day following, therefore Tarleton was the victor. Such logic does not merit refutation. But however interested military disputants may contest the point, impartial posterity will concur in the conclusion of common sense, that Sumter gained a decisive victory. A grievous wound suspended his personal exertions, and probably prevented him from improving his success. After performing the funeral rites of the dead, and placing the wounded of the enemy in the most comfortable condition in his power, he continued his retreat. His faithful associates, agreeably to usage, separated as soon as they reached their point of safety. Sumter's wound, unfortunately for his country, long detained him from the field; but useful consequences continued to result from the deep impression of his example, from the spirit he had infused, and the experience gained under his guidance. Pickens, Harden, Clarke, and others, persevered in their arduous exertions. Frequently interrupting the communication between the different posts of the enemy, they obliged the British general to strengthen his stations, spread throughout the country, and thereby weaken his operative force. Tarleton was no sooner recalled from the east of the Santee, than Marion emerged from his concealed retreat, traversed the country, from Georgetown to Camden, and endangered the communication between them. Frequently crossing the Santee, he interrupted the intercourse between Charleston and Camden; to secure which, an intermediate post had been established at Motte's Hill, on the south side of the Congaree. Thus, in this gloomy period, was resistance in the South con tinued, as embarrassing to the enemy, as exhilarating to the scattered refugees from South Carolina and Georgia. It produced, too, in Congress and the nation, a solacing conviction that the spirit of the people was unsubdued; and promised, if seconded with vigor, and directed with wisdom, to restore the two lost States to the Union. CHAPTER XX. Gates reorganizes his army.-Is recalled.-Gen. Greene appointed to fill his place.— Letter of General Washington to George Mason, on that event.-Delaware and Maryland added to the Southern Department.-Lieut.-Col. Lee, with his Legion, consisting of three troops of horse and three companies of infautry, ordered to the South. CORNWALLIS still held his position at Winnsborough, waiting for the expected re-enforcement under Leslie, and devoting his attention to the repression of the daring enterprises devised and executed by Marion, Sumter, and their gallant associates. In the mean while Gates was laboring with unceasing zeal and diligence to prepare a force capable of meeting his successful adversary. Having collected the shattered remains of his army at Hillsborough, in pursuance of a regulation established by the commander-in-chief, the broken lines of Maryland and Delaware were compressed into one regiment, and placed under Colonel Williams, of Maryland. The officers of cavalry had not been very successful in their efforts, for but four complete troops could be formed from the relics of Bland's, Moylan's, and Baylor's regiments, when united with the new recruits. These were embodied, and placed under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Washington, of Virginia.* The supernumerary officers of Maryland and Delaware, and of the cavalry, were dispatched to their respective States, for the purpose of recruiting. Brigadier Gist, who had so nobly seconded De Kalb on the fatal 16th of August, was charged with the direction of this service, there being no command for him with the army, in consequence of its reduced state. General Smallwood was retained as second to Gates. Morgan, the distinguished leader of the rifle corps, was promoted to the rank of brigadier by brevet, and repaired to the Southern army. About the same time, the recruits of the *Lieutenant-Colonel Washington found among his difficulties that of acquiring proper swords not the least considerable; and hearing that the arsenal of his native State in Richmond abounded with dragoon swords, he dispatched an officer to Governor Jefferson, stating his wants, and soliciting relief. Virginia line reached Hillsborough; and the remaining companies of Harrison's artillery also joined our army. The union of these several corps gave to General Gates about one thousand four hundred Continentals. The deliverance of North Carolina from the late invasion, by the fortunate victory of King's Mountain, afforded time for the government of the State to understand its real condition, and to prepare for the impending danger. A division of its militia had been called into the field under the command of the Generals Sumner and Davidson, to which was united a volunteer corps under Colonel Davie. While Gates remained at Hillsborough, Sumner had taken post, with the militia, in the country washed by the Yadkin, the main branch of the Pedee. Smallwood was dispatched to take charge of the troops in that quarter, while General Gates moved, with the Continentals, to Charlotte. As soon as the head-quarters of the American army were transferred to this place, Smallwood was advanced from the Yadkin to the Catawba, having Brigadier Morgan, at the head of a corps of light troops, in his front. The Pedee flows near the northern boundary of South Carolina; the Savannah is its limit on the southwest; and the Santee, whose main branch is the Catawba, is the intermediate of the three large rivers of that State. Just below Motte's, where the British had erected a small fortification, the Santee is formed by the confluence of the Wateree and the Congaree. The former of these rivers, descending from the north, runs through the hilly country, where it is called Catawba; and, passing Camden, rolls on to its junction with the Congaree. The Congaree, after the union of its head branches, the Broad River and the Saluda, takes a southern direction. The position now taken by Gates, and the arrangement of his force, presented a strong contrast to his former conduct, and afforded a consoling presumption that he had discovered his past error, and had profited by the correction of adversity.* Neither Congress nor the nation were reconciled, however, to the severe blow which our arms had sustained under his guidance. The annihilation, in a few hours, of an army from which much had been expected, was a sufficient cause of investigation and inquietude; and when that mis *When General Gates was about to set out from Virginia for the South, his old acquaintance and fellow-soldier, General Charles Lee, waited on him to take leave; and, pressing him by the hand, bade him to bear in mind that the laurels of the North must not be exchanged for the willow of the South. fortune, in the exhausted and worried condition of the people, was followed by a necessity of replacing the lost force, or of submitting to the subjugation of an important portion of the Union, the most awful and afflicting sensations were unavoidably excited. Congress entertained, indeed, a high respect for the unfortunate general, and a grateful recollection of his past services; but that homage, however merited, could not, and ought not, to suppress those inquiries which always follow miscarriage or misfortune, where the sovereign power is careful of the public good. It was, moreover, necessary to check the conqueror, and two lost States were to be recovered. To effect such important objects, a general, obscured by adversity, was, though of respectable talents, inadequate. It required the fire of superior genius, aided by an untarnished reputation, to reanimate despondency, restore confidence, and turn the current of adversity. Such reflections daily gained strength; and Congress, at length, resolved that a court of inquiry should examine into the conduct of Major-General Gates, commanding in the Southern department, and that the commander-in-chief should, in the interim, appoint a successor. This unpleasant resolution was immediately transmitted to General Gates at Charlotte, and he prepared to obey the summons of the court, as soon as his successor should arrive and assume the duties of command. In the mean while, he continued, with unremitting exertion, his preparations for resisting the enemy, by endeavoring to discover their force and plans, by collecting magazines of provisions, and stimulating the governments of North Carolina and Virginia to a timely contribution of their aids. Happy, if his efforts should smooth the way for a more prosperous course to his successor, he acted, throughout this disagreeable period, with intelligence, assiduity, and zeal. Washington did not long deliberate on the appointment which he was directed to make. Major-General Greene* had served under * HEAD-QUARTERS, PASSAIC FALLS, October 22d, 1780. DEAR SIR:-In consequence of a resolve of Congress, directing an inquiry into the conduct of Major-General Gates, and authorizing me to appoint some other officer in his place during this inquiry, I have made choice of MajorGeneral Greene, who will, I expect, have the honor of presenting you with this letter. I shall, without scruple, introduce this gentleman to you as a man of abilities, bravery, and coolness. He has a comprehensive knowledge of our affairs, and is a man of fortitude and resources. I have not the smallest doubt, therefore, of his employing all the means which may be put into his hands to the best advantage, nor of his assisting in pointing out the most likely ones to answer the purposes of his command. With this character I take the liberty of recom |