enemy had effected little except the overrunning and plundering an extensive tract of territory; and that after all their battles and marauding expeditions, they had been compelled to return to as narrow encampments as they had occupied before the campaign commenced.

CHAPTER XXX.

CAMPAIGN OF 1780.

RECENT events in the southern country had convinced Sir Henry Clinton of the weakness of that portion of the Union, and had pointed it out as the proper theatre of war. Leaving, therefore, the command of the royal army in New York, to General Kniphausen, on the 26th of December, 1779, he sailed from that city with a considerable force, and after a stormy passage, on the 11th of the ensuing month he arrived at Tybee in Georgia, at the mouth of the Savannah river. Hence he proceeded to Ashley river, and encamped opposite to Charleston.

On his arrival, the assembly of the state of South Carolina broke up its sitting, after having once more delegated a dictatorial authority to Governor Rutledge, who immediately issued his orders for the assembling of the militia. These orders were not promptly obeyed. The disasters of the last campaign had damped the ardour of patriotism, and each man seemed to look to his neighbours for those exertions which might have been justly expected from himself.

On reconnoitering the works of Charleston, however, Sir Henry Clinton did not deem it expedient to attack them till he had received reinforcements from New York and Savannah. These soon arrived, and he proceeded to open the siege in form.

Charleston is situated on a tongue of land, bounded on the west by Ashley, and on the east by Cooper river. The approach to Ashley river was defended by Fort Moultrie, erected on Sullivan's Island; and the passage up Cooper river was impeded by a number of vessels sunk in the channel, opposite the town. On the land side, the place was defended by a citadel and strong lines, extending from river to river.

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CAPITULATION OF CHARLESTON.

Before these lines Clinton broke ground on the 29th of March, and on the 10th of April he completed his first parallel. On the preceding day, Admiral Arbuthnot, who commanded the British fleet, had passed Fort Moultrie with little loss, and had anchored near the town. About the 20th of April the British commander received a second reinforcement of 3,000 men; and the place was soon completely invested by sea and by land—his third parallel being advanced to the very edge of the American works.

General Lincoln, who commanded the American garrison in Charleston, would not have shut himself up in the town, if he had not confidently expected relief from the militia, who had been called out by Governor Rutledge, and by whose assistance, he had hoped if reduced to extremity, to have effected a retreat across Cooper river. But the few who, in this hour of difficulty, advanced to his aid, were cut off or kept in check; and the river was possessed by the enemy.

6

In these distressful circumstances, after sustaining a bombardment which set the town on fire in different places, on the 12th of May he surrendered on a capitulation, the principal terms of which were, that the militia were to be permitted to return to their respective homes, as prisoners on parole, and while they adhered to their parole, were not to be molested in their persons or property.' The same conditions were also imposed on all the inhabitants of the town, civil as well as military.

Sir Henry Clinton now addressed himself to the business of re-establishing the royal authority in the province, as a preliminary step to which, on the 1st of June he issued a proclamation, offering to the inhabitants, on condition of their submission, pardon for their past offences, a reinstatement in their rights, and what was remarkable, as indicating the lowered tone of the ministry, exemption from taxation except by their own legislature.

This proclamation was followed up by the posting of garrisons in different parts of the country, to protect the royalists and overawe the patriots, and by the march of 2,000 men towards North Carolina. On their advance, the American troops, who had marched from that province too late for the relief of Charleston, retreated with the loss of a party of nearly 400 men who were barbarously massacred, after surrendering to Colonel Tarlton at the Waxhaws.

Thus completely successful, Clinton, early in June em

CONDITION OF SOUTH CAROLINA.

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barked with the principal part of his forces, for New York, having delegated the completion of the subjugation of South Carolina to Lord Cornwallis, with whom he left for that purpose an army of 4,000 men.

When Lord Cornwallis assumed the command in South Carolina, the Americans had no army in the field within 400 miles of that province, and the principal part of the inhabitants had submitted either as prisoners or as subjects. Had they been suffered to remain in this state of quiet neutrality, they would have adhered to their parole of honour, and awaited the issue of the contest in the northern states.

But his lordship's instructions did not permit him to be contented with this passive obedience, and he proceeded to take measures to compel the South Carolinians to take up arms against their countrymen. For this purpose he issued a proclamation, absolving from their parole, all the inhabitants who had bound themselves by that obligation, and restoring them 'to all the rights and duties belonging to citizens.'

What was meant by the ominous word 'duties' was explained by another part of the proclamation, whereby it was declared, 'that it was proper for all persons to take an active part in settling and securing his majesty's government, and that whoever should not do so, should be treated as rebels.'

The Carolinians were highly indignant at the treacherous and unprincipled violation of the terms of their submission. Many of them justly considering the contract to be broken by this proceeding of the British commander, instantly resumed their arms; and though more, under the impression of fear, enrolled themselves as subjects, they brought to the cause a hollow-hearted allegiance which could not be trusted in the day of trial. Large numbers quitted the province, and hastened to join the army which congress was raising for the purpose of recovering South Carolina, and others forming themselves into small bands, commenced a system of partisan warfare, which, for a long time, spread terror and desolation through the southern country.

This partisan war commenced on the 12th of July, two months after the fall of Charleston, when 133 of Colonel Sumter's corps attacked and routed a detachment of the royal forces and militia at Williamson's plantation. This success brought in new volunteers, and Sumter soon found himself at the head of 600 men. With this increase of force he made a spirited attack on a party of the British at Rocky Mount,

X

230

GATES'S MARCH TO THE SOUTH.

but as they were entrenched, and he had no artillery, he was obliged to retreat. Determined to keep his militia employed, he next attacked another royal detachment consisting of the Prince of Wales's regiment, and a large body of royalists, posted at Hanging Rock. The Prince of Wales's regiment was nearly annihilated, being reduced from 278 to 9. The royalists were dispersed.

A body of Maryland and Delaware troops sent forward in March for the relief of Charleston, under the command of Baron De Kalb, had been delayed, and had only reached Petersburg on the 16th of April. General Gates, whose victory at Saratoga had given him a brilliant reputation, was ordered by congress to take command of this force, and the chief direction of the southern campaign. On joining the army, in North Carolina, Gates was advised by De Kalb to proceed by a circuitous route, to the southward, where he would find plenty of provisions; but conceiving it to be his duty to hasten with all speed to the scene of action, he preferred the straight forward road to Camden, which led through a desert pine

barren.

In traversing this dreary tract of country, his forces were exhausted with fatigue and hunger. The few cattle which his commissariat had provided having been consumed, his only resource for meat was the lean beasts which were accidentally picked up in the woods. Meal and grain were also very scarce; and as substitutes for bread, the soldiers were obliged to have recourse to the green corn and fruits which they met with on their line of march. The consequence of this unwonted diet was, that the army was thinned by dysentery and other diseases usually caused by the heat of the weather, and by unwholesome food.

The soldiers at first bore these hardships with impatience, and symptoms of dissatisfaction, and even of mutiny, began to appear amongst them. But by the conciliatory exertions of the officers, who shared in all the privations of the common men, the spirit of murmuring was repressed, and the troops pursued their weary march with patience and even with cheerfulness.

On their arrival at the place called Deep Creek, their distresses were alleviated by a supply of good beef, accompanied by a distribution of half a pound of Indian corn meal to each man. Invigorated by this welcome refreshment, they proceeded to the cross roads, where they were joined by a

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respectable body of militia under the command of General Caswell.

Though Gates was aware that another body of militia was hastening to his assistance from Virginia, he was prevented from waiting for their arrival by want of provisions, and, after staying for one day only at the cross roads, finding that the enemy intended to dispute his passage at Lynch's creek, he marched to the right towards Clermont, where the British had established a defensible post. On his approach to the latter place, however, Lord Rawdon, who commanded the advance of the British, concentrated all his forces at Camden, whilst Gates mustered the whole of his army at Clermont, which is distant from Camden about thirteen miles.

These events occurred on the 13th of August, and on the next day the American troops were reinforced by a body of 700 of the Virginia militia under General Stevens. At the same time Gates received an express from Colonel Sumter, who reported that he had been joined by a number of the South Carolina militia, at his encampment on the west side of the Wateree, and that an escort of clothing, ammunition, and other stores belonging to the British was proceeding from Charleston to Camden, and must of necessity, on its way to its destination, cross the Wateree at a ferry about a mile from that place.

On receiving this intelligence, Gates sent forward a detachment of the Maryland line, consisting of 100 regular infantry, and a company of artillery, with two brass field-pieces, and 300 North Carolina militia, all under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Woodford, who was instructed to join Sumter, and assist him in intercepting the convoy.

At the same time, Gates made preparations for advancing still nearer to Camden, in the expectation that, if Lord Rawdon did not abandon that post, as he had done that of Clermont, his supplies would be cut off by the body of militia that were expected to pour forth from the upper counties, and he would thus be compelled to surrender.

On reaching the frontiers of South Carolina, Gates had issued a proclamation, inviting the inhabitants to join his standard, and offering an amnesty to such of them as, under the pressure of circumstances, had promised allegiance to the British government. Though this proclamation had not been without effect, it had not called forth the numbers upon which the American general had been led to calculate, and after the