American Battery.

Siege of Fort Motte.

Lee's Expedient.

Patriotism of Mrs. Motte.

683), upon which he planted the six-pounder, in a position to rake the northern face of the parapet of the fort, against which Lee prepared to approach. M'Pherson had no artillery, and his safety depended upon timely extraneous aid, either from Camden or NinetySix.

a May, 1781.

Between the height on which Lee was posted and Fort Motte is a narrow vale, which allowed the assailants to approach within four hundred yards of the fort. From that vale they began to advance by a parallel, which, by the assistance of some negroes from neighboring plantations, was sufficiently advanced by the tentha to warrant the Americans in demanding a surrender. A flag was accordingly dispatched, with a formal summons, but M-Pherson gallantly refused compliance. That evening, intelligence of Rawdon's retreat from Camden toward Nelson's Ferry was communicated to the Americans, and in the course of the night a courier from Greene confirmed the report. Delay would be dangerous, for Rawdon, with his superior force, could easily repulse them. Early on the morning of the eleventh, the light of his beacon-fires were seen on the high hills of Santee, and that night their gleamings upon the highest ground of the country, opposite Fort Motte, gave great joy to the beleagured garrison. To batter down the enemy's works with the field-piece, or to approach by a trench, was too slow for the exigency of the case. The fertile mind of Lee, full of expedients, suggested a quicker plan for dislodging the garrison. The mansion of Mrs. Motte, in the center of the enemy's works, was covered with shingles, now very dry, for no rain had fallen for several days, and the rays of the sun were powerful. To communicate fire to this mansion was Lee's expedient. That officer had enjoyed the hospitality of Mrs. Motte during the siege, and her only marriageable daughter was then the wife of his friend, Major Thomas Pinckney. These circumstances made it a painful duty for him to propose the destruction of her property. Her cheerful acquiescence, and even patriotic desire to be able to serve her country by such a sacrifice, gave him joy; and, communicating his plan to Marion, they hastened to execute it. It was proposed to hurl ignited combustibles upon the roof of the house, by arrows. These were prepared, when Mrs. Motte, observing their inferiority, brought out a fine bow and a bundle of arrows which had been brought from the East Indies, and presented them to Lee. On the morning of the twelfth,a Lee sent Dr. Irvine, of his cavalry, with a flag, to state truly the relative position of the belligerents; that Rawdon had not yet crossed the Santee, and that immediate surrender would save many lives. M‹Pherson still refused compliance ; and at meridian, when the ditch was advanced within bow-shot of the fort, several arrows from the hand of Nathan Savage, a private in Marion's brigade, winged their way, with lighted torches, toward the house. Two struck the dry shingles, and instantly a bright flame crept along the roof. Soldiers were ordered up to knock off the shingles and put out the fire, when one or two shots from Marion's battery, raking the loft, drove them below. McPherson hung out a white flag, the firing ceased, the flames were extinguished, and at one o'clock the garrison surrendered themselves prisoners of war. By invitation of Mrs. Motte, both the victorious and the captive officers partook of a sumptuous dinner from her table, while she presided with all the coolness and easy politeness for which she was remarkable when surrounded by friends in the enjoyment of peace.1

a May, 1781.

1 Lee's Memoirs, 229-32. Simm's Life of Marion, page 236, 239. In this siege Marion lost two of his brave men, Sergeant M'Donald and Lieutenant Cruger. The British did not lose a man killed, and the prisoners were all paroled. Colonel Horry, in his narrative, mentions some pleasing incidents which occurred at the table of Mrs. Motte on this occasion. Among the prisoners was Captain Ferguson, an officer of considerable reputation. Finding himself near Horry, Ferguson said, "You are Colonel Horry, I presume, sir." Horry replied in the affirmative, when Ferguson continued, "Well, I was with Colonel Watson when he fought your General Marion on Sampit. I think I saw you there with a party of horse, and also at Nelson's Ferry, when Marion surprised our party at the house. But," he continued, "I was hid in high grass, and escaped. You were fortunate in your escape at Sampit, for Watson and Small had twelve hundred men.' "" "If so," replied Horry, "I certainly was fortunate, for I did not suppose they had more than half that number." "I consider myself," added the captain, "equally fortunate in escaping at Nelson's Old Field." 'Truly you were," answered Horry drily, "for Marion had but thirty militia on The officers present could not suppress laughter. When Greene inquired of Horry how

that occasion."

Rawdon's Retreat.

Belleville.

A Slave "Pass."

Trial of a Slave.

Columbia.

The prisoners were treated with great humanity, notwithstanding some of them were Tories of a most obnoxious stamp. As soon as paroled, they were sent off to Lord Rawdon, then crossing the Santee at Nelson's Ferry, near Eutaw Springs. The fall of Fort Motte greatly alarmed that officer, and two days afterward, a he blew up the fortifications at Nelson's Ferry, and hastened toward Charleston. During the day of the capitulation, a May 14. Greene arrived with a small troop of cavalry, being anxious to know the result of the siege, for he was aware Rawdon was hastening to the relief of the garrison. Finding every thing secure, he returned to his camp, then on the north side of the Congaree, after ordering Marion to proceed against Georgetown, toward the head of Winyaw Bay, near the coast, and directing Lee with his legion, and Captain Finley with his six pounder, to attack Fort Granby, thirty-two miles above Fort Motte, near the present city of Columbia. Thither we will presently proceed.

About a mile eastward of Fort Motte is the residence of Charles Thomson, Esq., known as Belleville. It was taken possession of, stockaded, and garrisoned by the Loyalists for a while. The fine old mansion, which I am told exhibits many bullet-marks made by some Whigs, who attacked a party of Tories stationed in the house, was owned by William Thomson, who, next to Moultrie, was most conspicuous in the battle on Sullivan's Island, at the entrance to Charleston harbor, in 1776. I intended to visit Belleville, but it was so late when I had finished dinner with Mr. Love, that I was obliged to mount one of his horses and hasten to the station to take passage for Columbia. While waiting for the cars,

2

the overseer of a plantation near requested me to write a pass for a sick female slave, whom he was about to send to her master at Columbia for medical aid. Regardless of the penalty, I wrote upon a card from my port-folio, "PASS DIDO TO COLUMBIA, January 19, 1849. J. SMOKE." Two hours afterward I was there also, but did not again see the namesake of the Queen of Carthage.

There was a

Columbia, the capital of South Carolina, is a fine town, handsomely located upon a high plain three or four miles in extent, a little below the junction of the Broad and Saluda Rivers, where they form the Congaree. It was laid out in 1787, when the region around it was very sparsely populated. The Legislature first met there in 1790. settlement on each side of the river, about two miles below, called Granby, which was a point of departure for the wilderness of the Cherokee country. The climate is mild and salubrious; and Columbia promises to be, from its geographical and political situation, a large inland city. It is the favored seat of learning in the state, the South Carolina College and Theological Seminary of South Carolina and Georgia being located there.

The morning after my arrival in Columbia was very inclement. A cold drizzle, which iced every thing out of doors, made me defer my visit to Fort Granby until noon, when, seeing no prospect of abatement, I procured a conveyance, and crossing the great bridge over

he came to affront Captain Ferguson; he answered, "He affronted himself by telling his own story."-Horry's MS. Narrative, quoted by Simms, Life of Marion, p. 239.

1 Some writers attribute Greene's presence at Fort Motte on this occasion to other motives than here represented. An unsatisfactory correspondence had recently taken place between Greene and Marion, the former having blamed the latter for not furnishing cavalry horses when in his power to do so. Marion, conscious of having been eminently faithful, felt deeply wronged, and tendered the resignation of his commission to Greene. The latter soon perceived the injustice of his suspicions, and took this, the first opportunity, for a personal interview to heal the wound.

Who

2 A slave found in the streets of a town after dark, without a pass, is liable to be locked in prison until morning, and this was written to prevent such an occurrence. The laws of South Carolina inflict the penalty of fine and imprisonment upon a person found guilty of writing a pass for a slave without authority. I was informed of a curious circumstance connected with this fact, which occurred near Fort Motte, a few days previous to my visit there. Two slaves, carpenters, had escaped from their home, and were found near Camden with well-written passes or permits to find work, signed by the name of their master. wrote the forged passes, was a question which puzzled the neighborhood. A mulatto on the plantation was suspected, and, on being accused, confessed that he wrote them, having been secretly taught to write by an overseer. A jury was called to try him for the offense, but as the law did not contemplate the ability of a slave to write, and as the term person did not apply to a negro, no punishment could be legally awarded. The jury simply recommended his master to flog him.

Fort Granby and its Garrison.

Mr. Friday and Colonel Maxwell.

Capture of Fort Granby.

the Congaree, rode to the house of James Cacey, Esq., the Fort Granby" of the Revolution, two miles below. It is a strong frame building, two stories in height, and stands upon an eminence near the Charleston road, within three fourths of a mile of Friday's Ferry, upon the Congaree. It overlooks ancient Granby and the country around. Several houses of the old village are there, but the solitude of desolation prevails, for not a family remains. Mr. Cacey was a hopeless invalid, yet he was able to give me many interesting reminiscences connected with that locality,' and I passed an hour very pleasantly with him and his family.

FORT GRANBY.

The dwelling of Mr. Cacey was originally built by some gentlemen of Pine Tree (Camden) as a store-house for cotton and other products of the country, whence they were sent upon flat-boats down the river to the sea-board. When the chain of military posts from Camden to Charleston was established, this building, eligibly located, was fortified, and called Fort Granby. A ditch was digged around it; a strong parapet was raised; bastions were formed; batteries were arranged; and an abatis was constructed. The garrison consisted of three hundred and fifty men, chiefly Loyalists, with a few mounted Hessians, under the command of Major Maxwell (a refugee from the eastern shore of Maryland), of the Prince of Wales's regiment. He was neither brave nor experienced, and the want of these qualities of the commandant being known to Lee, he felt no hesitation in attacking him in hist strong position. Detaching a small troop of cavalry, under Captain Armstrong, to watch the movements of Rawdon, Lee pushed forward with his usual celerity, to the investment of Fort Granby. Sumter, instead of joining Greene before Camden, had made a demonstration against Fort Granby, a few days before, but finding it too strong for his small arms, had retired, and marched to attack the British post at Orangeburg, fifty miles below. Lee

arrived in the vicinity of the fort on the evening of the fourteenth of May,a the day a 1781. on which Sumter took possession of Orangeburg; and in the edge of a wood, within six hundred yards of the fort, he began the erection of a battery. A dense fog the next morning enabled him to complete it, and mount the six pounder brought by Captain Finley from Fort Motte, before they were discovered by the garrison. When the fog rolled away, Captain Finley discharged his cannon, and, at the same moment, the legion infantry advanced, took an advantageous position, and opened a fire upon the enemy's pickets. sudden annunciation of the presence of an enemy, and his imposing display, alarmed Maxwell excessively, and he received Captain Eggleston, who was sent with a flag to demand a surrender, with great respect. After a brief consultation with his officers, the major agreed to surrender the fort, on condition that private property of every sort, without an investigation of title, should be left in the hands of its possessors; that the garrison should be per;2

This

1 Mr. Friday, the father-in-law of Mr. Cacey, and his brother, were the only Whigs of that name in the state, and often suffered insults from their Tory kinsman. Mr. Friday owned mills at Granby, and also a ferry called by his name; and when the British fortified that post, the garrison supplied themselves with flour from his establishment. He gave the British the credit of dealing honorably, paying him liberally for every thing they took from him-flour, poultry, cattle, &c. On one occasion, when called to the fort to receive his pay, Major Maxwell, the commandant of the garrison, said to him, "Mr. Friday, I hope you are as clever a fellow as those of your name who are with us." "No!" shouted his Tory uncle, who was standing near, “he's a damned rebel, and I'll split him down!" at the same time rushing forward to execute his brutal purpose. Colonel Maxwell protected the patriot, but dared not rebuke the savage, for fear of offending his Tory comrades. After the battle at Eutaw, Colonel Maxwell, and two or three other officers, passing through Granby, stopped one night at Mr. Friday's. Early in the morning, Maxwell said to Mr. Friday, "You Dutchmen are celebrated for fine gardens; let us go and look at yours.' When a little distance from the other officers, the colonel remarked, " Mr. Friday, you are a friend to your country. Remain so. We have not conquered it yet, and never will, and your name will yet be honored, while those of your countrymen who are with us will be despised." I gladly record the patriotism of Mr. Friday, in fulfillment of this prediction.

2 Lee says, in his Memoirs (page 234), that Maxwell, "zealous to fill his purse. rather than to gather

Terms of Surrender.

Greene's Army at Fort Granby.

The Locality.

Ninety-Six.

mitted to retire to Charleston as prisoners of war, until exchanged; that the militia should be held in the same manner as the regulars; and that an escort, charged with the protection of persons and property, should attend the prisoners to Rawdon's camp. Lieutenant-colonel Lee's practice was always to restore plundered property, when captured, to the rightful owners; yet, knowing the danger of delay, with Rawdon so near, he acquiesced, on the condition that all the horses fit for public service should be left. To this the mounted Hessians objected, and the negotiations were suspended. During this suspense, Captain Armstrong arrived with the intelligence that Rawdon had crossed the Santee, and was moving upon Fort Motte. Lee waved the exception; the capitulation was signed, and before noon Captain Rudulph raised the American flag on one of the bastions, and the captive garrison marched, with its escort, for Rawdon's camp. Among the spoils of victory were two pieces of cannon, and a considerable quantity of ammunition, salt, and liquor. It was a glorious, because almost a bloodless victory, for no life was lost.

1

On the surrender of the fort, Lee dispatched a messenger to Greene, who with great expedition had pressed forward, and was within a few miles of Friday's Ferry. He crossed that ferry, and on the evening of the fifteentha encamped upon Ancram's plantation, near the river, where the victors and the main army had a joyous meet- a May, 1781. ing. During the night a courier from Fort Motte announced the fact that Rawdon had retreated, after a day's march, toward that post, destroyed the works at Nelson's Ferry, and was pushing on toward Charleston. Early in the morning another courier came with the cheering intelligence of Sumter's success at Orangeburg,b and the seventeenth of May was a day of rejoicing by the little American army at Fort Granby.

b May 14.

Resting one day, General Greene moved toward Ninety-Six, which place he reached on the twenty-second of May. In the mean while, he strengthened Lee's legion by the addition of some North Carolina levies under Major Eaton, and then directed him to hasten toward Augusta, on the Savannah River, to join Pickens, who, with a body of militia, was in the vicinity of that post. We will follow them presently.

The house of Mr. Cacey yet bears many "honorable scars" made by the bullets of Lee's infantry; and in the gable toward the river, between the chimney and a window (indicated by a black spot in the engraving), is an orifice, formed by the passage of a six-pound ball from Finley's field-piece. In one of the rooms are numerous marks made by an ax when cutting up meat for the use of the garrison; and an old log barn near, which stood within the intrenchments, has also many bullet scars.

I returned to Columbia at four o'clock, where I remained until Monday morning. While at Columbia, I met a gentleman from Abbeville District, in the vicinity of old Fort Ninety-Six. He informed me that the traveling was wretched, and quite dangerous in that direction, and that nothing of Revolutionary interest worth visiting yet remained. at that military post, now the pleasant village of Cambridge, seventy-nine miles westward of Columbia. He also informed me that a gentleman of Cambridge, who was familiar with every historical event in his neighborhood, would cheerfully communicate all I could possibly learn by a personal visit. Willing to avoid a long and tedious journey unless it was necessary, I wrote to that gentleman, and by his kind and prompt compliance I am furnished with all necessary details respecting the locality, together with the plan of the fortification, printed on page 691. We will here consider the events which render NinetySix historically famous.

Old Ninety-Six was so called because it was within ninety-six miles of the frontier fort, Prince George, which was upon the Keowee River, in the present Pickens District. Its locality is in the eastern part of Abbeville District, near the borders of Edgefield, and within six miles of the Saluda River. No portion of the state suffered more during the war than

military laurels, had, during his command, pursued his favorite object with considerable success, and held with him in the fort his gathered spoil." This fact accounts for the major's desire to have all private property confirmed to its possessors "without investigation of title."

The garrison had only sixty regulars (the Hessians); the remainder were Tory militia.

the district around Ninety-Six. Like the neutral ground in West Chester, New York, Whig nor Tory could dwell there in peace, for armed bands of each were continually disturbing the inhabitants, and in close proximity were the hostile Cherokees, ready, when they dared, to scourge the settlers.

The little village of Ninety-Six was stockaded to defend it from the incursions of the Indians; and when, after the fall of Charleston, the British established several posts in the interior, its location and salubrity indicated it as an important point for a fortification. It was in a position to maintain a communication with the Indians, keep in check the Whig settlements west of it, and cover those of the Loyalists in other directions; and it afforded an excellent recruiting-station for the concentration of Tory material in that quarter.

Ninety-Six was garrisoned by about five hundred and fifty Loyalists, three hundred and fifty of whom were from New York and New Jersey,' and the remainder were South Carolina Tories, under Colonel King, the whole commanded by Lieutenant-colonel John Cruger, a native of the city of New York. Cruger was an energetic officer, and possessed the entire confidence of his superiors in the royal army. He did not receive instructions from Rawdon when that officer abandoned Camden, for Sumter cut off all communications; therefore, he had not prepared to evacuate Ninety-Six and join Colonel Browne at Augusta, as Rawdon desired him to do. When he learned that Greene was approaching Camden, he began to strengthen his works; and when informed that Lee, with his legion, had got between him and the post at Augusta, and that Greene was approaching to besiege him, his garrison labored night and day still further to strengthen the defenses. Already he had built a stockade fort on the borders of the village, in addition to a star redoubt. This was strengthened; a parapet was raised; a ditch was dug around it, and a covered way, communicating with the palisaded village, was prepared. Block-houses, formed of notched logs, were erected on the northeastern side of the village, near where a star redoubt was constructed. Before Greene reached there, Cruger's energy and skill had so directed the efforts of the garrison, under the superintendence of Lieutenant Haldane, one of Cornwallis's aids, that the place presented an apparently insurmountable strength against the attacks of Greene's little army of a thousand men.

In the mean while, Marion and Sumter were directed to keep watch between the Santee and Edisto Rivers, and hold Rawdon in check, if he should attempt to march to the relief of either Ninety-Six or Augusta, now menaced by the Americans; while Lee, who left Fort Granby, with his legion, in the evening after its capture, was scouring the country between those two posts, and proceeding to form a junction with Pickens. Informed that quite a large quantity of powder, balls, small arms, liquor, salt, blankets, and other articles, intended for the Indians, and much wanted by the Americans, were deposited at Fort Galphin (sometimes called Fort Dreadnought), a small stockade at Silver Bluff, upon the Carolina side of the Savannah, twelve miles below Augusta, he hastened thither to capture them. On the morning of the twenty-first of May,a he reached the vicinity, and Captain Rudulph, with some of the legion infantry, gallantly rushed upon the fort, while a

a 1781.

2

According to M'Kenzie, in his Strictures on Tarleton's History, there were one hundred and fifty men of Delancey's battalion (Loyalists of New York), and two hundred Jersey volunteers. Lieutenant-colonel Cruger was Colonel Delancey's son-in-law. Colonel Cruger died in London in 1807, aged sixty-nine. His widow died at Chelsea, England, in 1822, at the age of seventy-eight years.

2 The house of George Galphin, deputy superintendent of Indian affairs, inclosed within stockades, was used for barracks, and as a store-house for various Indian supplies. The land is now owned by Ex-governor Hammond, of South Carolina.

Previous to 1773, Galphin, by his dealings with the Creek Indians, had made them indebted to him in the sum of $49,000. To secure the payment of this and other debts, the Creeks conveyed to the British government, in 1773, a large tract of land lying within the present limits of Georgia. At the close of the Revolution, this land belonged to that state, and to the local Legislature Galphin applied for the payment of his claim. It was refused. In 1847, Milledge Galphin, surviving heir and executor of the Indian agent, petitioned Congress for a payment of the claim, principal and interest; and in 1850, the general government allowed what the local government had pronounced illegal. The "Galphin claim" took a large sum from our National Treasury, for interest had been accumulating for about seventy years.