Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1858-02-25


river at the ferry. WAS stationed on the opposite
side with company Of artillery and TWO field
pieces. Col. Wallace with his regiment Of Virgin
ians was stationed there also. From the first time
I had view Of them. commenced firing on them
which seemed TO stop them from crossing there,
while their main holy crossed Ashley river above
us. Col. Wa!iaccs regiment. AMI my company
were ordered into town. This night the British
army crossed Ashley river, reached Chare,tun.
broke ground aud b"gan their first parlel at 81
bout eleven hundred yArls from our works. A.
thousand regulars, with the sailors Of Commodore
Whppc'. hret-who manned the batteries "r the
El>t and South Bnys-with n few militia, they
were too few to man the lines completely. Of
the enemy wns forming this first parallel, We kept
up fire with cannon and mOrtars, yet his
works advanced. and he formed his second paral-
lei. Our numbers being small in proportion to
the extent of our lines, no reets could be afford
ed to the men at their posts the closer the enemy
approached our works, the more arduOus, danger
Gus and incessant became nur duties. The two
last weeks Of the siege, we lay continually upon
our arms neither change of clothes, nor bed to
rest upon could we enjoy. We reclned against
the parapet, until reused by the explosion Of a
shell, the roar of q cannon or the groans of the
wounded The last week of the seige, our provis-
ions began to fail U.s. Rice, molasses and sugar,
were our principal food, and we tasted of some of
the disresscs that besieged cities are often redu-
ced to suffer; yet amidst such great privatons our
hearts were firm, knowing well that We owed
life to our country, if it stood in need oft; and
our hands were ready to defend the parapet of our
works inch by inch. | was stationed on the left
of the lines, in an advanced redoubt, properly
called by the soldiers, the slaughter pen" Be-
fore the enemy could pass the ditch, they must pos
scss themselves of this redouht, because it EMILIA
ded the ditch as far as the IIornwork, and also the
Glacis, consequently it was the object of heavy
and constant fire. have seen fourteen men kill
cd and wounded in it during one night. The
brave and patriotic Mr.. Andrew Lord, volunteer
in our regiment COL Parker, of the Virginia
line, and Captain William Mitchell Of our regi-
ment, and many other brave men whose names
do not recoect, there fell sacrifice to procure
freedom and independence to their country, in this
same redoubt. The enemy had now completed his
third parallcl-had worked through the abbatis,
and lodged themselves on the Gacis near the
ditch, at only twenty five PAGES from our works.
The garrison made sortie to retard their ap-
proach In this last effort Capt. Moultrie, broth
er to the General, was killed. The loss of the
enemy was considerable, but it avaed US little
The time was now come when we must meet our
fate, and sink under the horrors of storm or
render prisoners of war. The latter was prefer
red by those in command, and when consider the
overwhelming force opposed to us, and our
strength failing US for want of food and rest,
can only wonder we were able to hold on so long.
Further resistance could only have hurried US to
an untmely grave, and involved in infinite ruin
the inhabitants Of the city with their families, ms
we'll rs the city ITSELF for engineers gave it as
their opinion, that our lines could be carried i'll
ten minutes time. In addition to this, and our
want of ammunition and provisions, (the cit-
zens on the 11th May 1880, addressed General
Lincoln declaring their acquiescence in the terms
of surrender. which the British some time before
hand offered, and trongy urging him to accept them
thus we had enemies within as we'll MS without.
At this critical moment, if they had been outside
of our lines, we would not have regarded them.
I'd Lord CORVALLIS on his victory over General
Gates, and took mp arms against their country.
| saw their names in the newspapers of that time
1t may be said that Charleston doomed to fall
but can testify that it did not fall, until it had
been defended to the last extremity.
On the 18th May 1880, the garrison marched
out of their lines, and laid down their arms, on
the Glacis, by virtue of capitulation. believe
it to be fact, that the British commanders were
mortified when they saw the small number that
they had been contenlng against so long; aud
after the surrender, magazine containing the
loaded arms of the garrison, and some powder,
blew up, and the whole of the British guard was
destroyed. How this accident happened is un-
known Another incident happened which some
may think worthy Of note, viz
The arm and hand of Pitts statue, that held
&c IL .l,o
square of Broad d-street and meeting streets, was
knocked off by a cannon ball fired by the British,
from their battery on James Island upwards of
a mile distant. l saw it soon after it was done.
Perhaps it was emblematic of their depriving the
colonies of their liberties. Upon rejecting on the
many instances of Divine Providence manifestng
itself in different ways in behalf of the Americans,
I was fully convinced that it was the unerring
hand of Providence that guided the ball to the
mark, and that it was done to convince US of His
interference in our behalf and for US to put our
confidence in his Almighty arm
The garrison was sent prisoners Of parole to
Halrcrs Point, limited to six miles circumference,
ana pfOMoitcu from crossing any arm OF the sea
or any water course, and afterwards Kindred from
gathering oysters on the banks, and were fed with
the refuse of their armys provisions. The officers
were "vcn deprived Of their servants by the enc
my cnticing them to runaway and enlist with them,
thereby subjccting the officers to every inconve-
nience, which in the wantonness of their pride and
power could be inflicted on them. Here had my
share sufferiur and felt severely the want of COM