Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1876-05-04
.istutp uf $. Garulima.
" HISTORICAL SKETCHES
....,. OF THE
EarIv Settlement of South Carolina.
BY REV. ROBERT LATHAM.
STORMING or SAVANNAH.

BY REV. ROBERT LATHAM,
sTORMING or SAVANNAH.
After the battle of Stono, the British army
retreated to Savannah, and General Lincoln
took up his headquarters at Sheldon. Such
was the condition of things by which General
Lincoln was surrounded, that he could not
even thwart the progress of the enemy. Aware
of his exposed condition, Provost led his troops
from island to island and thus conveyed them
to the point of destination. The American
general had no boats and no means Of procur-
ing any. General Lincoln was beset with
another sore evil, one which pressed all the
American generals during the Revolutionary
war.
As soon as the battle of Stono was over and
the British set out for their headquarters, the
American militia set out for their homes.
General Lincoln was thus left with only his
Contnentsls, or regular soldiers. With these.
destitute as he was of the accoutrements of
war, he was able to do nothing more than
prevent the enemy from undertaking any
great thing .....- ........ ......
The planters Of the southern section in the
State, in the track of Provost, suffered greatly.
In his march against Charleston, Provost
passed through the richest section of the State
at that time The houses of the planters were
FIRST plundered and many Of them burned.
The slave population far out.numbered the
whites, and being encouraged by promises of
freedom, they rushed in mass to the camp
of the invader. These slaves, made wild by
the sudden transition from slavery to unbri-
died license, invaded the homes Of their for
mer masters like so many hungry wolves.
Men and women were stripped of their cloth.
ing and jewelry, and every manner Of insult
heaped upon their persons. Wings and 10y
alsts Jared alike. These .deluded negroes
acted as guides to the British in gathering up
the plate and jewels which the planters had
hidden away in unfrequented places. Plate
and various articles of jewelry we're collected
by bands of prowling negroes. led by British
instigators, and brought to the camp of Pre-
vost and packed away in rice barrels and
sent off to be sold. At this time, although it
was only a little more than one hundred years
from the time the first settlement had been
made in t-e State, many of the planters were
immensen9 n965,ad lived in lordly style.
Their furniture %as of the most costly kind.
This, together with their China and glass
ware, was taken and sent to some point where
it could be sold. Nothing escaped these
plundering bands. The churches were robbed
and graves opened, and dead bodies stripped
of whatever thirst for plunder might crave.
7vo..
they received no compensation for all this
wicked work. So soon as they had completed
the job for which they had been engaged, the
cruel British placed on board their ships
about four thousand of these miserable wretch
es, and sent them to be sold in the same marts
in which was sold the plate and furniture they
had 80 valiantly assisted in carrying away
from their former masters. The British had
no need for the poor negro, only so far as he
could be used to thwart the efforts of his mas
ter who was struggling to throw off the yoke
of British tyranny.
On the retreat of Provost to Savannah,
those negroes, who had not been sent off to be
sold, were driven from the camp of the Brit
ish general. Disease, in its most frightful
and deadly forms, broke out amongst them.
Like so many starving wolves, they lowered
around the camp of their new made friends.
Multitudes of them died and their emaciated
bodies were devoured by wild beasts and vul-
lures, and their bones left to bleach upon the
islands, They had been told that return
to their former homes, would be visited by
certain death. Anxiously they watched the
British boats as they wended their way among
the island. A guard was placed on the boats
to prevent them going on board, and then
when some of them attempted to escape with
the British, by taking hold of the sides of the
vessel and floating with it, their fingers were
chopped off by soldiers who were assigned to
this cruel work.
The battle of stono was fought on the 20th
of June The hot season had set in, and
both armies we're forced to remain quiet for a
time. Only active operations ceased. The
leaders Of both armies were planning great
undertakings. Sir Henry Clinton having
failed to accomplish anything by his cam
paigns in the North, turned his eyes with
hope of better success toward the South. The
object of the commander-in.chief of the Brit
ish forces in America, seems to have been to
destroy the resources of Virginia and South
Carolina, and thus force North Carolina, for
want of supplies, to submit To put this
we'll concerted plan into action, Brigadier-
General Matthews, with two thousand SOL
diers, was sent to Virginia. On the 9th of
May, 1779, the British squadron anchored in
Hampton Roads. The American military
posts and magazines fell into the hands of the
British, and the whole country sustained
great loss. General Washington, although
sorely pressed for men and supplies, had des-
patched to the Southern department two regi-
ments of cavalry and some new recruits of
infantry.
Evidently, the cause of the patriots was in
a critical condition. 1t is true that the Brit
ish had, as yet, accomplished nothing but the
destruction of property, and there was scarce.
ly a field officer in the British army who did
not look upon the subjection of the American
people as an utter impossibility. These facts
the patriots did not know, and day by day