The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1878-06-27
SIEGE OF NINETY SIX.
4 BRAVE DEFENCE, BUT a BRAyER
ASSAULT.
A short sketch ofWaat our Ancestors did
for American Liberty.

Z = 4
"A short sketch oswadt our Ancestors did
s for American Liberty.
The village Of Cambridge was situated
in the southeast corner of the present
county of Abbeyille. Ina direct line it
! was about twenty miles, nearly due east,
from the. site os Abbcville Court House,
& six miles west of the Saluda River, and
;about one.half mile north of the line
which divides the counties of Abbeyille
and Edgefeld. A short time prior to
the revolutionary war, the. name Cam
bridge had been exchanged for that OF
Ninety Six. Tradition has preserved two
reasons FOR this change of name. The
Z one is that Cambridge was ninety.six
miles distant from Fort Prince George.
The othet is that at one time, after the
Indian tribes had planned q massacre OF
: the frontier settlers, AN Indian girl
mounted a horse and rode, in one day.
aud part j5f o night, ninety.six miles, to
z give the white settlers warning Of the
impending danger. The point at which
she communicated to the whites the con-
semplated outbreak Of the Indians was
! Cambridge. From this circumstance,
sgys one Tradition, the name Cambridge
s was exchanged Tor that Of Ninety Six. .
At.gn early period in the settlement of
the np-c3untry, Cambridge, or Ninety
Six, became q place of importance sec
ond to none other in the State of South
Carolina. To protect the frontier set
tiers against the attacks of the Indians
the place was forti6ed. From time to
time, as hscessity demanded, these forti-
dcatiSns Wers;improyed.
When the difficulties between the col
oDies and the mother country began to
assume "a threatening aspect, Ninety Six
5scaEe the scene of bloody conflicts be-
tween Wings and loyalists. The region
around Ninety Six was the most popu-
ious, ans, i perhaps, it may be said, the
most wealthy section of the up-country
previous "a the revolution. It had been
The abode Of wild Indians, who made
anything else than agreeable neighbors
TO the Europeans residing in the. interior
Of the State. *
- A special effort was made TO induce
white settlers TO take possession of this
region of country. Grants of one and
two hundred acres Of land. on terms the.
most favorable, we're made to any one
ssWho would occupy them. The region
was represented as one Of fabulous fer
tilisy. The result was that both the
: ambitious and the needy were attracted
to the new country. Population of all
kinds flowed in from various; quarters.
Rufians Of the yilest sort and bands of
lazy freebooters hocked into the region.
The freqnent outbreaks of the Indians
gave these outlaws the semblance OK q
pretext for making attacks upon the
property of their industrious neighbors.
House-6fesking and horse and cattle
stealing became common occurrences.
The law was powerless, and every one
went 10 bed at night with the dread on
his mind that before morning his proper
ty would be raided upon by these despe-
1radoes. s ~, ,;lss
Ito meet the exigeReies of the case,
the more respectable of the community
organized themselves for mutual pro-
: stection. Without the ordinary forms of
law, these organized bands proceeded to
inhict SUMMARY punishment upon all
offenders who came, into their hands.
I That which was at first organized with
e the designef promoting only the public
good was, soon abused. Individuals un-
2dertook, under cloak Of correcting 8
public wrong, to punish private injuries.
The good of the whole was forgotten in
Furnishing Individual wrongs. The re-
suit was that those who had no conlec-
: ton with the lawless raiders who infest-
ed the region were often seized and pun
isbed 10 appease the hatred of some pri-
yate individual. Neighbors soon began
to cherish toward each other bitter ami
mositiss, and the. whole. country was
thrown into q state of anarchy and con-
fusion. ~
a In 1855 Governor Montague and the
{ Council sentsa man by tie name of
Scoyil to adjust the difficulties which ex-
;sted between thssettlers. Scovifproyed
to be an unprincipled villain, and, in
stead of establishing peace, came very
near bringing on civil war.
ss In 1859 q court of justice was estab-
lished at Ninety Six. The. seeds of ha-
trad and strife had, however, been sown
broadcast and had germinated, and were
flonrishing with growth too vigorous to
he checked by the forms of law. Regu-
Iator and Scovilite continued until 1775,
when tie former was exchanged for that
of Wing, and the latter for that OF. tory
or loyalfst.
s. For q period offtwenty years multi
sudes on each side had been nursing
their wrath. Each party charged the
other with the opprobious epithet of
coward; but truth demands that We say
shat neither deserved the title. They
were braye-in many instances cruelty
so. Every circumstance ! both in the
ssettlement ofsthe region and In the in
tercourse Of the settlers with each other,
conspired TO make the war in that COM
munity fierce. The main object the
British had in garrisonihg Ninety Six
{ was to keep up their intercourse with the
I Indians. The power of the savages had
been broken, but their fierce spirits had
not been subdued. The British fed the
flames of revenge which still blazed in
the bosoms Of these grossly wronged, but
desperately cruel, sons of the forest.
The Notifications of Ninety Six were
erected in the forks of two roads. One
: OF, these roads led from Charleston, by
the way of SAKE Gotha, to Ninety Six.
The other road led from Augusta, Geor-
gia, to Ninety Six. A short distance
north of the fortifcation was the town.
On the west of the fortifcation was a
small stream, by which the garrison
was furnished with water. On the west
bank of this, stream, on 9 slight emf
hence, was a stockade; and on the east
bank of this stream was the Jail, which
was also fortified and garrisoned. On
the northeast of the village was a star.
shaped redoubs. This was the principal
place of defence. It consisted of a
stronghold, built with sixteen salient
and an equal number of re-ensrsnt
angles. Around this was dug deep
circular ditch, traces of which are still
- ,aor Tho eybo1o xvoa etro NOT en,,d