The watchman and southron. [volume] (Sumter, S.C.) 1881-1930, 1897-12-01
SUMTER. s. G. "WEDNESDAY. DECEMBER l. 1897.

Clad In tattered garments they rae
forth sorry company-twenty- seven
on raw boned horses with rusty fire
locks without prospect of pay, ami
mated only by burning love of coun-
try, Gen. Gates ignores them, aud
the regular troops do not restrain
their ridicule. Soon these we'll fed
troops are flying, defeated, beaten {;
Gates has loat the field of Camden.
and Marion's brigade, embalmed in
history, rhymed in poetry, romance
and song, is to-day almost q living
personality.
Augmented by the wings of Will
hamburg. stern browed horsemen
who take aim to kill. Governor Rut
ledge commissions Marion brigadier
general He is now 4S years ofage.
small. lean, swarthy. and of iron sin
ewshis regimental. leather cap on
which is inscribed. Liberty or
Death. His troops no better equip
ped-their wants are few, only arms
and ammunition. They take saws
from sawmills and make swords,
they frequently go into action
with only three rounds to a
man, sometimes coldly stand
and watch a comrade shoot an
enemy, with the shrill cry
of an eagle down they swoop and
seize musket and cartridges and be-
hold Hercules come to battle Scouts
are out in all directions. word is.
brought Of the enemy With a
wild plunge. like wizard thro' the
air, as the wiil,o the-wisp of the
swamps, seemingly ubiquitous. Ma
'rion and his men are upon them
Bold riders without tents or baggage
they follow their intrepid leader.
whose favorite time for marching is
at sunset, trusting him implicitly,
they only know the length of the ex-
pedition when they watch the old
negro man, cook q little more homi
ny, potatoes or cornmeal.
But the Southern army is annihila-
ted, Charleston taken, Camden lost,
partizan generals and partizan war
fare alone withstand CORVALLIS !; but
they annoy him terribly, cutting off
this supply, falling on that outpost.
until CORVALLIS is irritated beyond
measure and looks ever his shoulder,
dreading to hear the shrill cry of
Marion. his swift darting foe, any
where, everywhere.
Poor Cornwallis Marion is not
his only nightmare In the middle
country, the Game Cock, fully spur
red, ut.ers his sharp note of defiance,
and CORVALLIS writes Lieut.. Tarle-
ton Capture Sumter He certainly
has been our greatest plague in this
country
Thomas Sumter, brigadier general,
tsthe game cock of the Santee,' also
furnishes inspiration for artist, poet,
sculptor.
Foremost 10 the storm of battle. he
leads his brigade inpetuously to vic
tory, less inclined to plan than to ex-
ecute, his no Fabian policy.
Il is his good fortune to give the
first check to the British successes,
defeating band of cruel marauders
on the Catawba At Rocky Mount
and Hanging Rock he wins unfading
laurels
Sanguine Tarieton melted by his
general, falls upon his gallant chief
at Blackstock-long the fight and
ferce-two hundred Britishers forfeit
life. Sumter loses three men, three
are wounded, and Sumter, s.our brav-
est one" /" at the head of his column,
is severely wounded Tears course
those hardened faces. as with touch
aud gentleness Of women they lift
that loved commander into rawhide
ambulance, and swiftly one hundred
men convey their wounded chieftain
into North Carolina, there TO heal his
wounds. But the fearless Sumter
does not waste his forlough -Four
months later he has raised three reg
iments, and with head!ong courage
pInnges once more into the conflict.
he disperses a large body of Tories
near Dorchester Monck's Corner,
Ninety-Six, Quimby's Bridge, Eutaw,
all bear tribute to the fame of Sum-
ter.
And Andrew Pickens, unconquera.
BILE partizan, gentle pacifcator, stands
a foremost representative of the up
per Carolina A leader Of men at
81, his first campaign against the
Cherokees. Then, and in his later
years like Penn, the trne hearted
Pickens befriended the helples In
dian. The untutored savage, bribed
by British minions to regard the pa
triots deadly foes, in supposed de-
fence of hunting ground and wig
wan. frequently raided the pale face