Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-07-06
S0VFt} CAROLINA M
FaE REpOhV hVFt0a
How the Spirit of Liberty Was Kept Alive By an
UncOnquerable People.
From the Yorkville Enquirer of 1875
INSTALLMENT XII.
The Fall of Charleston.

full storming Of Savannah, on the 9Th
of October, 1879, the French and
American armies continued, In ap-
pearance, to prosecute the siege.
It was only a feint. Both armies
were making preparation for raising
the siege On the night Of the 18th
of October, the American forces, un-
der, General Lincoln, retired to Zully's
ferry, and the French forces, under
Count d'Estaing, to Caustin's Bluff.
From this point the French proceed
ed to Tybee, where they had left their
ships. Here the French arrived on
the goth of October, whence the
French count left the continent.
General Lincoln marched from Zul-
ly's Ferry to Charleston.
No doubt both General Lincoln and
his troops were cast down and sad.
The two armies parted, say the Amer
lean historians, with the kindest feel
| ing towards each other; but the Brit
ish historians give a very different
account Of their separation. The Brit
ish historians say that no good feeling
existed between the French and Amer
| lean armies before the attempt to take
Savannah by storm and after this un-
fortunate affair, 1t was with great dif-
ficulty that an open rupture was pre-
vented. Each party reproached the
other for bad management and cow
/ laI 40 ftun
formed a junction and as gladly they
separated. All the circumstances OF
the case seem to favor the British ac-
count rather than the American.
The fall Of Savannah into the hands
of the British, late in 177S, and now
the unsuccessful attempt TO drive the
British out of 1t in 1879, were sore
calamities; but they were only pre-
cursors of a more calamitous event.
Strange as 1t may seem, the British,
although meeting with but little sue
cessful opposition, stiH they made but
little headway in reducing the country
to subsection. They were nominally In
possession of all Of Georgia, and much
Of the lower section of South Carolina.
Actually, they were in possession of
only Savannah.
So soon as It was learned that dEs-
taing had left the American continent,
Sir Henry Clinton set out In earnest
TO effect the long cherished plan OF
reducing South Carolina to subsection.
On the 26th Of December, 1779, Sir
Henry Clinton, with Admiral Marion
Arbuthnot, set sail from Sandy Hook.
On board the fleet was land force Of
five thousand troops. Every prepara-
tion had been made for the expedition.
The equipment was perfect; but no
human foresight can provide against
all casualties. The voyage was not
only tedious but attendant with sore
disasters. Several of the transports
and provision ships were damaged by
the sea: a few were taken by the
Americans, and all were, more or less
injured. An ordnance ship with all
her stores sank, and nearly all the
cavalry and draught horses were
drowned. Alter ioi6 ohN e'
pestuous voyage, the armament reached
North Edisto sound on the 10th OF
February.
The following day was spent In
landing the troops on Johns Island.
The British army, led by the COM
mander-i in chief in person, was now
within thirty miles Of Charleston.
Had he marched Immediately against
the city, 1t must have fallen into his
hands at once. General Lincoln had
| less than two thousand Continental
troops, and the militia would have
been panic stricken on the appearance
of so formidable force as that under
the command of Sir Henry Clinton.
Had an immediate attack been made
by Clinton, the probability is that Gen
eral Lincoln would have retreated and
| left the city of Charleston to the mer-
cy of the enemy. Sir Henry Clinton,
Notwithstanding the great superiority
Of his forces over those Of General
Lincoln, determined to take the city
| by siege. Lincoln, on the other hand,
went to work In conjunction with the
civil and municipal authorities. to put
the place in a condition to stand
regular investment
The course pursued by the British
general showed that he feared the
ghost Of Fort Sullivan. Twice the
forces of his Brittanic Majesty had
been repulsed and driven away, hum
hled If not dsgraced, from Charleston.
Now the commander in chief of the
British forces in America, determin-
ed to proceed deliberately and eau
tiously. With as much military GER
emony as If he were about to besiege
an old European city. whose trowning
battlements looked down in contempt
upon an approaching enemy, the Brit
| ish general began the work Of besieg-
| ing a city only one hundred years old,
and defended by only few indisci-
plined militia and a general bred a
| farmer.
Charleston, at this time, was In a
very unfit condition to resist the at
tack of the enemy. The financial con-
dition of the state of South Carolina
was absolutely desperate. The price
of a pair of shoes was near a thou
sand dollars and everything else in
proportion. The smallpox broke out
in the city and served as an excuse
to deter the country militia from join
ing the forces in the city. Most Of
them were conscious that they would
flee at the first onset, and the idea Of
having no outlet begat within their
minds feelings Of despair. The truth,
Is the militia were hopelessly demor-
allied They dreaded the idea of be-
ing cooped up in beleaguered city.
When Sir Henry Clinton arrived the
legislature was in session. Governor
John Rutledge was granted dictatorial
powers. He was invested with the
power to do anything that would pre-
vent the republic from suffering harm.
Absolute power was granted him, ex-
cept that no man could be put to death
until after trial by jury.
Governor Rutledge, together with all
the friends of the Republican party in