Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-10-02
From the Yorkville Enquirer Of 1875
INSTALLMENT XXXVI.
The Retreat of General Greene-con-

At Guilford court house, the force
under General Greene wefe re-organ
Iized. Rather a council of war was hell
and arrangements made to hasten tn
retreat and avoid, IL possible, a genera
engagement with the British. To eros
the Dan at the Shallow fords was re-
garded, on account Of the recent rains
as barely within the range Of possibil
titles. CORVALLIS was equally as nea
these points as Greene, and calculated
with certainty that Greene would d.
rect his course to these crossings b!
the nearest route.
Lieutenant Colonel Darlington, quar-
ter master general, suggested that TIT
attempt should be made to cross th'
Dan at Twins ferry. This point wa!
j seventy miles from Guilford cour
house The suggestion made by Col
Darlington was ~resarded as eminent
lily wise and consequently was s-aaepted
To keep out of striking distance o.
CORVALLIS required great military skill
on the part of Greene. and promptnes.
of action and much physical endurance
on the part of his common soldiers
Having determined to cross the Dan a.
Irwin's ferry, the next thing was tt
select force which should protect tht
main body Of the Americans willis
retreating and retard the progress o.
the pursuing British. For this purpose
force of seven hundred men was Sc
Ilected. This force consisted Of the
choice of the infantry under Colone
Howard, Colonel Washington's cavalry
Colonel Lees legion, together with
few militia rifiemen under Major
Campbell.
The command of this corps was Of
fered to General Morgan. For some
reason Morgan refused to accept 1t, ant
at the same time resigned his com
mand and retired from the army ant
never again joined it. The reason as
signed by General Morgan for thi!
strange conduct, at this critical mo-
ment in his country's history was tina
he was so afflicted with rheumatism
that he could no longer continue II
service. There is no doubt Of his be-
ing afflicted with rheumatism. Th'
kind Of life which he had led from boy
hood was sufficient to impair his con
stitution and render him liable, to al
attack Of rheumatism, at any time
During the whole winter Of 1871 he wa
exposed to all kinds Of weather ant
since he was subject to attacks o
rheumatism, we may we'll suppose tina
he was actually suffering with tina
disease when Greene's army was a
Guilford court house. Still this af
ter all, was not the only reason, nor wa!
1t the principal reason why Morgan re
tired from the army.
At Sherrills ford on the last day o
January, Greene and Morgan disagreed
with respect to the plan Of the cam
paign. Sharp words passed betweeI
them and whilst 1t is certain tina
Greene forgot the whole affair and II
the fullest sense forgave Morgan, sucl
was not the case with Morgan. Thii
Is not by any means saying that Nor
gan was revengeful. Such was not th'
case, but the kind of warfare which
General Greene was at that time con
Quoting was not the kind in which Gen
eral Morgan delighted. He had NJ
taste for systematic retreats. His ides
of war was, meet the foe on you
ground IL you can; II not, meet TIT
foe anywhere.
General Morgan having retired from
the service, the command Of the selec
corps was given to Colonel Williams
Maryland. Colonel Darlington wa
sent forward to make arrangements TO
the army to cross the river. All tn
boats above and below Twins ferr.
were conducted to that point On tn
tenth Of February. General Greene Sc
out for the Dan. The distance Il
about seventy miles, but the road
were almost impossible. CORNWALL
had commenced his march on the pre-
vious day, not directly in the rear
Greene but on his left on a parable
road.
After Greene had left Guilford cour
house, Colonel Williams on the SAM
day, broke up his camp and filed to tn
left for the purpose Of throwing HI
forces between those Of Greene ant
CORVALLIS. Evidently, the greater tn
distance which intervened between TN
two armies. the greater the probabilit!
that Greene would escape unharme'
across the Dan. The main body or tn
American army pushed forward, ant
without being materially incommode'
crossed the Dan on the thirteenth. Tn
safe retreat of Greene was mainly du
to the skill with which Colonel VIII
liams managed the movements OF nj
corps. In this he was aided by the IL
lustrious Colonel Lee and by Colone
Washington, of the cavalry and by Ma
jor Campbell.
Leading to the Dan there were thre
roads nearly parallel to each other
Greene was marching on the lower one
Cornwallis on the upper one and VII
lliams on the middle one. Thus tn
forces Of Williams were between Corn
wallis and Greene. 1t was necessar
that williams provide that Cornwalli
should not slip past him and get be
tween him and Greene. Such an even
would have proved fatal to both VIII
liams and Greene. In order to re
tard as much as possible the progress
. of the British, the rear Of William
force and the van of the British wer
in sight Of each other during the Who'll
day. The British advance was com
manded by O'Hara, an experienced an
brave officer The rear guard Of VIII
, liams was commanded by the dashinI
Lee
During the retreat from Guilfor
, court house to Irwin's ferry on tn
Dan, neither the officers nor men Il
williams command had much time t
eat or sleep. The only meal that the
. pretended to take was breakfast. A
three in the morning the march com
menced. A party was sent ahead t
kindle fires, generally at some farr
house where there was probability O