Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1907-03-12
CHAPTER XXXV.

nal soon,
That marks the feast prepared, their
ears shall note
A sound of terror-and the banquet
spread,
Shall call the anxious appetite that
sees
And gloats upon its garbage from
afar."
Silence and 4 deep anxiety hung like
a spell above the ambuscading party
The woods lay at rest, and the waters
of the fountain trickled quietly, as II
peace lay sleeping in their neighbor-
hood, and security watched over her
So we'll had Singleton made his ar
rangements, and so cautiously had his
plans been executed, that no necessity
existed for hustle or confusion. Each
trooper had his duty as carefully as
signed him as the boy Frampton; and
all of them; taking direction from
their gallant leader, lay still in the
close shadow of the thicket, silent as
the grave, and only awaiting the sig
nal which was to fill its unfolding
jaws.
They waited not long before the ad-
vance Of the Tories appeared In sight;
then came the prisoners-a melan-
choly troop-men, women and chill
dren; and then the main body Of the
marauders, under Gaskens, bringing
up the rear. In all. there was prob
ably over a hundred persons; in oddly
assorted and most miscellaneous col
lection, with nothing uniform in their
equipment. They were not British,
but Tories; though here and there the
gaudy red coat, probably tribute of
the battlefield, was ostentatiously
worn by an individual, upon whom,
no doubt, it conferred its own char
acter, and some Of that authority
which certainly would have been pos
sessed by its owner were ne Briton.
The present troop of banditti-for, as
vet, they could be styled by no other
more proper epithet-was one OF the
many by which the country was over
run in every direction. Banding to-
gether in small squads, the dissolute
and the wicked among the native and
foreign thus availed themselves Of the
distractions Of the war to revenge
themselves upon old enemies, destroy
the property they could not appro-
pirate, and with the sword and the
rope, punish the more honest, or the
more quiet, for that pacific forbear-
ance which they themselves were so
little disposed to manifest.
In every section Of the province
these squads were continually form
ing. In one night, ten, twenty, thir-
ty, or more, would collect together,
and by a sudden and impetuous move
ment, anticipating all preparations,
would rush with fire and sword upon
their Whig neighbors, whose first
knowledge Of the incursion would be
the brand in the blazing barn, or the
bullet driven through the crashing
oI,n In,
ner, even as he sat with his little cir
Gle at the family fireside, the stout
yeoman who might have defended or
avenged them. The arm Of the law
was staid by invasion, and the sane
ton of the invaders was necessarily
given, under all circumstances, to the
party which claimed to fight in their
behalf. The Tory became the British
ally, and the Whig his victim accord
ingly; and to such a degree were the
atrocities Of these wretches carried,
that men were dragged from the arms
of their wives at midnight, and suf-
fered for their love of country in the
sight Of wives and children, by dying
in the rope, and from their own roof
trees.
OF this character was the body of
Tories, under Amos Gaskens. now rap
idly approaching the place Of ambush.
They had formed themselves on the
Williamsburgh line, chiefly the desper-
ados and outcasts from that quarter,
and had chosen among themselves an
appropriate leader in Gaskens. OF
whom we are told by the historian,
that even before the war he had been
notorious for his petit larcenies. From
this quarter they had passed into St.
Johns, Berkeley, marking their pro-
gress everywhere with havoc, and
stopping at no atrocity. Such employ
ment was not less grateful to them
selves than to their new masters, to
whom they thought 1t likely, and in
deed knew. that 1t must commend
them. Gaskens aimed more highly,
indeed, than his neighbors. He had
already been honored with British
captaincy-he desired a still loftier
commission; and the recklessness Of
his deeds was intended still further to
approve him in the sight Of those
from whom he hoped to receive it. If
the atrocities of Tarleton resulted in
his promotion and honor, why not like
atrocities in Amos Gaskens? Reason
might well ask, why not, since, in
cruelty. they were fair parallels for
one another.
The prisoners brought with Gaskens
were chiefly taken from the parish OF
st. Johns. Berkeley. One family, con-
sisting of a man named Griffin. his
wife, and daughter, a tall, good look
ing girl, about seventeen, were closely
watched, apart from the rest Of the
captives, by a guard especially assign
ed for this purpose. The taking OF
this man had cost the Tory two of his
best soldiers and he had himself been
wounded in the arm by stroke from
Griffin's saber. Griffin had fought des-
perately against his captors: and an
old grudge between himself and G&S-
kens had stimulated them both. the
one to desire his capture, the other to
resist, even unto death, the effort OF
his enemy The result, so far, has
been shown. Griffin tried to escape at
the approach Of the Tory. but the back
track of the neighboring swamp had
been intercepted by Gaskens. who
knew the route, and three of his men
who went there to watch it: while the
main body of the troop pressed for
ward to the cottage. IT was there that
the flying man encountered them. and
the fight was desperately waged before
they conquered him. This did not
happen until. as we have said. two OF
his dastardly assailants had fallen be-
meath his good sword and vigorous
arm. He pressed Gaskens himself
backward, and would have probably
slain him and escaped. but for the aid
of other Tories coming on him from
behind.
Though not seriously wounded in
the fray. Griffin had been much chop
ped and mangled. A large seam ap-
peared upon hij thigh, and there were
two slight gashes over his cheek, not
so deep as ugly. Conquered at last
his hands were bound, and, with his
family he was made to attend his cap
tors on foot The manly resistance
which he had offered to his enemy, in
stead of securing him respect, expos
ed him only to the most tOrturing irri-
tations in his progress with them. Be.
fore his eyes, they hurled the branc
into his little cottage, and he saw the
fierce flames in full mastery over his
little homestead. long before they had
left the enclosure. In spite of his
wounds and injuries. the sturdy fellow
maintained a stout heart. and showed
no sign of dependency; but bearing
himself as boldly as If he was not the
victim but the victor. he defied the
base spirit of his conqueror. and with
an eye that spoke all the feeling OF
the fiercest hatred, he looked the de-
fiance which, at that time, he had M
better mode of manifesting.
Nor was the feeling of Gaskens to-
wards his prisoner a jot less malig