SIEGE AT NINETY-SIX. 421 The northwestern portion of South Carolina was thus recovered, but the British still held possession of Ninety-Six and Augusta. Colonel Clarke and General Pickens were marching to invest the latter, when they were joined on the 20th of May by Lieutenant Colonel Lee. Their first active measure was the reduction of Fort Galpin, a small stockade twelve miles from Augusta, garrisoned by two companies of infantry. They next began the siege of Fort Cornwallis and Fort Grierson, the defences of Augusta on the south bank of the Savannah River, Georgia. The besiegers soon got possession of the later fort, the greater part of the garrison being killed or made prisoners in a vain attempt to escape to Fort Cornwallis. But Fort Cornwallis, under Lieutenant Colonel Brown, held out bravely. Regular approaches were made on one side, frequent sallies on the other; and it was not till recourse had again been had to a tower, and after fifteen days of open trenches, that the place, on the 5th of June, capitulated. During the siege, Captain Oldham's and Captain Handy's companies, who had been detached for service in Lee's legion, did gallant service. Oldham's company was posted to protect the tower from the frequent attempts of the enemy to destroy it. Upon one occasion in one of their sorties, the enemy, with the élite of the garrison, under the commander, fell upon General Pickens' militia. Handy, leaving Oldham's company to guard the tower, hastened to the relief of the militia, who were forced from the trenches. Lee says: "the conflict became furious; but at length the Marylanders, under Handy, carried the victory by the point of the bayonet." 1 After the capitulation of Augusta, Lee hastened with his troops to join Greene before Ninety-Six, where he arrived on the 8th of May. Greene had commenced the siege on the 22d of May, 1781, but was making but little progress, and as Lord Rawdon was making forced marches from Charleston, with two thousand men for its relief, he determined to hazard an assault. Colonel Campbell, at the head of the first Virginia and the first Maryland regiments, commanded the assault on the redoubt. His forlorn hope was led by Lieutenant Duvall with a detachment of Marylanders, and Lieutenant Seldon with a detachment of Virginians. Fascines were prepared to fill the ditches; and close upon the footsteps of the forlorn hope, came men with iron hooks fastened to the end of long poles to pull down the sand-bags. Lieu 1 "To the name of Captain Oldham, too much praise cannot be given. He was engaged in almost every action in the South, and was uniformly distinguished for gallantry and good conduct. With the exception of Kirkwood, of Delaware, and Rudolph, of the Legion Infantry, he was probably entitled to more credit than any officer of his rank in Greene's army-a distinction which must place him high on the rolls of fame. In the celebrated charge on the British at Eutaw, of thirty-six men, which he led, all but eight were killed or wounded; yet he forced the enemy."-Lee's Memoirs, Edition of 1869, p. 362. "Henry Lee, or 'Light Horse Harry,' as he was sometimes called, speaking of the 1st Maryland Regiment, says: 'It was this regiment which forced the guards at the battle of Guilford Court-House, killing their commandant, and driving them back, seeking shelter under cover of the British artillery; and a portion of the same regiment constituted a part of the infantry, which, under Howard, gave us the victory at the Cowpens, by the free use of the bayonet.""-Ibid., p. 340. tenant Colonel Lee was charged with the attack on the stockade fort on the right, with the infantry of his legion and Captain Kirkwood's company. Major Rudolph commanded his forlorn hope. Lieutenants Duvall and Seldon were ordered to remove the abatis, and seizing the curtain opposite to them, clear the angle, while the hook-men advanced to pull down the bags. Piling these upon the fascines in the ditch, Campbell, with his Maryland and Virginia troops, was to force his way into the fort. On the left, Colonel Lee was ordered to possess himself of a stockade adjoining the fort, and govern his movements by the result of the attack on the fort. Everything being ready, at noon the signal gun fired, when the American forts, rifle towers and the advanced works, opened their fire, and amid the thunder and smoke of their guns, each party rushed on to the attack. Lee found no difficulty in getting possession of the stockade, as the enemy had evacuated it the night before. The storming party under Campbell was not so successful, for on their side of the attack the battle raged, fierce and long. Duvall and Seldon, with their heroic band, leaped into the ditch and commenced the destruction of the abatis. The enemy's fire from right to left met them at their approach, and thinned their ranks at every step. "Through every loop-hole and crevice the fatal balls of the rifle poured down, and the projecting and re-entering angles hemmed them in between two walls of fire. Above bristled a deadly array of pikes and bayonets. As the abatis yielded to their efforts, they became at every instant more and more exposed. Officers and men fell around them on every side." Captain Armstrong, of the first Maryland regiment, fell dead at the head of his company. Captain Benson, Lieutenant Duvall, Lieutenant Seldon, and a number of other officers were wounded. For three-quarters of an hour did these brave men persist, and notwithstanding the fall of their leaders and two-thirds of their number, still pressed on, occupied the curtain, and maintained the conflict with the garrison, while the hookmen, who promptly followed, were struggling to get down the sand-bags. But the opposition they had sustained convinced General Greene that success could only be purchased at an immense sacrifice of lives, and he therefore ordered the assaulting parties to desist. The greater part of the wounded were brought safely back to camp in face of a galling fire. The stockade, captured by Lee, was abandoned in the night. Thus ended this. bloody and spirited affair in which, for the number engaged, there was as much bravery displayed as ever was exhibited by any people. General Greene in his afternoon orders, on the 18th of June, 1781, said he took "great pleasure in acknowledging the high opinion he has of the gallantry of the troops engaged in the attack of the enemy's redoubt. There is great reason to believe that the attack on the star battery, directed by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, would have been equally fortunate, if the brave Lieutenants Duvall and Seldon, who most valiantly led on the advanced parties, had not been unluckily wounded. Their conduct merits the highest encomiums, and must ensure them perpetual honor. The loss of the amiable Captain Arm BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS. 423 strong, and the dangerous wound received by the intrepid Captain Benson, are to be regretted. Their names cannot be forgotten while acts of heroism are held in estimation. The good conduct of the officers and men who served the artillery at the several batteries merit attention. The consummate bravery of all the troops engaged, and the animated dispositions of those who were ready to engage, gained them the applause of their friends and the respect of their enemies. "The general presents his thanks most cordially to both officers and soldiers, and hopes to give them an early opportunity of reaping the fruits of their superior spirit by an attack in the open field upon the troops now led on by Lord Rawdon." 1 Thus ended the siege of Ninety-Six, which lasted twenty-eight days, and cost the American army one hundred and eighty-five men. Lord Rawdon, who had left Charleston on the 7th of June, to the relief of Ninety-Six, appeared within a few miles of Greene's camp, which the latter abandoned in the night of the 19th of June, moving by the way of the Saluda. On the 22d, he halted to observe the movements of the enemy, and on the next day he received intelligence that Lord Rawdon had entered Ninety-Six on the 21st, and was then in pursuit of the Americans. The army immediately resumed its march, and Rawdon, unable for the want of provisions to continue his pursuit, retraced his steps to Ninety-Six, followed closely by Lee. Lord Rawdon remained here two days, and then dividing his force, he left one-half at Ninety-Six, while he marched with the remainder to Orangeburgh. About the 12th of July, Colonel Cruger, the commander of Ninety-Six, abandoned that post and joined the main army. Greene, in the meanwhile, with his army, went into camp on the High Hills of Santee, about ninety miles northwesterly from Charleston. After a short rest, Greene, on the 23d of August, broke up his camp on the hills of Santee, and moved to attack the British at their post near the junction of the Wateree and Congaree. They retreated before him and halted at Eutaw Springs. Early on the morning of the 8th of September, owing to various causes, the enemy were not aware of Greene's approach until he was close upon them. The American army advanced to the attack in two lines of battle. The first line was composed of the militia in four small battalions; two of North Carolina under Colonel Malmedy formed the centre, and two of South Carolina, one on the right led by Marion, and one under Pickens, the left. The second line was formed of three hundred and fifty continentals of North Carolina, led by General Sumner, on the right, of an equal number of Virginians commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Campbell, in the centre, and two hundred and fifty Marylanders, under Williams on the left, divided into two battalions, commanded by Colonel Howard and Major Hardman. Two three-pounders under Captain Lieutenant Gaines, occupied a position in the centre of the first line, and two six-pounders under Captain 1 Greene, iii., p. 315. Browne, of Maryland, attended the second line. Lee, with his legion, and Henderson with the militia under Hampton, Middleton and Polk, protected the flanks, while Washington and Kirkwood formed the reserve. Within a mile of the camp, they encountered the enemy under Colonel Stewart, who had thrown forward a small force to check their advance until he could form his main force in order of battle. Pressing steadily forward and firing as they advanced, Greene soon found himself in the presence of the whole British army. The action now became general. The militia of the front line fought for a time with the spirit and firmness of regulars. Their two field-pieces were dismounted, and there was great courage on both sides. Being greatly overpowered, they fought until they had expended seventeen rounds of ammunition, when they gave way, covered by Lee and Henderson, who fought gallantly on the flanks of the line. Sumner, with his North Carolinians, was instantly ordered up to fill the gap, while the strength of his line under Williams and Howard was held back for the final struggle. Sumner came up with the utmost promptness, and ranging with the corps of Lee and Henderson, the battle was renewed with redouble fury. In speaking of the conduct of this corps, General Greene observes "that he was at a loss which most to admire, the gallantry of the officers or the good conduct of the men.". The enemy likewise brought their reserve into action, and the struggle was obstinately maintained between fresh troops on both sides. Sumner's brigade, after sustaining for some time a much superior force, at length yielded and fell back. The British left, elated at the prospect, sprang forward as to certain victory, when their line became deranged. At this auspicious moment Greene ordered his adjutant-general, who remained in command of the second line: "Let Williams advance and sweep the field with his bayonets!" Williams was seconded by Colonel Campbell, with the Virginians. The order was gallantly obeyed. Emulous to wipe away the recollections of Hobkirk's Hill, they advanced within forty yards of the enemy, delivered a destructive fire, and, with trailed arms, advanced to the charge. The contest now raged, and the air rang with the shouts of the two opposing lines, as they mingled in the deadly strife. In the midst of the showers of grape and bullets, Colonel Campbell fell speechless upon the pommel of his saddle, from a wound in the breast. Williams and Howard were at the head of the line, however, and the Americans bore down all before them. At this moment the British centre gave way from left to right. One more volley from the Maryland Line, and along their whole front the enemy yielded. The rout was complete; the enemy fled in all directions, some through the woods, some along the Charleston road, carrying the terror of their defeat into the city. Victory now seemed certain on the side of the Americans, as they had driven the enemy from the field and had taken possession of their camp. Unfortunately, the American soldiers thinking the victory complete, fell to plundering the camp and drinking the liquors found there. Many of |