* During the evening, an unfortunate accident deprived the state of the life and services of a brave officer. Having discovered a breach in the abatis, Governor Rutledge, without the knowledge of the garrison, sent out Major Benjamin Huger * and a small parly to repair it. The garrison had lighted tar barrels in front of their lines to prevent a surprise, and by their light Huger and his men were discovered, and believed to be a party of the enemy. Immediately a fire of cannons, muskets, and rifles ran along almost the whole line, and poor Huger and twelve of his men were slain. The folly of having two commanders was perceived, and all military authority was immediately given to Moultrie. The cannonade alarmed the town, it being regarded as a prelude! to something more dreadful.
* Benjamin was one of the five patriot brothers, who were active in revolutionary scenes. He was the gentleman who first received La Fayette on his arrival at Georgetown in 1777. His brother Isaac was a brigadier in the army under Greene; John was Secretary of the Stale of South Carolina; Daniel was a member of the Continental Congress; and Franeis K. was quartermaster general of the Southern Department Major Huger's son, Franeis K., married a daughter of General Thomas Pinekney, and was that officer's adjutant general during the war of 1812.
Death of Huger.—Withdrawal of the British Army.—Battle at Stone Ferry.—Retreat of the British.
in the morning, at the solicitation of the civil authorities, Moultrie sent a message to Prevost, renewing the proposition of the previous day. It was rejected, and all anxiously awaited the dawn, expecting a terrible assault. The morning broke clear and serene, but the eyes of the sentinels upon the batteries, and of anxious watchers upon the house tops, could perceive no traces of a beleaguing army. For a moment it appeared as if all had been disturbed by a terrible dream, but as the sun arose, the scarlet uniforms and burnished arms of the invaders were seen south of the Ashley. The British host was crossing to James's Island. The mystery was soon solved. During the night, Prevost was informed that Lincoln, with four thousand men, was pressing on toward Charleston, and he feared that his force, hardly sufficient to attack the town with hopes of success, would be annihilated if placed between two fires. * He prudently withdrew, and, perceiving his pathway of approach intercepted by Lincoln, he essayed to escape back to Savannah, by way of the islands along the coast.
Lincoln soon approached, and both armies encamped within thirty miles of Charleston, the Americans upon the main, and the British upon John's Island. ** There they continued for a month, Prevost fearing to move forward, and Lincoln not feeling quite strong enough to pass over and attack him. Finally, an attempt to dislodge the British was made. They had cast up works at Stono Ferry, and garrisoned them with eight hundred men, under Colonel Maitland, the brave officer who died at. Savannah a few months later. These were attacked on the morning of the twentieth of June by about twelve hundred of Lincoln's troops. The contest was severe, and for an hour and twenty minutes the battle was waged with skill and valor. A re-enforcement for Maitland appeared, and the Americans perceived it to be necessary to retreat. When they fell back, the whole garrison sallied out, but the American light troops covered the retreat so successfully, that all of the wounded patriots were brought off. The Americans lost in killed and wounded, one hundred and forty-six, besides one hundred and fifty-five missing. Of the killed and wounded twenty-four were officers. The British loss was somewhat less. Three days afterward, the British evacuated the post at Stono Ferry, and retreated from island to island, until they reached Beaufort, on Port Royal. After establishing a post on Ladies' Island, between Port Royal and St. Helena, they returned in boats to Savannah and St. Augustine. *** The heat was now becoming intense, and Lincoln's army dispersed, with the exception of about eight hundred men, with whom he retired to Sheldon to prepare for the opening of another campaign in October. Thus closed, ingloriously to the invaders, the second attempt of the British to possess themselves of the capital of South Carolina.
* According to an imperfect estimate, the number of American troops in the city was three thousand one hundred and eighty; the British force numbered about three thousand three hundred and sixty.
** This island is separated from the main land by a narrow inlet, which is called Stono River. Over this, at a narrow place, there was then (and is still) a ferry, where the British cast up defensive works.
*** On their retreat across the fertile inlands, on the Carolina coast, the British committed the most cruel depredations. The people hid their treasures, but the negroes, who had been promised freedom, repaired in great numbers to the British camp, and informed the soldiers where their master's property was concealed. It is believed that in this incursion three thousand negroes were carried out of the state, many of whom were shipped to the West Indies and sold. Hundreds died of camp fever upon Otter Island, and for years afterward their bleaching bones strewed the ground thereon. The whole loss was more than four thousand, valued at two hundred and eighty thousand dollars. Houses were stripped of plate, jewelry, clothing, money, and every thing of value that could be carried away. Live-stock was wantonly slaughtered, and in a few cases females were violated bv the brutal soldiery.
Charleston after the Invasion.—Condition of South Carolina.—Arrival of a British Armament.