"Headquarters, Dobbin's House, }
February 17, 1781. }"Lord Cornwallis is very sorry to be obliged to call the attention of the officers of the army to the repeated orders against plundering, and he assures the officers that if their duty to their king and country, and their feeling for humanity, are not sufficient to enforce their obedience to them, he must, however reluctantly, make use of such power as the military laws have placed in his hands.
"Great complaints having been made of negroes straggling from the line of march, plundering and using violence to the inhabitants, it is Lord Cornwallis's positive orders that no negro shall be suffered to carry arms on any pretense, and all officers and other persons who employ negroes are desired to acquaint them that the provost-marshal has received orders to seize and shoot on the spot any negro following the army who may offend against these regulations.
"It is expected that captains will exert themselves to keep good order and prevent plundering. Should any complaint be made of the wagoners or followers of the army, it will be necessarily imputed to neglect on the part of the captains. Any officer who looks on with indifference, and does not do his utmost to prevent shameful marauding, will be considered in a more criminal light than the persons who commit these scandalous crimes, which must bring disgrace and ruin on his Majesty's service.
"All foraging parties will give receipts for the supplies taken by them."
"Headquarters, Freelands, }
February 28, 1781. }MEMORANDUM.
"A watch found by the regiment of Bose. The owner may have it from the adjutant of that regiment on proving his property."
"Camp Smith's Plantation, }
March 1, 1781. }"BRIGADE ORDERS.
"It is Brigadier-General O'Hara's orders that the officers commanding companies cause an immediate inspection of the articles of clothing, etc., in the possession of the women in their companies, and an exact account taken thereof by the pay-sergeants; after which, their necessaries are to be regularly examined at proper intervals, and every article found in addition thereto burnt at the head of the company—except such as have been fairly purchased on application to the commanding officers and added to their former list by the sergeants as above. The officers are likewise ordered to make these examinations at such times, and in such manner as to prevent the women (supposed to be the source of infamous plundering[2]) from evading the purport of this order.
"A woman having been robbed of a watch, a black silk handkerchief, a gallon of peach brandy, and a shirt, and, as by the description, by a soldier of the Guards, the camp and every man's kit is to be immediately searched for the same by the officers of the brigade.
"Notwithstanding every order, every entreaty that Lord Cornwallis has given to the army, to prevent the shameful practice of plundering and distressing the country, and these orders backed by every effort that can have been made by Brigadier-General O'Hara, he is shocked to find that this evil still prevails, and ashamed to observe that the frequent complaints he receives from headquarters of the irregularity of the Guards particularly affect the credit of that corps. He therefore calls upon the officers, non-commissioned officers, and those men who are yet possessed of the feelings of humanity, and actuated by the principles of true soldiers, the love of their country, the good of the service, and the honor of their own corps, to assist with the same indefatigable diligence the General himself is determined to persevere in, in order to detect and punish all men and women so offending with the utmost severity of example."
Such was Lord Cornwallis's policy. What was the disposition toward him of the country through which he was passing? "So inveterate was the rancor of the inhabitants, that the expresses for the Commander-in-Chief were frequently murdered; and the people, instead of remaining quietly at home to receive pay for the produce of their plantations, made it a practice to waylay the British foraging parties, fire their rifles from concealed places, and then fly to the woods." (Stedman's History.)
In all cases where the country people practice such warfare, retaliation by the army so annoyed is justified. But even in Colonel Tarleton's ("bloody Tarleton's") command, Lord Cornwallis took care that justice should be done. In Tarleton's own narrative we read:
"On the arrival of some country people, Lord Cornwallis directed Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton to dismount his dragoons and mounted infantry, and to form them into a rank entire, for the convenient inspection of the inhabitants, and to facilitate the discovery of the villains who had committed atrocious outrages the preceding evening. A sergeant and one private were pointed out, and accused of rape and robbery. They were condemned to death by martial law. The immediate infliction of this sentence exhibited to the army and manifested to the country the discipline and justice of the British General."
In Lee's Memoirs, we learn that on one occasion he captured on the banks of the Haw, in Alamance, two of Tarleton's staff, "who had been detained in settling for the subsistence of the detachment." What was the course of General Sherman's officers, eighty-four years afterward, in the very same neighborhood, on the very same ground, let us now see. "Look on this picture, then on that."
FOOTNOTES:
[2] 'Tis a thousand pities that a certain gallant major-general, late of the cavalry service in General S.'s army, (now Minister to Chili,) could not have his attention drawn to this.