“The column will move to the left of the French troops, taking care not to interfere with them.
“The light troops having carried the work towards the river will form on the left of the column.
“It is especially forbidden to fire a single gun before the redoubts are carried; or for any soldier to quit his rank to plunder without an order for that purpose; any who shall presume to transgress in either of these respects shall be reputed a disobeyer of military orders which is punishable with death.
“The militia of the first and second brigades, General Williamson’s and the second battalion of the Charleston militia will parade immediately under the command of General Huger; after draughting five hundred of them the remainder of them will go into the trenches and put themselves under the commanding officer there; with the 500 he will march to the left of the enemy’s line, remain as near them as he possibly can without being seen, until four o’clock in the morning, at which time the troops in the trenches will begin an attack upon the enemy; he will then advance and make his attack as near the river as possible; though this is only meant as a feint, yet should a favorable opportunity offer, he will improve it and push into the town.
“In case of a repulse after taking Springhill redoubt, the troops will retreat and rally in the rear of the redoubt; if it cannot be effected that way, it must be attempted by the same route at which they entered.
“The second place of rallying (or the first if the redoubt should not be carried) will be at the Jews’ burying-ground, where the reserve will be placed; if these two halts should not be effected, they will retire towards camp.
“The troops will carry in their hats a piece of white paper by which they will be distinguished.”
General Huger with his five hundred militia, covered by the river swamp, crept quite close to the enemy’s lines and delivered his attack as directed. Its purpose was to draw attention to that quarter and if possible cause a weakening of the strength in the left centre of the line. What its real effect was, there is now no means of knowing.
Count Dillon, who during the siege had been on D’Estaing’s right, and who appears to have been second in command in the French army, in this assault was placed in command of a second attacking column. His purpose was to move to the right of General Huger, and keeping in the edge of the swamps along the river, steal past the enemy’s batteries on the left, and attack him in the rear. Bancroft describes the results of his efforts as follows: “The column under Count Dillon, which was to have attacked the rear of the British lines, became entangled in a swamp of which it should only have skirted the edge was helplessly exposed to the British batteries and could not even be formed.” Here were the two strong sand-filled redoubts, mounted with heavy cannon, and these may have been the batteries that stopped Dillon’s column.
Count Pulaski with his two hundred brave cavalrymen, undertook his part in the deadly drama with ardor, and began that perilous ride which had for its object: “to penetrate the enemy’s lines, between the battery on the left of the Springhill redoubt, and the next towards the river.” Balch describes it as an attempt to “penetrate into the city by galloping between the redoubts.” It was the anticipation of the Crimean “Charge of the Light Brigade;” only in this case, no one blundered; it was simply a desperate chance. Cannon were to the right, left, and front, and the heroic charge proved in vain; the noble Pole fell, banner in hand, pierced with a mortal wound—another foreign martyr to our dear bought freedom.