We have no detailed account of Sumter's attempt to injure the enemy, nor of his overthrow at Fishdam Ford, except that in Tarleton's Campaigns, 110-116. As may be imagined, Tarleton gave his own side of the case more than due prominence. Lee, in his Memoirs (i. 187), gives a good account. He adds that "Tarleton evinced a temerity which could not, if pursued, long escape exemplary chastisement." There is something in Stedman, ii. 211, and in Ramsay, Rev. in S. C., ii. 152. The accounts in the more popular books are so inaccurate that no mention of them is required.[1125]
Treatment of the Southern People by the British.—The well-known letters from Rawdon to Rugely have been widely printed.[1126]
GATES'S DEFEAT AT CAMDEN.
The movements as detailed in a plan by Colonel Senff, preserved among the Steuben Papers (N. Y. Hist. Soc.), are shown in this sketch after a cut in the Mag. of Amer. Hist. (1880), vol. v. p. 275. The plan and accompanying journal, taken from the Steuben Papers, are in the Sparks MSS., no. xv. A marsh and the river were on the American right and the British left. The road to Camden is marked by parallel lines. The American right, 400 Marylanders under General Gist, were between the road and the low ground at 1, with two cannon on their right at 2, and two others on the left in the road at 3. Beyond the road were three brigades of North Carolina militia (4, 4, 4), under Brigadiers Rutherford, Graigery, and Butler, with two field-pieces at 5, on their left. Beyond this the American line was completed by 700 Virginia militia under Brigadier Stevens (6), and 300 light infantry under Colonel Potterfield (7). Colonel Armand, with 60 horse, was in the rear (8) of this part of the line, and as a reserve Smallwood with the first Maryland brigade of about 400 men, was across the road at 9. [The names are given as in the sketch.]
On the British side the first troops to appear were at 10 with a field-piece, and their main body formed at 11. The American troops at 6 and 7 advanced to 12, and were met by the British (11) moving by their right flank and then advancing to 13. The American reserve (9) then moved to 12 to support the left wing, while the right wing (1) advanced to 12 and engaged the British left (13). The Americans at 4, 4, 4, and 12 (opposite 6 and 7) now broke and fled. At this opportune moment the British cavalry (14) charged along the line shown by small crosses, and turning to the right and left took in reverse the Americans at 1, and the reserve (9) in their new position at 12. The whole American army scattered in retreat before the British advance.—Ed.]
With regard to the treatment of those captured at Savannah and Charleston, Southern writers do not seem to have strictly adhered to the truth. Those captured by Campbell were protected by no treaty of capitulation; and as to those taken at Charleston, the charges of Moultrie and others were always denied.[1127]
Isaac Hayne, at the time of the surrender of Charleston, was a colonel in a militia regiment, but, being in the country, he was not included in the capitulation. His wife and two children were ill with the small-pox, and it was impossible to take them to a place of refuge. He went to Charleston and offered to give his parole as a prisoner of war. He was told that he must take the oath of allegiance or be confined as a rebel. It was a hard position, and, thinking of his wife dying at home, he took the oath; not, however, until he had called Ramsay (Rev. in S. C.) to bear witness that he was forced to it by necessity. He retired to his farm, and lived there unmolested until the success of the American arms once more brought his friends around him. Then he was told by the British leaders that he must arm on the king's side or go to prison. He regarded this as a violation of his agreement, and enlisted under Pickens. He commanded a regiment of militia drawn from the neighborhood, and composed of men who believed with him that when protection was withdrawn the duty of allegiance went with it. Soon after this he captured, not many miles from Charleston, Williamson, a noted renegade, who was regarded by his former friends as the "Arnold of the South." On his way back Hayne was captured, taken to Charleston, and hanged.[1128] The fact that Greene and Marion (Gibbes, Doc. Hist., i. 125) both regarded it as calling for retaliation[1129] goes a great way towards showing that Rawdon and Balfour acted harshly and precipitately in the matter; but the case is an admirable example of the light in which Cornwallis—for Balfour tried to justify his conduct by a reference to the letter or order issued by Cornwallis after Camden—persisted in regarding those who fought for their country and their rights. It seems to me, however, that Cornwallis's position was a false one; and to assert, as Balfour asserted, that South Carolina was completely conquered in 1780, was to assert what was not true. Rawdon sailed for home soon after this affair. He was captured by the French, and did not reach London until after Yorktown. He was immediately assailed in the House of Peers by the Duke of Richmond for his share in this business. In reply he challenged the noble duke, and the upshot was that Richmond apologized.[1130] Many years later, Lee sent Rawdon a copy of his Memoirs, in which Hayne is warmly defended. Rawdon, then Earl of Moira, wrote a long letter (June 24, 1813) in reply, but his defence does not appear to be sound.[1131] It should be said, in justification of the light in which Hayne was regarded by the British officers at the time, that they believed he had taken a second oath to the king just before his capture in arms; but this does not appear to have been the case.[1132]