The Battle of Stono Ferry, 20 June 1779

The Battle of Stono Ferry took place 20 June 1779 in South Carolina during the British retreat from an abortive raid on Charleston. Lieutenant Colonel John Maitland was in charge of the large rear guard left by British General Augustine Prevost upon his withdrawal to Savannah. A bridgehead was established on the north side of an area now known as New Cut Church Flats; this was meant to cover Stono Ferry. Three strong redoubts were built, circled by an abatis, and manned by Highlanders and Hessians. It was here that American Major General Benjamin Lincoln chose to lead his main attack. General William Moultrie led a smaller secondary effort to the east against a small group of British soldiers on Johns Island.

Lincoln deployed his troops after a night march of eight miles from the Ashley Ferry, located in the present village of Drayton Hall. Immediately upon their arrival at dawn, they began struggling through thick woods. The Americans advanced in two wings; General Jethro Sumner led his Carolina militia on the right, carrying two guns, while their right flank was covered by a company of light infantry, commanded by the Marquis de Malmady. Continental Army troops, under General Isaac Huger, made up the left wing; they carried four guns into battle. With Huger was a group of light infantry under John Henderson, and it was these troops who, shortly before sunrise, made first contact with the enemy.

The battle began well for the Patriots. They engaged the British positions with small arms and cannon fire for an hour, at which point they advanced to the abatis. Of the Highlanders, two companies resisted until only eleven men were left standing; a Hessian battalion finally broke. Here Maitland shifted his forces in an attempt to counter the larger threat posed by Huger's wing. The Hessians rallied and returned to the fight, and reserves were brought across the bridge. Lincoln chose this moment to order a withdrawal.

At 150 dead and a comparable number missing, Patriot losses had been heavy; among the dead was Andrew Jackson's brother Hugh, felled by heat and exhaustion. Also lost was Col. Thomas Neel. Most of the "missing" were deserters; the British claimed no prisoners from the battle. Huger was severely wounded. For their part, the British lost 150 officers and men, but only one was reported missing.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Gen. Nathanael Greene in the South

The Continental Congress had been unfortunate in its selection of commanders in the South. It had chosen Robert Howe, who lost Savannah. It had chosen Benjamin Lincoln, who lost Charleston. In August 1780, near Camden, South Carolina, the British attacked Horatio Gates' army, which broke and ran in wild confusion. The way was cleared for Lord Cornwallis to pursue his goals of gathering southern Loyalists and taking the war into Virginia. His southern ports could be mobilized to move men and materiel into the Carolinas.
Congress entrusted General Washington with the choice of Gates' successor. On October 5 it resolved "that the Commander-in-Chief be and is hereby directed to appoint an officer to command the southern army, in the room of Major General Gates." George Washington acted without delay. The day after he received his copy of the resolution, he wrote to Nathanael Greene at West Point, "It is my wish to appoint You." Congress approved the appointment, and gave Greene command over all troops from Delaware to Georgia with extraordinarily full powers, "subject to the control of the Commander-in-Chief." Greene took command at Charlotte, North Carolina on December 2, 1780. Brigadier General Isaac Huger of the South Carolina Continentals was appointed his second in command.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Gen. Greene at Steele's Tavern

From Makers of America: Biographies of Leading Men of Thought and Action, Volume II, by Leonard Wilson, pub. 1916, B.F. Johnson, pp. 256-257:

William Steele was a Commissioner of the Borough of Salisbury [North Carolina]. He died November 1, 1773, thirty-nine years of age, leaving only one son, the John Steele whose record has already been given. John Steele was commonly called "General," because he held the office of General of Militia. Elizabeth Maxwell is the heroine of one of the most interesting of all true stories in American history. The story is given as it is told in reliable and fully authenticated records."On a wild and wintry night, February 1, 1781, a lonely horseman sits his weary steed seven miles below Torrence's Tavern. He waits for news of the day's campaign. It is a crucial hour; only by bringing out the militia can he oppose Cornwallis. The preceding day he had sent Morgan towards the Yadkin. The messenger arrives with news that brings despair; General Davidson had been killed, the militia scattered, Cornwallis had crossed the Catawba, Huger is hotly pressed by the British and Greene begins his weary ride to Salisbury. After Morgan learns of the crossing of Cornwallis at Cowan's Ford, he begins his retreat, February 1, toward the Yadkin along Beattie's Ford, or Sherrill's Ford Road to Salisbury. They marched through the town and encamped about one-half a mile east of the town on the Yadkin road in a grove, where is now located the home of Honorable John Steele Henderson. A surgeon of the army, Dr. Joseph Read, with hospital stores and a number of wounded, reached Salisbury. Dr. Read establishes himself at Steele's Tavern; Greene arrives. Dr. Read said:
"It was impossible not to perceive in the deranged state of his dress and the stiffness of his limbs some symptoms of his late rapid movements and exposure to the weather.
"'How do you find yourself?' asks Dr. Read.
"'Wretched beyond measure, fatigued, hungry, alone, penniless and without a friend' (for one time heroic Greene was discouraged).
"Mrs. Steele heard the general's remark and replied:
"'That I deny. Come in, rest, dry yourself, and in a short time a hot breakfast shall cheer and refresh you.'
"A bountiful repast was soon spread. As he sits by the table with bowed head, she enters. Handing to him two bags of specie,
gold and silver coins, her savings of years, she said:
"'Take them, for you will need them and I can do without them.'
"On the wall of the room hung pictures, colored engravings of King George III and Queen Charlotte, which had been given Mrs. Steele by her brother, Dr. James Maxwell. General Greene took a piece of charcoal and wrote under the picture of the king: 'Oh, George, hide thy face and mourn.'"
This colored lithograph was donated to the State of North Carolina, and is still in a good state of preservation.