peake may become the seat of war, even, if necessary, at the expense of abandoning New York." And without waiting for an answer, in the last days of April, with a force of fourteen hundred and thirty-five men, all told, he left Wilmington for Virginia. Clinton, reasoning justly, afterward in self-defence replied: "Had you intimated the probability of your intention, I should certainly have endeavored to stop you, as I did then consider such a move likely to be dangerous to our interests in the southern colonies." He had in April received from the secretary this message: "Lord George Germain strongly recommends it to Sir Henry Clinton either to remain in good humor, in full confidence to be supported as much as the nature of the service will admit of, or avail himself of the leave of coming home, as no good can arise to the service if there is not full confidence between the general and the minister." It was not Clinton's wish or intention to resign; but he hastened to warn Germain: "Operations in the Chesapeake are attended with great risk, unless we are sure of a permanent superiority at sea. I cannot agree to the opinion given me by Lord Cornwallis. I tremble for the fatal consequences which may ensue." But Cornwallis, the subordinate general, had from Wilmington written directly to the secretary "that a serious attempt upon Virginia would be the most solid plan;" and Germain hastened to write to Clinton: "Lord Cornwallis's opinion entirely coincides with mine of the great importance of pushing the war on the side of Virginia with all the force that can be spared.”

In his march from Wilmington, Cornwallis met little resistance. For the place of junction with the British army in Virginia he fixed upon Petersburg on the Appomattox.

So soon as Cornwallis was beyond pursuit Greene "determined to carry the war immediately into South Carolina." Dismissing those of the militia whose time was about to expire, he retained nearly eighteen hundred men, with small chances of reinforcements or of sufficient subsistence. He knew the hazards which he was incurring; but, in case of untoward accidents, he believed that Washington and his other friends would do justice to his name.

The safety of the interior of South Carolina depended on

the possession of the posts at Camden and Ninety-Six in that state, and at Augusta in Georgia. On the sixth of April, Greene detached a force under Lee, which joined Marion, and threatened the connections between Camden and Charleston; Sumter, with three small regiments of regular troops of the state, had in charge to hold the country between Camden and Ninety-Six; and Pickens with the western militia to intercept supplies on their way to Ninety-Six and Augusta.

After these preparations, Greene on the seventh began his march from Deep river, and on the twentieth encamped his army a half-mile from the strong and well-garrisoned works of Camden. In the hope of intercepting a party whom Rawdon had sent out, Greene moved to the south of the town; but, finding that he had been misled, his army, on the twenty-fourth, took a well-chosen position on Hobkirk's Hill. The eminence was covered with wood, and flanked on the left by an impassable swamp. The ground toward Camden, which was a mile and a half distant, was protected by a forest and thick shrubbery; but the time given to improve the strength of the position had not been properly used. On the twenty-eighth the men, having been under arms from daylight, were dismissed to receive provisions and prepare their morning repast. The horses were unsaddled and feeding; Greene was at breakfast.

By keeping close to the swamp, Rawdon, with about nine hundred men, gained the left of the Americans "in some measure by surprise," and opened a fire upon their pickets. The good discipline which Greene had introduced now stood him in stead. About two hundred and fifty North Carolina militia, who had arrived that morning, did nothing during the day; but his cavalry was soon mounted, and his regular troops, about nine hundred and thirty in number, were formed in order of battle in one line without reserves. Of the two Virginia regiments, that under Hawes formed the extreme right, that of Campbell the right centre; of the two Maryland regiments, that of Ford occupied the extreme left, of Gunby the left centre. The artillery was placed in the road between the two brigades. In this disposition he awaited the attack of Rawdon. Perceiving that the British advanced with a narrow front, * Washington's Diary, 26 May 1790.

Greene ordered Ford's regiment on the left and Campbell's on the right to wheel respectively on their flanks, the regi ments of Hawes and Gunby to charge with bayonets without firing, and, with inconsiderate confidence in gaining the victory, weakened himself irretrievably by sending William Washington with his cavalry to double the right flank and attack the enemy in the rear. But Rawdon had time to extend his front by ordering up his reserves. Colonel Ford, in leading on his men, was disabled by a severe wound; and his regiment, without executing their orders, only replied by a loose scattering fire. On the other flank the regiment of Campbell, composed of new troops, could not stand the brunt of the enemy, though they could be rallied and formed anew. Greene led up the regiments several times in person. The regiments under Hawes and Gunby advanced with courage, while the artillery played effectively on the head of the British column. But, on the right of Gunby's regiment, Captain Beatty, an officer of the greatest merit, fell mortally wounded; his company, left without his lead, began to waver, and the wavering affected the next company. Seeing this, Gunby ordered the regiment to retire, that they might form again. The British troops, seizing the opportunity, broke through the American centre, advanced to the summit of the ridge, brought their whole force into action on the best ground, and forced Greene to retreat. The battle was over before William Washington with his cavalry could make the circuit through the forest to attack their Each party lost about three hundred men.

rear.

Rawdon returned to Camden, followed by the congratulations of Cornwallis on "his most glorious victory," which the general, forgetting King's Mountain and the Cowpens, described as "by far the most splendid of this war." "The disgrace," wrote Greene, "is more vexatious than anything else." He lost no more than the British, saved his artillery, and collected all his men. Receiving a reinforcement of five hundred, Rawdon crossed the Wateree in pursuit of him; but he kept his enemy at bay.

No sooner had Marion been reinforced by Lee than they marched against the fort on Wright's bluff below Camden, the principal post of the British on the Santee, garrisoned by one

The Americans were without

hundred and fourteen men. cannon, and the bluff was forty feet high; but the forest stretched all around them; in the night the troops cut and hauled logs, and erected a tower so tall that the garrison could be picked off by riflemen. Two days before the battle of Hobkirk's Hill it capitulated.

The connection of Camden with Charleston being thus broken, the post became untenable. On the tenth of May, after destroying all public buildings and stores and many private houses, the British abandoned Camden, never to hold it again. On the eleventh the post at Orangeburg, held by sixty British militia and twelve regulars, gave itself up to Sumter. Rawdon marched down the Santee on the north side, anxious to save the garrison of Fort Motte, to which Marion had laid siege. To hasten its surrender, Rebecca Motte, the owner of the house in which they were quartered, on the twelfth brought into camp a bow and a bundle of Indian arrows; and, when the arrows had carried fire to her own abode, the garrison of a hundred and sixty-five men surrendered. Two days later the British evacuated their post at Nelson's ferry. On the fifteenth Fort Granby, with three hundred and fifty-two men, surrendered by capitulation. General Marion turned his arms against Georgetown; and, on the first night after the Americans had broken ground, the British retreated to Charleston. The troops under Rawdon did not halt until they reached Monk's Corner.

The north-western part of South Carolina was thus recovered, but the British still held Augusta and Ninety-Six. Conforming to the plan which Greene had forwarded from Deep river, General Pickens and Colonel Clarke with militia kept watch over Augusta. On the twentieth of May they were joined by Lieutenant-Colonel Lee. The outposts were taken one after another, and on the fifth of June the main fort with about three hundred men capitulated. One officer, obnoxious for his cruelties, fell after the surrender by an unknown hand. Lieutenant-Colonel Brown, the commander, had himself hanged thirteen American prisoners, and delivered citizens of Georgia to the Cherokees to suffer death with all the exquisite tortures which savage barbarity could contrive; but on his way to Sa

vannah an escort protected him from the inhabitants whose houses he had burnt, whose kindred he had sent to the gallows.

On the twenty-second of May, Greene, with Kosciuszko for his engineer, and nine hundred and eighty-four men, began the siege of Ninety-Six. The post, though mounting but three pieces of artillery, was strongly fortified; five hundred and fifty men formed its ample garrison; and the commander, Lieutenant-Colonel Cruger, was an officer of ability and enterprise. A fleet from Ireland having arrived at Charleston with reinforcements, Rawdon on the seventh of June marched with two thousand men to secure a safe retreat for the garrison. Giving way to an eagerness to gain a victory, Greene on the eighteenth gave to a party of Marylanders and of Virginians the hopeless order to force a lodgment in the fort, in which no justifying breach had been made. Of the brave men whom he so rashly sent into the ditch, one third were killed, and but one in six came out unwounded. The next day the general raised the siege and withdrew to the North, complaining of fortune which had refused him victory at Guilford, at Camden, and at Ninety-Six.

Greene retreated as far as the Enoree. Rawdon, giving over pursuit and adhering to his purpose, withdrew the garrison from the insulated post of Ninety-Six. Leaving the largest part of his force to assist in removing the loyal inhabitants of the district, he marched with a thousand men to establish a post on the Congaree. Greene followed; and his cavalry, while watching the enemy's motions, made prisoners of fortyeight British dragoons within one mile of their encampinent.

Avoiding an encounter, Lord Rawdon retired to Orangeburg, where he was reinforced. On the other side, Greene, after forming a junction with the men of Sumter and Marion, pursued him, and on the twelfth of July offered him battle. The offer was refused. On the thirteenth, Greene detached the cavalry of the legion, the state troops and militia of South Carolina, to compel the evacuation of Orangeburg by striking at the posts around Charleston; the rest of the army was ordered to the high hills of the Santee, famed for pure air and pure water. On the same day the force with Cruger, who