Huck's Defeat

Last updated
Huck's Defeat
Part of the American Revolutionary War
DateJuly 12, 1780
Location
York County, South Carolina
34°51′54.82″N81°10′32.23″W / 34.8652278°N 81.1756194°W / 34.8652278; -81.1756194
Result American victory
Belligerents
Flag of the United States (1777-1795).svg  United States Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg  Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Flag of the United States (1777-1795).svg William Bratton Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg Christian Huck   †
Strength
250 militia 55 regulars
60 militia
Casualties and losses
1 killed
1 wounded		 81 killed, wounded, and captured

Huck's Defeat or the Battle of Williamson's Plantation was an engagement of the American Revolutionary War that occurred in present York County, South Carolina on July 12, 1780, and was one of the first battles of the southern campaign to be won by Patriot militia.

Contents

Background

In May 1780, British forces captured the only significant American army in the South at Charleston, South Carolina and quickly occupied four vital seats of government: Camden, Cheraw, Georgetown, and Ninety Six. Believing the Patriots had been fully defeated in South Carolina, Sir Henry Clinton abrogated the terms of surrender, which had allowed parolees to remain neutral for the remainder of the war. Under terms of the proclamation of June 3, 1780, Patriots were compelled to either take an oath of loyalty to the king or be regarded as "rebels and enemies of their country." Clinton then departed for New York, leaving Lieutenant-General Lord Cornwallis in command of the British army in the South. [1]

In the absence of civil government in South Carolina (Governor John Rutledge had fled to North Carolina when Charleston fell), backcountry Patriots selected their own leaders to continue the fight against the "senseless cruelty of the Tory militia" and the "cruel and contemptuous treatment of the populace" by British Legion commander Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton.

Preliminaries

A British Legion soldier threatening to kill Martha Bratton if she did not reveal the whereabouts of her husband William. (Mid-nineteenth century illustration, Harper's Weekly) MarthaBratton.jpg
A British Legion soldier threatening to kill Martha Bratton if she did not reveal the whereabouts of her husband William. (Mid-nineteenth century illustration, Harper's Weekly )

On June 1, 1780, British forces established a fortified outpost at Rocky Mount on the upper Catawba River, near the North Carolina border, and left a garrison there under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel George Turnbull, a career British officer who commanded a Loyalist regiment known as the New York Volunteers. In early July, Turnbull ordered Christian Huck, [2] a Philadelphia lawyer and a captain in Tarleton's British Legion, to find the rebel leaders and persuade other area residents to swear allegiance to the king. [3] A native of Germany, Huck was one of many Pennsylvania Loyalists whose property was confiscated by the Patriots after the British evacuated Philadelphia. He was then banished from the state and joined the British army at New York. Huck held a great deal of bitterness toward Patriots in general, and the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in particular. [4] During an earlier incursion into what was then called the Upper District between the Broad and Catawba Rivers (modern Chester County, South Carolina), his troops had murdered an unarmed boy, reportedly while he was reading a Bible, and burnt the home and library of Rev. John Simpson, a Patriot leader and influential Presbyterian minister. A week later, Huck and his men invaded the New Acquisition District (roughly modern York County, South Carolina), and destroyed the ironworks of William Hill, another influential Patriot. [5]

After destroying Hill's Ironworks and putting the rebel garrison there to flight, Huck convened a compulsory meeting of the remaining male residents of the New Acquisition District (mostly men too old to fight), and proclaimed that "God almighty had become a rebel, but if there were twenty gods on that side, they would all be conquered." Huck then stated that "even if the rebels were as thick as trees, and Jesus Christ would come down and lead them, he would still defeat them," following which he and his troopers confiscated all the men's horses. [6] Actions like these quickly earned Huck the nickname "the swearing captain" and further angered the Presbyterian inhabitants of the backcountry. [7] After witnessing Huck's tirade, one resident, Daniel Collins, told his wife, "I have come home determined to take my gun and when I lay it down, I lay down my life with it." [8]

Huck's style in the Catawba River Valley was to rough-up backcountry women, confiscate food and horses, and generally threaten prison and death to any who dared resist him and his men. This simply encouraged more men to join the rebels, who were organizing a militia brigade under Brigadier General Thomas Sumter. [9] On July 11, 1780, Huck raided the home of the partisan leader Captain John McClure on Fishing Creek in present-day Chester County, caught his brother and brother-in-law with newly made bullets, and sentenced them to hang as traitors at sunrise the next day. [10] Huck's detachment, consisting of about 35 British Legion dragoons, 20 soldiers of the New York Volunteers, and 60 Loyalist militia, then advanced once more into the New Acquisition and arrived at the plantation of another Patriot militia leader, Colonel William Bratton, later that evening. Shortly thereafter, one of Huck's soldiers put a reaping hook to the neck of Col. Bratton's wife, Martha, in an unsuccessful attempt to discover Bratton's whereabouts. Huck's second-in-command intervened and disciplined the offending Loyalist soldier. Huck next arrested three elderly neighbors of the Brattons, including Col. Bratton's older brother Robert, and told them they too would be executed the next day. [11] William Bratton Jr. recollected these details more than half a century later in an unpublished manuscript. At the time of the events, he was a six-year-old “clinging to his mothers dress and transfixed with horror and fright”. [12]

Huck then proceeded a quarter of a mile southeast of Bratton's plantation to the neighboring house of an elderly Patriot named James Williamson, where he and his approximately 115 men made camp for the night. The five prisoners were secured in a corncrib to await execution. [13]

Battle

With intelligence provided by John McClure's younger sister, Mary, and a Bratton family slave named Watt, the loosely organized Patriot forces swarmed after Huck. About 150 arrived in the vicinity of Williamson's plantation that night, commanded by experienced militia officers. [14] After a brief reconnaissance and some discussion, they agreed to attack Huck from three directions simultaneously. [15]

Huck's security was extremely lax. Shortly after sunrise, at least two of the Patriot groups managed to attack simultaneously. Huck's troops were caught completely by surprise; many were still asleep. The partisans rested their rifles on a split rail fence, from which "they took unerring and deadly aim" at their opponents as they emerged. Huck mounted a horse to rally his troops and was shot in the head by John Carroll, who had loaded two balls in his rifle. [16] Some of the Loyalists surrendered while others fled, hotly pursued by Patriots seeking vengeance. Tory losses were very high. Tarleton later reported that only twenty-four men escaped. [17] Patriot losses were one killed and one wounded; the five prisoners were also released from the corncrib unharmed. [18]

Importance

Although the numbers engaged were small, the importance of the skirmish was immediately clear. As South Carolina historian Walter Edgar has written, "The entire backcountry seemed to take heart. Frontier militia had defeated soldiers of the feared British Legion." Volunteers streamed in to join the partisan militia brigade of General Thomas Sumter. [19] Edgar has called Huck's Defeat "a major turning point in the American Revolution in South Carolina." It was the first of more than thirty-five important battles in South Carolina in late 1780 and early 1781, all but five of which were partisan victories. This chain of successes was essential to the major Patriot victories at King's Mountain and Cowpens. [20]

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Banastre Tarleton</span> British general (1754–1833)

Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolutionary War. He later served in Portugal and held commands in Ireland and England.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kings Mountain</span> Battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took place on October 7, 1780, 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina. In what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, the Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. The battle has been described as "the war's largest all-American fight".

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Cowpens</span> 1781 battle during the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Cowpens was an engagement during the American Revolutionary War fought on January 17, 1781 near the town of Cowpens, South Carolina, between American Patriot forces under Brigadier General Daniel Morgan and British forces, nearly half American Loyalists, under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, as part of the campaign in the Carolinas. The battle was a turning point in the American reconquest of South Carolina from the British.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Waxhaws</span> 1780 battle of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Waxhaws was a military engagement which took place on May 29, 1780 during the American Revolutionary War between a Patriot force led by Abraham Buford and a British force led by Banastre Tarleton near Lancaster, South Carolina. Buford's men consisted of Continental Army soldiers, while Tarleton's force was mostly made up of Loyalist troops. After the two forces sighted each other, Buford rejected an initial demand to surrender. Tarleton's cavalrymen launched a charge against the Patriot troops, which led many of Buford's men to throw their arms down in surrender. However, as Tarleton was shot under his horse during the charge, his infuriated soldiers attacked their Patriot opponents, killing several.

South Carolina was outraged over British tax policies in the 1760s that violated what they saw as their constitutional right to "no taxation without representation". Merchants joined the boycott against buying British products. When the London government harshly punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, South Carolina's leaders joined eleven other colonies in forming the Continental Congress. When the British attacked Lexington and Concord in the spring of 1775 and were beaten back by the Massachusetts Patriots, South Carolina Patriots rallied to support the American Revolution. Loyalists and Patriots of the colony were split by nearly 50/50.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War</span> Military operations in the Southern states during the American Revolutionary War

The southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central theater of military operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War, 1778–1781. It encompassed engagements primarily in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.

The Battle of Mobley's Meeting House was an engagement that occurred during the American Revolutionary War in the Mobley Settlement, Fairfield County, South Carolina during the southern campaign of Lord Cornwallis.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Musgrove Mill</span>

The Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 19, 1780, occurred near a ford of the Enoree River, near the present-day border between Spartanburg, Laurens and Union Counties in South Carolina. During the course of the battle, 200 Patriot militiamen defeated a combined force of approximately 300 Loyalist militiamen and 200 provincial regulars.

The Battle of Rocky Mount took place on August 1, 1780 as part of the American Revolutionary War. 600 Loyalists commanded by Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull occupying an outpost in northern South Carolina withstood an attack by 300 American Patriots led by Colonel Thomas Sumter.

The Battle of Hanging Rock took place during the American Revolutionary War between the American Patriots and the British. It was part of a campaign by militia General Thomas Sumter to harass or destroy British outposts in the South Carolina back-country that had been established after the fall of Charleston in May 1780.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Blackstock's Farm</span> United States historic place

The Battle of Blackstock's Farm, an encounter of the American Revolutionary War, took place in what today is Union County, South Carolina, a few miles from Cross Anchor, on November 20, 1780.

The Battle of Wahab's Plantation was a surprise attack on a Loyalist camp, which included elements of the British Legion commanded by Banastre Tarleton, by Patriot militia under the command of William R. Davie on September 21, 1780. The owner of the plantation was militia Captain James A. Walkup who served as a guide for Davie prior to the attack. Confusion has arisen over the spelling of the name Wahab as there are many spellings of the surname including, Walkup/Wahab/Wauchope/Waughup. The Loyalists were camped on the west side of the Catawba River while General Charles Cornwallis' army had camped on the east side. Davie opportunistically decided to attack the Loyalist camp, and succeeded in driving them back in complete surprise and with heavy casualties. He retreated before the British regulars arrived. The latter, as was customary, burned down Captain Walkup's plantation.

Brigadier-General Andrew Williamson was a Scottish-born trader, planter, and military officer. Serving in the South Carolina Militia, rising to be commissioned as brigadier general in the Continental Army in the American War of Independence. He led numerous campaigns against Loyalists and Cherokee, who in 1776 had launched an attack against frontier settlements across a front from Tennessee to central South Carolina. Williamson was particularly effective in suppressing the Cherokee, killing an unknown number of Cherokees and destroying 31 of their towns. As a result of his Indian campaign, the Cherokee ceded more than a million acres in the Carolinas.

William "Bloody Bill" Cunningham (1756–1787) was an American loyalist infamous for perpetrating a series of bloody massacres in South Carolina's backcountry in the fall of 1781 as commander of a Tory militia regiment in the Revolutionary War. Though his family were loyal to the British crown, Cunningham initially enlisted in the Continental Army as part of the State of South Carolina's 3rd regiment in 1775. His tenure in the rebel army was an unhappy one and Cunningham changed sides to fight for the British in 1778. He earned the nickname "Bloody Bill" for the violent, ruthless nature of his raids on rebels and patriot civilians.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Siege of Savage's Old Fields</span> 1775 Siege of the American Revolutionary War

The siege of Savage's Old Fields was an encounter between Patriot and Loyalist forces in the back country town of Ninety Six, South Carolina, early in the American Revolutionary War. It was the first major conflict in South Carolina in the war, having been preceded by bloodless seizures of several military fortifications in the province.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Torrence's Tavern</span> Part of the American Revolutionary War

The Battle of Torrence's Tavern was a minor engagement of the American Revolutionary War that took place in what was the western portion of Rowan County, North Carolina, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Catawba River near modern-day Mooresville in Iredell County. Torrence's Tavern was a part of the larger Southern campaign of the American Revolution, which, by 1780–1781 involved a series of clashes between the British Army and Loyalist militia and the Continental Army and Patriot militia in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Buford's Massacre Site</span> Memorial to the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina, United States

Buford's Massacre Site, also known as Buford's Battleground, is a historic site and national historic district located near Lancaster, South Carolina. Two monuments at the site mark the battleground where the Battle of Waxhaws took place. A white monument ten feet tall, erected on June 2, 1860, marked the gravesite of American soldiers who died during the battle. This marker was gradually damaged over time by souvenir hunters who chipped off pieces, which led local authorities to erect a new monument on May 1, 1955, bearing the same inscription. The Battle of Waxhaws was a minor engagement during the American Revolutionary War between the Continental Army and Loyalist forces led by British colonel Banastre Tarleton.

Christian Huck, a Loyalist soldier from Philadelphia during the American Revolutionary War, was known for Huck's Defeat.

Thomas Fletchall (1725–1789) was a colonel of the militia in South Carolina. He was also a coroner and justice of the peace. He was a loyalist during the American Revolutionary War, having proclaimed his loyalty to King George III. He fought against the patriots, also known as the rebels, with little success. He was captured and imprisoned twice during the war. The second time he was released it was with the understanding that he would not fight against the patriots. He left his plantation and went to Charleston for his and his family's safety. They boarded a ship for Jamaica, where Fletchall lived until his death in 1789.

Colonel William Bratton was an American military officer who served during the Revolutionary War. He led Patriot forces in a successful 1780 ambush against Loyalist troops led by Captain Christian Huck. Bratton's men killed Huck during the battle, which was one of the first battles of the war's Southern campaign to be won by a force of Patriot militiamen. The Bratton family house, which was transformed into a girl's school after Bratton's death, is one of the properties of the Brattonsville Historic District, which is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.

References

  1. ↑ Michael C. Scoggins, The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May–July 1780 (Charleston: History Press, 2005), 41-50; Walter Edgar, Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 54-55.
  2. ↑ Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution with an Historical Essay (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1966, 1984), I: 553.
  3. ↑ Scoggins, 47-52; Edgar, 73.
  4. ↑ Scoggins, 215-225.
  5. ↑ Scoggins, 68-70; Edgar, 58-59.
  6. ↑ Quoted from memoirs of Col. William Hill and Maj. Joseph McJunkin, in Scoggins, 52, 88; Edgar, 73-74.
  7. ↑ Sabine, I: 553.
  8. ↑ James P. Collins, Autobiography of a Revolutionary Soldier (New York: Arno Press, 1979), 25, quoted in Edgar, 63.
  9. ↑ Scoggins, 93-96; Edgar, 74-75.
  10. ↑ Scoggins, 101-104.
  11. ↑ Scoggins, 105-107; Edgar, 77-78.
  12. ↑ Scoggins, chapter 4
  13. ↑ Scoggins, 107-108; Edgar, 78.
  14. ↑ These included Col. William Bratton, Col. Andrew Neel, Col. Edward Lacey, Capt. John McClure, Capt. John Moffett, and others, a majority of whom were from the present-day South Carolina counties of York and Chester.
  15. ↑ Scoggins, 109-113; Edgar, 79-81.
  16. ↑ Scoggins, 114-117; Edgar, 82. Huck was buried nearby. Years later his body was exhumed by Dr. James Simpson—the son of the minister whose library and home Huck had burned—and displayed in his medical office. The skeleton was then said to have been taken by the Simpson family when they immigrated to Alabama, and then to California. Scoggins, 227; see also Michael C. Scoggins, "Capt. Christin Huck: A Biography" Archived 2010-11-03 at the Wayback Machine July 2002).
  17. ↑ Scoggins, 126-128; Edgar, 83.
  18. ↑ Scoggins, 117; Edgar, 85.
  19. ↑ Edgar, 86; Scoggins, 129-130.
  20. ↑ Scoggins, 143-146, 155-159; Edgar, 144.

Further reading

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.