Snow Campaign

Last updated
Snow Campaign
Part of the Southern Theatre of the American Revolutionary War
Richard Richardson.jpg
General Richard Richardson
DateNovember–December 1775
Location
Result Patriot victory
Belligerents
Flag of Fort Moultrie, South Carolina.svg South Carolina
Flag of the United States (1776-1777).svg North Carolina
Georgia Patriots
Union flag 1606 (Kings Colors).svg South Carolina Loyalists
Commanders and leaders
Andrew Williamson
Richard Richardson
William Thomson
Patrick Cuningham
Thomas Fletchall
Strength
5,000 men (peak size) 400 men (peak size)
Casualties and losses
unknown 6 killed, 130 captured

The Snow Campaign was one of the first major military operations of the American Revolutionary War in the southern colonies. An army of up to 3,000 Patriot militia under Colonel Richard Richardson marched against Loyalist recruiting centers in South Carolina, flushing them out and frustrating attempts by the Loyalists to organize. The Patriot expedition became known as the Snow Campaign due to heavy snowfall in the later stages of the campaign.

Contents

Background

When the American Revolutionary War began in Massachusetts in April 1775, the free population of the Province of South Carolina was divided in its reaction. [1] Many English coastal residents were either neutral or favored the rebellion, while significant numbers of backcountry residents, many of whom were German and Scottish immigrants, were opposed. [2] Loyalist opposition in the backcountry was dominated by Thomas Fletchall, a vocal and active opponent of attempts to resist King and Parliament. [3] [4] By August 1775 tensions between Patriot and Loyalist in the province had escalated to the point where both sides had raised sizable militia forces. [5]

Events were largely nonviolent for some time, although there were isolated instances of tarring and feathering, but tensions were high as the sides struggled for control of munitions. The Patriot Council of Safety in early August sent William Henry Drayton and Reverend William Tennent to Ninety Six to rally Patriot support and suppress growing Loyalist activities in the backcountry. [6] Drayton was able to negotiate a tenuous treaty with Fletchall in September that only temporarily lessened tensions. [7]

On September 15, Patriot militia seized Fort Johnson, the principal fortification overlooking the Charleston harbor. Governor William Campbell dissolved the provincial assembly, and fearing for his personal safety, fled to the Royal Navy sloop of war HMS Tamar. This left the Council of Safety in control of the provincial capital. [8] The council began improving and expanding Charleston's coastal defenses, and there was a bloodless exchange of cannon fire between Patriot-controlled positions and Royal Navy ships in the harbor on November 11 and 12. [9]

Matters also escalated when the Council of Safety began to organize a large-scale response to the seizure by Loyalists in October of a shipment of gunpowder and ammunition intended for the Cherokee. [10] On November 8 the Council of Safety voted to send Colonel Richard Richardson, the commander of the Camden militia, to recover the shipment and arrest opposition leaders. [11]

Siege at Ninety Six

While Richardson gathered forces in Charleston, Major Andrew Williamson, who had been recruiting Patriots in the backcountry, learned of the gunpowder seizure. He arrived at Ninety Six early on November 19 with 560 men. Finding the small town to be not very defensible, he established a camp on John Savage's plantation, which was protected by an improvised stockade and provided a field of fire for the force's three swivel guns. [12] Loyalist recruiting had been more successful: Williamson had learned that Captain Patrick Cuningham and Major Joseph Robinson were leading a large Loyalist force (estimated to number about 1,900) toward Ninety Six. [13] [14] In a war council that day, the Patriot leaders decided against marching out to face the Loyalists. The Loyalists arrived the next day, and surrounded the Patriot camp. [15]

The leaders of the two factions were in the midst of negotiating an end to the standoff when two Patriot militiamen were seized by Loyalists outside the stockade. This set off a gunfight that lasted for about two hours, with modest casualties on both sides. [12] For two more days the Patriots were besieged, during which there were occasional exchanges of gunfire. The siege ended after a parley in which the Patriot leaders were allowed to lead their forces out of the encampment in exchange for the surrender of their swivel guns, which were later returned. Both sides withdrew, the Loyalists across the Saluda River, and the Patriots down toward Charleston. [16]

Campaign against Loyalists

Colonel Richardson had in the meantime begun his march into the backcountry. By November 27 he reached the Congaree River with about 1,000 men. There he paused for several days, crossing the river and accumulating more militia companies into his force. When he left camp his force numbered about 1,500. [17] By December 2 he had reached the Dutch Fork region (between the Saluda and Broad Rivers), gathering an ever-increasing number of militia along the way. There he halted at Evan McLauren's house, capturing several Loyalist officers in the area. The Loyalist forces, hampered by loss of leadership, were shrinking due to desertion. Those that remained organized retreated toward Cherokee lands at the headwaters of the Saluda River. [17]

After issuing proclamations calling for the arrest of Loyalist officers and the return of the stolen munitions, Richardson resumed the march, his force grown to about 2,500. [17] His force, still growing in size, marched toward the Enoree River, chasing down Loyalist leaders. On December 12 Richardson reported that his force numbered 3,000, and that he had captured Fletchall (who was found hiding in a cave) and several other Loyalist leaders. [18] Fletchall's farm was searched and his private correspondence, including letters from Governor Campbell, were found. [19]

At the Enoree Richardson was joined by militia forces under Williamson, as well as additional militia from North Carolina led by Colonels Griffith Rutherford and William Graham, swelling his force until it numbered between four and five thousand. [20] These forces scoured the backcountry, and located a camp of 200 Loyalists on the Reedy River, several miles inside Cherokee territory. [21] Richardson sent William Thomson with 1,300 troops to attack the camp. Thomson and the volunteers surprised the Loyalist camp on December 22, taking prisoners and seizing supplies, weapons, and ammunition. [20] Following the Battle of Great Cane Brake, Thomson was able to control his men and avoid a slaughter: only five or six Loyalists were killed, and one of Thomson's men was wounded. [21]

The next day, December 23, it began snowing as the Patriot forces made their way back toward the coast. The march home of the Patriot force was difficult because the force was unprepared for the weather. Richardson's army was dissolved, and most of the Patriots returned home. [22] Richardson took 136 prisoners, who were dispatched to Charleston under guard on January 2, 1776. [23]

Aftermath

19th century depiction of the Battle of Sullivan's Island Battle of Sullivans Island.jpg
19th century depiction of the Battle of Sullivan's Island

Governor Campbell continued to live aboard the Tamar, and considered making attacks on Fort Johnson after a third warship arrived. [24] Patriot forces, however, were active in building up the harbor's defenses, and the British fleet left Charleston in January 1776. [25] British forces led by Sir Henry Clinton made an unsuccessful attack on Charleston in June 1776; it was the last major British operation in the south until late 1778. [26]

The campaign resulted in the elimination of large-scale Loyalist activity in the backcountry. Most of the prisoners taken were released by the Patriot leadership "as a conciliatory gesture to their backcountry friends". [23] Some Loyalist leaders managed to escape capture. Notable among them was Thomas Brown, a South Carolina landowner who fled to East Florida. He was a leading force in the guerrilla war on the Georgia-Florida border, and his plans for retaking Georgia and eventually South Carolina were implemented by the British between 1778 and 1780. [27] [28]

See also

Notes

  1. Alden, pp. 199–200
  2. Alden, pp. 7, 9, 199–200
  3. Krawczynski, p. 156
  4. Alden, p. 200
  5. Cann, p. 204
  6. Dunkerly and Williams, p. 21
  7. Krawczynski, pp. 186–189
  8. McCrady, pp. 68–69
  9. McCrady, p. 77
  10. Cann, p. 207
  11. Cann, p. 212
  12. 1 2 Cann, p. 209
  13. McCrady, p. 89
  14. Dunkerly and Williams, p. 22
  15. McCrady, pp. 89–90
  16. Cann, pp. 210–213
  17. 1 2 3 Landrum, p. 73
  18. McCrady, p. 96
  19. Landrum, p. 77
  20. 1 2 McCrady, p. 97
  21. 1 2 Landrum, pp. 79–80
  22. Landrum, pp. 80–81
  23. 1 2 Cann, p. 213
  24. McCrady, p. 98
  25. McCrady, pp. 99–102
  26. Wilson, p. 56
  27. Cann, pp. 213–214
  28. Cashin, p. 73

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Eutaw Springs</span> Battle of the American Revolution

The Battle of Eutaw Springs was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, and was the last major engagement of the war in the Carolinas. Both sides claimed a victory.

<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">Patrick Ferguson</span> British Army officer (1744–1780)

Patrick Ferguson was a Scottish officer in the British Army, an early advocate of light infantry and the designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, in which he played a great effort in recruiting American Loyalists to serve in his militia against the Patriots.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Battle of Kettle Creek</span> 1779 minor conflict of the American Revolutionary War in rural Georgia

The Battle of Kettle Creek was the first major victory for Patriots in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War that took place on February 14, 1779. It was fought in Wilkes County about eleven miles (18 km) from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriots decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta.

<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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">David Fanning (loyalist)</span> Canadian politician

David Fanning was a Loyalist leader in the American Revolutionary War in North and South Carolina. Fanning participated in approximately 36 minor engagements and skirmishes, and in 1781, captured the Governor of North Carolina, Thomas Burke, from the temporary capital at Hillsborough. Additionally, Fanning was captured by Patriot forces 14 times throughout the war, each time escaping or receiving a pardon. After the British defeat in the war, Fanning fled to Canada, where he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1791 to 1801 representing Kings County. After being convicted of rape in 1801, Fanning was expelled from New Brunswick, and settled in Nova Scotia, where he lived the remainder of his life.

<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">Siege of Ninety Six</span> Siege (1781) in the American Revolutionary War

The Siege of Ninety Six was a siege in western South Carolina late in the American Revolutionary War. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 troops in a siege against the 550 Loyalists in the fortified village of Ninety Six, South Carolina. The 28-day siege centered on an earthen fortification known as Star Fort. Despite having more troops, Greene was unsuccessful in taking the town, and was forced to lift the siege when Lord Rawdon approached from Charleston with British troops.

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.

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.

The Battle of Lindley's Fort was part of a campaign by Loyalist and Cherokee forces to gain control over the South Carolina backcountry from Patriot forces early in the American Revolutionary War. The Cherokees were involved because ongoing encroachment of their territory in the area had led them to take up arms. These activities prompted settlers to seek refuge at Lindley's Fort in present-day Laurens County. A joint force of Cherokee and Loyalists adorned with Indian warpaint descended on the fort one day after about 150 militiamen arrived at the stockade fort. The defenders repulsed the attackers, and when they withdrew, made a sortie and pursued them. Two Loyalists were killed and 13 taken prisoner.

<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">Thomas Polk</span> Revolutionary War officer and politician

Thomas Polk was a planter, military officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1781, and a politician who served in the North Carolina House of Commons, North Carolina Provincial Congress, and Council of State. Polk commanded the 4th North Carolina Regiment in the Battle of Brandywine. In 1786, Polk was elected by the North Carolina General Assembly to the Congress of the Confederation, but did not attend any of its sessions. Polk was a great-uncle of the 11th President of the United States, James K. Polk.

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

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

The Battle of Wambaw was an engagement of the American Revolutionary War fought on February 24, 1782 near Charleston, South Carolina.

John Thomas, Sr. was a colonel during the American Revolutionary War who led the Spartan Regiment against the Loyalists. He was a representative of the Provincial Congress in 1776. During the Siege of Charleston, Thomas was captured and was imprisoned at the Ninety Six prison and later at Charleston until the end of the war.

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.

References