American Revolution
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THE CAMP-FIRE NEAR CHARLESTON
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January, 1783, saw the army of the South, under General Greene, who had so successfully conducted it
through the previous campaign, encamped in the neighborhood of Charleston, South Carolina.
The army had suffered greatly from the want of provisions, ammunition, and all the necessary equipage of a camp.
The reason of this was, not the want of supplies in the magazines, but the difficulty of transportation.
On the 4th of January preceding, a reinforcement arrived, detached from the main army at Yorktown,
after the surrender of Cornwallis. The men were in high spirits, on account of the triumph they had achieved
and the prospect it opened of their speedy return to their homes, and the enjoyment of peace.
The men composing the reinforcement were well received by heir brethren in arms, to whom the details
of the events which had brought about the surrender were most interesting. The watch-fires of the camp
never blazed in the midst of groups of men more buoyant in spirits than those which were assembled
around them in Greene's camp, after the arrival of the troops from Yorktown.
Nearly all looked upon the capture of Lord Cornwallis as the termination of hostilities, and to them.
"Grim-visaged War had smoothed his wrinkled front." The night was dark and chilly --- the severest winter nights of South Carolina are not much more. The warmth of the fires was in demand among the troops, and they were well heaped with their necessary food. Each had its group of five, or more, and talking and singing filled the hours before the time of seeking repose. Some of the messes were so lucky as to secure visitors from the detachment just arrived from Yorktown, and they took care to make the most of them. To one of this fortunate description we will direct our attention. It was a group of six men, sitting on some small logs they had drawn near the fire. The clothing of most of them was much soiled and worn, and their general appearance of face and feature might be classed in the same description. The one who honored the mess with a visit could readily be distinguished from the rest by a slight difference in the appearance of his clothing, and the general respect which was paid to him by the rest of the men. They were all attention when he spoke; though there was a cordiality about his manner which would seem capable of banishing all formality. His name was Barton, and he had been introduced and welcomed to the men through the instrumentality of an old comrade of his, by the name of Crisp. Dick Crisp and he had gone through most of the prominent battles of the early part of the war, in the same company. But when General Greene took command of the southern army, Crisp's term of service was out; and his family moving to South Carolina, soon after, he concluded to join his force. He served with Greene through his arduous but triumphant campaign, and now, near the close of the war, had the pleasure of meeting his old comrade, Sam Barton. "Ha, ha!" laughed Dick. "You don't remember all the sport we need to have up thee, in old Jersey and New York, along with all our troubles." "Oh, yes," replied Sam, "I'll never forget some of our doings, even though I don't see any of my old comrades any more. Dick, I believe you're the only one left out of all the party of fellows we used to know when you were in our company." "I am!" said Dick, in surprise. "Why, what's become of Bob Jones? --- Long Bob, we used to call him, you know." "Oh, he fell at Stony Point," answered Sam. "He was one of the forlorn hope. Poor fellow! He and I've seen some great times together." "Then there was Harry Henkins," said dick, "He was a whole-souled fellow. He tended me, when I was sick, just like a brother." "Yes, there was no mistake about Harry's heart being in the right place," said Sam. "He got sick, and when his term of service was out, he left the army, and I've never seen him since. I think he must have either remained sick to this day, or else have died; for I often heard him say his country should have his arm as long as he was able to shoulder a musket." "Then there was John Higgins," said Dick, musingly. "He's not dead, too; is he?" "Yes, poor Jon fell at Yorktown, after going through the best part of the war," replied Sam. "I saw him fall. It was just as we were entering a redoubt we had captured. The last fire of the red-coats killed him." "That was hard," said Dick, "after going through so many hard-fought battles." "Come, come, men, don't have all the talk to yourselves," remarked another of the group, by the name of Rattler. "We would like to hear something about Yorktown. Can't you oblige us, Barton, with a few of the particulars of the surrender?" "Oh, yes, I can tell you something about it; though there was nothing of any consequence done there, except the surrender of Lord Cornwallis." "Oh, don't tell us that," returned Rattler. "Lord Cornwallis is not the man to surrender without some fighting. Give us some account of it, anyhow." "I'll tell you what I'll do," replied Barton. "I'll tell you about Yorktown, as far as I saw, and then one of you must agree to tell me about something that's been going on down here. There's a good many things that you can tell me, that I want to know all about. There's Eutaw Springs, and the Cowpens, and Camden. Any of them I'll be glad to hear about." "Bill, here," said Rattler, "was at the Cowpens. I suppose he'll be willing to tell you." "Certainly," replied Bill, "if he tells us about Yorktown." "Let's have a song from Rattler, first, though," said dick. "He can sing about as well as anybody I know, and he knows some real stirring songs." "Good," said Sam Barton. "I won't tell about Yorktown till Rattler does sing." "Oh, I don't want any coaxing," was the reply. "'Silver and gold have I none; but such as I have I give unto you' I don't think I can sing some of the songs I know, but you're welcome to it, such as it is." "Never mind apologies or quoting Scripture, but just drive on. We all want to hear the song," said Dick. "The song I'm going to sing," said Rattler, is one of the real grit. It has a chorus that runs this way, --- and Rattler hummed over the chorus of the song that follows, "You must join in; but don't sing too loud, or you'll have the sergeant down on us. It is called the 'Song of the Revolution.'" The men nodded assent, and Rattler proceeded with his song, in a tolerably clear and sweet voice: --- Come, freemen, rally "That's what I call a stirring song," said Barton, when the last discord of voices in the chorus had died away. "'Death to the tory! I say. I expect they'll be coming over to our side every day now, when they see we're the strongest. That's the way with such folks." "I told you Rattler knew how to do it," said Dick Crisp. "Now we'll have your story just as quick as you please." "Well, I'll soon put you in possession of what I know about the surrender," replied Sam. "You must know, in the first place, that we --- that is, the brigade which I belong to --- waited at Williamsburgh till the arrival of the army of Washington, and also till count Rochambeau arrived, which was on the 25th of last September. Everything was then prepared for us to move towards Yorktown, as soon as possible. You see, Cornwallis with his whole army was at Yorktown, which was strongly fortified. I guess the whole strength of the army, after the French joined us, was about twelve thousand men. Then the militia of Virginia were ordered out, which soon made us a great deal stronger. The day before we marched from Williamsburgh, General Washington told us, in his general orders, if we should meet the red-coats on our march, to place our principal reliance on the bayonet; so that we might prove how vain was their boasting of their skill in deciding battles with that weapon." "Was Washington commander-in-chief of all the forces --- French and American?" enquired Crisp. "Yes, I believe he was commander-in-chief of the united armies," replied Sam. "all the general orders were issued by him, at any rate. Well, the next day, we started early in the morning, and the front of the army halted about two miles from Yorktown, at sunset of the same day. We were so near the enemy, that General Washington ordered the whole army, officers and soldiers, to lie on their arms all night. I didn't sleep much that night, although I laid down. John Higgins and I talked the best part of the night. You see, John had what they call a presentiment, I believe, that he was going to be killed at Yorktown. As we were lying there, he mentioned it to me. He said he knew he never would march again with the army. I told him it was all fancy, and tried to persuade him out of it; but he couldn't be persuaded. "Then says he to me, 'Sam, don't you think I've done my duty to my country?' says I, 'You know I can't think otherwise, John; you've been in her service for about seven years, and endured all sorts of toils and sufferings; sometimes without pay, or clothes, or anything to eat. You've certainly done your duty, and I hope you'll live to do a great deal more yet.' But he shook his head, mournfully, and didn't say anything more for a while. "At last, he said, 'Sam, do you think you'll ever go back to Springfield?' --- that's where we both were raised. 'If I live till the war's over,' said I. 'Then I want to ask a favor of you,' said he. 'I left a mother in Springfield, you know. She'll look for me to come home, when the war's over. I've been writing to her off and on ever since I left home, and sending her what money I could spare. Your parents are both dead, and mother's poor. Will you see that she don't want, for the little time she has to live on earth?' I promised him I would, should his fears prove to be true; and then he grasped my hand, and shook it, while the tears trickled down his cheeks." "Poor John!" said Dick; and that was all he could say, although his feelings were a good deal stirred by the account of his friend's strange presentiment. "He was a great friend to me," continued Sam, "and I'll remember his mother, if ever I get back to Springfield. But I'm wandering away from my narrative. Yorktown is situated on the south side of York River, about fifteen miles, I believe, from the Chesapeake. Cornwallis's force in the town amounted to seven thousand men, at least. Our army was encamped in a semicircle around the place. The Americans formed the right wing, and the French the left. Well, we lay there, without the British doing anything to hurt us, till the 30th, when we found that they had abandoned three or four of their redoubts, during the night, and retired within the town. That left us a great deal of commanding ground; and our troops and a party of French were ordered to advance and take possession of the ground, while some of the other troops threw up breastworks. "The British cannonaded all that day; but they wasted their ammunition; for in the whole day's cannonade they only wounded four militia-men. On that night, we were set to work to throw up two redoubts; and we had them nearly finished before we were discovered by the British. Then they poured their fire at us. But we kept on till we finished our work. On the 3d and 4th of October, they kept up a cannonade all the time; but they still wasted ammunition. We could see that the red-coats were getting hard-pushed for supplies, by the number of carcasses of horses floating down the river near our quarters. I heard that they killed six or seven hundred of them for want of forage. The rascals resorted to everything they could think of, to injure us; no matter whether it was allowed by the laws of war or not. They sent a parcel of niggers, who had the small-pox, out of Yorktown, to try to give it to our troops; but they were driven off, and so that scheme wasn't of much benefit to them, or injury to us." "It's just like 'em," said Dick. "They don't act like civilized men, no how." "Yes; no matter how they are treated when they are captured, or how they are spared when they are defeated, they always act like savages," replied Sam. "But, as I said, they didn't succeed that time in their devilish purpose. On the night of the 6th, a large detachment, in which was our regiment, was sent out, under command of General Lincoln, to open entrenchments near the enemy's lines. The night was very dark, and towards the latter part of it was rainy. Everything was conducted as silently as possible. Every officer and soldier knew his proper station; we moved about a mile from our former position. The working party were ahead, with all their entrenching tools and fascines on their shoulders, and then we followed, armed in full. Behind us, were the wagons and horses, with bags of sand, for throwing up breastworks, and the cannon and ordnance followed. "Well, we worked hard all night, taking turn about, and before daylight we had finished a line two miles in length, and laid the foundation for two redoubts within six hundred yards of the British lines. At daylight, they discovered us; but we were under cover then, and didn't mind their blazing at us. It seemed that the French suffered more than we did. One of them deserted to the British; and after that the British kept up a constant fire against the French lines, and killed and wounded some of their men. On the 8th and 9th, our troops had a mighty hard time of it, I tell you. They had to labor in the trenches, turn about, every other day and night; and you know what sort of work that is, Dick." "Yes, indeed, I think I do know something about that," replied Dick. "It's the hardest work I ever was engaged in." "Well, we had it about as hard as anything of the kind you or I ever saw," said Sam. "The weather was pretty cold and damp; and, when we were relieved, we had to sleep in the open field, with only a blanket for a covering. I didn't suffer so much from the cold, because I had come from a colder climate, and had been through some cold winters. On the night of the 9th, we erected a battery in front of our line, without being annoyed by the British while at work. We soon had two or three batteries ready to open on the town; and, on the 10th, General Washington put the match to the first gun; and then the roaring and blazing commenced in real earnest. From the 10th to the 15th, there was a continual fire kept up both by the French and American batteries. It was tremendous. Then there was the return fire from the British. At night, it seemed like a constant thunder-storm, only a great deal more severe. "One night, --- I forget whether it was the 11th or 12th, --- a red-hot shell from the French batteries set fire to the British frigate Charon and two or three smaller vessels. It was a splendid sight. The night was dark, and we could see from our post the ships all in a blaze; and then the thundering of the cannon, and the flashing of the light they made, with the addition of the shells flying through the air, with a long line of fire behind them, made as grand a sight as I ever saw. We had succeeded in throwing up another line of entrenchment nearer to the town, and had batteries within three hundred yards of the enemy's lines. This was done in the night, also. But they had two redoubts in front of their principal works, which were in the way of our entrenchments; and these, it was resolved, should be carried by assault. One of them was on the left of the British garrison, on the bank of the river. This is the one our brigade was to attack, under the command of General Lafayette. The other was to be left to the French. You see, Washington wanted to make us try to excel each other in the attack. He wanted to get our troops and the French excited by a desire to carry the point of attack before each other." "He knew, I suppose, that our troops could beat the Frenchmen at that business," said Rattler. "I don't suppose he did know any such thing," replied Sam. "the French are good soldiers, let me tell you; and what we had in our army were some of the best of the French. You must recollect that we were led by a Frenchman --- one of the best generals in the army. But I'll leave that matter to others to discuss. I'm satisfied of the bravery of the French. The assault took place in the night. The advanced body was led on by colonel Hamilton and Colonel Yimat. It was about eight o'clock when it commenced, and the men advanced without firing a gun. I was just behind John Higgins, and I thought of what he had said. He marched up to the work with a firm step, like all the rest. "You see, we were going to carry the works altogether by the bayonet, and we had to advance through the fire from the redoubt. Well, we pushed on after Hamilton and his men; and such was the ardor of the men, that, although there was a tremendous fire from the whole British line, we were in the redoubt in about ten minutes after the assault commenced. I think we had just fairly entered it, when John Higgins fell just ahead of me; he was shot through the head. I expected that we'd have some killing to do with the bayonet; for some of the officers wanted to take revenge for the slaughter of our troops on two or three occasions. But Colonel Hamilton wouldn't allow it, and I think he was right. Some of the men that didn't go into the redoubt wanted to know why we didn't kill them all; as if we could have the heart to kill men that were on their knees, begging for quarter." "No; you did right," said Dick. "There's but little use of our following such an example as the British give us. We're civilized men, and we ought to keep up our character." "Certainly," replied Sam. "The red-coats actually did go down on their knees to us, begging for quarter. The commander of the fort was taken prisoner by colonel Laurens himself. Then there were thirty of the men taken; the rest made their escape." "How many did you lose?" enquired Rattler. "We had only eight men killed, and thirty wounded," replied Sam. "I don't know how many they had killed and wounded; but before we left the fort, I saw a sergeant and eight men lying dead in the ditch." "How did the French make out in their attack?" asked bill. "Oh, I don't know much about the particulars of that attack,' was the reply. "I know, however, that they carried the redoubt a little while after we did ours. They lost a good many men, too, I believe." "What was the reason of their being longer about it then you were?" asked Dick. |
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