July 30, 1780. British Partisan Victory. A force of approximately 600 militia under Colonel Thomas Sumter attacked a fortified British outpost garrisoned by around 300 partisan regular troops and loyalist militia under Lt. Colonel George Turnbull. This was the first battle under the leadership of celebrated rebel leader Thomas Sumter since the fall of Charleston, May 12, 1780. After an eight-hour battle in which the rebel force had no luck penetrating the fortification, the frustrated patriot militiamen returned to their camp.
British Man Outposts Throughout South Carolina
After the surrender of the Southern American Army at Charleston, British Lt. General Charles Cornwallis quickly detached troops to pacify South Carolina in preparation to mount an invasion of North Carolina. The main British headquarters in the backcountry was at Camden, about 180 miles northwest of Charleston, commanded by Lord Francis Rawdon. Between Charleston and Camden were a web of outposts that coordinated communications and supplies while also serving as concentration points for troops. Thirty-five miles northwest of Camden was one such outpost, Rocky Mount, established by June 1st. Located just south of present-day Great Falls, South Carolina. It was a strong position on the summit of a high hill on the west bank of the Catawba River. Two log houses with a frame building loop-holed for defense was surrounded by a ditch and abatis (sharpened stakes buried in the ground facing outward). Beyond the defensive works was a wide, expanse of open ground or killing field that commanded a clear view before lined by open woods.
In July, 1780, militiamen of North and South Carolina flocked to the patriot banner of rebel leader Colonel Thomas Sumter after the July 12, 1780 devastating defeat of one of ‘Bloody Ben’ Tarleton’s despised officers. Captain Christian Huck was killed leading a detached raiding party of partisan dragoons and regulars that were terrorizing the western South Carolina backcountry of Acquisition County (modern York). Sumter’s ranks grew to nearly 800 men, but he knew it would be short term. Passions would cool and these farmers would return home if he did not attack the enemy, and soon. As early historian Lyman Draper wrote, “While he kept moving and fighting the enemy his men kept with him, but when only attending routine duty…they left for home.” So, by late July, Sumter began his campaign against Lord Rawdon’s outposts and he set his sights on the nearby fortification at Rocky Mount.
General of Militia Thomas Sumter
In studying the rebel attack on Rocky Mount, it would be useful to know something more of the man who commanded the loose band of militiamen. Colonel Thomas Sumter, affectionately labeled a ‘Blue Hen’s Chicken’ and ‘Gamecock,’ was a prima donna; a pompous, wan’na be aristocrat whose tender ego, as the saying goes, could spot a slight, intended or not, around a corner. He was also a fighter, when finally given the chance to lead men. So enticed with defeating his enemy, he was not afraid to send men into the jaws of hell, no matter the odds. Light Horse Harry Lee wrote of Sumter that “Enchanted with the splendor of victory, he would wade in torrents of blood to attain it.” One could compare him to Civil War General P.T. Beauregard who, at the Battle of Shiloh (1862), while trying to force a victory, fed regiment after regiment of young soldiers into a bloody death trap later given the ominous name, ‘Hornet’s Nest.’
In 1775, Sumter had formed his own militia and by the following year, he was made Lt. Colonel of Continental troops, the South Carolina 6th Regiment of Rifle. After seeing no action for two years, he resigned and went home to the high hills of the Santee River District; of course, keeping his spotless Continental uniform. When Banastre Tarleton burned his home on May 28th, while in route to attacking Continental troops under Colonel Buford at the Battle of Waxhaws, Sumter rejoined the war.
Sumter wisely headed north and met with South Carolina Governor Rutledge, whose government was in exile at Salisbury, North Carolina. There he was able to draw $19,000 to recruit and equip men to stage a guerrilla war. Along with some of his old 6th regiment veterans and 200 Catawba Native Americans, he began recruiting his militia. His display of confidence and leadership helped draw men to his command, as did the uniform. (Note: Washington wore his French and Indian War uniform throughout Congress until they gave him command of the army).
In early June, at Hagler’s Branch near present day Fort Mill, South Carolina rebel militia leaders met at a backcountry convention to decide how to organize their various militias to counter the British takeover of their colony. On June 15, 1780, Sumter was voted as Brigadier General of all South Carolina militia (however his command was not made official until October 8, 1780). With the support of other South Carolina militia leaders, Sumter began drawing in patriot militiamen from throughout North and South Carolina (including some from Georgia). And when militiamen proved with Huck’s Defeat on July 12th, that they could defeat a detachment of hated Tarleton Legions and Partisan regulars, Sumter’s command grew to a size he believed he could begin to take on the British.
Sumter’s Force
- Colonels Edward Lacey and John Nixon of the Turkey Creek Regiment
- Colonels Andrew Neel [Neale] and William Bratton of New Acquisition District [present day York County]
- Lt. Colonel John Marshall of Kershaw Reg.
- Lt. Colonel James Steen of the 2nd Spartan Reg.
- Colonels William Hill and James Hawthorne of Light Dragoons
- Colonel John McClure of Camden County
- Colonel Richard Winn of the Fairfield Reg.
- Colonel Robert Irwine commanded the Mecklenburg County Reg. of North Carolina
- Plus four different additional companies led by their captains.
Attack on Rocky Mount
After the war, Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton wrote A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America, 1787.He was very succinct and his telling of events has withstood the test of timely scrutiny; however, being accused of glossing over and fudging detailed accounts of his defeats. His description quite accurately describes the general action taken at Rocky Mount and we start here.
“Near the end of July he [Sumter] passed the Broad River, at Blair’s Ford, with about nine hundred men, and advanced upon Turnbull [Lt. Col. George Turnbull commanding Rocky Mount garrison], whose force was composed of one hundred and fifty provincials [De Lancy’s New York Volunteer regulars] and as many militia [mainly of Camden County, SC]. The defenses of Rocky Mount consisted of two log houses, a loop-holed building, and an abbatis; placed upon an eminence, which commanded a view of the neighboring country. Colonel Sumter having no cannon to destroy the abbatis, or the buildings, selected some of his bravest followers, to remove the former, and to endeavor to set fire to the latter, whilst his people, under cover of the trees and rocks, on the declivity of the mountain, maintained a heavy fire upon the garrison.
“After three attacks, in the last of which some of the forlorn hope penetrated within the abbatis, the American commander retreated with loss and precipitation. In the gallant defense of this post, Lt. Colonel Turnbull had one officer killed, one wounded, and about ten men killed and wounded.” It was common for both sides during the war to specify the fate of officers and to group rank and file into one category as killed and wounded. Many of the wounded did not survive their injuries and of those who did, were more often lost as fit and able for duty, subsequently posted to invalid units or cashiered out of service. Tarleton pretty much summed up the attack without respect to details of the assault and those among the Whig militia who had commanded.
On the morning of July 29, 1780, [some accounts state July 30th] Sumter’s army received “double rations and a suitable supply of ammunition” and broke camp towards Rocky Mount. That same morning Major William Richardson Davie and 80 dragoons and mounted infantry to stage a diversionary attack at another outpost about seventeen miles further east, Hanging Rock, garrisoned by around 500 provincial troops. This was to prevent reinforcements being sent to Rocky Mount. Sumter took the road leading to Lansford and crossed the Catawba at sunset. After an all-night march, they arrived at Rocky Mount the next morning of the 30th. A demand to surrender was issued and the garrison commander Lt. Colonel George Turnbull promptly turned it down.
Much of the details of what we know of the battle was recorded by Colonel William Hill in a memoir he wrote after the war. It appeared Sumter was told by informants that the structures at Rocky Mount were flimsy and could not withstand shot. Hill wrote that Sumter “was made under the impression that the Enemy was in a large framed house: the walls of which were only thin clapboards, and we supposed that our balls would have the desired effect by shooting through the wall…” However, unknown to the informer, the British had added another wall within, filled it with clay, and cut port-holes from which to fire. Hill wrote, “the Enemy…had placed small logs about a foot from the inside of the wall and rammed the cavity with clay, and under this delusion we made the attack — ; but soon found that we could not injure them no way, but by shooting in their port holes.”
Seeing their fire had no effect on the British within their fortifications, Sumter ordered a direct assault. Without cannon to punch holes through the abatis, the assault on the works began with a forlorn hope to chop through the sharpened poles. While rebel riflemen under John McClure laid down a covering fire upon the British works, men, led mainly by Colonel Neel, assaulted the abatis. Three times they tried to cut away enough of the pointed stakes to approach the buildings and each time they were driven back by heavy fire while sustaining casualties. The last attempt did break through the abatis and pushed the defenders back into their main building, but not enough to scale a full attack. In this Hill wrote, “And here the brave Colonel Neale was killed & 7 privates [including a Catawba Native American]: upon this we were forced to retreat behind a ledge of Rocks about a hundred yard from the house—”
Frustrated and desperate, the rebel leaders held council. Since their rifle were useless against the fortified structure walls, it was suggested that an attempt be made to burn their enemy out. Hill explains, “…it was discovered that there was a large rock, and between this rock and the fort, stood a small house which might be fired by throwing fire brands over the rock & that this house would communicate the fire to the house the Enemy was in …[since] we had the command of the water they could not possibly extinguish the flames…” All saw the problem of such a plan; between the rebel line and the rock ledge lay a hundred yards of exposed open ground within range of enemy muskets. Volunteers were called for. Hill picks up the what occurred next as he was one of the two men who stepped forward to try and torch the building.
“…it was then proposed by the Gen’ [Sumter was voted general back in June] & other officers for 2 men to endeavor to fire that small house, but the undertaking appeared so hazardous, that no two men of the army could be found to undertake it… author [Hill] proposed that if any other man would go with him, he would make the attempt: at length a young man [Sergeant Jemmy Johnson]…proposed to undertake with me…” After strapping wood to their bodies as a form of armor, the two men, each with a large bundle of wood, tore across the open field. Hill picks up the action, “Mr. Johnson was to manage the fire [while] the author [Hill] was to watch the enemy sallying out of the house…” Before the fire was kindled, several of De Lancey’s redcoats charged the two men with bayonets. Hill and Johnson ran the gauntlet back to the rebel line under heavy fire. A second attempt was made with McClure’s riflemen laying down cover between the small and great house, about fifteen feet.
“…we being equipt as before mentioned, made the second attempt…” This time militia rifle kept the regulars from charging the two men. “We had an opportunity of making a large fire behind the rock, easily throwing fire brands on the roof of the little house & we stayed until that roof was in flames… We then undertook the race, which was much more hazardous than the former ones…Providence so protected us both, that neither of us lost a drop of blood…” But fate, or perhaps nature, stepped in. “but to our great mortification, when the great house was beginning to flame—as heavy a storm of rain fell…which extinguished the flames.”
Frustrated by the elements and the day’s events, Sumter decided to call it quits and ordered a retreat to their camp on the Catawba. In eight hours of sniping and three attempts to cut through the abatis to get at the buildings, the number of casualties on both sides were moderate and about the same. For the Americans: 4 killed, 6 wounded, with 2 captured. As for the British partisans, we have Tarleton’s memoirs to go by which listed one officer killed, one officer wounded, and ten rank and file killed and wounded. When Major Richard Davie returned to report on the strength and positioning of the enemy at the Hanging Rock outpost, including his successful diversion, Sumter set his sights seventeen miles east.
Aftermath
Sumter would savor his first victory at the August 6th Battle of Hanging Rock, though not complete. When the British retreated and formed a square, Sumter lost control of much of his force after the militiamen discovered the enemy camp that included food, baggage, and of course, rum. Deciding it was useless to try and pursue the attack with half his command drunk, Sumter left the field. Later that month, the new commander of the Southern Continental Army, General Horatio Gates, showed up in South Carolina with reinforcements. When Gates requested Sumter’s assistance in attacking Cornwallis’ army that have marched up from Charleston, the Gamecock, in true character, ignored him, choosing his own pursuit of personal fame and glory.
After the Southern Army was defeated at Camden, August 16, 1780, one could say Sumter got his comeuppance for not joining Gates. Just two days later, on August 18th, in a surprise and vicious attack by Banastre Tarleton and his Legion, Sumter lost almost his entire command at the Battle of Fishing Creek; its remnants having scattered to the wind. But the resilient Sumter was not out of the picture. Within months he attracted a much larger militia force in which he returned the British favor in kind.
As an epilogue to the action, the two rebel captives in essence ‘cooked their own goose.’ According to British partisan Lieutenant Anthony Allaire’s diary, they had answered the loyalist call and signed up to fight alongside Lt. Colonel Turnbull’s partisan garrison. In June the two colonials had deserted to the rebel cause, absconding with a good amount of ammunition. During the fight, the redcoats behind the defenses swore they heard the two men calling out “take back your ammunition again.” As author John Buchanan wrote, “They had of course signed their own death warrants, and it is highly unlikely that the niceties of military justice were observed.” Lt. Colonel Turnbull ordered their execution. Allaire recorded that “They were both hanged on a reward for their treachery.”
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