The Second Battle of Cedar Springs, also known as the Battle of Wofford’s Iron Works, or Battle of Peach Trees, August 8, 1780, [some accounts give the 7th with one stating it occurred a month later] is best described as a draw. The American militia, 600 strong under Colonels Isaac Shelby of North Carolina and Elijah Clarke commanding Georgia Refugees, received word that Major Patrick Ferguson’s large militia force was close. They retreated to nearby Wofford’s Iron Works and set up defenses. They withstood a charge of around 140 Partisan Dragoons and mounted Tory Militia led by Major James Dunlop resulting in a desperate hand-to-hand fight. The Loyalists were driven back and pursued for about a mile through a Peach Orchard. But when confronted by the rest of the British force, led by Major Ferguson, Clarke and Shelby withdrew rapidly in a running fight, relinquishing the ground to the British loyalists. Numbered the Second Battle of Cedar Springs, it occurred relatively close in location to the first battle that took place the previous month on July 12, 1780; though smaller in scale, the first Cedar Springs was a decisive rebel militia victory.
Background
The American Southern Army had surrendered to Supreme British Commander General Henry Clinton at Charleston, South Carolina on May 12, 1780. British forces under General Lord Charles Cornwallis, who assumed command of southern British forces after Clinton returned to New York, and his favorite mastiff, Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton, immediately began subduing the remnants of the Continental army and patriot resistance across South Carolina and Georgia. By early June, Lord Francis Rawdon, who was second to Cornwallis and in command at Camden, S. Carolina; a strong garrison about 150 miles northwest of Charleston. Additional forts and strongholds were thrown out west and north. Another 100 miles west of Camden was the main garrison of Ninety-Six. North and west of Ninety-Six were Rocky Mount, Hanging Rock, Gowen’s Fort, Earle’s Ford, Blackstock, and Prince’s Fort. The British were confident that South Carolina was secured and set plans for North Carolina. But even early on, there were small bastions of hope for the Whig cause in the deep south.
The back country of South Carolina, west of Camden between the Broad and Catawba Rivers to the piedmont was called the Spartanburg region. Large segments of Whig residents had not been pacified by the British. Specifically, the Scotch Irish were posing problems. Called ‘The Borderers,’ they or their parents had immigrated from the border regions of England; more specifically lowland Scots and northern English counties that included Cumberland, Northumberland, and Yorkshire. Many had traveled down the Great Wagon Road from Pennsylvania to settle in the Carolina backcountry. Most sided with the Whig’s call for liberty when war erupted, labeled rebels by the British. There was also resistance by a large faction of ‘over the mountain men;’ those who had settled the western frontier of North Carolina, now Eastern Tennessee. Men and women who farmed the far wilderness had an on-going battle with Native Americans and were basically neutral. But they became disgruntled by British proclamations ordering they must give an oath to the King, or suffer the consequences. As such, they banned together and brought their hard fighting wilderness skills with the rifle into play against British forces.
The Spartanburg region of northwest South Carolina above the Ninety-Six District saw four major actions between partisan forces in a week’s time; all resulting in rebel victories. It had begun with the First Battle of Cedar Springs, July 12, 1780. Within a few days, violence escalated with a clash of arms at Gowen’s Fort, Earle’s Ford, and Fort Prince; the last resulting in the abandonment of the British Post. So too, loyalist settlers in the region became targets of smaller bands of rebel raiders. Farms and plantations were attacked and plundered. Lord Rawdon at Camden was determined to put an end to the violence. He ordered Major Patrick Ferguson, Coordinator of Loyalist Militia Forces, into the region with instructions to seek out bands of Whig militia and destroy them before they could join up with larger patriot forces. By late July, 1780, Ferguson had gathered around 1,800 Tory militia to his banner and set out to chase down the pesky backcountry rebels.
British Force
Besides a small contingency of Loyalist Partisan Regulars; Americans trained and equipped as British infantry and dragoons, Major Ferguson had at least seven known regiments of Loyalist Militia in the Ninety-Six District; approximately 1,800 men in all.
- Long Cane under Col. Richard King
- Steven’s Creek under Col. John Cotton
- Dutch Fork led by Col. Daniel Clary
- Spartan Regiment under Maj. Zachariah Gibbs
- Kirkland’s Regiment commanded by Col. Moses Kirkland
- Fair Forest under Maj. Daniel Plummer
- Little River District led by Maj. Patrick Cunningham
When Major James Dunlop first made contact with the rebels, he had 14 American Volunteer Dragoons under Lt. Anthony Allaire (whose narrative of the war is a source for many historians) and a detachment of Tory militia led by Lt. Alexander Chesney; 144 men in all.
American Force
Typical among bands of patriot militia who often did not have one main leader, the rebels were jointly commanded by Colonels Elijah Clarke, Isaac Shelby, and William Graham.
- Colonel Elijah Clarke led 2 companies of the GA Wilkes County Regiment
- Colonel Isaac Shelby led 6 companies of ‘Over Mountain Men’ riflemen from NC Sullivan County
- Colonel William Graham led 1 company of the SC Lincoln County Regiment
- Two companies of the SC 1st Spartan Regiment
- One company of the SC 2nd Spartan Regiment
- Two companies from the NC Burke County Regiment
- One company from the NC Rutherford County Regiment
The American force numbered around 1,000; however, a detachment of 400 remained at a base of operations while 600 rode out to shadow Major Ferguson’s column and would participate in the battle.
The Clash at Wofford’s Iron Works
Clarke’s men remained close to Ferguson’s command, keeping enough distance not to draw a major action. On August 7th, Clarke’s force camped about two miles west of Cedar Springs near the crossroads of present-day routes 56 and 295 [some sources give one mile while others state it was three miles] Scouts were sent out to keep an eye on enemy movements. Early the next morning, the 8th, scouts informed Clarke that Ferguson’s men had come within a half mile of their position. The rebels immediately broke camp and rode to nearby Wofford’s Iron Works, also called the Old Iron Works and, occasionally, Buffington for a previous owner. There they set up defenses and organized an ambush for a possible British attack. Accordingly, Major Ferguson learned of Clarke’s nearby presence, particularly the rebel’s wagons, and ordered Major Dunlop’s detachment to ride out and capture them. At around 4 am, Dunlop came upon the rebel camp that had been abandoned only a half hour earlier. Another account stated that Dunlop was not ordered to attack, but was foraging when he rode into the vacant rebel camp.
Dunlop quickly rode out of camp after his prey. It was reported he saw three rebel scouts and chased them down, capturing two. Whether the scouts were decoys or not, the Loyalists followed the third man into the center of the Iron Works where Clarke’s men had set an ambush. The first volley of rifle ripped into the mounted Tories and emptied several saddles before Dunlop withdrew his men. He rallied his force and at the front of his dragoons, he led an assault on the patriot line that became a vicious hand-to-hand battle. Men fell on both sides as Clarke was wounded by two saber slashes, one to the back of his neck; only the stock buckle prevented the strike from being fatal.
The situation became desperate for the mounted dragoons as Dunlop’s militia riflemen were hesitant to close. Before long, the badly outnumbered dragoons were thrown back and, together with the riflemen, were gradually driven back through a Peach Orchard. The patriots followed and pressed the attack in a series of running battles in which Dunlop received a slight wound. It was around thirty minutes since the first volley and when the patriots called off the pursuit, about a mile from the Iron Works; returning to their former position with around fifty captives. Most of the casualties occurred in this first major clash of arms.
Capt. Dunlap retreated another mile before he rendezvoused with Major Ferguson’s main force that marched back to the Iron Works. But the Patriots had already begun a hasty withdrawal. The rebels retreated across Lawson’s Fork Creek and along the Old Georgia Road, present day Clifton Glendale Road. Ferguson followed on their heels, hoping to rescue British prisoners. In a running battle, the rebels delayed Ferguson’s advance by forming on every favorable position, this so to prevent the loyalists from getting too close. Meanwhile the prisoners were hurried along, keeping them out of striking distance. Ferguson broke off the pursuit after the Americans crossed the Pacolet River at what is now Clifton, South Carolina, just east of present-day Spartanburg, seventy some miles north of Ninety-Six.
Casualties and Aftermath
Most casualties occurred during the first assaults by Dunlop’s Loyalists at the Iron Works and the running battle during the rebel pursuit of loyalists. Casualty estimates varied widely between sources. Rebel losses probably had 4 killed and 23 wounded with none captured. British losses were greater, especially among those captured; 8 killed, 26 wounded, and 50 captured.
Ten days after the Second Battle of Cedar Springs, Colonels Clarke and Shelby would team up again in a decisive defeat of loyalist militia and Partisan Regulars. The Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 18, 1780, pitted British regulars against Shelby’s ‘over the mountain’ riflemen and Clarke’s Georgian Refugees. Many rebels were skilled fighters from years of war with the Cherokee and Creek Native Americans. It is the first time that after war narratives described Shelby’s back woodsmen as the ‘yelling boys,’ a precure to the 1860’s Civil War and ‘rebel yell.’
The Second Battle of Cedar Springs was one of several engagements over a three-month period between loyalist and rebel backcountry militia; leading up to the decisive Battle of King’s Mountain, October 7, 1780. Though General Cornwallis wiped out any Continental Army threat at the Battle of Camden, August 16, 1780, and followed it up a couple days later with the defeat of a large North Carolina militia under General Thomas Sumter at the Battle of Fishing Creek, August 18th (same day as Musgrove Mill), the rebel threat from the far western frontier of the Carolinas remained a persistent thorn in the British side.
When Ferguson was killed at King’s Mountain and his Tory army annihilated, Cornwallis’ left flank evaporated, leaving him with little or no local militia support. He had already begun his invasion of North Carolina, but had to return to South Carolina, hoping to regain momentum for another go in the spring. By that time, a new American General arrived on the scene, Nathanael Greene, with a revitalized Continental Army that fielded one of America’s greatest warriors; Daniel Morgan. Over the next several months, a new strategy of cooperation between rebel militia and Continental troops would ultimately prove the downfall of British control of the south.
Major James Dunlop, who led several brash attacks against rebel backcountry militia commanded his last raid on March 23, 1781 at the Battle of Beattie’s Hill. He was confronted by a large rebel militia force led by his old nemesis, Colonel Elijah Clarke, and held out to the last man; his company either killed or captured. Dunlop was taken to Gilbert Town, North Carolina, where he was murdered in his cell, shot several times reported by Colonel Shelby’s ‘over the mountain men.’
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RESOURCE
The American Revolution in South Carolina. “Wofford’s Ironworks”
Buchanan, John. The Road to Guilford Courthouse. 1997: John Wiley & Sons Inc., New York, NY.
Crawley, Ron. “Major James Dunlop: An Officer of Much Energy and Promptitude.” Paper presented at the Sept. 2008 American Revolution Symposium in Spartanburg, SC. Theme – Redcoats: The British in South Carolina.
Johnson, Joseph. Traditions and reminiscences, chiefly of the American revolution in the South : including biographical sketches, incidents, and anecdotes… 1851: Walker and James, Charleston, SC.
McCrady, Edward. History of South Carolina in the Revolution 1775-1780, Vol. III. 1969: Russell, New York, NY.
Teaster, Mary McKinney. Glendale History. “The Revolutionary War Battle of Wofford’s Ironworks”