True to the Old Flag: A Tale of the American War of Independence

by G. A. Henty

  CHAPTER XVIII.

  THE SIEGE OF SAVANNAH.

  After the surrender of General Burgoyne at Saratoga the EnglishParliament made another effort to obtain peace, and passed an actrenouncing all rights to tax the colonists and yielding every pointas to which they had been in dispute. Commissioners were sent overwith full authority to treat, and had the colonists been readynominally to submit to England, a virtual independence, similar tothat possessed by Canada and the Australian colonies at the presenttime, would have been granted. As a very large body of the Americanshad from the first been desirous of coming to terms, and as theparalyzed state of trade caused great and general distress, it isprobable that these terms might have been accepted had it not beenfor the intervention of France. That power had all along encouragedthe rebellion. She had smarted under the loss of Canada, and althoughher rule in her own colonies was far more arbitrary than that ofEngland in America, she was glad to assist in any movement whichcould operate to the disadvantage of this country. Hitherto,nominally she had remained neutral, but now, fearing that the offersof the English would induce the colonists to make peace, she cameforward, recognized their independence, and engaged herself tofurnish a large fleet for their assistance.

  The colonists joyfully accepted the offer, seeing that theintervention of France in the struggle would completely alter itsconditions. Heretofore the British had been enabled to send over menand stores at will, but were they blockaded by a French fleet theirdifficulties would be immensely increased.

  As there had been no cause of quarrel between England and France,this agreement was an act of wanton hostility on the part of thelatter. On obtaining information of the signature of the treatybetween France and the colonies, the English ambassador was recalledfrom Paris and both countries prepared vigorously for war.

  The first result was that the English deemed it prudent to evacuatePhiladelphia and retreat to New York. Washington endeavored to cutoff their retreat, and a battle took place at Freehold Court House,in which the Americans were worsted. Washington drew off his army,and the British army continued its march to New York without furtheropposition. Early in May the French sent off a fleet of twelve shipsof the line and six frigates, carrying a large number of troopscommanded by Count D'Estaing. An English fleet, under Admiral Byron,was lying at Portsmouth, and this sailed on June 9 in pursuit; for itwas not until that time that information was received of the intendeddestination of the French fleet.

  D'Estaing reached the American coast upon the very day on which theEnglish army re-entered New York, and after making a demonstrationbefore that town the French fleet sailed for Rhode Island to expelthe British troops, under Sir Robert Pigott, who held it.

  Lord Howe sailed with the fleet from New York to give battle to thatof D'Estaing. For two days the fleets maneuvered in sight of eachother. Howe, being inferior in force, wished to gain theweather-gauge before fighting. Failing to do this, on the third dayhe offered battle, but a tremendous storm prevented the engagementand dispersed both fleets. The French vessels retired to Boston andthe English to New York.

  Taking advantage of the departure of the French fleet, Sir Robertattacked the American force, which had crossed to Rhode Island to actwith the French, and drove them from it. While crossing the Atlanticthe fleet under Admiral Byron had met with a tremendous storm, whichhad entirely dispersed it, and the vessels arrived singly at NewYork. When their repairs were completed the whole set out to givebattle to the French, but D'Estaing, finding that by the junction ofthe two English fleets he was now menaced by a superior force, sailedaway to the West Indies.

  After his departure an expedition was sent down along the coast toGeorgia and East Florida. This met with great success. Savannah wascaptured and the greater part of South Carolina was occupied. Themajority of the inhabitants joyfully welcomed the troops and manycompanies of volunteers were raised.

  Harold had arrived in New York early in the spring. He had beenoffered a commission, but he preferred remaining with his twocomrades in the position of scout. In this way he had far greaterindependence, and while enjoying pay and rations sufficient for hismaintenance, he was to a great extent master of his own movements. Atan earlier period of the war he was offered by General Howe acommission in the army, and his father would have been glad had heaccepted it. Harold, however, although determined to fight until thestruggle between the colonists and the mother country came to an endone way or the other, had no great liking for the life of an officerin the regular army, but had resolved at the conclusion of the war tosettle down upon a farm on the lakes--a life for which he felt farmore fitted than for the strict discipline and regularity of that ofan officer in the army.

  As, with the exception of the attack by the French fleet and Americanarmy upon Rhode Island, both parties remained quiet all through thesummer of 1778, the year passed uneventfully to him, and the dutiesof the scouts were little more than nominal. During the winterfighting went on in the Carolinas and Georgia with varied success.

  In the spring of 1779 Harold and his comrades were, with a party ofscouts, sent down to Georgia, where constant skirmishes were going onand the services of a body of men accustomed to outpost duty wererequired. They were landed in May and joined General Prevost's forceon the island of St. John, situated close to the mainland andconnected with it by a bridge of boats, at the end of which on themainland a post had been erected. Shortly afterward General Prevostleft for Savannah, taking with him most of the troops, which werecarried away in the sloops which had formed the bridge of boats. Onthe American side General Lincoln commanded a considerable army,which had been dispatched by Congress to drive the English from thatState and the Carolinas.

  Lieutenant Colonel Maitland, who commanded the post on the mainland,was left with only a flat-boat to keep up his communication with theisland. He had under his command the first battalion of theSeventy-first Highlanders, now much weakened in numbers, part of aHessian regiment, some provincial volunteers, and a detachment ofartillery, the whole not exceeding 500 effective men. Hearing thatGeneral Lincoln was advancing against him, Colonel Maitland sent allhis sick, baggage, and horses across to the island, and placed thepost as far as possible in a defensive position. Most of the scoutswho had come down from New York had accompanied General Prevost toSavannah, but Harold, with Peter Lambton, Jake, and three or fourothers, had been ordered to remain with Colonel Maitland, and weresent out to reconnoiter when the enemy were known to be approaching.

  "This is something like our old work, Peter, upon Lake Champlain,"Harold said, as with his two comrades he took his way in thedirection from which the enemy were advancing.

  "Ay, lad, but they've none of the redskins with 'em, and there'll beno great difficulty in finding out all about 'em. Besides, we've gotJake with us, and jest about here Jake can do better nor we can.Niggers swarm all over the country and are as ready to work for oneside as the other, jest as their masters go. All Jake has got to dois to dress himself as a plantation nigger and stroll into theircamp. No question will be asked him, as he will naturally be takenfor a slave on some neighboring estate. What do you say, Jake?"

  Jake at once assented, and when they approached the enemy he left hiscomrades and carried their plan into execution. He was away sixhours, and returned saying that the enemy were 5000 strong, witheight pieces of artillery.

  "We must hurry back," Peter said. "Them are big odds agin' us. Ef allour troops was regulars, I don't say as they might not hold theplace; but I don't put much count on the Germans, and the colonistsaint seen no fighting. However, Colonel Maitland seems a first-rateofficer. He has been real sharp in putting the place into a state ofdefense, and I reckon ef the Yankees thinks as they're going to eatus up without trouble they'll be mistaken."

  Jake reported that the enemy were on the point of marching forward,and the scouts hurried back to give Colonel Maitland news of theircoming.

  It was late in the afternoon when they reached the post.

  "At what time do you think they
will arrive here?" the colonel asked,when Jake had made his report. "Dey be pretty close by dark, forsure," Jake replied.

  "But I don't think, sir," Peter added, "they'll attack beforemorning. They wouldn't be likely to try it in the dark, not knowingthe nature of the place."

  The commander was of the same opinion, but to prevent the possibilityof surprise he placed pickets at some distance round the fort, thescouts being, of course, of the party.

  The night passed quietly, but at seven in the morning Peter, Harold,and Jake, who were at some distance in advance of the others, saw theenemy approaching. They fired their pieces and fell back upon theoutposts. Their position was rather to the right of the line ofdefense. The pickets were about to fall back when 70 men, being twocompanies of the Seventy-first under Captain Campbell, were sent outto feel the enemy.

  "We're going to have a skirmish," Peter said. "I know theseHighlanders. Instead of jest firing a bit and then falling back,they'll be sticking here and fighting as if they thought they couldlick the hull army of the Yankees."

  It was as Peter predicted. The Highlanders took post behind a hedgeand maintained a desperate resistance to the advance of the enemy.Harold and his comrades for some time fought with them.

  "It's time for us to be out of this," Peter said presently. "Let'sjest get back to the fort."

  "We cannot fall back till they do, Peter."

  "I don't see that," Peter said. "We're scouts, and I don't see noadvantage in our chucking away our lives because these hot-headedHighlanders choose to do so. Peter Lambton's ready to do a fair shareof fighting, but when he's sure that fighting aint no good, then hegoes."

  And suiting the action to the word, Peter rose from his recumbentposition and began to make his way back to the camp, taking advantageof every bit of cover.

  Harold could not help laughing. For an instant he remainedirresolute, and then, seeing the overwhelming forces with which theenemy were approaching, he called to Jake and followed Peter'sexample. So obstinately did the Highlanders fight that they did notretreat until all their officers were killed or wounded, and only 11men out of the two companies succeeded in regaining the camp.

  The whole force of the enemy now advanced against the works, andhalting at a distance of three hundred yards opened a tremendous firefrom their cannon on the intrenchments. The defenders replied, but sooverwhelming was the force of the assailants that the Hessiansabandoned the portion of the works committed to them and fell back.

  The enemy pressed forward and had already gained the foot of theabattis, when Colonel Maitland brought up a portion of theSeventy-first upon the right, and these gallant troops drove theAmericans back with slaughter. Colonel Maitland and his officers thenthrew themselves among the Hessians and succeeded in rallying themand bringing them back to the front. The provincial volunteers hadalso fought with great bravery. They had for a time been pressedbackward, but finally maintained their position.

  The Americans, finding that all their efforts to carry the post wereunavailing, fell back to the forest. On the English side the lossamounted to 129. The Americans fought in the open and suffered muchmore heavily.

  The position of matters was suddenly changed by the arrival of CountD'Estaing with a fleet of forty-one ships-of-war off the coast. TheAmerican general, Lincoln, at once proposed to him to undertake acombined movement to force the English to quit Georgia. The arrivalof the French fleet was wholly unexpected, and the _Experiment_, afrigate of fifty guns, commanded by Sir James Wallace, having two orthree ships under his convoy, fell in with them off the mouth of theSavannah River. Although the _Experiment_ had been much crippled by agale through which she had recently passed, Sir James Wallace wouldnot haul down his flag and opposed a desperate resistance to thewhole of the French fleet, and did not surrender until the_Experiment_ was completely dismasted and riddled with shot.

  Upon the news that the French fleet was off the mouth of the river,Captain Henry, who commanded the little squadron of four smallEnglish ships, fell back to Savannah after removing all the buoysfrom the river. He landed his guns from the ships and mounted them onthe batteries, and the marines and blue-jackets were also put onshore to assist in the defense. Two of the brigs of war were sunkacross the channel below the town to prevent the French frigatescoming up. A boom was laid across above the town to preventfire-rafts from being sent down.

  D'Estaing landed the French troops at the mouth of the river, and,marching to the town, summoned General Prevost to surrender. TheEnglish commander, who had sent off a messenger to Colonel Maitland,ordering him to march instantly to his assistance with the forceunder him, which now amounted to 800 men, asked for twenty-four hoursbefore giving an answer. D'Estaing, who knew that General Lincoln wasclose at hand, made sure that Prevost would surrender withoutresistance, and so granted the time asked for. Before its expirationColonel Maitland, after a tremendous march, arrived at the town. Asthe French commanded the mouth of the river he had been obliged totransport his troops in boats through the marshes by a little creek,which for two miles was so shallow that the troops were forced towade waist-deep, dragging the boats by main force through the mud.

  Upon the arrival of this re-enforcement General Prevost returned ananswer to Count D'Estaing that the town would be defended to thelast. Some time was spent by the enemy in landing and bringing upheavy artillery from the ships, and the French and Americans did notbegin their works against the town until September 23. The garrisonhad utilized the time thus afforded to them to erect new defenses.The allied force of the assailants consisted of more than 10,000Americans and 5000 French troops, while the garrison, includingregulars, provincial corps, sailors, militia, and volunteers, did notexceed 2500.

  Nevertheless, they did not allow the enemy to carry on their workwithout interruption. Several sorties were made. The first of these,under Major Graham of the Sixteenth Regiment, reached the lines ofthe enemy and threw them into confusion. Large re-enforcements cameup to their assistance, and as Graham's detachment fell back upon thetown, the enemy incautiously pursued it so close up to the Britishlines that both artillery and musketry were brought to bear uponthem, and they lost a large number of men before they could regaintheir works. On the morning of October 4 the batteries of thebesiegers opened fire with fifty-three pieces of heavy artillery andfourteen mortars. General Prevost sent in a request to CountD'Estaing that the women and children might be permitted to leave thetown and embark on board vessels lying in the river, there to awaitthe issue of the fight; but the French commander refused the requestin a letter couched in insulting terms.

  The position of Savannah was naturally strong. The river protectedone of its sides and a deep swamp, partially flooded by it, coveredanother. The other two were open to the country, which in front ofthem was for several miles level and clear of wood. The works whichhad been thrown up on these sides were extremely strong. When theFrench first landed there were but ten pieces of cannon upon thefortifications, but so incessantly did the garrison work that beforethe conclusion of the siege nearly one hundred pieces of artillerywere mounted on the redoubts and batteries erected round the town.Upon the side of the swamp there was not much fear of attack, butthree redoubts were erected to prevent a surprise from thisdirection. The defense on the right face of the town was conductedby Colonel Maitland. The defense on the left, consisting of twostrong redoubts and several batteries, was commanded by LieutenantColonel Cruger. In the center were several strong works, of whichGeneral Prevost himself took the special supervision. The wholeBritish line, except where the swamp rendered no such defensenecessary, was surrounded by a thick abattis. The French fire madeno sensible impression upon the English defenses, and finding thatthe British artillery equaled his own, D'Estaing determined todiscontinue the attack by regular approaches and to carry the placeby storm. His position was a perilous one. He had already spent along time before the place, and at any moment the English fleet mightarrive from the West Indies and attack his fleet, which was weakenedby the men and guns whic
h had been landed to carry on the siege. Hetherefore determined to risk an assault rather than remain longerbefore the town. To facilitate the attack an officer with 5 men onOctober 8 advanced to the abattis and set fire to it. The wood,however, was still green, and the flames were easily extinguished.

  The attack was fixed for the following morning. Bodies of theAmerican militia were to feign attacks upon the center and left,while a strong force of the combined armies was to make a real attackin two columns upon the right. The troops composing the two columnsconsisted of 3500 French soldiers and 950 Americans. The principalforce, commanded by Count D'Estaing in person, assisted by GeneralLincoln, was to attack the Springfield redoubt, which was situated atthe extreme right of the British central line of defense and close tothe edge of the swamp. The other column, under the command of CountDillon, was to move silently along the margin of the swamp, pass thethree redoubts, and get into the rear of the British lines.

  The troops were in motion long before daylight. The attempt to burnthe abattis had excited the suspicion of the English that an assaultmight be intended, and accordingly pickets were thrown out in frontof the intrenchments and the scouts were ordered to keep a sharpwatch among the trees which grew in and near the swamp.

  Harold with his friends had accompanied Colonel Maitland's column inits march to Savannah and had labored vigorously at the defenses,being especially occupied in felling trees and chopping wood for theabattis. Before daybreak they heard the noise made by the advance ofthe enemy's columns through the wood and hurried back to theSpringfield redoubt, where the garrison at once stood to arms. Inthis redoubt were a corps of provincial dismounted dragoons,supported by the South Carolina regiment.

  Just as daylight appeared the column led by Count D'Estaing advancedtoward the Springfield redoubt, but the darkness was still so intensethat it was not discovered until within a very short distance of theworks. Then a blaze of musketry opened upon it, while a destructivecross-fire was poured in from the adjoining batteries. So heavy wasthe fire that the head of the column was almost swept away. Theassailants kept on with great bravery until they reached the redoubt;here a desperate hand-to-hand contest took place. Captain Tawse fellwith many of his men, and for a moment a French and an Americanstandard were planted upon the parapet; nevertheless the defenderscontinued to cling to the place and every foot was desperatelycontested.

  At this moment Colonel Maitland, with the grenadiers of the SixtiethRegiment and the marines, advanced and fell upon the enemy's column,already shaken by the obstinate resistance it had encountered and byits losses by the fire from the batteries. The movement was decisive.The assailants were driven headlong from the redoubt and retreated,leaving behind them 637 of the French troops killed and wounded and264 of the Americans.

  In the mean time the column commanded by Count Dillon mistook its wayin the darkness and was entangled in the swamp, from which it wasunable to extricate itself until it was broad daylight and it wasfully exposed to the view of the garrison and to the fire from theBritish batteries. This was so hot and so well directed that thecolumn was never able even to form, far less to penetrate into therear of the British lines.

  When the main attack was repulsed Count Dillon drew off his column,also. No pursuit was ordered as, although the besiegers had sufferedgreatly, they were still three times more numerous than the garrison.

  A few days afterward the French withdrew their artillery andre-embarked on board ship.

  The siege of Savannah cost the allies 1500 men, while the loss of thegarrison was only 120. The pleasure of the garrison at theirsuccessful defense was marred by the death of Colonel Maitland, whodied from the effects of the unhealthy climate and of the exertionshe had made.

  A few days after the raising of the siege the French fleet wasdispersed by a tempest, and Count D'Estaing, with the majority of theships under his command, returned to France.

  During the course of this year there were many skirmishes round NewYork, but nothing of any great importance took place. Sir HenryClinton, who was in supreme command, was unable to undertake anyoffensive operations on a large scale, for he had not received there-enforcements from home which he had expected. England, indeed, hadher hands full, for in June Spain joined France and America in thecoalition against her and declared war. Spain was at that time aformidable marine power, and it needed all the efforts that could bemade by the English government to make head against the powerfulfleets which the combined nations were able to send to sea againstthem. It was not only in Europe that the Spaniards were able to giveeffective aid to the allies. They were still a power on the Americancontinent, and created a diversion, invading West Florida andreducing and capturing the town and fort of Mobile.

  In the spring of 1780 Sir Henry Clinton sent down an expedition underthe command of Lord Cornwallis to capture Charleston and reduce theState of South Carolina. This town was extremely strongly fortified.It could only be approached by land on one side, while the water,which elsewhere defended it, was covered by the fire of numerousbatteries of artillery. The water of the bay was too shallow to admitof the larger men-of-war passing, and the passage was defended byFort Moultrie, a very formidable work. Admiral Arbuthnot, with the_Renown, Romulus, Roebuck, Richmond, Blonde, Raleigh_, and _Virginia_frigates, with a favorable wind and tide ran the gantlet of FortMoultrie, succeeded in passing up without great loss, and co-operatedon the sea face with the attack of the army on the land side.

  A force was landed on Sullivan's Island, on which Fort Moultriestood, and the fort, unprepared for an attack in this direction, wasobliged to surrender. The American cavalry force which had beencollected for the relief of the town was defeated by the Englishunder General Tarleton. The trenches were pushed forward with greatvigor, and the batteries of the third parallel opened at short rangeon the town with great execution. The advances were pushed forward atthe ditch, when the garrison, seeing that further resistance wasimpossible, surrendered. Five thousand prisoners were taken, 1000American and French seamen, and ten French and American ships-of-war.

  With the fall of Charleston all resistance ceased in South Carolina.The vast majority of the inhabitants made their submission to theBritish government and several loyalist regiments were raised.

  Colonel Tarleton, with 170 cavalry and 100 mounted infantry, wasdispatched against an American force under Colonel Burford,consisting of 350 infantry, a detachment of cavalry, and two guns,which had taken post on the border of North Carolina. Tarleton cameup with him, and after a sharp action the Americans were entirelydefeated. One hundred and thirteen were killed on the spot and 207made prisoners, of whom 103 were badly wounded.

  For some months the irregular operations were continued, theAmericans making frequent incursions into the Carolinas. The Britishtroops suffered greatly from the extreme heat and the unhealthinessof the climate.

  In August the American General Gates advanced toward Camden, and LordCornwallis also moved out to that town, which was held by a Britishgarrison. The position there was not hopeful. Nearly 800 were sick,and the total number of effectives was under 2000, of whom 500 wereprovincials. The force under General Gates amounted to 6000 men,exclusive of the corps of Colonel Sumpter, 1000 strong, which weremaneuvering to cut off the English retreat. Cornwallis could not fallback on Charleston without abandoning the sick and leaving all hismagazines and stores in the hands of the enemy, besides which aretreat would have involved the abandonment of the whole State withthe exception of Charleston. He therefore decided upon giving battleto the enemy, who were posted at Rugeley's Mills, a few milesdistant, leaving the defense of Camden to Major M'Arthur, with someprovincials and convalescent soldiers and a detachment of theSixty-third Regiment, which was expected to arrive during the night.

  The army marched in the following order: The first division,commanded by Lieutenant Colonel Webster, consisting of four companiesof light infantry and the Twenty-third and Thirty-third regiments,preceded by an advanced guard of 40 cavalry. The second division,consisting of pro
vincial troops and two battalions of theSeventy-first Regiment, followed as a reserve. The dragoons of thelegion formed the rear guard. The force marched at ten o'clock on thenight of August 16, intending to attack at daybreak the next morning,but it happened that at the very same hour in which the British setout, General Gates, with his force, was starting from Rugeley's Millswith the intention of attacking Camden in the morning.

  At two o'clock in the night the advanced guards of the two armies metand fired into each other. In the confusion some prisoners were takenon both sides, and the generals, finding that the two armies wereface to face, halted and waited till morning. Lord Cornwallis placedWebster's division on the right; the second division, which was underthe command of Lord Rawdon, on the left; the battalion known as theVolunteers of Ireland were on the right of Lord Rawdon's division andcommunicated with the Thirty-third Regiment on the left of Webster.In the front line were two six-pounders and two three-pounders underthe command of Lieutenant Macleod, R. A. The Seventy-first, with twosix-pounders, was in reserve, one battalion being placed behind eachwing. The dragoons were held in reserve, to charge in the event of afavorable opportunity.

  The flanks of the English position were covered by swamps, whichsomewhat narrowed the ground and prevented the Americans fromutilizing fully their great superiority of numbers. The Americanswere also formed in two lines.

  Soon after daybreak Lord Cornwallis ordered Colonel Webster toadvance and charge the enemy. So fiercely did the English regimentsattack that the Virginia and North Carolina troops who opposed themquickly gave way, threw down their arms, and fled. General Gates andGeneral Casswell in vain attempted to rally them. They ran like atorrent and spread through the woods in every direction. Lord Rawdonbegan the action on the left with no less vigor and spirit than LordCornwallis on the right, but here and in the center the contest wasmore obstinately maintained by the Americans.

  Plan of the Battle Fought Near Camden, August 16th,1780.]

  Their reserves were brought up, and the artillery did considerableexecution. Their left flank was, however, exposed by the flight ofthe troops of Carolina and Virginia, and the light infantry andTwenty-third Regiment were halted in the pursuit, and, wheelingaround, came upon the flank of the enemy, who, after a braveresistance of nearly three-quarters of an hour, were driven intototal confusion and forced to give way on both sides. Their rout wascontinued by the cavalry, who continued their pursuit twenty-twomiles from the field of action.

  Between eight and nine hundred of the enemy were killed and about1000, many of whom were wounded, were taken prisoners. Among thesewere Major General Baron de Kalb and Brigadier General Rutherford.All the baggage, stores, and camp packages, a number of colors, andseveral pieces of cannon were taken. General Gates, finding himselfunable to rally the militia, fled first to Charlotte, 90 miles fromthe seat of action, and then to Hillsborough, 180 from Camden.General Gist, alone of all the American commanders, was able to keeptogether about 100 men, who, flying across the swamp on their right,through which they could not be pursued by the cavalry, made theirescape in a body. The loss of the British troops amounted to 69killed, 245 wounded, and 11 missing. The loss of the Americans inkilled, wounded, and prisoners exceeded the number of British regulartroops engaged by at least 300. It was one of the most decisivevictories ever won.