The Medallic History of the United States of America Part 21

That the thanks of the United States in Congress a.s.sembled, be presented to the officers and men of the militia, who formed the front line in the order of battle, and sustained their post with honour, propriety, and resolution, worthy of men determined to be free.

_Resolved_, That a British standard be presented to Major-General Greene as an honourable testimony of his merit, and a golden medal emblematical of the battle and victory aforesaid.

That Major-General Greene be desired to present the thanks of (p. 052) Congress to Captains Pierce and Pendleton, Major Hyrne and Captain Shubrick, his aids-de-camp in testimony of their particular activity and good conduct during the whole of the action.

That a sword be presented to Captain Pierce, who bore the general's despatches giving an account of the victory, and that the Board of War take order herein.

_Resolved_, That the thanks of the United States in Congress a.s.sembled, be presented to Brigadier-General Marion, of the South Carolina militia, for his wise, gallant, and decided conduct in defending the liberties of his country; and particularly for his prudent and intrepid attack on a body of the British troops, on the 30th day of August last, and for the distinguished part he took in the battle of the 8th of September.

Monday, October 29, 1781.

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_General Greene to the President of Congress._

Headquarters, Martin's Tavern, near Ferguson's Swamp, To His Excellency South Carolina, September 11, 1781.

THE PRESIDENT OF CONGRESS.

Sir: In my last despatch of the 25th of August, I informed Your Excellency that we were on our march for Fryday's Ferry, to form a junction with the State troops and a body of militia, collecting at that place, with an intention to make an attack upon the British army laying at Colonel Thompson's, near McCord's Ferry. On the 27th, on our arrival near Fryday's Ferry, I got intelligence that the enemy were retiring.

We crossed the river at Howell's Ferry, and took post at Motte's plantation. Here I got intelligence that the enemy had halted at the Eutaw Springs, about forty miles below us; and that they had a reinforcement, and were making preparations to establish a permanent post there. To prevent this, I was determined rather to hazard an action, notwithstanding our numbers were greatly inferior to theirs. On the 5th we began our march, our baggage and stores having been ordered to Howell's Ferry under a proper guard. We moved by slow and easy marches, as well to disguise our real intention, as to give General Marion an opportunity to join us, who had been detached for the support of Colonel Harden, a report of which I transmitted in my letter of the 5th, dated Maybrick's Creek. General Marion joined us on the evening of the 7th, at Burdell's plantation, seven miles from the enemy's camp.

We made the following disposition, and marched at four o'clock the next morning to attack the enemy. Our front line was composed of four small battalions of militia, two of North and two of South Carolinians; one of the South Carolinians was under the immediate command of General Marion, and was posted on the right, who also commanded the front line; the two North Carolina battalions, wider the command of Colonel Malmady, were posted in the centre; and the other South Carolina battalion under the (p. 053) command of General Pickens, was posted on the left. Our second line consisted of three small brigades of continental troops--one from North Carolina, one from Virginia, and one from Maryland. The North Carolinians were formed into three battalions, under the command of Lieutenant-Colonel Ash, Majors Armstrong and Blount; the whole commanded by General Sumner, and posted upon the right. The Virginians consisted of two battalions, commanded by Major Snead and Captain Edmonds, and the whole by Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, and posted in the centre.

The Marylanders also consisted of two battalions, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonel Howard and Major Hardman, and the brigade by Colonel Williams, deputy adjutant-general to the army, and were posted upon the left. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee with his legion covered our right flank; and Lieutenant-Colonel Henderson, with the State troops, commanded by Lieutenant-Colonels Hampton, Middleton, and Polk, our left. Lieutenant-Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton, with his horse and the Delaware troops, under Captain Kirkwood, formed a corps of reserve. Two three-pounders, under Captain-Lieutenant Gaines, advanced with the front line, and two sixes, under Captain Browne, with the second.

The legion and State troops formed our advance, and were to retire upon the flanks upon the enemy's forming. In this order we moved on to the attack. The legion and State troops fell in with a party of the enemy's horse and foot, about four miles from their camp, who, mistaking our people for a party of militia, charged them briskly, but were soon convinced of their mistake by the reception they met with. The infantry of the State troops kept up a heavy fire, and the legion in front, under Captain Rudolph, charged them with fixed bayonets; they fled on all sides, leaving four or five dead on the ground, and several more wounded. As this was supposed to be the advance of the British army, our front line was ordered to form and move on briskly in line, the legion and State troops to take their position upon the flanks. All the country is covered with timber, from the place the action began to Eutaw Springs. The firing began again between two and three miles from the British camp. The militia were ordered to keep advancing as they fired. The enemy's advanced parties were soon driven in, and a most tremendous fire began on both sides from right to left, and the legion and State troops were closely engaged. General Marion, Colonel Malmady, and General Pickens conducted the troops with great gallantry and good conduct; and the militia fought with a degree of spirit and firmness that reflects the highest honour upon that cla.s.s of soldiers. But the enemy's fire being greatly superior to ours, and continuing to advance, the militia began to give ground. The North Carolina brigade, under General Sumner, was ordered up to their support. These were all new levies, and had been under discipline but little more than a month, notwithstanding which they fought with a degree of obstinacy that would do honour to the best of veterans, and I could hardly tell which to admire most, the gallantry of the officers or the bravery of the troops.

They kept up a heavy and well directed fire, and the enemy returned it with equal spirit, for they really fought worthy of a better cause, and great execution was done on both sides. In this stage of the action, the Virginians under Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell, and the Marylanders under Colonel Williams, were led on to a brisk charge, with trailed arms, through a heavy cannonade and a shower of musket b.a.l.l.s. Nothing could exceed the gallantry and firmness of both officers and soldiers upon this (p. 054) occasion. They preserved their order, and pressed on with such unshaken resolution that they bore all before them. The enemy was routed in all quarters. Lieutenant-Colonel Lee had, with great address, gallantry, and good conduct, turned the enemy's left flank, and was charging them in rear at the same time the Virginia and Maryland troops were charging them in front. A most valuable officer, Lieutenant-Colonel Hampton, who commanded the State cavalry, and who fortunately succeeded Lieutenant-Colonel Henderson in command, charged a party of the enemy, and took upwards of one hundred prisoners. Lieutenant-Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton brought up the corps of reserve upon the left, where the enemy seemed disposed to make further resistance, and charged them so briskly with the cavalry and Captain Kirkwood's infantry as gave them no time to rally or form. Lieutenant-Colonels Polk and Middleton, who commanded the State infantry, were no less conspicuous for their good conduct than their intrepidity; and the troops under their command gave a specimen of what may be expected from men, naturally brave, when improved by proper discipline. Captain-Lieutenant Gaines, who commanded the three-pounders with the front line, did great execution until his pieces were dismounted. We kept close at the enemy's heels after they broke, until we got into their camp, and a great number of prisoners were continually falling into our hands, and some hundreds of the fugitives ran off toward Charleston. But a party threw themselves into a large three-story brick house, which stands near the spring; others took post in a picqueted garden, while others were lodged in an impenetrable thicket, consisting of a cragged shrub called a blackjack. Thus secured in front, and upon the right by the house and a deep ravine, upon the left by the picqueted garden and in the impenetrable shrubs, and the rear also being secured by the springs and deep hollow ways, the enemy renewed the action. Every exertion was made to dislodge them.

Lieutenant-Colonel Was.h.i.+ngton made most astonis.h.i.+ng efforts to get through the thicket to charge the enemy in the rear, but found it impracticable, had his horse shot under him, and was wounded and taken prisoner. Four six-pounders were ordered up before the house--two of our own and two of the enemy's, which they had abandoned--and they were pushed on so much under the command of the fire from the house and the party in the thicket as rendered it impracticable to bring them off again when the troops were ordered to retire. Never were pieces better served; most of the men and officers were either killed or wounded.

Was.h.i.+ngton failing in his charge upon the left, and the legion baffled in an attempt upon the right, and finding our infantry galled by the fire of the enemy, and our ammunition mostly consumed, though both officers and men continued to exhibit uncommon acts of heroism, I thought proper to retire out of the fire of the house, and draw up the troops at a little distance in the woods, not thinking it advisable to push our advantages further, being persuaded the enemy could not hold the post many hours, and that our chance to attack them on the retreat was better than a second attempt to dislodge them, in which, if we succeeded, it must be attended with considerable loss.

We collected all our wounded, except such as were under the command of the fire of the house, and retired to the ground from which we marched in the morning, there being no water nearer, (p. 055) and the troops ready to faint with the heat and want of refreshment, the action having continued near four hours. I left on the field of action a strong picquet, and early in the morning detached General Marion and Lieutenant-Colonel Lee, with the legion of horse between Eutaw and Charleston, to prevent any reinforcements from coming to the relief of the enemy; and also to r.e.t.a.r.d their march, should they attempt to retire, and give time to the army to fall upon their rear and put a finis.h.i.+ng stroke to our success. We left two pieces of our artillery in the hands of the enemy, and brought off one of theirs. On the evening of the 9th the enemy retired, leaving upward of seventy of their wounded behind them, and not less than one thousand stand of arms that were picked up on the field, and found broke and concealed in the Eutaw Springs. They stove between twenty and thirty puncheons of rum, and destroyed a great variety of other stores, which they had not carriages to carry off. We pursued them the moment we got intelligence of their retiring; but they formed a junction with Major McArthur at this place, General Marion and Lieutenant-Colonel Lee not having a force sufficient to prevent it; but on our approach they retired to the neighbourhood of Charleston. We have taken five hundred prisoners, including the wounded the enemy left behind; and I think they cannot have suffered less than six hundred more in killed and wounded. The fugitives that fled from the field of battle spread such an alarm that the enemy burnt their stores at Dorchester, and abandoned their post at Fair Lawn; and a great number of negroes and others were employed in felling trees across the roads for some miles without the gates at Charleston. Nothing but the brick house, and the peculiar strength of the position at Eutaw, saved the remains of the British army from being all made prisoners.

We pursued them as far as this place; but not being able to overtake them, we shall halt a day or two to refresh, and then take our old position on the high hills of Santee. I think myself princ.i.p.ally indebted for the victory we obtained to the free use of the bayonet, made by the Virginians and Marylanders, the infantry of the legion, and Captain Kirkwood's light infantry, and though few armies ever exhibited equal bravery with ours in general, yet the conduct and intrepidity of these corps were peculiarly conspicuous. Lieutenant-Colonel Campbell fell as he was leading his troops to the charge, and though he fell with distinguished marks of honour, yet his loss is much to be regretted; he was the great soldier and the firm patriot.

Our loss in officers is considerable, more from their value than their number; for never did men or officers offer their blood more willingly in the service of their country. I cannot help acknowledging my obligations to Colonel Williams for his great activity on this and many other occasions in forming the army, and for his uncommon intrepidity in leading on the Maryland troops to the charge, which exceeded anything I ever saw. I also feel myself greatly indebted to Captains Pierce and Pendleton, Major Hyrne and Captain Shubrick, my aids-de-camp, for their activity and good conduct throughout the whole of the action.

This despatch will be handed to Your Excellency by Captain Pierce, to whom I beg leave to refer you for further particulars.

I have the honour to be, &c., Nath. GREENE.

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_John Jay to Major William Pierce and others._ (p. 056)

Office for Foreign Affairs, 12 February, 1788.

_To the Honourables_ MAJOR WILLIAM PIERCE and NATHANIEL PENDLETON, Esquire, of Georgia, and LIEUTENANT-COLONEL LEWIS MORRIS[46], MAJOR THOMAS SHUBRICK and MAJOR HYRNE, of South Carolina, formerly aids of the late General GREENE.

Sir: It gives me pleasure to have an opportunity of transmitting to you, by order of Congress, a copy of the medal struck by their direction in honour of the late General Greene. A variety of circ.u.mstances conspire to render this work of public attention acceptable to you, though I am persuaded none among them will more immediately affect the feelings, than the relation it bears to that great man, whose loss you in particular, and the people of America in general, have great reason to regret and lament.

I have the honour to be, etc.

John JAY.

[Footnote 46: Colonel Morris's name does not appear in the resolution of Congress. See No. 11, page 50.]

No. 12. (p. 057) PLATE XII.

_April 19, 1782._

Libera soror. [Rx]. Tyrannis virtute repulsa.

ACKNOWLEDGMENT OF THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA BY THE UNITED NETHERLANDS.

LIBERA SOROR. (_Free sister._) The sun shedding its rays on two maidens, one of whom, with breast-plate and helmet, and personifying the States-General of the Netherlands, holds with her left hand a staff surmounted by a cap of Liberty over the head of her companion.

The latter, an Indian queen (_America_), holds in her left hand a lance, a s.h.i.+eld with thirteen stars (_the thirteen original United States_), and the end of a chain which binds a leopard (_Great Britain_), on whose head she rests her left foot. Their right hands, clasped, are extended over a fire burning on an antique altar ornamented with a caduceus and a cornucopia, the attributes of Mercury, G.o.d of commerce. Exergue: SOLEMNI DECR. AGN. 19 APR.

MDCCLx.x.xII (_Solemni decreto agnita, 19 Aprilis, 1782: Acknowledged by a solemn decree, April 19, 1782_).

TYRANNIS VIRTUTE REPULSA. (_Tyranny repulsed by virtue._) A unicorn (_Great Britain_), royally gorged, lies extended at the foot of a precipice, against which it has broken its horn; in the background a vast country (_America_), diversified by plains, rivers and mountains.

Exergue: SUB GALLIAE AUSPICIIS (_Under the auspices of France_). On the platform: I. G. HOLTZHEY FEC. (_fecit_).[47]

[Footnote 47: See INTRODUCTION, page x.]

JOHN GEORGE HOLTZHEY was born in Amsterdam, in 1729. He was the (p. 058) eldest son of Martin Holtzhey, a celebrated engraver, who died in Middleburg, November I, 1767. John George Holtzhey was the pupil of his father, and engraved, in collaboration with him, the plates in a work ent.i.tled: "Catalogus der (73 stuks) Medailles en gedenkpenningen betrekking hebbende op de voornamste historien der Vereenigde Nederlanden (Amsterdam, 1755)." Among his works are two medals relating to the United States of America, "Libera Soror," and "Faustissimo Foedere JunctAE." He was one of the most eminent engravers of his day. He died in Amsterdam, February 15, 1808.

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ORIGINAL DOc.u.mENTS.

_John Adams to Robert R. Livingston._

To Robert R. LIVINGSTON, Amsterdam, April 19th, 1782.

Secretary for Foreign Affairs.

Sir: I have the honour to transmit you the following resolutions of the respective provinces, relative to my admission in quality of Minister Plenipotentiary, together with two resolutions of their High Mightinesses, upon the same subject, all in the order in which they were taken.

I have the honour, etc., John ADAMS.

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FRIESLAND.

_Extract from the Register Book of the Lords, the States of Friesland._

"The requisition of Mr. Adams, for presenting his letters of credence from the United States of North America to their High Mightinesses, having been brought into the a.s.sembly and put into deliberation, as also the ulterior address to the same purpose, with a demand of a categorical answer, made by him, as is more amply mentioned in the minutes of their High Mightinesses, of the 4th of May, 1781, and the 9th of January, 1782, whereupon, it having been taken into consideration, that the said Mr. Adams would have, probably, some propositions to make to their High Mightinesses, and to present to them the princ.i.p.al articles and foundations upon which the Congress, on their part, would enter into a treaty of commerce and friends.h.i.+p, or other affairs to propose, in regard to which dispatch would be requisite.

"It has been thought fit and resolved to authorize the gentlemen, the Deputies of this Province at the generality, and to instruct them to direct things, at the table of their High (p. 059) Mightinesses, in such a manner that the said Mr. Adams be admitted forthwith as Minister of the Congress of North America, with further order to the said Deputies, that if there should be made, moreover, any similar propositions by the same to inform immediately their n.o.ble Mightinesses of them. And an extract of the present Resolution shall be sent them for their information, that they may conduct themselves conformably.