AMERICAN REVOLUTION: NEGLECTED MILITARY ACTIONS IN LATE 1781

The 4th of July holiday is rapidly approaching, so here is another seasonal post from Balladeer’s Blog. In other blog posts I’ve examined the post-Yorktown battles in 1781 and 1782 in detail, but this item will deal with smaller, neglected clashes.

OCTOBER 24th – Near Sandy Hook, NJ American rebel Captain Adam Hyler leads an unknown number of men in a clash with an unknown number of British Loyalists. Hyler takes 6 prisoners during the action.

OCTOBER 28th – Vince’s Fort, SC, manned by 80 American rebels under Captain Joseph Vince, was attacked by Colonel Hezekiah Williams’ British Loyalist forces in the area. The Americans successfully drove off the attackers with minimal casualties.  

OCTOBER 30th – At West Canada Creek, NY, the site of a larger battle in September, American Colonel Marinus Willett led 400 New York militiamen and over 60 Oneida Indians allied with the U.S. Willett’s forces clashed with 750 of Major John Ross’ Tory troops and Native Americans who sided with the British. Colonel Willett’s men were victorious, and Tory officer Walter Butler, one of the most blood-soaked Loyalists during the war, was among those killed.

NOVEMBER 1st-6th – At Gowen’s Fort, SC, Roebuck’s Battalion and civilian non-combatants were attacked and besieged by a combined force of British Loyalists and Chickamauga Indian allies of the British. On November 6th, the Americans surrendered after the Loyalist Captain William Bates guaranteed their safety.

        However, after the fort’s gate was opened, Bates ordered all those inside – including women and children – to be killed. Details are hard to nail down from this action and no estimates of American and Loyalist numbers are available. Mrs. Abner Thomson, scalped and left for dead, was one of the few survivors.

Also NOVEMBER 6th – In Wilkes County, GA, American Colonel Elijah Clarke led his men against over 100 British-allied Native Americans, killing 40 and capturing another 40. 

NOVEMBER 12th – A small group of General Thomas “The Fighting Gamecock” Sumter’s new army encountered a Loyalist army near Orangeburg, SC. Sumter’s men were routed by the Loyalists. No details on numbers are available. 

NOVEMBER 14th – At Mount Willing, SC, a few dozen Americans under Captain Sterling Turner interrupted the plundering and looting being done by British Loyalists under Colonel Hezekiah Williams. They drove off the Loyalists, even pursuing them across the Saluda River.

NOVEMBER 16th – At Seven Creeks, NC, men of the North Carolina State Legion under Major Joseph Graham battled British Loyalists under Major Micajah Gainey. The two sides exchanged a few dead and wounded and the encounter ended in a draw. 

NOVEMBER 17th – At Cloud’s Creek, SC, British Loyalist Major “Bloody Bill” Cunningham led 300 of his men in ambushing 30 American soldiers under Captain Sterling Turner. True to his name, Cunningham had his men refuse to accept surrenders, and 28 of the 30 rebels were slaughtered, with 2 of them managing to escape.

NOVEMBER 19th – Lieutenant Colonel Hezekiah Maham led an unknown number of the 3rd Regiment of South Carolina Dragoons against the fortress that the British had made from what was Wappetaw Church in South Carolina. Exact details have not come down to us, but reference was made to “a number of Royal troops” being killed and captured.

NOVEMBER 29th – At Newark Bay, NJ the storied rebel Captain Baker Hendricks led an unknown number of men in a whaleboat in seizing and stripping 2 enemy whaleboats and departing with at least 1 prisoner. 

NOVEMBER ? – Captain William Bates led Loyalists and Chickamauga allies in burning down homes and attacking the fort at Mills Station, NC. Bates’ forces heavily outnumbered the Mills Station garrison and quickly won out, killing most of the men and taking some away as prisoners.

        American troops under Captain M. Parson overtook Bates’ men and their prisoners at the Tyger River and defeated them, scattering the Loyalists and freeing their prisoners from Mills Station.

DECEMBER 1st – America’s Major General Nathanael Greene led 300 of his men in attacking Fort Dorchester in South Carolina. They defeated the 450 British defenders and drove them off to Charlestown. The Brits suffered 10 killed and over 20 wounded. American casualties are unknown.

ALSO DECEMBER 1st – Near Elizabethtown, NJ American soldiers under Captain Jonathan Dayton clash with British Loyalists who crossed over from Staten Island on a raiding expedition. The British suffer 2 dead, 5 wounded and 3 taken prisoner.

DECEMBER 6th – American Captain Baker Hendricks leads his men in a raid on Fort Delancy, NJ and captures several British Loyalist soldiers. 

DECEMBER 7th – Near McCord’s Creek, SC, Loyalist Captain John Crawford led an unknown number of men against a convoy of supply wagons being guarded by American Captain Moses Liddell. In the resulting battle, Crawford’s men killed several of Liddell’s men, ultimately driving away the survivors.

        Next, Crawford had all the wagons burned and took the wagoners and his other prisoners to the nearest Cherokee forces. The Cherokee tortured the prisoners to death, including John Pickens, the brother of American General Andrew Pickens.

DECEMBER 10th – At Cox’s Mill, NC, Colonel Elijah Isaacs led 300 men of the Wilkes County Militia in seizing the base camp of infamous Loyalist Colonel David Fanning.

DECEMBER 13th – Captain Baker Hendricks leads his men in a raid of Bergen’s Point, NJ and takes 5 British Loyalist soldiers prisoner.

DECEMBER 20th – At dawn, General Andrew Pickens led the 3rd South Carolina Brigade, the Fairfield Regiment, the Little River District Regiment and Roebuck’s Battalion in crossing the Edisto River to strike at the Loyalist forces of Major Bloody Bill Cunningham.

        The previous night, to mitigate the results of such a potential attack, Cunningham had had his men scatter into several camps around the swamps in the area. As Bloody Bill had planned, the attack on one camp served to warn all the others. Pickens’ men killed 20 Loyalists at the site they encountered but all the men from the rest of the camps got away.

Also DECEMBER 20th – At Windy Hill aka Slaughter Field, SC American Captain Benjamin Odom Jr. led 17 men in a patrol. They were ambushed by an unidentified unit of British Loyalists. Sixteen of the Americans were killed, with only Captain Odom and his brother Daniel surviving.

DECEMBER 23rd – In Bergen, NJ rebel Captain Baker Hendricks and his men take 8 British Loyalist soldiers prisoner during a raid.

FOR SEVERAL REVOLUTIONARY WAR BATTLES PRIOR TO THE DECLARATION OF INDEPENDENCE CLICK HERE.