Tag Archives: Neglected history

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. Continue reading →

With the 4th of July holiday fast approaching, Balladeer’s Blog offers readers another seasonal post regarding overlooked military actions, this time from March of 1776.

MARCH 1st – British troops led by Major John Maitland landed and took Cockspur Island at the mouth of the Savannah River in Georgia. The Redcoats clashed with American Militiamen and drove them off. Both sides were left with wounded men following the exchange of gunfire, but no fatalities are known.

MARCH 2nd and 3rd – The Battle of the Rice Boats, aka the Battle of Yamacraw Bluff, took place along the Savannah River and the border between Georgia and South Carolina. Six hundred men of America’s 1st Georgia Regiment under Colonel Lachlan McIntosh coordinated actions with 500 members of the South Carolina militia.

        Four British warships, along with multiple smaller vessels, launched a joint land and sea effort to seize American rice ships in the area in order to feed the British forces. Over 300 British infantrymen took part in commandeering the rice boats by surprise overnight.

        Morning of March 3rd saw the American forces position their four artillery pieces at Yamacraw Bluff and open fire on the British vessels. Land forces of both nations fought it out in a battle that lasted over 4 hours. Continue reading →