August 6, 1780
by Louise Pettus
Charleston fell into British hands in May 1780. Within weeks, Cornwallis'
army had spread over South Carolina, setting up stations at major towns,
such as Camden. Each station had outposts whose role was to intimidate the
locals and disrupt any attempts of the Patriots to organize.
One British outpost was in present-day Lancaster county south of Heath Springs,
about a mile and a half from a place known as Hanging Rock. It was well
fortified, with about 1400 British troops, including the 500-man crack Prince
of Wales Resgiment of the regular army, led by Major Carden. Tarleton's Legion
with its Irish Volunteers and two NC Loyalist companies were also present.
The Americans were under Gen. Thomas Sumter, commanding troops made up of
Maj. Richard Winn's Fairfield regiment, Col. Edward Lacey's Chester regiment,
Col. William Hill's York regiment and Maj. William Richardson Davie of the
Waxhaws of Lancaster county with Col. Robert Irwin's troop of horse of
Mecklenburg county, NC.
The Americans had gathered at Landsford, the usual meeting place for upcountry
militia leaders. The British had the advantage of 1400 men to Sumter's 600
(all militiamen). The British also had the advantage of fortifications and
cannon. The Americans had no artillery.
The Americans fought furiously but still there were so many disadvantages
that they would have lost if Major Carden had not lost his nerve. In the
middle of battle he resigned his command to Col. John Rousselet of Tarleton's
Legion.
Lack of ammunition made it impossible for Sumter to completely knock out
the British. The battled raged for 3 hours without intermission. Men fainted
from the heat and thirst.
At the end, the British had lost 192 soldiers; the rebels lost 12 killed
and 41 wounded. Col. Hill was wounded. His arm was still in a sling at King's
Mountain on October 7th. Captain McClure of Chester was mortally wounded.
Major Winn of Fairfield was wounded.
Davie's forces, the cream of the American forces, were terribly cut up. Observing
it all was 13-year-old Andrew Jackson, who later said that he modeled his
own fighting style after the brave men of Hanging Rock, and that he would
have followed William Richardson Davie to his death.
There were a number of other boys still in their teens involved in the battle.
Andy Jackson's brother Robert, aged 16, was in the battle. Three Gaston
teen-agers, Robert, Ebenezer and David, were killed. Joseph Gaston of Chester,
16, was seriously wounded and was one of those taken to Waxhaw church. His
aunt and sisters came to take care of him.
Maj. Robert Crawford of the Waxhaws had 2 young sons and 3 nephews with him,
all of them mere lads. James Crawford, Jr. was killed.
It should have been a total American victory but the militia were raw, untrained
and excitable, and very thirsty. As J.E. Cousar of Lancaster observed, "Some
of father Archibald's buddies found some rum in the British camp and became
so drunk that it was necessary prematurely to start the march back to the
base camp at Waxhaw." In other words, the drunken Patriots were in no condition
to take prisoners and let the remainder of the British army retreat to Camden.
General Sumter attempted to put the best face on it and called to his troops,
"Boys, it is not good to pursue a victory too far." Carrying their wounded,
loot, and the drunk too weak to walk, the army filed off.
The British had enough strength to cheer for King George but sent a flag
to arrange for the burying of their dead and retreated to Camden. |