Huck's Defeat
   HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

Huck's Defeat or the Battle of Williamson's Plantation was an engagement of the
American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...
that occurred in present
York County, South Carolina York County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282,090, making it the seventh most populous county in the state. Its county seat is the cit ...
on July 12, 1780, and was one of the first battles of the southern campaign to be won by Patriot militia.


Background

In May 1780, the British captured the only significant American army in the South at
Charleston, South Carolina Charleston is the largest city in the U.S. state of South Carolina, the county seat of Charleston County, and the principal city in the Charleston–North Charleston metropolitan area. The city lies just south of the geographical midpoint o ...
and quickly occupied four vital seats of government: Camden, Cheraw, Georgetown, and Ninety Six. Believing the Whigs had been crushed in South Carolina, Sir Henry Clinton abrogated the terms of surrender, which had allowed parolees to remain neutral for the remainder of the war. Under terms of the proclamation of June 3, 1780, Patriots or Whigs (as they were commonly known) were compelled to either take an oath of loyalty to the king or be regarded as "rebels and enemies of their country." Clinton then departed for New York, leaving Lieutenant General Charles, Earl Cornwallis in command of the
British army The British Army is the principal land warfare force of the United Kingdom, a part of the British Armed Forces along with the Royal Navy and the Royal Air Force. , the British Army comprises 79,380 regular full-time personnel, 4,090 Gurk ...
in the South. In the absence of civil government in South Carolina (Governor
John Rutledge John Rutledge (September 17, 1739 – June 21, 1800) was an American Founding Father, politician, and jurist who served as one of the original associate justices of the Supreme Court and the second chief justice of the United States. Additiona ...
had fled to North Carolina when Charleston fell), backcountry Whigs selected their own leaders to continue the fight against the "senseless cruelty of the
Tory A Tory () is a person who holds a political philosophy known as Toryism, based on a British version of traditionalism and conservatism, which upholds the supremacy of social order as it has evolved in the English culture throughout history. Th ...
militia" and the "cruel and contemptuous treatment of the populace" by British Legion commander Lieutenant Colonel
Banastre Tarleton Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portug ...
.


Preliminaries

Around the first of June 1780, the British army established a fortified outpost at Rocky Mount on the upper Catawba River, near the North Carolina border, and placed a garrison there under Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull, a career British officer who commanded a British Provincial regiment called the
New York Volunteers The New York Volunteers, also known as the New York Companies and 1st Dutchess County Company, was a British Loyalist Provincial regiment, which served with the British Army, during American Revolutionary War. Eventually, the New York Volunteer ...
. In early July, Turnbull ordered Christian Huck, a
Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...
lawyer and a captain in Tarleton's British Legion, to find the rebel leaders and persuade other area residents to swear allegiance to the king. A native of Germany, Huck was one of many Pennsylvania
Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
s whose property was confiscated after the British evacuated Philadelphia. He was then banished from the state and joined the British army at New York. Huck held a great deal of bitterness toward Whigs in general, and the Scotch-Irish Presbyterians in particular. During an earlier incursion into what was then called the Upper District between the Broad and Catawba Rivers (modern
Chester County, South Carolina Chester County is a county located in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 32,294. Its county seat is Chester. Chester County is included in the Charlotte-Concord- Gastonia, NC-SC Metropolitan Statistica ...
), his troops had murdered an unarmed boy, reportedly while he was reading a Bible, and burnt the home and library of Rev. John Simpson, a Whig leader and influential
Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...
minister. A week later, Huck and his men invaded the New Acquisition District (roughly modern
York County, South Carolina York County is a County (United States), county in the U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2010 United States Census, 2020 census, the population was 282,090, making it the seventh most populous county in the state. Its county seat is the cit ...
), and destroyed the
ironworks An ironworks or iron works is an industrial plant where iron is smelted and where heavy iron and steel products are made. The term is both singular and plural, i.e. the singular of ''ironworks'' is ''ironworks''. Ironworks succeeded bloomeri ...
of William Hill, another influential Whig. Residents who had only wanted to be left alone had then joined the Patriots. After destroying Hill's Ironworks and putting the rebel garrison there to flight, Huck convened a compulsory meeting of the remaining male residents of the New Acquisition District (mostly men too old to fight), and proclaimed that "God almighty had become a rebel, but if there were twenty gods on that side, they would all be conquered." Huck then stated that "even if the rebels were as thick as trees, and Jesus Christ would come down and lead them, he would still defeat them," following which he and his troopers confiscated all the men's horses. Actions like these quickly earned Huck the nickname "the swearing captain" and further angered the Presbyterian inhabitants of the backcountry. After witnessing Huck's tirade, one resident, Daniel Collins, told his wife, "I have come home determined to take my gun and when I lay it down, I lay down my life with it." Huck's style in the
Catawba River The Catawba River originates in Western North Carolina and flows into South Carolina, where it later becomes known as the Wateree River. The river is approximately 220 miles (350 km) long. It rises in the Appalachian Mountains and drains into ...
Valley was to rough-up backcountry women, confiscate food and horses, and generally threaten prison and death to any who dared resist the British. This simply encouraged more men to join the rebels, who were organizing a militia brigade under Brigadier General
Thomas Sumter Thomas Sumter (August 14, 1734June 1, 1832) was a soldier in the Colony of Virginia militia; a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution, a planter, and a politician. After the United States gained independen ...
. On July 11, 1780, Huck raided the home of the partisan leader Captain John McClure on Fishing Creek in present-day Chester County, caught his brother and brother-in-law with newly made bullets, and sentenced them to hang as traitors at sunrise the next day. Huck's detachment, consisting of about 35 British Legion
dragoon Dragoons were originally a class of mounted infantry, who used horses for mobility, but dismounted to fight on foot. From the early 17th century onward, dragoons were increasingly also employed as conventional cavalry and trained for combat w ...
s, 20
New York Volunteers The New York Volunteers, also known as the New York Companies and 1st Dutchess County Company, was a British Loyalist Provincial regiment, which served with the British Army, during American Revolutionary War. Eventually, the New York Volunteer ...
, and 60
Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...
militia, then advanced once more into the New Acquisition and arrived at the plantation of another Whig militia leader, Colonel William Bratton, later that evening. Shortly thereafter, one of Huck's soldiers put a reaping hook to the neck of Col. Bratton's wife,
Martha Martha (Hebrew: מָרְתָא‎) is a biblical figure described in the Gospels of Luke and John. Together with her siblings Lazarus and Mary of Bethany, she is described as living in the village of Bethany near Jerusalem. She was witness to ...
, in an unsuccessful attempt to discover Bratton's whereabouts. Huck's second-in-command, Lieutenant William Adamson of the New York Volunteers, intervened and disciplined the offending Loyalist soldier. Huck next arrested three elderly neighbors of the Brattons, including Col. Bratton's older brother Robert, and told them they too would be executed the next day. Huck then proceeded a quarter of a mile southeast of Bratton's plantation to the neighboring house of an elderly Whig named James Williamson, where he and his approximately 115 men made camp for the night. The five prisoners were secured in a corncrib to await execution.


Battle

With intelligence provided by John McClure's younger sister, Mary, and a Bratton family slave named Watt, the loosely organized Patriot forces swarmed after Huck. About 150 arrived in the vicinity of Williamson's plantation that night, commanded by experienced militia officers. After a brief reconnaissance and some discussion, they agreed to attack Huck from three directions simultaneously. Huck's security was extremely lax. Shortly after sunrise, at least two of the Patriot groups managed to attack simultaneously. The British and Loyalist troops were caught completely by surprise; many were still asleep. The partisans rested their rifles on a split rail fence, from which "they took unerring and deadly aim" at their opponents as they emerged. Huck mounted a horse to rally his troops and was shot in the head by John Carroll, who had loaded two balls in his rifle. Some of the Loyalists surrendered while others fled, hotly pursued by Whigs seeking vengeance. Tory losses were very high. Tarleton later reported that only twenty-four men escaped. Patriot losses were one killed and one wounded; the five prisoners were also released from the corncrib unharmed.


Importance

Although the numbers engaged were small, the importance of the skirmish was immediately clear. As South Carolina historian Walter Edgar has written, "The entire backcountry seemed to take heart. Frontier militia had defeated soldiers of the feared British Legion." Volunteers streamed in to join the partisan militia brigade of General
Thomas Sumter Thomas Sumter (August 14, 1734June 1, 1832) was a soldier in the Colony of Virginia militia; a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution, a planter, and a politician. After the United States gained independen ...
. Edgar has called Huck's Defeat "a major turning point in the American Revolution in South Carolina." It was the first of more than thirty-five important battles in South Carolina in late 1780 and early 1781, all but five of which were partisan victories. This chain of successes was essential to the major Patriot victories at
King's Mountain Kings Mountain is a small suburban city within the Charlotte metropolitan area in Cleveland and Gaston counties, North Carolina, United States. Most of the city is in Cleveland County, with a small eastern portion in Gaston County. The popul ...
and
Cowpens Cowpens may refer to: * Battle of Cowpens, a battle in the American Revolution * Cowpens National Battlefield, a unit of the National Park Service that protects the battlefield. * Cowpens, South Carolina * USS Cowpens (CG-63), USS ''Cowpens'' (CG-63 ...
.Scoggins, 143-146, 155-159; Edgar, 144.


See also

* American Revolutionary War § War in the South. Places 'Huck's Defeat' or 'Battle of Williamson's Planation' in overall sequence and strategic context.


References


Further reading

*Michael C. Scoggins, ''The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May–July 1780'' (Charleston: The History Press, 2005) *Michael C. Scoggins
"Capt. Christin Huck: A Biography"
July 2002) *Walter Edgar, '' Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict that turned the Tide of the American Revolution'' (New York: William Morrow, 2001) *Sam Thomas

*Marcus J. Wright
"Huck's Defeat or the Battle of Williamson's Plantation, S.C., July 12, 1780,"
''Publications of the Southern History Association'', 1 (October 1897): 247–52.
Colonel William Bratton Cabin - Battle of Huck's Defeat at Historic Brattonsville
{{South Carolina in the American Revolution, state=expanded Battles of the American Revolutionary War in South Carolina Battles involving the United States Battles involving Great Britain Battles in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War 1780–1783 1780 in the United States Conflicts in 1780 York County, South Carolina 1780 in South Carolina