Huck's Defeat
This article relies largely or entirely on a single source. (July 2023) |
Huck's Defeat | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
Patriot militia | Loyalist militia | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
William Bratton | Christian Huck † | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
250 militia |
35 dragoons 20 New York Volunteers 60 militia | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
1 killed 1 wounded | 81 killed, wounded, or captured;24 escaped |
Huck's Defeat or the Battle of Williamson's Plantation was an engagement of the American Revolutionary War that occurred in present York County, South Carolina 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
In the absence of civil government in South Carolina (Governor
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
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.[7] Actions like these quickly earned Huck the nickname "the swearing captain" and further angered the Presbyterian inhabitants of the backcountry.[8] 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."[9]
Huck's style in the
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
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.[15] After a brief reconnaissance and some discussion, they agreed to attack Huck from three directions simultaneously.[16]
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.[17] 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.[18] Patriot losses were one killed and one wounded; the five prisoners were also released from the corncrib unharmed.[19]
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.[20]
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 and Cowpens.[21]
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
- ^ Michael C. Scoggins, The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May–July 1780 (Charleston: History Press, 2005), 41-50; Walter Edgar, Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution (New York: HarperCollins, 2001), 54-55.
- ^ Lorenzo Sabine, Biographical Sketches of Loyalists of the American Revolution with an Historical Essay (Port Washington, NY: Kennikat Press, 1966, 1984), I: 553.
- ^ Scoggins, 47-52; Edgar, 73.
- ^ Scoggins, 215-225.
- ^ Scoggins, 68-70; Edgar, 58-59.
- ^ Edgar, 62-63.
- ^ Quoted from memoirs of Col. William Hill and Maj. Joseph McJunkin, in Scoggins, 52, 88; Edgar, 73-74.
- ^ Sabine, I: 553.
- ^ James P. Collins, Autobiography of a Revolutionary Soldier (New York: Arno Press, 1979), 25, quoted in Edgar, 63.
- ^ Scoggins, 93-96; Edgar, 74-75.
- ^ Scoggins, 101-104.
- ^ Scoggins, 105-107; Edgar, 77-78.
- ^ Scoggins, chapter 4
- ^ Scoggins, 107-108; Edgar, 78.
- ^ These included Col. William Bratton, Col. Andrew Neel, Col. Edward Lacey, Capt. John McClure, Capt. John Moffett, and others, a majority of whom were from the present-day South Carolina counties of York and Chester.
- ^ Scoggins, 109-113; Edgar, 79-81.
- ^ Scoggins, 114-117; Edgar, 82. Huck was buried nearby. Years later his body was exhumed by Dr. James Simpson—the son of the minister whose library and home Huck had burned—and displayed in his medical office. The skeleton was then said to have been taken by the Simpson family when they immigrated to Alabama, and then to California. Scoggins, 227; see also Michael C. Scoggins, "Capt. Christin Huck: A Biography" Archived 2010-11-03 at the Wayback Machine July 2002).
- ^ Scoggins, 126-128; Edgar, 83.
- ^ Scoggins, 117; Edgar, 85.
- ^ Edgar, 86; Scoggins, 129-130.
- ^ Scoggins, 143-146, 155-159; Edgar, 144.
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) Archived 2010-11-03 at the Wayback Machine
- Walter Edgar, Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict that turned the Tide of the American Revolution (New York: William Morrow, 2001)
- Sam Thomas, "The 1780 Presbyterian Rebellion and the Battle of Huck's Defeat"
- 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