The Life of George Washington, Vol. 4 | Page 7

together such
aids of militia as would enable him to execute that intention with any
prospect of success. The only remaining hope was to press the siege so
vigorously as to compel a surrender before Lord Rawdon could arrive.
{June 17.}
In the execution of this plan, the garrison was reduced to extremities,
when the near approach of his lordship was communicated to Cruger,
by a loyalist who passed through the American lines, and extinguished
every hope of carrying the place otherwise than by storm. Unwilling to
relinquish a prize he was on the point of obtaining, Greene resolved to
essay every thing which could promise success; but the works were so
strong that it would be madness to assault them, unless a partial attempt

to make a lodgement on one of the curtains of the star redoubt, and at
the same time to carry the fort on the left, should the first succeed.
{June 18.}
[Sidenote: Is repulsed and retires from before that place.]
The proper dispositions for this partial assault being made, Lieutenant
Colonel Lee, at the head of the legion infantry and Kirkwood's
company, was ordered to assault the works on the left of the town;
while Lieutenant Colonel Campbell was to lead the first regiment of
Maryland, and the first of Virginia, against the star redoubt. The lines
of the third parallel were manned, and all the artillery opened on the
besieged. About noon the detachments on this service marched
cheerfully to the assault. Lee's attack on the left was successful. He
forced the works in that quarter and took possession of them. But the
resistance on the right was more determined, and Campbell, though
equally brave, was less fortunate. Lieutenants Duval of Maryland, and
Selden of Virginia, led the forlorn hope, and entered the ditch with
great intrepidity; but its depth, and the height of the parapet opposed
obstructions which could not be surmounted. After a severe conflict of
more than half an hour, during which Lieutenants Duval and Selden
were both badly wounded, and nearly all the forlorn hope were either
killed or wounded, the assault was relinquished, and the few who
remained alive were recalled from the ditch. The next day, Greene
raised the siege, and, crossing the Saluda, encamped on Little River.
The loss of the besieging army, in killed and wounded, amounted to
one hundred and fifty-five men, among the former of whom was
Captain Armstrong of Maryland. That of the garrison has been stated at
eighty-five.
On the morning of the 21st of June, Lord Rawdon arrived at Ninety Six;
and, on the evening of the same day, marched in quest of the American
army. In the preceding operations of the campaign, he had felt the want
of cavalry so severely that, while at Monk's Corner, and in Charleston,
he had formed a corps of one hundred and fifty horse.
[Sidenote: Active movements of the two armies.]

Greene, foreseeing that his active adversary would avail himself to the
utmost of his superiority, had sent his sick and wounded northward;
and, as soon as Rawdon had crossed the Saluda, he retreated towards
Virginia. Lord Rawdon pursued him to the Eunora, whence he returned
to Ninety Six.
The retreat ceased with the pursuit. General Greene halted near the
cross roads, on the north of Broad River.
As Rawdon retired, he was followed close by the legion as far as
Ninety Six, at which place he remained but two days. Still retaining the
opinion that circumstances required him to contract his posts, he left
the principal part of his army, under the command of Lieutenant
Colonel Cruger, to protect the loyalists while removing within those
limits which were to be maintained by the British forces; and, at the
head of less than one thousand men, marched in person towards the
Congaree.
Supposing that his adversary intended to preserve the post at Ninety
Six, where the royalists were numerous, and to establish one or two on
the Congaree, where provisions were more plentiful than in any other
part of the state, Greene determined to interrupt the execution of the
plan which he believed to have been formed. Leaving his sick and
baggage at Wynnsborough, to be conducted to Camden, he marched
with the utmost expedition for Friday's ferry on the Congaree, at which
place Lord Rawdon had arrived two days before him. As Greene drew
near to his enemy, a detachment from the legion under the command of
Captain Eggleston, announced his approach by attacking a foraging
party within a mile of the British camp, and bringing off a troop
consisting of forty-five men, with their officers and horses. Rawdon
retreated the next day to Orangeburg, where he formed a junction with
a detachment from Charleston, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel
Stuart.
{July 11.}
On the Congaree,