Light-Horse Harry: A Biography of Washington’s Great Cavalryman, General Henry Lee (Heroes and Villains from American History) by Noel B. Gerson

Author:Noel B. Gerson [Gerson, Noel B.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Sapere Books
Published: 2021-06-12T22:00:00+00:00

XI: THE LAST VICTORIES

“Lee’s Legion,” Captain Joe Eggleston wrote, “always marched as though the Hounds of Hell were nipping at our heels. There was no sedate pace for us, no pleasantries, no lazy dawdling after dinner under the trees. The colonel was an impatient man who goaded us again and again, until, unable to tolerate the verbal lashing any longer, we responded by marching until ready to drop in our tracks.”

Lee’s Legion, encumbered though it was by the stores taken from Fort Cornwallis, marched due north from Augusta and reached General Greene’s siege headquarters before Ninety-Six in a little more than forty-eight hours. The weary assault troops of the Army of the South greeted them with an enthusiasm that verged on hysteria.

Ninety-Six, so named because it was ninety-six miles from the principal town of the Cherokee, the largest Indian nation in the area, was undoubtedly the strongest British fort on American soil. The main defense consisted of a military town, complete with blockhouses, towers, and high walls. A deep ditch had been dug around the walls, which were “Z-shaped,” angling first one way, then another, which made an assault hazardous. Directly in front of the stockade was a smaller, star-shaped fort, self-sufficient in case of need, with its own communications trench connecting it with the main fortress. Surrounding the entire complex was a fence of saplings sharpened to fine points, with still another deep ditch outside it.

By the time Harry Lee and his men arrived there, Ninety-Six had been standing off Nathanael Greene’s attacks for almost three weeks. The results to date had been negligible. The British garrison had enough ammunition, powder, and food to withstand a long siege, and a small creek that flowed directly into Ninety-Six on the American left gave the defenders ample water.

Siege trenches and ramparts crisscrossed the entire area in front of the star-shaped fort, and still more were being erected by one of the most remarkable of Europeans to serve the American cause, a noble Pole and professional soldier, Thaddeus Kościuszko, who had arrived in the New World in 1776, and had been given a commission as a colonel on General Washington’s personal recommendation. He was now acting as Chief Engineer for the Army of the South, and had his hands full, as the British defenders expected relief from Lord Rawdon, and refused to consider surrender.

Twice General Greene had sent messengers to the commandant under a flag of truce to explain that resistance was useless because Rawdon had retired eastward to await the arrival of reinforcements from England that Sir Henry Clinton had promised him. The Redcoat high command at Ninety-Six refused to accept Greene’s word, instead believing he was trying to take the post by a trick.

Siege conditions were somewhat similar to those Lee’s Legion had endured at Fort Cornwallis. Ordered to take up a position on the right flank, Harry moved up his battery of artillery, and on his first night in the line had to use his infantry to repel two savage attacks by the defenders.

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