The American Revolution - A View from the South

Like most Americans, I studied the American Revolution in Elementary School, maybe a little in High School.  And in college, I needed one History class so I took History of the American Revolution.  And most of the maps looked something like this showing the 13 colonies stretching from the Atlantic Ocean to the Ohio and Mississippi Rivers.

Courtesy of the United States Military Academy Department of History

But that is misleading.  

Credit: http://jb-hdnp.org/

Take a look at this map. Notice how small of an area the original 13 colonies take up compared to the land claimed by France (blue) and the land claimed by Spain (orange).  And neither of these maps assume that the natives of this land have any authority.

Although the Title is "English, French, and Spanish Settlements to 1776".  It is really a map showing the English, French, and Spanish boundaries in 1750.

Credit: NPS

In 1763, the Treaty of Paris changed several of the boundary lines and much of what was New France became Spanish Territory. Spain was not happy with England over the Treaty and that set the stage for the Spanish support for the American Revolution. 

Before 1763, the land now called Texas, Louisiana, and Mississippi was populated by Native American Indians, Blacks - both free and slave, French, French-speaking Acadians, Germans, British, Mexicans, and Spaniards.

So why does this matter?  Because the American Revolution was fought not just in the original 13 colonies -- but also across the coastal areas of the Gulf of Mexico. 

In 1776 when the colonies declared war on England, Spain was not ready to join the colonists but was supportive and began sending supplies from Louisiana up the river to General Washington in secret.  In 1777, King Carlos of Spain sent a young but experienced Spanish soldier, Bernardo de Galvez, to New Orleans to be the Acting Governor of Louisiana.  Galvez continued his country's secret support of the American Colonials with guns, bullets, food, and other supplies.

On June 29, 1779, Spain declared war on England after England refused to recognize the new American government.  Governor Galvez now had the authority to build a military but he had to do it quickly before the British invaded New Orleans.  After Spain's loss to England in the previous 7 Years War, Spain had learned the value of building ethnically diverse military units. So Gov. Galvez recruited Texan Vaqueros, Germans, French, Spaniards, Mexicans, American Indians, French Acadians, and free blacks to join his Militia.

In the "Marcha de Galvez" with his extraordinarily diverse militia,  Gov. Galvez and his troops marched 115 miles north of New Orleans in 11 days capturing the British posts of Manchac, Baton Rouge, and Natchez on the Mississippi.

Then they went on to conquer the British at Mobile in 1780 and completed their efforts at Pensacola in 1781.

Imaginative engraving of the 1781 Battle of Pensacola, State Archives of Florida

The County of Galveston, Texas and the Parish of St. Bernard, Louisiana were named to honor this American Patriot.

Arthur Parr - Revolutionary War Service Part 2

Colonial patriots may have seen the end of the war in sight if they could just dislodge the British from the South.  Count Pulaski had left General George Washington's side to create the first calvary that was called Pulaski's Legion and headed south to help fight the British and end the war.  The battle in Stono did not go well for either side.  But the Patriots were on to a new battlefield - Savannah, Georgia.  General Huger's South Carolina Regiment and Pulaski's Legion were joined with the Continental army from Georgia with the combined patriot forces under the command of General Benjamin Lincoln.  French Admiral Count Charles-Hector Theodat D'Estaing of France provided necessary naval and troop support.  But nothing went as planned for the patriots.
On October 4, 1779, the French began the bombardment of Savannah, causing much damage but without breaking the British hold on the city.  By October 9, Count D'Estaing and General Lincoln determined it was time for a direct assault and made plans for a dawn attack on the west side of town. It was protected by 3 British forts.  These three forts were controlled by American Loyalists.  The most exposed fort was Spring Hill Redoubt, which was manned by South Carolina Loyalists.  The French troops attacked first and, at one point, raised the French flag over Spring Hill Redoubt.  But the loyalists were able to regain the fort.  The patriots arrived, and the South Carolina 2nd Regiment raised their flag on Spring Hill Redoubt, only to have their leaders shot down by the Loyalist troops.  At daylight, the number of dead and dying French and the patriot forces were staggering.  Despite this, Count Pulaski decided to lead a cavalry charge against the fort.  The count was killed by canister fire from the fort, and the cavalry retreated.  That signaled the end of the Siege of Savannah and a considerable loss to the patriot cause.

Siege Of Savannah

What was Arthur's role in this?  Without Arthur's testimony in his pension application, it would be logical to assume he was still with Captain Kirkland (South Carolina Militia). Was the militia part of the South Carolina 2nd Regiment attack?  What was important enough for him to recount in his pension application was being assigned to Count Pulaski, but he can't recall what Captain he was under.  So was he one of the ones who survived the 2nd Regiment's assault on Spring Hill Redoubt, and did he then go back with Count Pulaski for a second assault?  Or was he with Count Pulaski for the entire siege?  Either way, he survived when many of his fellow soldiers were killed. And he must have been discharged again, probably back at Purysburg where General Lincoln took the troops after the Siege of Savannah.

Early in 1780, he volunteered for the 5th time. He went to Charleston to join up under Captain Joseph Kirkland again.  Captain Kirkland was promoted to colonel, and Benjamin May was made Captain in his place.  According to Arthur's pension application, he was sent to Orangeburgh a few days after the British attacked Charleston.  The British landed 8500 troops at North Edisto Inlet on February 11, 1780.  The Siege of Charleston began on March 28. It ended on May 12 when General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered all the Continental Army that was in South Carolina and all the South Carolina militias.  Arthur was taken as a prisoner of war by the British. The high ranking patriot officers were traded for British officers that the patriots had been holding as prisoners of war, but the rest were imprisoned on boats in Charleston Harbor.

Arthur, like many others, was given parole, but the parole came with conditions: the parolees had to take an oath to the Crowne and be ready to serve when called upon by His Majesty's government.  Apparently, Arthur was called up to serve the Crowne, so he fled to North Carolina.

General Horatio Gates was named the head of the Continental Army's Southern Command after General Lincoln's surrender.  While heading south from his home in Virginia, with an augmentation of troops, he passed by the place where Arthur was staying.  Arthur took this opportunity to volunteer for the patriot cause for the 6th time, under Lt. Colonel Porterfield, who led the Virginia State troops and light infantry with 6 companies. When General Gates entered South Carolina, the British were waiting.  The first battle was at Little Lynches Creek, with neither side actually hitting anyone with their long-range rifles.  The British retreated to prepare for meeting up with Lt. General Charles Lord Cornwallis at Camden, South Carolina. On the night of August 15, 1780, Lord Cornwallis directed his troops to leave Camden intending to surprise Gen Gates troops and attacked them at their camp in Clermont.  Gen. Gates had ordered his troops to leave Clermont at 10 PM on the night of August 15, 1780, to attack Cornwallis in Camden in the morning.  Lt. Col. Porterfield's troops were assigned to follow the advance cavalry on the left side.  They were followed by the main body of the army, made up of two Maryland Brigades and the militias of North Carolina and Virginia.

The two armies met in the dark.  The British fire disrupted the patriot cavalry with men and horses falling back on the Maryland Brigades and causing them to scatter.  The patriots reassembled and continued fighting. Lt. Col. Porterfield was killed early in the fighting. In the morning, the battle became more severe. When the Virginia Militia were met with fixed bayonets from the British troops, they threw down their arms and fled.  This decimated the patriot troops' strength on the left, and part of the North Carolina militia fled with them.  General Gates abandoned his troops and fled with the militias. The very weakened patriot army was no match for the British forces and was forced to retreat.  Around 650-750 patriots were killed, injured, or taken as prisoners of war.  The troops retreated to Salisbury and Hillsborough, North Carolina.

Arthur ends his testimony about his military service for his pension, stating that was his last "assay in the armies."  Arthur started out as a private but said that he was a sergeant for most of the war.  Arthur settled in Rowan County, near Salisbury, after his time in the American Revolution.  He served 7 times in the Revolutionary armies - once by draft and 6 times as a volunteer.  His service time covered over 4 years.  He entered military service at 17 and left when he was 22.  Two years later, he married Mary Morgan, and they had eleven children.  Their youngest son, Morgan, is my great-great-great-grandfather.

Young Arthur Parr - Revolutionary War Service, Part 1

Arthur Parr was born July 5, 1758, in Rowan, North Carolina. He was the first son of Arthur Parr (Maryland) and Margaret Wright (Hillsboro, North Carolina).  When Arthur was 6 years old, his father died from injuries received transporting an Indian to jail.  Margaret was left with 6 children to raise.  At some point after her husband’s death, she married Peter Starnes, who moved Margaret and her children with him to Camden District, South Carolina, around Winnsboro around 1768-1770.

In 1776, Arthur Parr, now 17, was drafted into the South Carolina militia.  He was drafted into the 2^nd Regiment, in a company commanded by Captain Thomas Woodard, Fairfield District.  He was marched to Charleston and stationed at Sullivan Island as a guard. He was on duty at Sullivan Island and watched the 2^nd battle in Charleston Harbor on March 21, 1776, when the South Carolina Provincial Navy defeated a British warship for the first time.  His tour of duty was completed shortly after this event. It obviously made a significant impact on him, and he began volunteering for military service.

Arthur Parr then volunteered to join the Captain Joseph Handcock’s (Captain John Hancock?) company under Colonel Jonas Beard, Lower District Regiment (aka Dutch Fork Regiment).  For this tour of duty, he fought the Cherokee Indians on Indian frontiers until the Spring of 1777 when he was discharged from duty at Lyndleys Fort or Elosons Fort.  (The two settlers forts were close together and by 1832 when Arthur was dictating his service record, he could no longer remember which fort he was discharged from.)

Arthur immediately signed up again, this time under Captain Joseph Kirkland, in the Fairfield Regiment, commanded by Colonel John Winn.  Arthur knew this campaign under the title of “The Augustine Campaign”, but it was also known as the 3^rd Florida Expedition.  The Georgia Rangers have twice before attempted to take control of East Florida away from the British. This 3^rd time, they convinced General George Washington to support the expedition with additional troops from other states.  Arthur spent three months on this campaign until the patriots failed to take East Florida for the 3^rd time.  After he returned to South Carolina, he was stationed at various places on the Savannah River until late 1777 or early 1778.

Next, he was headquartered at Purysburg (Purrysburg), but marched to Charleston and stayed there until the fall of 1778 when he returned to Purysburg and was discharged.

In the spring of 1779, he volunteered for the 4^th time. Again he served under Captain Joseph Kirkland.  His first assignment was to destroy the road between Savannah and Charleston.  He completed that assignment about June 1, 1779.  Following that, he moved to the mouth of Stono Creek opposite the Isle of St. Jans and was in the battle of Stono Ferry between Savannah and Charleston led by Brigadier General Benjamin Lincoln.  The left-wing of the battle formation was led by South Carolina Continental Brigadier General Isaac Huger.  Arthur’s Fairfield Regiment was part of the left-wing.  At Stono Ferry, the patriots were attacking a British encampment on one side of the Stono River and a Hessian camp on the other side.  The battle ended as a draw with the British and Hessians maintaining their positions.  The British were prevented from pursuing the patriots by the surprising action of Count Casimir Pulaski and his cavalry force.  That must have really intrigued young Arthur because he managed to get himself attached to Pulaski's calvary for the Siege of Savannah.