lina regulars, and four hundred Virginians, who had lately joined him under lieutenant colonel Heth. To these the militia of the town only is to be added; for that of the country was much indisposed to shut themselves up in a besieged fortress. The recollection of the repulse which himself and admiral Parker had sustained at this spot, in 1776, must have inspired sir Henry Clinton with more respectful considerations of the power of his enemy, and the strength of his defences, than accurate information would warrant. Determined to avoid a second rebuff, the general pursued, with unvarying pertinacity, the most cautious system.* The necessary boats for the transportation of the army, passing along the interior navigation to Waapoocut, entered into Ashley river under the command of captain Elphinston. On the 29th of March the van of the British reached the banks of the river, having marched thirty miles since the 11th of February, and never meeting, during the whole period, with the smallest resistance, except in the solitary instance of a rencontre between lieutenant colonel Washington, commanding Baylor's diminished regiment of cavalry, and lieute nant colonel Tarleton; whose dragoons, having been remounted on horses procured by sir Henry Clinton since his landing, covered the left flank of a division advancing from Savannah. This first meeting terminated favourably for lieutenant colonel Washington, who in the sequel took a few prisoners; among whom was lieutenant colonel Hamilton, of the royal regiment of North Carolina. On the 30th sir Henry Clinton passed Ashley river above Charleston, and on the following day sat down in front of our works. On his march the van of the leading column was gallantly attacked by lieutenant colonel Laurens with a corps of light infantry; in which skirmish the earl of Caithness, aid-de-camp to sir Henry Clinton, was wounded. It is possible that the extraordinary delay, with which the movements of the British general were made, might have been intended with the double view of excluding the possibility of failure, and of seducing his enemy to continue in Charleston. If so, he succeeded completely in both objects. He certainly secured himself from insult; and his delay as certainly fixed the fate of the southern army, which never could have been inclosed in the untenable town, had not the sound mind of major general Lincoln been bent from its own resolve by the wishes of all the influential characters of the state, and by the confident expectation of adequate support; neither of which considerations would have influenced him but for the long lapse of time which intervened between

* In the whole course of the American war, there seems to have been a systematic sacrifice of time by the British generals, excepting where lord Cornwallis commanded. I do not recollect any operations wherein the British resorted to forced marches. Washington, in 1776, was hurried through the Jerseys. Upon this occasion lord Cornwallis was the operating general; and we all remember how he pushed Morgan, and afterwards Greene, in the Carolinas. The delay of sir Henry Clinton in this short march of thirty miles is inexplicable, unless from habit, or from a wish to induce the American general to shut himself up in Charleston.

the day of disembarkation, 11th of February, and the 30th of March, the day of beginning investiture.

At the bottom of the short and narrow isthmus, as has been observed, made by the rivers Ashley and Cooper, stands Charleston, the metropolis of South Carolina, and the emporium of the southern commerce. The rivers uniting south of the town make a convenient bay which glides by a slight current into the sea, assisting to form some handsome islands in its flow, and creating, by its resistance to the overbearing surge of the ocean, a bank of sand, emphatically called the Charleston Bar. On two of these islands, Sullivan's and James', defences had been erected in the beginning of the war on the first, Fort Moultrie, on the last, Fort Johnston. In 1776 colonel Moultrie, by his intrepid resistance on Sullivan's Island, repulsed a formidable fleet and army, as has been before recited

Estimating the defence of the approach from sea as momentous to the safety of South Carolina, congress had prepared a small squadron, under commodore Whipple, to co-operate with the insular fortifications. United to those of the state, our naval force, then in Charleston harbour, consisted of nine sail, the largest mounting torty-four guns. From the successful resistance made. by colonel Moultrie, in 1776, it was confidently, and with much reason, presumed that the difficulty of passing the bar, the co operation of the squadron with the Forts Moultrie and Johnston, and the numerous batteries erected to protect the harbour, the British fleet would meet obstacles not easily to be surmounted. Fort Moultrie, with its appendages, was committed to colonel Pinckney,* fitted in heart and head to uphold its splendid fame.

Confiding in his defences by water, the American general bestowed his unremitted attention to strengthen and enlarge those on land. The two rivers which form Charleston neck, like all the rivers in that country, are lined on both shores with extensive swamps, deep in water and in mud, and impervious to the passage of troops. Profiting by these natural impediments, a canal at a proper distance in front was cut from swamp to swamp. Beyond the canal, strong deeply laid abbatis in two rows presented themselves, and were rendered more formidable by a double picketed ditch. Between this line of defence and the main works, holes dug in the ground were interspersed to break the order of advancing columus; strong redoubts and batteries skilfully constructed were erected to enfilade the flanks; and in the centre was an inclosed horn work of masonry. The slow approach of the enemy, the active exertions of governor Rutledge; invested by the general assembly with every powert but that of life and death, and

*Charles Cotesworth Pinckney.

The legislature passed an act "delegating to governor Rutledge, and such. of his council as he could conveniently consult, a power to do every thing necessary for the public good, except taking away the life of a citizen without legal trial." This is dealing out power with a profuse hand.

the indefatigable efforts of major general Lincoln, had rendered our land defences respectable and imposing, when the enemy appeared in our front. On the 1st of April sir Henry Clinton began his first parallel at the distance of eight hundred yards; previous to which the fleet had taken its station off Charleston bar.

This natural obstacle had been uniformly regarded as presenting decided advantage to the besieged; and commodore Whipple, with his squadron, was therefore detached to Charleston, presuming that with his force he could successfully stop the enemy from passing the bar, inasmuch as their ships must be lightened, taking out their guns and other incumbrances, to enable them to float its water. Strange to tell, this uniformly accredited opinion was on the moment of trial found fallacious.*

It was discovered that our frigates could not approach near enough to oppose the passage of the bar with any kind of success; and we necessarily abandoned without a struggle this point of defence so much relied on. Commodore Whipple took a second station with his squadron in range with Fort Moultrie, where it was confidently expected effectual opposition to the progress of the enemy's fleet could be made.

The British ships selected for this operation lay two weeks without the bar, deprived of their guns, waiting for wind and tide.

These being favourable on the 20th of March, a sixty-four, with some frigates, passed without injury of any sort. No sooner had this been effected but it was discerned that the obstructions in the channel were not of magnitude, and that no probability of successful resistance offered itself in our new station. The squadron was a second time ordered to retire, and having sunk most of our armed ships in the mouth of Cooper's river to prevent the British admiral's holding that important pass, the crews and guns were landed and applied in the defence of the town, now relying for its safety, solely upon the strength of its fortifications and the valour of its garrison.

With a fair wind, on the 9th of April, the British admiral weighed, with the determination to pass Fort Moultrie.

A critical research into the various proceedings of congress and of the states, in making preparations of defence, evince a negligence in the ascertainment of facts, essential to the accurate execution of measures which excites surprise and regret, We have before seen that a British admiral first discovered that a small inlet between Mud Island and the Pennsylvania shore would admit ships with cannon, and that, availing himself of this discovery, he forced us to abandon Mud Island, and thus probably saved the British army. We now see that it was reserved for the moment of trial to learn that the bar of Charleston was not defensible by our squadron, because the water within the bar was too shallow for our frigates. Would not due inquiry have ascertain ed these truths in due time, when the inlet so destructive to Mud island might have been readily shut up by immovable obstructions, close as it was under the command of our fort, and when a naval force, fitted for the depth of water within the bar, might have been as readily prepared and sent to Charleston as was the useless squadron which, by the surrender of the town, became the property of the enemy.

This he readily accomplished, notwithstanding all the opposition which it was possible for colonel Pinckney to make. Not a ship was disabled; and only twenty-seven men killed and wounded. A convincing proof that unless the hostile fleet is stopped by obstructions in the channel difficult and tedious to remove, the fire of forts and batteries never can avail.* Having passed this our only remaining point of resistance, the British fleet anchored within the harbour out of reach of further offence. On the same day sir Henry Clinton finished his first parallel, when the British commanders demanded the surrender of the town. To this summons general Lincoln replied: "Sixty days have been past, since it has been known that your intentions against this town were hostile, in which, time has been afforded to abandon it; but duty and inclination point to the propriety of supporting it to the last extremity." This answer was no sooner received than the British batteries commenced the dire assault, which continued without intermission.

As the British were possessed of the harbour and of Charleston neck, only the pass across Cooper river, and up its eastern bank, remained open to general Lincoln. A retreat was effectible, and ought in prudence to have been attempted as soon as the defence of the bar was discovered to be impracticable; being then omitted it ought now to have been attempted. For although it certainly had been rendered more hazardous than it was, before the enemy's fleet passed the bar, yet it was still practicable.t One difficulty of force only was attached to the attempt-discovery before the garrison had crossed the river and begun its march. This certainly might have been prevented by lining all the avenues to the enemy's posts with troops of approved fidelity. But this salutary plan was not adopted.

It does not seem then to have been even contemplated; for shortly before, brigadier general Woodford, with seven hundred of the Virginia line, detached from the main army by general Washington, entered the town. This would not have taken place had retreat been in view. Woodford would have been halted at Monk's Corner, where brigadier Huger, of the South Carolina line, was

* Was this the solitary instance within our own experience of the accuracy of this observation, the result so confidently relied upon might be doubted; but every attempt made by the naval force of the enemy during the war succeeded in like manner; and many such operations took place.

Experience every where proves the truth of the remark; and it ought to influence goverument in their preparation of water defences whenever they may be resorted to.

+ Our cavalry was now safe; and we had a small force of militia. All the horses in Charleston might have been conveyed across the river with saddles, bridles, and swords, which would have enabled Lincoln to mount some of his infantry, to act as dragoons, and thus given to the retreating army a decided superiority in that important force. At the same time it would have deprived the enemy of the means of transportation of stores, baggage, and munitions, without which, in adequate quantities, he would not have pursued any great distance. Gaining one march in this situation of things, Lincoln was safe and this advantage was certain, if his caution and secrecy prevented discovery,

posted with the cavalry, to preserve communication between the town and country. Indeed the loss of Charleston was a sad deranging blow to the south; the force of which was aggravated by the injudicious, though faithful, effort to preserve it. Not only the metropolis of the state, and the depot of its commerce, with a portion of that of its northern neighbour, but the unrivalled seat of southern beauty, taste, art, science, and wealth, Charleston, from its foundation, had been the pride, the boast, and delight of the high spirited gentry, and gallant yeomanry of that country. And as if nature had stepped out of its ordinary course to give superiority to its advantages, it is the region of salubrity, and draws within its pale, in the season of summer, the sick to be cured, and the well to enjoy health, reversing the common order in Europe and America.*

Such a combination of influence was not to be resisted by the brave and amiable Lincoln,† especially when supported by the coincident wish of the grave fathers of the state, and encouraged by bis reliance on assurances of adequate succour. It is to be regretted that the general's thorough knowledge of his own situation, of the enemy's strength and object, and of the imbecility of government, had not induced him to adopt that plan of operations which would have upheld the commonweal should disappointments, which too often happened, follow the assurances received from congress. It was very certain that the possession of Charleston, only, was not the sole object of the hostile armament, but the conquest of that state, in the first place, and then of as many others as could be added to it. It was equally certain that the preservation of the country would soon regain the town, whereas the loss of the country would irretrievably fix the doom of the town. Nor could it be doubted that the salvation of the country depended on the timely evacuation of the town, as thus only the army would be preserved to arrest the enemy's advance. After this had been done, if the assurances made general Lincoln should be realized, the subjugation of the state became visionary, and the invader would abandon Charleston, which would have probably stopped the prosecution of the war. If the assurances should turn out illusory, as they did, the army safe, would have given a rallying point to our militia, and drawn together such a force as might have resisted the enemy effectually, whenever sir Henry Clinton returned to New York.

*In the sickly season (the summer and autumn) Charleston is resorted to, as with us, and every where else on the two continents, are the upper country and its waters. This used to be the case; and I believe it still continues, with the exception of some who visit the northern states in the sultry season.

+ The American general partakes in character more of Æneas, than of Hector. Sir Henry Clinton had left New York with a reduced force, and under a German general; admitting that he was safe from the intrusion of a French navy, as was probable, still he was not safe from general Washington, whose army never received its full annual strength sooner than July. Such was the It therefore could not be dilatory progress, under our weak government. doubted but that sir Henry Clinton would return, and that as soon as was, practicable, after the fall of Charleston,