One of the fledgling nation's worst defeats

John Amous Womble, Sharon's fifth great-grandfather, joined in the Revolutionary War effort as a soldier in the North Carolina Line of the Continental Army. In this context the word "line" refers to the units that constituted the troops recruited or stationed in a particular area. The soldiers enlisted for a term of not less than six months. 

These units included regular soldiers and special units such as artillery companies and "light dragoons," or cavalry troops. These latter seem to have served both as combat troops and reconnaissance  units.

John lists his first combat engagement was an attempt to take back the city of Savannah, Georgia, from the British, who had taken the city in 1778. At the outset of hostilities, the British invested much effort in the southern colonies because they believed those areas contained a high proportion of loyalists -- those faithful to the Crown -- and they would face less resistance. They believed this based on the reports of British governors and loyalists, which were somewhat exaggerated. 

In the fall of 1779, the Americans decided to recapture the city. Patriot troops joined with French forces to launch an attack. Unfortunately, the day of the attack saw the area shrouded in fog, making movement difficult, and the French commander was under the mistaken impression that he would be facing a loyalist militia. When the fog cleared, exposing the French troops, they were met with devastating fire from both the militia and professional British troops. Though outnumbered, the British forces suffered few casualties, about 150, while inflicting almost 10 time the losses on the American troops. Savannah remained in British hands.

The next spring John's unit was sent to Charleston, South Carolina, where American forces would "suffer [the] worst defeat of [the] revolution," as the headline on a history.com article about the battle calls it. 

After Savannah, the Brits headed for Charleston, sending a large contingent of troops and ships. The Americans responded by sending troops to defend the city.  A harsh winter hampered the Brits' plans and damaged some of their ships, but by March the British had made significant progress toward controlling the city. In April, British ships took control of the harbor. 

The British commander, Henry Clinton, summoned the Continental officers in charge and offered them a chance to surrender. The ranking American officer, Gen. Benjamin Lincoln (no idea if he's related to Abraham) responded with a nicely worded refusal, and the British began to bombard the city. American fortifications proved too weak, and supplies ran low. After difficult discussions on what to do, including a threat from civilian officials in the city to turn on the American forces, Lincoln offered to surrender, if the American troops were allowed to retreat. Clinton said no. 

The Brits continued to encircle the city and draw the noose tighter. The Americans were forced to surrender unconditionally. The American officers were allowed to live in fairly decent quarters while awaiting a parole through a prisoner exchange, while the rest of the troops were confined to prison ships, where a large number -- as many as 2,500 -- of them perished.

In a delicious bit of a twist, Lincoln was paroled and returned to the Continental Army and later was part of accepting the surrender of Lord Cornwallis that ended the war. Clinton had left Cornwallis in charge of Charleston. 

 John's application for pension indicates that servants of officers awaiting parole would also be allowed to escape the prison ships, so he immediately offered to become servant to a Doctor Lumus, possibly Dr. Johnathan Lumos or Loomis (about whom I have not found any information), who took him on, sparing him from the horrors of the prison ships.

He went with the doctor to Washington, North Carolina, where he stayed awhile and then went home for the duration of the war. He was never exchanged, according to the affidavit, and consequently was never formally discharged. 

About the battle, his affidavit states: "The battle he remembers from circumstances that will never be effaced from his memory."

More on his application for pension next time.

Image: Siege of Charleston 1780 Detail, taken from allthingsliberty.com, online site the Journal of the American Revolution.