A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
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William Dobein James. >> A Sketch of the Life of Brig. Gen. Francis Marion
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* Pond Bluff is presently at the bottom of Lake Marion, S.C. -- A. L., 1997.
** Such as tarring and feathering.
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In a few years, such confusion followed, that we shall see the president,
soon after denominated governor, and two of the privy council,
exercising all the civil and military powers of the state.
John Rutledge was chosen president, Henry Laurens vice-president,
and ~ex-officio~ president of the privy council. In this year, (1776,)
Francis Marion had risen to the rank of major in the second regiment,
and was stationed with his colonel in the fort at Sullivan's Island.
He was in the action of the 28th of June, between that fort
and nine of the British ships, under Sir Peter Parker.
Of the particulars of this battle, every one has heard,
and they need not be narrated here. Two of the ships carried fifty guns,
the ship Bristol, commodore Sir Peter Parker, and the Experiment;
and as powder was very scarce in the fort, the orders were,
"mind the commodore!" "Fire at the two fifty gun ships."
Col. Moultrie received the thanks of the commander in chief, of congress,
Gen. Lee, and of president Rutledge, for his gallant conduct in that victory;
and, what was more, the heart-felt gratitude of his countrymen. The fort
was called by his name, and he was raised to the rank of brigadier general.
His major then rose to the rank of lieut. colonel. This action excited
the highest resentment in the breasts of the British rulers;
and in the end they inflicted severe vengeance on the state of South Carolina.
Three years, however, elapsed before they made another attempt.
In December, 1778, a British fleet of thirty seven sail,
arrived off Savannah in Georgia, and landed about 4000 men.
One half of these, under Col. Campbell, immediately made an attack
upon the town. Gen. Howe, with six or seven hundred Americans,
attempted to oppose them; but was defeated at the first onset.
The enemy took possession of the town; and, as the Georgia militia were
backward in turning out, the whole country soon fell under their dominion.
Shortly after the taking of Savannah, Gen. Lincoln took command of
the American army, and Gen. Prevost of the British. On the 3d of Feb. 1779,
Gen. Moultrie, with a party of about 300 militia, mostly citizens of
Charleston and Beaufort, with the company of ancient artillery of Charleston,
was posted at Beaufort, where he heard the enemy was advancing.
He immediately dispatched his aid, Capt. Francis Kinloch, to reconnoitre;
while he moved forward on the road to Beaufort ferry. Kinloch returning soon,
stated the supposed force of the British, and that they were near
upon the road; Moultrie now pushed on to gain a defile, but found it occupied
by the enemy. There being no alternative, he then drew up his men
in open ground, with two field pieces in the centre, and one on the right.
The British force was two companies of picked light infantry,
posted under cover of a swamp. The militia engaged them,
and fought under this disadvantage till their ammunition was all expended,
and Moultrie ordered a retreat; but the British made a simultaneous movement,
and it became a drawn battle. Lieut. Wilkins of the ancient artillery,
was mortally wounded, and seven men were killed. Capt. Heyward,
Lieuts. Sawyer and Brown, and fifteen men, were wounded.
In the general's account of the action, the loss of the British is not stated;
he speaks highly of the conduct of his officers and men;
particularly of Capt. John Barnwell; and indeed it was no little matter,
thus to bring militia, in the open field, to fight regulars under cover.
Lincoln's force was fluctuating, as it consisted principally of militia,
who could not be brought under control; and in the midst of arms,
when the enemy were at the distance of only three miles,
their officers refused to subject them to the articles of war;
and insisted upon their being tried by the militia laws of the state,
which only subjected them to a small pecuniary fine.
The case too was a flagrant one; a private of Col. Kershaw's regiment
had absented himself from guard, and upon being reproved by his captain,
gave him abusive language; the captain ordered him under guard,
and the man attempted to shoot his officer; but was prevented.
This case was referred to the general assembly then sitting,
who also refused to bring the militia under the articles of war.
Had Gen. Jackson lately submitted to such an interference with his authority,
we should never have heard of the glorious victory of New Orleans.
Gen. Lincoln would have nothing more to do with the militia, and gave up
the command of them to Gen. Moultrie, to act with them as a separate corps.
Pursuant to this resolution, and after calling a council of war,
he marched off (20th April) about 2000 light troops and cavalry, for Augusta,
leaving his baggage to follow. Near Augusta, he expected a reinforcement
of 3000 men, and his intentions were to take possession of some strong post
in Georgia, to circumscribe the limits of the enemy, and to prevent
their receiving recruits from the Cherokee Indians, and tories.
He left Gen. Moultrie, with about 1200 militia, at Black Swamp.
As soon as Gen. Prevost heard of this movement, he availed himself of it,
and immediately crossed over the Savannah, from Abercorn to Purysburgh,
twenty-five miles below Black Swamp, with the intention of
surprising Moultrie, but he, receiving intelligence of his crossing,
retired to Coosawhatchie. At this place he left a rear guard,
and pitched his head quarters on the hill to the eastward of Tulifinny,
two miles in advance towards Charleston. (1st May.) After reconnoitring
the fords of Coosawhatchie, and Tulifinny above the bridges,
the general found so little water in the swamps, from the excessive drought
which then prevailed,* that he determined not to risk an action at this post.
He was about to send one of his aids to bring off his rear guard,
when Col. John Laurens offered himself as a volunteer for that service;
he was readily accepted, and captain, afterwards Major John James,
with 150 picked riflemen, was sent to cover his flanks:
these, with the rear guard, made near a fourth of the retreating army.
Instead of bringing off the rear guard, Col. Laurens drew them over
to the east side of the river, posted the riflemen at the bridge,
threw off the planks, and engaged the enemy. The British occupied
the houses on the west bank, from which they kept up a galling fire;
a number of Laurens' men were killed and wounded, and,
as he was very conspicuous on horse back in regimentals,
with a large white plume, he was soon wounded himself, and his horse killed.
Laurens then retired, and captain, afterwards Col. Shubrick,
ordered a retreat. In the mean time Moultrie had decamped,
and the riflemen were obliged, as the planks were thrown off,
to pass Tulifinny and Pocotaligo bridges on the string pieces;
and did not overtake the main body till they had passed Saltketcher bridge.
Here let us pause for a moment, and take a view of the ground;
twelve miles of country had been passed over in one morning,
which was a continued defile of causeway, lined on both sides with either
thick woods, or ditches and fences, and four rivers had been crossed;
over which were high bridges, and only a slight skirmish had taken place.
True, the swamps above the bridges were dry, but then they were
so wide and thick, that the British would never have ventured into them.
It is likewise true that Col. Laurens said the militia would not fight,
yet the riflemen stood till they were ordered to retreat,
and their retreat had like to have been cut off. Laurens was not wrong
in fighting, for it is always best to keep militia employed:
but in engaging without orders, and in not burning down the houses
near the river, he is blamed by Gen. Moultrie.** However Moultrie himself
was more to blame in suffering the enemy to pass over Coosawhatchie.
At least they ought not to have been permitted to cross the Saltketcher.
There is no doubt but Moultrie was a firm patriot and a brave soldier,
but he acted now under the impulse of an opinion, which then
generally prevailed among the officers of the South Carolina troops,
that Charleston was all important, and if taken, the state must be lost.
We shall see the effect of this system in the end. In the same manner
the Edisto and Ashley were now passed, without striking a blow.
The Americans suffered greatly both for provisions and for the want of water,
drinking out of every puddle in the road, however filthy. The enemy,
on the contrary, passed through the richest part of the state,
and were suffered to scatter themselves abroad, and to satiate themselves
with choice fare, and valuable plunder. General Moultrie continued
his march to Charleston, and Prevost took post before the lines.
--
* The fine spring at Tulifinny had then entirely failed.
** 1st Volume Moultrie's memoirs, p. 403-4.
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We have for some time lost sight of Lieut. Col. Marion,
and the reader may naturally inquire, was he at Tulifinny? He was not.
With the second regiment under his command, he was in garrison
at fort Moultrie. Before Gen. Moultrie broke up his camp at Black Swamp,
he wrote to Gen. Lincoln to give him advice of the movement of the enemy
to Purysburgh, and from time to time of their progress to Charleston;
but Lincoln marched up to Augusta, crossed over into Georgia,
and moved down on the other side of the river for some time,
very deliberately.* However, from Jannett's ferry, he writes a letter,
of which the following is an extract: "If the enemy should give
public evidence of their designs against Charleston, I think, with your force,
as you are in possession of ~strong passes~, you will be able
to stop their progress and give us time to come up." On the 10th of May,
he again writes to Gen. Moultrie, "We are making, and shall continue to make,
every exertion for the relief of Charleston. The baggage will be left.
The inability of the men only, will put a period to our daily marches.
Our men are full of spirits. Do not give up, or suffer the people
to despair." But the governor and council did despair already,
for a majority of them had finally offered to capitulate, and proposed
a neutrality, during the war between Great Britain and South Carolina;
and the question, whether the state should belong to Great Britain,
or remain one of the United States, to be determined by the treaty of peace;
from this offer, Gen. Gadsden and Mr. Thomas Ferguson dissented.
To carry terms so disgraceful, to Prevost, Col. Laurens was pitched upon;
but he indignantly refused to be the bearer. Cols. M`Intosh and Roger Smith
were then persuaded to go with a flag. The British commander
appointed Col. Prevost, as commissioner to receive them; and he delivered
a message from the general, "that he had nothing to do with the governor,
that his business was with Gen. Moultrie; and as the garrison was in arms,
they must surrender prisoners of war." At this answer,
the governor and council looked blank; and some were for submitting
even to this degrading proposal: but Moultrie cut the conference short,
by declaring, "that as it was left to him, he would fight
to the last extremity." Laurens, who was present, and sitting,
bounded to his feet at the expression, raised his hands, and thanked his God!
Thus it was only by a mistake of Prevost, as to the high powers
of the civil authority, that the town, and the state of South Carolina,
were then saved. What renders this offer the more astonishing,
was, that the garrison, 3180 strong, were in good spirits,
and an army under Lincoln, was marching to their assistance,
on the rear of the enemy; who were not much stronger than the besieged,
being computed at 3680 men.** Early the next morning, Prevost decamped,
and retreated to John's and James Islands. (May 13th.)
There was great rejoicing in the town; but the consequence
to which it had arrived, by repelling two attempts of the enemy,
only brought against it a greater armament, and in the end,
sunk it into deeper distress. An attack upon the British at Stono ferry,
was now planned by Gen. Lincoln. Gen. Moultrie, was to throw over
on James Island, all the troops which could be spared from the town,
and make a feint on that side, or attack, if a favourable opportunity offered;
while the principal effort was to be made by Lincoln, at Stono.
He made the attack before Moultrie could cooperate, (June 20) and the enemy
remaining in their lines, and being reinforced, obliged him to retreat.
In this affair a few men were killed, and Col. Roberts, of the artillery,
mortally wounded. His loss was greatly and justly lamented.
William Richardson Davie, lately deceased, and afterwards so much celebrated
as Gen. Davie, was among the wounded. Prevost, soon after this,
retreated along the chain of islands on the coast, until he reached
Port Royal and Savannah. During the time Prevost lay before
the lines of Charleston, Maj. Benjamin Huger, an active officer,
a wise statesman, and a virtuous citizen, was unfortunately killed.
What rendered his fate the more melancholy, was, that the act was done
by the mistake of his own countrymen. It was at this time also,
that Gen. Count Pulaski, a Polander, began to distinguish himself
as a partisan. His address in single combat, was greatly celebrated.
Col. Kowatch, under his command, was killed before the lines,
and shamefully mutilated by the British. Of the campaign of 1779,
it was not the intention of the author to give a minute detail;
but only to sketch out those feelings, and that line of conduct,
in the cabinet and field, which, followed up in the succeeding year,
brought ruin and disgrace upon the country.
--
* Lincoln's letter, 20th April.
** 1st vol. Moultrie's memoirs, from p. 425 to 435.
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Chapter II.
CAMPAIGN OF 1780.
Sir Henry Clinton arrives with an army of 12,000 men in South Carolina.
The General Assembly sitting in Charleston, break up.
Gen. Lincoln shuts himself up in the town, and Clinton lays siege to it.
Before the town is entirely hemmed in, Marion dislocates his ankle,
and retires into the country. The town capitulates.
Tarleton's career of slaughter. Defeat of Gen. Huger at Monk's Corner
and of Buford at the Waxhaws. Rising of the people in Williamsburgh,
and at Pedee. Gen. Marion sent to them as a commander. Gates, defeat.
Marion retakes 150 American prisoners at Nelson's Ferry. Maj. Wemyss
sent against him; he retreats to the White Marsh, in North Carolina.
Returns and defeats the tories at Black Mingo and the fork of Black river.
Attempt on Georgetown frustrated. Marion takes post at Snow Island.
Sumter's career. Ferguson's defeat. Spirit of the whigs begins to revive.
The year 1780, was the most eventful one, in the annals of South Carolina.
The late failure of the attack on Savannah; the little opposition
which Gen. Prevost met with, in a march of more than one hundred miles
through the state; the conduct of the planters, in submitting,
to save their property; and the well known weakness of the southern army;
all conspired to induce the enemy to believe, that Charleston,
and South Carolina, would become an easy prey. Sir Henry Clinton,
their commander in chief, meditating a formidable expedition against them;
with this view sailed from New York on the 26th December, 1779, with an army,
which, with subsequent reinforcements amounted to about 12,000 men.
To oppose this great force, Gen. Lincoln had not more than two thousand,
a great part of which was militia. His head quarters were in Charleston,
where the general assembly were setting in calm deliberation,
for they had not yet heard of the rising storm. Lieut. Col. Marion,
had command of the out-post of this little army, at Sheldon,
near Pocotaligo, where he had orders to watch the motions of Prevost,
and prevent him from obtaining supplies of provisions,
from the Carolina side of Savannah river. It was expected
he was to remain here for some time, and great confidence was reposed in him,
by Gen. Lincoln, as appears by his letters, at this period.
The British had a tedious passage, in which they lost part of their ordnance,
most of their artillery, and all the horses, destined to mount their cavalry.
On the 11th Feb. 1780, they landed about thirty miles from Charleston.
The assembly sitting there, immediately broke up, after delegating,
"till ten days after their next session, to John Rutledge,
and such of his council as he could conveniently consult,
a power to do every thing necessary for the public good;
except the taking away the life of a citizen, without a legal trial."
This was nearly the same power, with which the senate of Rome,
invested their dictators. But a resolution, fatal in its consequences,
was unanimously adopted by this assembly: namely, to defend the town to
the utmost extremity. The power, thus delegated to the governor and council,
was carried into effect afterwards, with vigour, and with what would now
be thought an infraction of private rights. But in the spirit of the times,
and the public situation, such vigour was necessary. The governor's council,
was composed of upright and virtuous men, and John Rutledge was
one of the most distinguished sons, to whom South Carolina has given birth.
His eloquence was proverbial, both in congress, and at home.
It was that of Demosthenes, concise, energetic, and commanding.
There was something in his very manner, and the tone of his voice,
that riveted the attention of his audience. They stood subdued before him.
He swayed the councils of the state, he swayed the councils of the general
who commanded the southern army: and if he erred, he erred
with a good conscience, and from the purest motives.
The first order issued by Governor Rutledge, was, to call out
the drafted militia, for the defence of the town, under pain of
confiscation of property. This order was but partially obeyed; --
the militia, who were friendly to the cause, had been much harassed
in the last campaign, and it was generally known that the small-pox
was in the town. At the same time, the governor sent out
many influential officers, to secure the execution of his first order;
and though intended only to operate for the present, this last order
was in time productive of a fortunate result; as these officers
afterwards headed the people. In the mean time, Gen. Lincoln had ordered
Lieut. Col. Marion to select two hundred men, out of the three regiments
with him, at Sheldon, and to march immediately to town. (31st Jan.)
No troops were to be left in the field but two hundred light infantry,
and the horse under Col. Washington. Marion repaired to town,
according to orders; but before the garrison was hemmed in by the enemy,
he, by accident, in attempting to escape from a drinking party,
dislocated his ankle. Gen. Lincoln had issued an order,
"that all supernumerary officers, and all officers who were unfit for duty,
must quit the garrison, and retire into the country."
In consequence of this order, Marion retired to St. John's.
He was afterwards obliged to move about, from house to house,
as favoured by friends, and often to hide in the woods, until he got better;
but, as soon as he was able, he collected a few friends, and joined
Gen. De Kalb, who was then advancing, with about fourteen hundred men,
of the Maryland and Delaware troops, towards South Carolina.
The correspondence of Gen. Horry here breaks off suddenly;
and we hear no more of Marion for five months. But an accident,
which must have appeared to him a great misfortune, at the time,
was afterwards productive of the most happy effects. Another has been noted
only a few pages back.
In the mean time, the enemy proceeded cautiously in the siege of Charleston.
They formed a depot on James Island, and erected a fortification on it,
and the main, near Wappoo cut. On the 28th of March they crossed
Ashley river, near the ferry, and made a lodgement in Charleston neck.
Col. Laurens, with the light infantry, skirmished with them;
but, as they greatly exceeded him in numbers, he was obliged to retire
within the lines. On the night of the 1st of April, Sir Henry Clinton
commenced his first parallel, at the distance of eleven hundred yards
from the American works. On the 7th, twelve sail of the enemy's ships
passed Fort Moultrie, under a heavy fire. The garrison had been assiduous
in preparing for defence; the old works were strengthened,
and lines and redoubts were extended from Ashley to Cooper river.
A strong abbatis was made in front, and a deep, wet ditch was opened
from the marsh on one side, to that on the other, and the lines
were so constructed as to rake it. On the 10th, the enemy had completed
their first parallel, and Gen. Lincoln was summoned to surrender; but refused.
All attempts at removing the force besieged, out of the town,
had, while it was practicable, been opposed by the governor and council,
and the officers of the South Carolina troops; and Gen. Lincoln, had not
the resolution to counteract them. At length it was thought advisable,
that the governor and three of his council should leave the town;
and that Lieut. Gov. Gadsden and five others should remain. The ships of war,
in the harbour of Charleston, being quite inadequate to oppose
the force which had passed Fort Moultrie, were divested of their guns,
to reinforce the batteries, and were sunk nearly opposite the exchange,
to impede the passage of the enemy up Cooper river. Soon after this,
Sir Henry Clinton, being reinforced by two thousand five hundred men,
under Lord Cornwallis, pushed them over Cooper river,
and enclosed the besieged on the side of St. Thomas' parish and Christ church;
and the town was now completely invested by land and water. About this time,
the American forces in the field having been defeated, as hereafter
to be narrated, and the British having completed their second parallel,
an offer to capitulate was made by Lincoln, to Sir Henry Clinton,
and rejected. The batteries of the besiegers, having now obtained
a decided superiority over those of the besieged, when the third parallel
had opened its cannonade, and the British having crossed the wet ditch by sap,
they opened a fire of rifles within twenty-five yards of the Americans.
The caution of Sir Henry Clinton, in advancing so slowly, had been extreme,
and the unsuspecting security of the Americans was still great;
but Gen. Duportail, a French officer of engineers, having arrived in town
before the communication was closed with the country, declared,
that the works of the besieged were not tenable, and might have been stormed
ten days before. This disclosed his true situation, and induced Gen. Lincoln
to listen to a capitulation, which was proposed to him on the 8th of May.
From that until the 10th, the negociation was continued.
On the 11th, the capitulation was agreed to, and, on the next day,
the Americans marched out and grounded their arms. After a siege
of a month and fourteen days, 2500 men submitted to an army of 12,000;
and it was only surprising they held out so long. The continental
troops and sailors were to remain prisoners of war until exchanged;
the militia were permitted to return home as prisoners on parole,
which, as long as they observed it, should secure them from being molested
in their property.
On the morning, when the Americans had paraded to surrender,
tears were seen coursing down the cheeks of Gen. Moultrie.
The loss of the Americans, in the siege, was not great;
only five officers of distinction: Col. Parker, and Capts. Bowman,
Moultrie, Templeton and Neyle, were killed. During the siege,
Gen. Lincoln called two councils of war, to devise the means of retreating
from the town, but all attempts of that kind were opposed,
first by the civil authority, next by the South Carolina officers,
and finally by the inhabitants. He ought not to have entered the town;
he had the example of the illustrious Washington before him,
who had declined to act in that manner, and had thus preserved
the independence of his country. The American army acting in the country,
would have kept up the spirits of the militia, and kept the British
from mounting their cavalry, and gaining supplies of provisions,
with such ease as they did. Although Lincoln's force was small,
it was at least equal to that of Gen. Washington, when he retreated
over the Delaware, in 1776. The country was not so open,
and more fit for a partisan warfare, than New Jersey, and in a few months
the climate would have fought his battles. It was not intended by the author
to narrate the particulars of the siege of Charleston;
these have been detailed by the enlightened historian of South Carolina,
Dr. Ramsay. But the effects of it upon the minds of the people
in the country, come more particularly within his province;
since they would hereafter be disposed to act according as they were affected,
by passing incidents. There being now no force in the field,
but the two hundred light infantry, under Gen. Huger,
and the horse under Col. Washington; which were those mentioned
in Lincoln's order to Gen. Marion; the British were suffered
to detach small parties through the country, and to take all the horses
which were fit, either to transport their cannon and baggage,
or to mount their cavalry. In one month after their landing,
Col. Tarleton had his legion mounted, and began his career of slaughter.
On the 18th March, he surprised a party of 80 militia, at Saltketcher bridge,
killed and wounded several, and dispersed the rest. On the 23d,
he put to flight another party at Ponpon, killed three, wounded one,
and took four prisoners. On the 27th, near Rantowle's bridge, he had
a rencounter with Col. Washington, at the head of his legion of 300 men;
Tarleton was worsted in this affair, and lost seven men, prisoners.
On the 13th April, the American infantry and cavalry under Gen. Huger,
lay, the infantry at Biggen church, and the cavalry under Col. Washington,
at Monk's corner. Col. Tarleton with Ferguson's corps of marksmen,
advanced on from the quarter-house to Goose Creek, where he was joined
by Col. Webster, with the 33d and 64th regiments of infantry.
There an attack upon the American post was concerted,
and it was judged advisable to make it in the night,
as that would render the superiority of Washington's cavalry useless.
A servant of one of Huger's officers was taken on the road,
and he agreed for a few dollars, to conduct the enemy through a by-road,
to Monk's corner. At three o'clock in the morning, they charged
Washington's guard on the main road, and pursued them into the camp.
The Americans were completely surprised. Major Vernier, of Pulaski's legion,
and twenty-five men, were killed. One hundred officers, and dragoons,
fifty waggons loaded with ammunition, clothing and arms,
and four hundred horses, with their accoutrements, were taken.
A most valuable acquisition to the British. Major Cochrane with
the British legion of infantry, forced the passage at Biggen bridge,
and drove Gen. Huger and the infantry before him. -- In this affair,
Major James Conyers, of the Americans, distinguished himself
by a skilful retreat, and by calling off the attention of the enemy
from his sleeping friends, to himself. The British had only
one officer and two men wounded. The account of the loss of the Americans
in this affair, is taken from Tarleton, who blames "the injudicious conduct of
the American commander, who besides making a false disposition of his corps,
by placing his cavalry in front of the bridge, during the night,
and his infantry in the rear, neglected sending patroles in front of
his videttes." In this surprise, the British made free use of the bayonet,
the houses in Monk's corner, then a village, were afterwards deserted,
and long bore the marks of deadly thrust, and much bloodshed.
Col. White soon after took the command of the American cavalry,
but with no better fortune. On the 5th May, he took a British officer
and seventeen men of the legion, at Ball's plantation, near Strawberry,
in the morning, and pushed back twenty-five miles, to Lenud's ferry,
on Santee. While crossing there, Tarleton surprised him, at three
in the afternoon; who states, that five officers and 36 men of the Americans
were killed and wounded, and seven officers and sixty dragoons were taken;
while he lost only two men, and retook his dragoons.
Cols. White and Washington, Major Jamieson, and several officers and men,
escaped by swimming the river, but many perished in the like attempt.*
Thus the American corps of cavalry and infantry, in the open field,
was completely annihilated, and from the Saltketcher to the Santee,
a distance of one hundred and twenty miles, either terror
or a general depression of spirits, had spread through the country.
What served to increase this, was the cannonade at the town.
This was a novel thing in South Carolina, and along water courses,
it was heard more than one hundred miles. In that distance,
there were but few families, who had not a husband, father, brother or son
in the garrison; and these listened to the sound, with the deepest anxiety,
and, as was natural, with no little despondency.
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