Volume 12, Number 1 August 2021 Chapter Activities
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Volume 12, Number 1 August 2021 Welcome to this issue of your Colorado Chapter Activities River SAR Chapter, Red, White and Blue Newsletter. This Newsletter is an official While current Chapter Officers agreed to publication of the Colorado River SAR keep their current positions for 2021- we do Chapter, AZ SAR. have the nomination of Chapter Officers for 2022 coming up in the next few months as We hope you enjoy this Newsletter and the we go through the nominating and election updates and information it provides. process. We would ask that all Chapter Member Next Chapter Meeting consider taking a Chapter Office in 2022 to help with the work of the SAR – please September 18th in Lake Havasu City contact one of our current officers listed Location -TBD later in this newsletter if you are interested. The Colorado River Chapter continues to While we have had limited in-person monitor COVID-19 issues and have been Chapter meetings in the past year and a half delaying our meetings. Keep safe! - your Chapter Officers have agreed to continue every other month meeting We would like to hold an in-person meeting schedule. on Saturday, September 18th when we would like to induct our two new members. Chapter meeting schedule then remains – January, March, May, September, and November – normally in Kingman or Lake Havasu City. We will attempt to keep these meeting in order to attempt to establish an outpost in locations at a spot where we can have lunch the backwoods region between Charleston together after the meeting for those and the North Carolina border. interested! Final meeting locations, times, and preliminary agendas will be sent to member via email prior to meeting! Campaigns and Battles of the American Revolution (1775-1783) Our series on Battles of the American Revolution continues: Battle of Waxhaws (Buford’s Massacre) (Southern Campaign) 29 May 1780 This battlefield is 185 miles north of Charleston and 6 miles south of the North During this journey British Loyalists had Carolina border. In 1780 the site was a informed Cornwallis that South Carolina crossroads in rural Waxhaws District Governor Rutledge was trying escape to (Lancaster County). North Carolina with a 350-man Patriot escort which was led by Colonel Buford. Today, the small town of Buford sits adjacent to the battlefield, named in honor of This Patriot entourage was a least 10-days the Patriot Commander. This flat area ahead of the British, and after a short consists of woods interspersed with farms pursuit, Cornwallis realized his infantry had and Pastures. no chance to capturing the rebellious American leader. For the British after their victorious siege of Charleston, General Cornwallis had led a It was then that he assigned this mission of 2,500-man army inland toward Camden, SC, pursuit to British Lieutenant Colonel Tarleton, who had a well-deserved was ordered by General Huger to retreat reputation as a capable and zealous officer with the survivors of the Monck’s Corner who would push his dragoon as hard and fiasco northward to Hillsboro, NC. fast as necessary. Colonel Buford as ordered changed Tarleton and his dragoons left the main direction and moved his 350 Virginia British column on about 27 May, with Continentals, but his movement was not fast around 275 men, some Tory cavalry, and enough. Governor Rutledge had been riding infantry (most mounted double). in the ranks with the protection of another unit – and while moving with no sense of They began riding night and day through urgency through Waxhaws District, Buford punishing heat, which allowed Tarleton to learned of Tarleton’s pursuit. catch the American column after covering 100 miles in just 54 hours. Knowing they were almost to the safety of North Carolina, Governor Rutledge left On the afternoon of 29 May 1780, he Buford’s column with his small escort. At dispatched a detachment to demand the same time a detachment of British surrender, but the Americans refused. cavalry approached the Virginians from behind on 29 May demanding surrender, an After General Lincoln’s surrendered the offer Buford adamantly refused. Americans at Charleston on 12 May 1780, it threw the American Southern Department But while Buford and his leaders discussed into complete disarray. their options, Tarleton’s cavalry and infantry were forming for an attack. Even though Continental and Militia units remained in service, there was no clear It was only after some of Tarleton’s men organized plan for movement forward, or to attacked Buford’s rear guard, that he turned quickly and efficiently reassemble a force and organized his men for battle. At about capable of meeting the British in any type of 3:00 p.m., Buford aligned his infantry and pitched action. cavalry in a single line of defense with just a small reserve he put in the rear. When American units moving south to assist the Charleston defenders learned of Tarleton at the same time divided his Lincoln’s surrender, they immediately command’s three detachments: on his right turned back north to regroup and escape he placed 60 dragoons, and 50 light infantry what surely be a large-scale inland push by men; on the left was Tarleton along with 30 British General Cornwallis. more dragoons and additional infantry; and in the center he placed the rest of the 17th One of these Patriot units, the 11th Virginia Dragoons and more infantry. Regiment commanded by Colonel Buford, Given the fact that terrain in this area was their sabers, wounded and unwounded alike. flat and lightly wooded where Buford had And British infantry added their bayonets to formed his men, Tarleton’s disposition was the bloody chaos. This hacking and close- flexible enough that he could attack quarter fighting, is as extensive as has been Buford’s center and both flanks described, probably lasted for maybe fifteen simultaneously. minutes. When British dragoons began their charge, American surrender for the British was out Buford ordered his men to hold their fire. of the question as no quarter was offered or He had decided to hold firm until the British accepted. In determining what really were just 10-yards from his line, when he happened, an all-out cavalry charge ordered his me to pour a single volley into followed by a determined bayonet attack – the charging dragoons. with screaming adrenalin – drenched soldiers shrouded in powder smoke fighting Buford’s choice of tactics was a complete for their lives – would result in horrendous failure. While the American volley id kill wounds. and wound many enemy horses and a few men, the momentum of this charge carried Depending on one’s perspective, Waxhaws both beast and rider into the American lines. was either a well-executed tactical British victory or a bloody crime. This meant that tons of galloping horse flesh trampled and crushed the American Most of the Patriot wounded died, their defenders. Tarleton killed a Virginian trying bodies were buried is a mass grave. to raise a white surrender flag before his Governor Rutledge did escape and worked own horse went down, perhaps from the in exile in Hillsboro, NC. same American volley. However, the Patriot belief that Tarleton and Once Tarleton’s cavalry closed, Buford’s his dragoons had massacred helpless men Virginians had no chance against an had tremendous repercussions – and for the experienced mounted foe, followed by remainder of the wat Patriots railed behind additional infantry. the cry of “Tarleton’s quarter,” meaning show no mercy. Exactly what happened next in this battle will forever be subject to dispute. Some Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s actions forever claim the British grew angry when learning earned him the nicknames “Bloody Ban”, that Tarleton had been struck down (which “Ban the Barbarian,” and “Ban the Bloody he had not). Scout.” But beside that fact the dragoon went to Casualties: British: 4 killed, and 14 work, cutting and slashing the Patriots with wounded; American: 113 killed, 150 wounded, and 53 captured, Colonel Buford and about 30 men escaped, as did about 100 additional infantry men at the head of the column who did not turn and form to fight. Source: A Guide to the Battles of the American Revolution by Savas and Dameron. Entrance Marker NEXT: Battle of Williamson’s Plantation (also known as Huck’s Defeat) (Southern Campaign), 12 July 1780. Battle of Waxhaws Battlefield Battle of Washaws Battlefield is in a vary rural area and still looks much like it did two centuries ago. Battlefield Site The site is in Lancaster County, near Buford, South Carolina, and is located 9 miles east of Lancaster, SC. The 51-acre Buford’s Massacre Site, also known as Buford’s Battleground, is a historic site/national historic district. There are two monuments at the site – one a white monument ten feet tall, erected 2 June 1860 marked American gravesite; the First Marker and Gravesite of 113 second was erected in 2005 as part of the Continental Soldiers Massacred by the 225th Anniversary celebration of the battle. British Chapter Officers Jeff Corwin – President – (928) 263-0485 – [email protected] Vacant – Vice President George Cole – Secretary/Treasurer – (208) 716-0024 - [email protected] Second Marker Jimmie Bodenhamer – Registrar/Genealogist – (928) 692-6636 – [email protected] Robert Peterson MD – Chaplain – (503) 338-8332 - [email protected] Vacant - Sergeant at Arms South Carolina Historic Roadside Marker George Cole - Board of Managers – (208) 716-0024 - [email protected] Another interesting Battlefield site to visit in the southeast along with such sites and Cowpens and Kings Mountain. Check them Calendar of Upcoming Events out! August 1st Chapter Newsletter Emailed Chapter Members Birthdays September 6th August Labor Day Jeffery Sackmaster – 28th September 7th Rosh Hashanah September September 16th Chance Vallon – 25th Yom Kippur October 1st Chapter Newsletter Emailed Membership If you need assistance with a membership issue, or know someone interested in joining the NSSAR, please provide me the contact information and I will help them work their application.