The ''Havoc of War'' and Its Aftermath in Revolutionary South Carolina
The ''Havoc of War'' and its Aftermath in Revolutionary South Carolina by Jerome NADELHAFT* The approach of war between England and America inspired many privileged South Carolinians to announce their willingness to suffer for freedom's sake. They would move, disown America, or fight "rather than submit to tyranny.'' They did not ignore the possibility of dying, but since their cause was just, death would be noble, "generous", preferable to servitude. 1 That vision was shared by Richard Hutson, who wrote of the "awfully pleasing sight" of the British army and navy "most shamefully repulsed" when they attacked Charleston in 1776. Romantically, perhaps not inaccurately, he spread the tale of one sergeant, "McDougal by name," who "rivals Epaminondas in fame; when breathing his last, 'My brave lads,' he cries, 'I am just expiring, but for heaven's sake let not sweet liberty expire with me."' 2 Few Carolinians expressed an awareness that warfare consisted of more than noble gestures and deeds ; few seemed worried that military death could be inglorious. Josiah Smith, who was unwilling to submit "to the will & controul of a haughty and abaondoned sett of rulers," might have had such gloomy prospects in mind when he wrote that "horrible consequences" attended bloodshed. 3 So might Henry Laurens, whose son returned from England to fight and die in and for South Carolina. Ready "to hazard all ... [his] estate," Laurens worried that the British, encoura ging Indian attacks and slave insurrections, would cause the "most horri ble butcheries of innocent women & children," and that "civil discord between fellow citizens & neighbour Farmers" would lead to "fraud per jury & assassination." 4 Probably few people had the knowledge, or even willingness, to imagine the nature of South Carolina's Revolutionary War.
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