Battle of Tearcoat Swamp

Fought on 25 October 1780 in what is now Clarendon County, South Carolina, the engagement at Tearcoat Swamp pitted militia forces against one another during the American Revolutionary War. On one side stood Lieutenant Colonel Francis Marion, commanding Patriot militiamen, while Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Tynes led the opposing Loyalist Militia into the clash.

Background

The setback at Camden, which sent the Continental Army retreating out of South Carolina, left the field open for irregular resistance to carry on the fight. Francis Marion, already holding the rank of lieutenant colonel over the Williamsburg Militia in the Pee Dee region, put a force ranging from 20 to 70 men to work harassing enemy troops and cutting into their supply routes. Throughout 1780 Marion and his men ranged across the stretch of South Carolina lying between the Pee Dee and Santee Rivers. Rather than fighting as conventional soldiers, his militia relied on guerrilla tactics to strike at both British regulars and Loyalist militia units operating in the region. The ranks of Marion's force were filled with ordinary folk drawn from nearby farms and settlements, including farmers, citizens, and slaves. Because military supplies were scarce, each man had to furnish his own weapons, horse, and provisions, and in exchange they retained the freedom to come and go from the militia as they pleased. As autumn began, word reached Marion from General Horatio Gates urging him to press forward with his campaign. Emboldened by this encouragement, he advanced toward Brittons Neck, South Carolina. Local residents were slow to answer his call for volunteers at first, but once Marion threatened to withdraw toward North Carolina, he succeeded in rallying 152 men to his cause.

Battle

A full day's march brought Marion to Black River as darkness deepened, and his troops managed to cross the waterway without incident. Once safely on the far bank, he dispatched a pair of young scouts to assess how the enemy was positioned. These scouts returned with word that the Loyalist camp was mostly asleep, save for a handful of men occupying themselves with cards, and that the enemy's defensive posture was generally careless. Rather than strike immediately, Marion chose to hold back until midnight, judging that hour to offer the greatest advantage against a drowsy foe.

Shortly past midnight he woke his men and divided the force into three separate units. This mirrored the approach that had already brought him success at Black Mingo: a three-pronged assault with detachments striking from the left and right flanks while Marion himself led the central column. With everyone in position, he fired his pistol as the signal to begin, and the three groups swept forward on horseback, shouting and discharging their weapons as they came.

Much to Marion's satisfaction, the plan unfolded precisely as he had envisioned, catching the Loyalists entirely unprepared. A single charge proved sufficient to decide the engagement. In the aftermath, the Loyalists counted six killed and fourteen wounded, with an additional twenty-three taken prisoner. Marion's own losses amounted to nothing more than two horses.

Aftermath

This engagement gave Marion's militia a welcome lift in spirits. The successful raid netted the Patriots a substantial haul of supplies, including more than 80 muskets, several horses complete with bridles and saddles, and a quantity of food. Among the 23 Loyalists taken, many found themselves stunned and won over by the conduct of Marion's men, having encountered nothing like it before, and this sentiment pushed a number of them to switch allegiance to the Patriot side. What troubled Marion, however, was that Lieutenant Colonel Tynes had slipped away, fleeing into Tearcoat Swamp along with a handful of Loyalists rather than falling into Patriot hands. Despite the clear triumph the fight represented, it marked the second occasion on which Marion had missed his chance to seize a Loyalist commander, someone he considered essential to breaking the Loyalist movement for good. Later on, Marion turned to Captain William Clay Snipes and tasked him with tracking down the elusive Loyalist officer, an effort that eventually ended in Tynes's capture. In the wake of the fighting at Tearcoat Swamp, Loyalist activity around Salem was effectively brought to an end.