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Battle of Wiggin's Hill in SC
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Robert Strauss
May 25, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/25/98
to
An ancestor fought and was killed at the Battle of Wiggins Hill, an
island in the Coosahatchie River near Miller Swamp. It was probably only
a minor skirmish and is evidently noted in the memoirs of Tarleton Brown
a captain in the revolutionary war in SC. Does anyone know of an index
to various battles such as this where I might try and find out more
about it?
Regards, Robert
--
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
/ Robert Strauss /
/ The Woodlands,TX. /
/ E-Mail: RStr...@io.com /
/ Homepage:http://www.io.com/~rstrauss/home.htm /
/ Telephone: (281) 364-1773 /
//////////////////////////////////////////////////
Roz & Tony Cundell
May 25, 1998, 3:00:00 AM5/25/98
to
On Mon, 25 May 1998 08:04:27 -0700, Robert Strauss <rstr...@io.com>
wrote:
>An ancestor fought and was killed at the Battle of Wiggins Hill, an
>island in the Coosahatchie River near Miller Swamp. It was probably only
>a minor skirmish and is evidently noted in the memoirs of Tarleton Brown
>a captain in the revolutionary war in SC. Does anyone know of an index
>to various battles such as this where I might try and find out more
>about it?
>
>Regards, Robert
Robert,
Battle would be too strong a term. 2500 British Regulars and Hessians
chased 1000 S.C. militia under Moutltie back to Charlestown. The S.C.
troops retired from Black Swamp across Coosahathie bridge in series of
rear-grand skirmishes to Charlestown. I assume Wiggin's Hill was one
of the encounters.
Tony
Tony
elderf...@gmail.com
May 15, 2013, 10:36:12 AM5/15/13
to
On Monday, May 25, 1998 3:00:00 AM UTC-4, Robert Strauss wrote:
> An ancestor fought and was killed at the Battle of Wiggins Hill, an island in the Coosahatchie River near Miller Swamp. It was probably only a minor skirmish and is evidently noted in the memoirs of Tarleton Brown a captain in the revolutionary war in SC. Does anyone know of an index to various battles such as this where I might try and find out more about it?Regards, Robert-- /////////////////////////////////////////////////// Robert Strauss / / The Woodlands,TX. // E-Mail: RStr...@io.com / / Homepage:http://www.io.com/~rstrauss/home.htm / / Telephone: (281) 364-1773 / //////////////////////////////////////////////////
Hi Robert,
I do not know the original source of what I am posting below, and so cannot tell you how accurate it may be. My ancestor, a Capt Nathan Johnston who served under Colonel William Harden was wounded at this engagement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colonel Harden Afield
William Harden, a Barnwell County man, who had made a good record in the service of his native State both as a captain of artillery at Beaufort and a colonel of militia, at a later date, had joined the fortunes of Marion when Charlestown fell. He had collected a small force of men, consisting largely of refugees from the country bordering on the lower Savannah, and some time in March left his leader on the Pee Dee and struck across country toward the Ashepoo River, about midway between Charlestown and the Savannah. In April he and his hundred men were in the very heart of the lower country, traversed by the British when they finally invested Charlestown. Colonel Harden's design was to carry the partisan warfare as effectually into the low country as had been done in the upper parts of the State, and, if possible, to co-operate with Pickens who was then marching toward Ninety-six. His raids in the extreme southwestern part of the State, away from all support, had resulted in the dispersal of Tory parties at Four Holes, Dorchester County, Wiggins Hill, Barn- well County, and Fort Balfour, Beaufort. The latter post, on the Poco- taligo, was captured on April 13th, after Harden had taken the principal officers of the garrison. That night and the following day Harden destroyed the fort, and departed just as a strong British force of relief from Charlestown made its appearance.
The engagement at Wiggin's Hill, Barnwell County, of a somewhat later date, was not favorable to Captain Harden. Colonel Browne, who commanded the British garrison at Augusta, had sent one of his under-officers to dislodge Captains Johnson and McCoy from the swamps along the Savannah River, whence the Whigs had been playing havoc with the communications between that place and Savannah. Browne's detachment had been driven back, with the loss of its commander and a number of men, when the commandant at Augusta heard of Colonel Harden's party then operating in the neighborhood of Coosawhatchie. The two forces met at Wiggin's Hill, in what is now Barnwell County, Harden having been joined by Johnson and McCoy. The British had 1co regulars, 70 -Indians and 400 Loyal militia, far outnumbering the men commanded by Harden. The latter, however, commenced the attack, and after half an hour was compelled to retreat to an island in Coosawhatchie swamp, which he made his headquarters. There the wounded were taken and cared for by the soldiers and their Whig friends. The prisoners taken by Browne met the most atrocious death, several of them being first hanged by the British and then mutilated by the Indians. Colonel Harden and Captain McCoy continued their forays in the low country of the southwest, creating another potent source of uneasiness for the British forces of occupation in South Carolina.
> An ancestor fought and was killed at the Battle of Wiggins Hill, an island in the Coosahatchie River near Miller Swamp. It was probably only a minor skirmish and is evidently noted in the memoirs of Tarleton Brown a captain in the revolutionary war in SC. Does anyone know of an index to various battles such as this where I might try and find out more about it?Regards, Robert-- /////////////////////////////////////////////////// Robert Strauss / / The Woodlands,TX. // E-Mail: RStr...@io.com / / Homepage:http://www.io.com/~rstrauss/home.htm / / Telephone: (281) 364-1773 / //////////////////////////////////////////////////
Hi Robert,
I do not know the original source of what I am posting below, and so cannot tell you how accurate it may be. My ancestor, a Capt Nathan Johnston who served under Colonel William Harden was wounded at this engagement.
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
Colonel Harden Afield
William Harden, a Barnwell County man, who had made a good record in the service of his native State both as a captain of artillery at Beaufort and a colonel of militia, at a later date, had joined the fortunes of Marion when Charlestown fell. He had collected a small force of men, consisting largely of refugees from the country bordering on the lower Savannah, and some time in March left his leader on the Pee Dee and struck across country toward the Ashepoo River, about midway between Charlestown and the Savannah. In April he and his hundred men were in the very heart of the lower country, traversed by the British when they finally invested Charlestown. Colonel Harden's design was to carry the partisan warfare as effectually into the low country as had been done in the upper parts of the State, and, if possible, to co-operate with Pickens who was then marching toward Ninety-six. His raids in the extreme southwestern part of the State, away from all support, had resulted in the dispersal of Tory parties at Four Holes, Dorchester County, Wiggins Hill, Barn- well County, and Fort Balfour, Beaufort. The latter post, on the Poco- taligo, was captured on April 13th, after Harden had taken the principal officers of the garrison. That night and the following day Harden destroyed the fort, and departed just as a strong British force of relief from Charlestown made its appearance.
The engagement at Wiggin's Hill, Barnwell County, of a somewhat later date, was not favorable to Captain Harden. Colonel Browne, who commanded the British garrison at Augusta, had sent one of his under-officers to dislodge Captains Johnson and McCoy from the swamps along the Savannah River, whence the Whigs had been playing havoc with the communications between that place and Savannah. Browne's detachment had been driven back, with the loss of its commander and a number of men, when the commandant at Augusta heard of Colonel Harden's party then operating in the neighborhood of Coosawhatchie. The two forces met at Wiggin's Hill, in what is now Barnwell County, Harden having been joined by Johnson and McCoy. The British had 1co regulars, 70 -Indians and 400 Loyal militia, far outnumbering the men commanded by Harden. The latter, however, commenced the attack, and after half an hour was compelled to retreat to an island in Coosawhatchie swamp, which he made his headquarters. There the wounded were taken and cared for by the soldiers and their Whig friends. The prisoners taken by Browne met the most atrocious death, several of them being first hanged by the British and then mutilated by the Indians. Colonel Harden and Captain McCoy continued their forays in the low country of the southwest, creating another potent source of uneasiness for the British forces of occupation in South Carolina.
a425couple
May 15, 2013, 12:40:49 PM5/15/13
to
<elderf...@gmail.com> wrote in message
news:ff587e39-97ae-485b...@googlegroups.com...
1. I do see this post, and I do read this newsgroup,
and I care about and read about the US Revolution.
2. In the post I see a date mentioned of "April 13th",
care to tell us the year this battle was?
3. Or, I will presume this is in reference to 1780,
with the battle of Monck's Corner on 14 April 1780,
which more or less caused the surrender of Charleston.
4. I've looked in a couple of my books, and can not
find any of the individual names or unique place names
mentioned above, in the book index's.
4~ I do see in one book,
in the text it mentiones Brit. "Col. Thomas Brown"
in the map it shows "Browne", as regards the nearby
slightly later battle of Hanging Rock, August 6, 1780.
5. Hmmm, the mention of 'hanging' & of Indian torture,
sure sound similar to what one of my books describe
in the Battle of Augusta (Sept. 14-18, 1780).
And, "Tory Col Thomas Brown" is again involved.
6. My books do mention further sources, regards the
South Carolina campaign, that might tell more of this battle.
If you are interested, I'll be glad to type them out for you.
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