Monarchist Profile: General Edmund Fanning

Edmund Fanning, an American loyalist who made of himself a great success in the service of the British Empire, came from a somewhat mysterious background. He was born on April 24, 1739 on Long Island, New York. Some sources say his family were Irish Protestants from Ulster, others that his parents were Captain James Fanning and Hannah Smith. In any event, he proved a bright boy and was given a good education, graduating from Yale in 1757 and going on to study law in New York. In 1761 he moved to North Carolina and there was admitted to the bar and began taking an interest in politics. Reputedly the most educated man in the colony, he was able to work closely with the Royal Governor of North Carolina William Tryon. He occupied a number of relatively minor administrative positions before coming to greater attention during the War of the Regulation. This arose out of claims that Fanning and another lawyer were guilty of extortion, a crime for which he was fined. However, the locals did not think the fine sufficient punishment and violence soon broke out which Governor Tryon was able to suppress at the head of the North Carolina militia at the battle of Great Alamance Creek on May 16, 1771.

Due to this trouble Fanning was more than happy to accompany Tyron when he was subsequently posted to New York as his private secretary. He later served as surrogate of New York City and was appointed surveyor general of the colony in 1774. In the summer of that year he was also awarded a doctorate of the civil laws by the University of Oxford. However, as rebellion brewed in New England, Fanning’s position as a Crown official, as well as his history in North Carolina, ensured that he would be singled out for particularly harsh treatment by the “Patriots”. Rebel gangs chased him from his house and he had to take shelter in New York harbor onboard HMS Asia. Sufficiently outraged he endeavored to take an active role in punishing the rebels and suppressing the revolution in America. Lt. General William Howe, British commander in North America, commissioned him colonel and he raised his own regiment of loyalist infantry known as the King’s American Regiment. Also known as the “Associated Refugees” the King’s American Regiment, under Colonel Fanning, gained quite a reputation during the war, both for their fighting prowess and their rather rough treatment of all rebels.

However, lest any think that Colonel Fanning was truly the barbarian that revolutionary propaganda made him out to be, it was he who intervened with the British forces to prevent the burning of Yale College, a fact for which, long after the war, the grateful institution granted him an honorary degree. Nor was he some soft political appointee who remained far from the fighting; in fact he was wounded twice in combat during the course of his service. The reputation with which Fanning was saddled by the American press was totally undeserved. Much of it was built on the ‘original sin’ of his conduct in North Carolina. However, most serious scholars now admit that Fanning was likely simply a scapegoat for popular discontent but this was built upon by the revolutionaries to portray Fanning as the epitome of the corrupt Crown official, exploiting the populace and then making merciless war on them once the fighting had begun.

When the war ended in defeat for the British, Colonel Edmund Fanning was forced to flee, along with other loyalists, to Nova Scotia in 1783. He became lieutenant governor and in 1785 he married and later had a son and three daughters. In 1786 he accepted what he thought was a temporary post as lieutenant governor of St John’s Island (today Prince Edward Island). His accommodations on the island were less than ideal but he persisted and in 1808 was promoted to general in the British army. He finally retired and moved to London where he died on February 28, 1818, remembered as one of the most successful loyalist governors of British North America and a leading figure in the early history of Canada.

Monarchist Profile: Robert Rogers

Outside of those familiar with American military history the name of Robert Rogers might not be very well known. He was born on November 7, 1731 in a little town in the colony of Massachusetts. His father, an Irish immigrant, later moved them to New Hampshire and founded a town which is today called Dunbarton. In 1746-7 the young Robert Rogers saw service in King George’s War as a private in the New Hampshire colonial militia, getting his first taste of military service. After this was over and he grew older he was a rather troubled young man, known for his short temper, and had some run-ins with the law but nothing ever came of it.

However, conflict was again to rescue the rebellious Robert Rogers and provide him with respectable employment in 1755 with the outbreak of the French and Indian War. Despite being vastly outmatched the French fought with skill and tenacity and won a number of early victories. This, combined with the alarming growth of British colonists in North America, prompted many native Indians to cast their lot with the French and begin raiding British settlements. That winter, while at Fort William Henry in New York, Robert Rogers formed the military unit that was to make him famous; Roger’s Rangers. Rogers built this small band into an elite irregular warfare unit that would use Indian tactics against the Indians themselves and their French allies in numerous raids and reconnaissance missions.

Wearing practical green uniforms to blend more easily with the forest, Rogers taught his men the fundamentals partisan warfare; how to look after each other, move quickly, lightly and quietly, ever alert, to fight from cover and make every shot count, to see without being seen and sweep through an area without leaving a trace behind. He was hard on his troops but a father figure as well, taking it upon himself to recruit them, equip them and pay them, which put him severely into debt. His service proved so valuable that in 1758 General James Abercromby promoted him to major. The following year Major General Jeffrey Amherst, overall British commander, sent Rogers on an incredible raid deep behind enemy lines. Rogers, with 200 of his rangers, slipped through the French lines, evaded detection and destroyed the town of Saint-Francis in Quebec; a major psychological blow to the French and Indians. After the fall of Quebec and Montreal Rogers and his men were sent west where they seized Detroit, Michigan. The French throughout the Great Lakes area surrendered and the Rangers, their work done, were disbanded.

This adventure in the northwest was taken in reaction to the uprising of a pro-French Indian alliance against the British led by the Ottawa chief Pontiac, about whom Rogers would later write a dramatic play which paid no small part in the rise to historical fame of the brave Ottawa chief. The ensuing period of peace was ruinous for Rogers who ended up in prison for debt but the adventurous man escaped, left his American homeland for England and it was there that he tried his hand at being an author. However, he was soon called back and his return coincided with the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. Some of his own men were among those militia who stood against the British in the opening skirmishes. Being a native of the colonies and not untouched by the complaints of the rebels Rogers first offered his services to General George Washington of the Continental Army. However, due to his recent stay in England, Washington took Rogers for a spy and refused him a commission. Deeply offended, Rogers washed his hands of the revolutionary movement and offered his sword to King George III and that time was gratefully accepted.

In 1776 the newly appointed Colonel Robert Rogers organized and led the elite Queen’s Rangers in New York. It was Rogers who was responsible for the capture of the famous American spy Nathan Hale. The Continental Congress declared him a traitor (always a rather hypocritical thing for revolutionaries to do) and also declared him divorced from his wife. She later married a proper rebel as Rogers was, by that time, mad, bad and dangerous to know. Rogers was retired for a time and suffering from terrible depression from all he had endured which led him to become an alcoholic. Yet, in 1779 he raised another elite fighting unit in Nova Scotia for Sir Henry Clinton; the King’s Rangers. However, his alcoholism had grown so bad that he was incapacitated and had to pass command to his brother. Captured by the Continental Navy, despite his many misfortunes he proved as difficult a prey as ever to hold and he escaped in 1782. Following the British surrender he accompanied the Crown forces back to England where he died in debt and obscurity.

However, Rogers did not remain obscure after his death in 1795. The Queen’s York Rangers of the modern Canadian army descends from the unit Rogers formed and led. There is also an artillery battalion of the Michigan National Guard that included some of Rogers’ actual descendants. Finally, during World War II, American troops greatly impressed by the skill and style of British commandos formed their own elite special forces and called themselves the U.S. Army Rangers after taking Rogers as their ancestor and inspiration. Thus, Robert Rogers, a soldier of the Crown and active loyalist became the forefather of all the modern American special forces. His famous ‘28 Rules of Ranging’ he drew up for his original unit are still read and well learned (with a few modifications) by U.S. Army Rangers to this day.

Monarchist Profile: Peggy Shippen

Peggy Shippen was the woman behind one of the most infamous names in American history. She was also a Tory girl, staunchly loyal to King and country. She was born Margaret “Peggy” Shippen on July 11, 1760 to Edward Shippen IV and Margaret Francis Shippen, a well-to-do Philadelphia family. Members of the Shippen clan had long been prominent in Pennsylvania history. One was the mayor and founder of the town of Shippensburg and Edward Shippen had served as a judge and a member of the Pennsylvania Provincial Council. As two younger brothers did not long survive little Peggy was the baby of the family and properly fussed over as such. Early in life she was noted for her outgoing nature, strong convictions and striking beauty. Her father, whom she idolized, was a staunch loyalist and ensured that even his baby girl was well informed on the politics of colonial America and was left with no doubt that those loyal to King George were the ‘good guys’. She enjoyed the typical pastimes of women in those days and even her political awareness was not so unusual as many today might think.

The outbreak of the Revolutionary War was seen as a tragedy in the Shippen house and they had to be careful to avoid drawing the attentions of the “patriot” party at a time when many Tories were persecuted for their loyalty. However, it was a cause for celebration when the British army occupied Philadelphia in 1777 and, full of confidence in the British war effort, Edward Shippen was quick to open his home to the King’s officers. High profile loyalists, Crown officials and military officers were a common feature in the parties held by the Shippen family and the lovely young Peggy was much sought after. With no shortage of gentlemen callers, Peggy was selective in who she paid attention to and soon there seemed to be a romance developing between her and a particularly dashing and well regarded officer named Major John Andre, an aide on staff of General Sir William Howe. Even though a full match did not have time to grow out of this the two remained very close from that time on. Peggy Shippen, like all local loyalists, was very sad to see the British army pull out of Philadelphia in June of 1778.

There was, then, a real danger that the Shippen family would suffer from the retaliation of the patriot forces who resumed control of the city and for a time they moved to the country. However, in spite of a law mandating the arrest of any loyalists Edward Shippen took his family back to Philadelphia when the countryside proved too dangerous with the battles raging around them. Edward Shippen tried to protect his family by being cordial with the new masters of the city, though his opinions were well known, his home remained a high society meeting place and guests included revolutionary officials and generals. It was on such an occasion that Peggy Shippen met the widowed revolutionary hero General Benedict Arnold. He had been the driving force behind the victorious Saratoga campaign and the near conquest of Canada. However, Arnold had been unappreciated by the political leadership and posted to command the garrison at Philadelphia. Arnold was immediately taken with the vivacious young Tory, known as one of the most beautiful girls in Philadelphia and despite their deep political differences the two were soon known to be an item.

Edward Shippen, and probably many other loyalists, were less than impressed when Peggy set her hat for Arnold. However, Peggy had lost none of her convictions even when she married Arnold on April 8, 1779. He was 38 and she was only 18 but despite her young age she was a force to be reckoned with and early on began working on her husband to bring him over to the loyalist position. Even before their first meeting Arnold had been rather disgusted with the leadership of the revolution and was greatly outraged by the very idea that the fledgling United States would even consider making an alliance with the Catholic absolute monarchy of France. Peggy did nothing to discourage these feelings in her husband and reminded him often how the revolutionary cause was not worthy of him. He had proven himself to be one of the most successful generals in the Continental Army and yet they did not appreciate him, others took credit for his victories and the government harassed him. She assured him that the British did not treat their best generals in such a fashion and Arnold would be better off on the other side. At first Arnold was outraged by such talk but over time Peggy wore him down.

Peggy was also still in touch with Major John Andre who was then working as the spymaster for General Sir Henry Clinton (Howe’s successor as commander of the British forces in North America). She also introduced Arnold to other friends who were all of the loyalist persuasion. Soon the home of one of the most famous revolutionary generals was a regular meeting place for King and Country loyalists. She introduced her husband to her former beau Andre and the two began corresponding. Arnold was finally won over to the Crown position and offered his services, and the fortress at West Point, to the British army; for a price of course. Since that time there have been allegations that Peggy was ultimately responsible for the change of heart of her husband, allegations which her family denied. However, few could argue that her deeply held loyalists convictions could not have influenced her husband at all. We also know that Peggy was involved herself in the exchange of letters between Arnold and Andre over his defection and the disposal of West Point.

When the intentions of Arnold were prematurely discovered Peggy Arnold showed herself to be quite an actress, putting on such a show of feigned shock, outrage and hysteria that George Washington was convinced she had nothing to do with it. Given her background it must have taken quite a performance to accomplish that even in the short-term. Arnold having escaped to the British, Peggy tried to take refuge with her family in Philadelphia but was not allowed in the city. Instead she went to the loyalist stronghold of New York City (held by the British for most of the war) where she joined her husband and where their second child was born (their first being born during their stay at West Point). Peggy remained the strong supporter of her husband that she had always been during his career as a general in the British army and it was not until December 15, 1781 that they left America for London after the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown.

Originally Benedict and Peggy Arnold were warmly welcomed by the British and Peggy was even introduced to the Queen by Lady Amherst. However, the glamorous future Arnold had expected did not come to be and Peggy was soon on her own in London while her husband tried to get back into the shipping business in Canada. More children were born, the couple would have five in all, and in 1789 Peggy returned to America to visit her parents but even though her father remained a powerful and well-connected figure in Philadelphia she was thoroughly vilified by the public and treated with great disdain. Growing concerned for her safety, she met her husband in Canada where, even there, mobs accused them of “treason” before the couple returned to England. Even though Arnold had fathered an illegitimate child while in Canada, Peggy remained an ever-faithful and devoted wife and a defender of the legacy of her husband. When he died she was forced to sell their estate to pay his considerable debts and she spent the rest of her life rather ignored by society and living a life far from what she had dreamed of. She died at age 43 of cancer in 1804 and was buried alongside her husband at St Mary’s in London.

Monarchist Profile: Colonel Tye

The role of Black Americans in the War for Independence is not much dwelt upon and when it is the coverage usually falls into one of two categories; the glorification of those who supported the revolution (usually implying dishonestly that these were the majority) or simply categorizing them all as victims, powerless slaves who stayed out of a war of Whites as all were their oppressors. As usual, however, this sort of coverage leaves out many of the facts including the fascinating story of the Black American loyalists who certainly understood what was going on, what it was all about and where their interests were best served. They chose to stand for King and Country and probably knew better than most what all of the talk of liberty on the part of wealthy slave-owners in the colonies was really worth. At times you do hear about Black Loyalists, particularly in conjunction with Lord Dunmore but you rarely hear about Black loyalist leaders. Most assume there were none, on either side. However, there was a very famous Black leader among the loyalists and his story is worth telling. He became famous as “Colonel Tye” of the elusive Black Brigade.

His real name was Titus Cornelius and he was born sometime around 1753 into slavery in New Jersey. Not much is known about his origins, only that he was a slave, the child of slaves and so on, who had been sent over from Africa at some point. His owner was a wealthy Quaker named John Corlies of Monmouth County, New Jersey. The Quakers were not very fond of slavery and usually freed them at age 21 after teaching them to read and write. Corlies, however, was no ordinary Quaker and was a notoriously cruel master, more fond of the whip than was usual even for that time. Obviously, Titus Cornelius was less than pleased with the state he found himself in under such circumstances. His chance to remedy that situation came in November of 1775 when Lord John Murray, Fourth Earl of Dunmore and Royal Governor of Virginia decided to try to enlist the slaves of America on the side of the British Crown.

The embattled Lord Dunmore issued a proclamation directed toward all slaves and indentured servants promising them their freedom if they would rise up against their rebellious masters and join his loyalist militia in the fight to restore royal authority across the country. Today most believe that relatively few slaves answered this call, that most were complacent or even content with their lot and took in the war as bystanders. On the contrary, thousands of slaves took the opportunity to run away and at least attempt to join the British army. Obviously, this was not entirely to the benefit of the British cause as it was condemned by American slave owners as a dastardly plot to incite insurrection (which it was) and spark a race war. Many of the planter class were thus pushed into the “patriot” camp. However, Lord Dunmore got his volunteers though it was difficult for all those who wished to reach him but many did and Titus Cornelius was among them. After escaping from Corlies he had posed as a freeman and supported himself by selling his own goods as he moved down the Virginia coast toward the British. Corlies offered a reward for his capture, describing him as “about 21 years old, not very black and about six feet high”.

Lord Dunmore organized some 500 slaves, mostly from Virginia but the New Jersey native Titus among them as well, into the Royal Ethiopian Regiment. There was little to equip them with, they were armed with pikes for the most part and had sashes calling for the emancipation of slaves across their uniforms. Lord Dunmore and his small army met with disaster in December 1775 at Great Bridge but Tye (the name Titus went by in British service) may have missed out on that disaster. The first battle in which we know he took part was the battle of Monmouth in June 1778 where he captured an American captain. By that time Tye had risen to the rank of captain in the Ethiopian Regiment but also came to lead his own unit known as the Black Brigade. This was a group of roughly 25 mixed race (but predominately Black) loyalists who specialized in what would later be known as guerilla warfare. They came to great fame operating in New Jersey and that vicinity where Colonel Tye, as he was now known, was very familiar with the lay of the land and the local families.

Although he was known as Colonel Tye, he never actually held the King’s commission but this title was applied to him by his men and later others as a mark of respect and a recognition of his leadership abilities. The British paid Colonel Tye and his raiders to wreak havoc on the region, mostly around Monmouth County. Like Colonel Tye, many of his men were slaves who had escaped from this area and they often took the opportunity to exact revenge on their former masters and their families, sometimes gruesomely but few today would say without justification. Colonel Tye became feared and loathed by the American revolutionaries but, being so few and knowing the terrain so well they were extremely hard to catch. Particularly in the summer of 1779 Colonel Tye and his Black Brigade devastated the region, plundering farms and plantations, capturing rebel supplies, emancipating slaves and striking terror into the hearts of the disloyal populace. By winter they joined forces with the Queen’s Rangers (a rather elite unit also made up of American loyalists) and aided in the British defense of New York.

Colonel Tye and his men fought on as they had before into 1780 becoming widely known for tactics most would describe as ruthless, partly because they were known for assassinating several leading American “patriots” such as Joseph Murray (who himself was known for executing loyalists). In fact it was while pursuing American Captain Joshua Huddy that Colonel Tye was wounded in the wrist by a musket ball. Tetanus and gangrene later set in and some time later Colonel Tye died. Although not much remembered today, Colonel Tye was a master of irregular warfare and his raids were a great help to the British war effort. As little known as he is now he was positively infamous in his own time among his enemies. Even among the British his methods made him something of an unsavory character to some but, rest assured, it was not his tactics that cause him to be ignored by most history books today but simply the side for which he fought; King, country and his case -emancipation.

The Siege of 96, South Carolina, 1781

One of the lesser known engagements of the American Revolution was the siege of Ninety Six, South Carolina in the summer of 1781. Lasting a total of twenty eight days it was the longest siege of the Revolutionary War. It was a battle which also displayed the extent to which the conflict was a civil war as almost all of the participants were American colonists; Whigs supporting the new United States government on one side and Tories loyal to King and country on the other. At the remote outpost of Ninety Six played out a showcase of the political struggle which had long divided the American colonies; opposing adherence to revolutionary republicanism or traditional British constitutional monarchy, one or the other of which would necessarily perish.

Today, Ninety Six, South Carolina is a small, quiet town; an average picture of the American deep south. However, in 1781, Ninety Six was the most prominent settlement in the backcountry of South Carolina; a frontier outpost that was the center of military activity in the region. On May 12, 1780 Crown forces under Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton had captured the vital port city of Charleston, South Carolina in one of the most stunning defeats suffered by the American revolutionary forces during the war. General Charles, Earl Cornwallis was left in command with the aim of marching north in a campaign to restore the southern colonies to Crown control and rally the many loyalists of the region to fight alongside the British.

In embarking on this operation, Lord Cornwallis divided his army into three columns which were to secure Camden, Augusta and Ninety Six. British and loyalist forces secured the post and established a garrison there at the stockade fort. Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger, himself an American loyalist, was placed in command. When Major Patrick Ferguson and his loyalist forces were beset by rebel troops at King's Mountain, Ferguson called on Cruger for help but all of his messengers were intercepted. Ferguson and his force were annihilated with many of the survivors being massacred by the revolutionaries. Nevertheless, Cornwallis continued his advance north. Garrisons were left at Charleston, Camden, Augusta and Savannah as well as Ninety Six to hold South Carolina. The area was left under the overall command of the capable Lieutenant Colonel Francis, Lord Rawdon.

The Crown forces soon came under renewed attack by revolutionary forces under General Nathanael Greene. Supported by the notorious rebel guerilla leader, Francis Marion a.k.a. the Swamp Fox, Greene took a position on Hobkirk's Hill near Camden. Despite being heavily outnumbered, Lord Rawdon attacked Greene and defeated him in a hard fought battle. Although he had been victorious, Rawdon had taken heavy losses which could not replace. He therefore decided to pull back and conserve his forces around Charleston. Soon, in the face of unrelenting rebel pressure, every Crown post in South Carolina had fallen to the enemy with the sole exception of the small loyalist garrison at Ninety Six.

Realizing that the position would be nearly impossible to hold under the circumstances, Lord Rawdon sent orders to Lieutenant Colonel Cruger to evacuate his forces to Charleston. However, rebel troops intercepted all of his messages and without any other orders, Cruger grimly determined to defend Ninety Six to the last in the middle of a sea of revolutionaries. With only 550 men, consisting of loyalist provincial troops from New Jersey, New York, South Carolina loyalist militia and black pioneers, Cruger constructed an earthen star fort on the opposite side of the village of Ninety Six as the stockade fort with his soldiers and slaves borrowed from farms in the vicinity. The fighting between the rebels and loyalists had always been fierce, and everyone in Ninety Six knew they could expect little mercy at the hands of the rebels if they should be taken alive.

On May 21, 1781 General Greene arrived with about 1,000 men. Despite having the loyalists greatly outnumbered, Greene knew from the new fortifications that a direct assault would be all but impossible. In an attempt at psychological warfare, a New Jersey loyalist recalled how Colonel "Light Horse Harry" Lee paraded the Crown prisoners they had taken at Augusta with flags revered and mocking music to humiliate the prisoners and intimidate the loyalists in Ninety Six. However, his tactic had the opposite effect and the display only encouraged the loyalists to resist all the more rather than surrender and become objects of ridicule for the rebel forces. The fact that most of the men in Ninety Six were loyalists who were only too aware of the rebel atrocities against other loyalists, harassing civilians and slaughtering prisoners and wounded men, also instilled in them a resolve to fight on long after many other soldiers would have reasonably given up.

General Greene decided to lay siege to Ninety Six and enlisted the help of his Polish engineer Colonel Thaddeus Kosciuszko who supervised the sappers in building several approaches and parallel trenches to encroach upon the star fort. The loyalists were quite amused on one occasion when Kosciuszko bent down to inspect a mine and was wounded in the buttocks. Both sides suffered mightily in the intense heat and hard conditions. The clay was very hard to dig through and the Crown forces began to suffer from lack of water. The loyalists tried to dig a well in the middle of the star fort but without success. At first, the rebels were brazen enough to try entrenching a mere 70 yards away from the Star Fort. Colonel Cruger quickly sent troops out to attack the work party and drove them off, taking all of their tools. Taught a lesson by this, the next entrenchments were started at a wiser distance of about 200 yards. On June 3, the revolutionaries finished their second parallel. The Ninety Six garrison was forced to send out slaves, stripped naked, to bring in supplies under the noses of the rebels who could not see them in the darkness among the many felled trees.

On June 10 the revolutionaries finished their third parallel, which brought them within musket range of the Crown defenses. The fighting increased but the loyalist canon fire did a good job of holding off the rebel troops. In an effort to neutralize the Royal Artillery, on the night of June 13 the revolutionaries built a 30ft log tower, as they had done earlier in a tactic used since ancient times, upon which to place their infantrymen to fire down on the Crown gun crews. However, the move was not entirely successful. Nonetheless, on June 17 the loyalists had to abandon the stockade fort and Colonel Cruger began to worry that his end was in sight. Fortunately, his appeals for help were able to get through, though General Greene was able to intercept information that Lord Rawdon was then marching to the relief of Ninety Six with 2,000 Crown troops. Faced with this news, General Greene decided that he would have to attack Ninety Six before Lord Rawdon arrived. Greene ordered the notorious guerilla leader Thomas Sumter to intercept Rawdon, but the Crown forces eluded him and continued toward Ninety Six unhindered.

On June 18, at noon, Colonel "Light Horse Harry" Lee occupied the stockade fort west of town with his legion. General Greene then attacked the star fort from the third parallel under cover of artillery fire. However, the 10-12ft thick earthworks proved to be too strong for the rebel artillery. In preparation for the assault, General Greene sent 50 men forward with axes to cut through the obstructions and sharpened stakes surrounding the fort. Men with hooks sliced through the sandbags on the parapets and Colonel Cruger, desperate to ward off the attack, sent troops into the ditch surrounding the fort where fierce hand-to-hand fighting broke out as revolutionary and loyalist Americans struggled for control of the approach to the fort.
It was vicious combat, but with his advance troops faltering, General Greene planned to launch a general assault in a desperate effort to overwhelm Ninety Six. However, on June 19, Greene spotted cannon fire from the hills to the east. Lord Rawdon was announcing his imminent arrival which encouraged the loyalists under Cruger to fight on and demoralized the revolutionaries. Having already taken heavy losses and facing the prospect of being crushed between Cruger and Rawdon, General Greene decided to take his exhausted and bloodied army and retreat. On June 20, before daybreak, Greene slipped away across the Saluda River before Cruger and Lord Rawdon could give chase.

With Lord Rawdon in Ninety Six and Greene safely away, both sides could take stock of their losses. Lt. Colonel Cruger and his 550 loyalists had lost 27 men killed and 58 wounded. Greene, on the other hand, suffered much more. Out of the 1,000 men Greene brought to Ninety Six he lost 58 men killed, 70 wounded and 20 missing. However, in spite of inflicting such a costly defeat on General Greene, Lord Rawdon still had no intention of trying to hold Ninety Six indefinitely and by the next month the Crown forces had abandoned the post and taken up a more compact position on the coast. Loyalist families followed the troops, knowing from first-hand experience the persecution they would endure at the hands of the rebels without Crown protection. The siege of Ninety Six stands as a testament to the divided loyalties among all Americans at the time of the Revolution and the extreme brutality this encouraged. The loyalists forces inside Ninety Six fought with a determination born out of the knowledge that they were not just fighting for a cause, but fighting for their lives and their performance was brilliant and heroic.