During the Revolutionary War a battle was fought at Musgrove Mill on August 19, 1780 at a ford of the Enoree River, near the borders of Spartanburg, Laurens and Union Counties. About two hundred Patriots under the command of General Elijah Clarke defeated approximately 300 Loyalists. The Loyalists, encamped at Musgroves Mill, guarded a ford on the Enoree and thus controlled the local grain supplies. The story is told that a local farmer warned the Patriots that the Tories were recently reinforced by about one hundred militia and two hundred provincial regulars who were en route to join the British Major Patrick Ferguson. But the position of Patriots was already compromised and the horses requiring rest, so the patriots were compelled to make a stand and fight despite the odds. They formed a breastwork of brush and timber on top of a ridge across the road leading down to the mill and a band of about twenty men under the leadership of Captain Shadrach Inman crossed the Enoree and engaged the enemy. Feigning confusion they retreated back toward the line of ambush until the Loyalists were nearly on the Patriot line. When the Loyalists spotted the Patriot line, they fired too early. Meanwhile, the Patriots held their fire until the Loyalists were within the killing range of their muskets. But that did not hold back the Tory regulars who nearly overwhelmed the right flank of the Patriots with a bayonet charge. Captain Isaac Shelby jumped into action and caused his reserve of the "Overmountain Men" to rush into battle while shrieking Indian war cries. A number of the Tory officers went down and while the militia wavered, the Patriots broke through, running, yelling and shooting. Sixty-three Tories were killed and seventy taken prisoner while the Patriots lost only four men, and twelve wounded.
By John Foxe - Own work, Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=5613036
SUBSCRIBE HERE
 |
|
|
|
No comments:
Post a Comment