#89: The Battle of Camden, The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner, and Teatime at Hightower
For South Carolina history lovers far and wide! Enjoy weekly SC history and upcoming SC historical events
Welcome to the first 100 days of the South Carolina History Newsletter! My name is Kate Fowler and I live in Greenville, SC. I have a 9-5 job in marketing, and outside of work, have a deep love of history. I started this newsletter as a passion project to learn more about our beautiful state and build a community of fellow SC history lovers along the way! To establish a foundation for the newsletter and to grow my expertise on a wide variety of South Carolina historical topics, this past February I challenged myself to post 100 newsletters in 100 days. After this coming May 20th, the newsletter will become weekly. Thank you for joining the journey!
Dear reader,
Welcome to Newsletter #89 of The South Carolina History Newsletter! I’m so happy you’re here.
A quick note to just say a big THANK YOU as we approach the 100-day mark and we are nearing 600 subscribers, and 18 paid subscribers. Thank you to everyone who has replied to a newsletter to say hello, to suggest a topic, to cheer on the newsletter. It means a lot! Y’all are the best. And how lucky are we to live in, and learn about, our beautiful state of South Carolina… together!
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I hope you enjoy today’s newsletter, and as always, please feel free to reply to this email with your ideas and suggestions on South Carolina history topics you’d like to learn more about. I’m only a click away.
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And now, let’s learn some South Carolina history!
Yours truly,
Kate
(Writing from Greenville, SC)
➳ Featured SC History Event
Please enjoy our featured SC History Event below, and click here to visit my SC History Events Calendar that organizes all the upcoming SC history events I have discovered. Please let me know if you’d like to add an event to the calendar! Reply to this email or send me a note at schistorynewsletter@gmail.com.
Saturday, May 11th at 2:00 pm | “Teatime at Hightower” | Hightower Hall | McConnells, SC | $40 per member, pre-registration required
“You’re cordially invited to our second annual Teatime at Hightower, a CHM member-exclusive event.
Join us for afternoon tea on the veranda at Hightower Hall and delight in a scrumptious selection of tea sandwiches, blueberry scones served with lemon curd and cream, petite desserts, and tea!
Before Tea Time
Fashion a fascinator hat using paper flowers, feathers, ribbon, and colorful butterfly decorations
During Tea Time
Pinkies up! Enjoy your tea on the veranda with a delectable selection of savory sandwiches, freshly baked scones, and delicate desserts
After Tea Time
Create a custom tea blend to enjoy at home
Shop our All-Things-Tea pop-up shop
Stop by one of our Photo Op locations! Photo Ops can be found, inside Hightower Hall and on the front porch in front of the tower.
Take a self-guided tour of Hightower Hall and the Grounds
Tea attire is encouraged.
-This is a fixed menu; dietary restrictions cannot be accommodated.
-This event will be most enjoyed by ages 6 and up.
-In the event of inclement weather, the tea will be moved inside Hightower Hall.
-Tickets are only valid on the date selected. All sales are final. Ticket sales for missed visits will be considered a donation to Culture & Heritage Museum.”
➳ SC History Fun Facts
I.
Did you know that The Battle of Camden is considered one of the worst defeats in American military history?
The Battle of Camden was one of several critical defeats suffered by the Americans in the early stages of the British military offensive in the South.
After capturing Charleston in May 1780, British forces under Lt. General Lord Cornwallis established “a supply depot and garrison” at Camden as part of their effort to secure control of the South Carolina backcountry.
In July, American Major General Horatio Gates marched his army into South Carolina, intent on “liberating the state from British control.”
General Gates was known for commanding Patriot forces at the British defeat at Saratoga 3 years previously. Coming into the Battle of Camden, Gates had numerically superior forces to the British, and the odds looked good.
As Gates neared Camden, word of his movement reached Cornwallis at his headquarters in Charleston. The British commander immediately left the city to take the field against Gates.
Perhaps the first foreboding signs of war began to occur as Gates’ troops marched towards Camden and “frequently felt the bad consequences of eating bad provisions.”
Colonel Otho Holland Williams wrote of the army’s inability to forage for fresh food. They resorted to eating green corn “which was attended with painful effects. Green peaches also were substituted for bread and had similar consequences… It occurred to some that hair powder which remained in their bags would thicken soup, and it was actually applied.” The effects of these disgusting rations impacted the men in the upcoming battle. Just prior to the battle, Gates’ men were “breaking the ranks all night and were certainly much debilitated…”
Both armies executed a full moon, night march on August 15.
The two opposing armies’ “literally ran into each other” on the Great Wagon Road (see SC History Newsletter #78 on the Great Wagon Road) 8 miles north of Camden on August 16th at about 2:00 AM.
Continental Colonels Charles Armand and Charles Porterfield “clashed and skirmished in the dark with British Lt. Colonel Banister Tarleton.”
Both sides fell back to regroup. At early morning light, the two armies faced each other about 200 yards apart on the “under-forest of longleaf pine.”
The American Battlefield Trust explains how the battle unfolded:
“Under the custom of 18th Century warfare, the most experienced units were placed on the right of the line. Gates positioned the veterans from the Maryland and Delaware Line on the right. He should have recognized, however, that his opponent would do the same. The American commander positioned inexperienced Virginia militia under Brig. Gen. Edward Stevens on his left. When he arrived on the field Cornwallis formed the veteran 23rd and 33rd Regiments of Foot on his right to face Stevens. The regiments were led by one of his best line officers, Lt. Col. James Webster.”
When the British advanced and “presented bayonets,” the inexperienced Virginians immediately turned and ran. Their flight put the North Carolina militia in the center of Gates's line and the “American position quickly collapsed.”
The Continental Regulars from Maryland and Delaware, however, withstood the onslaught. Under Maj. Gen. Johann de Kalb, the Continentals remained on the field as Gates and the rest of the army fled.
The British won the battle after only 1 hour.
General de Kalb was mortally wounded, and he died several days later in Camden.
As many as 800–900 Patriots were captured or killed.
Roughly 2,000 Americans fled the action without firing at all. British Lt. Colonel Banister Tarleton pursued the fleeing Americans with “a short skirmish action at Granny’s Quarter Creek and then chased them north above Hanging Rock for more than 20 miles before finally turning back.”
At the end of the day, Lt. General Lord Cornwallis and his army of roughly 2,000 men defeated an army twice their size of 4,000 American troops under General Gates.
The Battle of Camden is considered “one of the worst defeats in American military history.”
Gates's defeat cleared South Carolina of organized American resistance and opened the way for Cornwallis to invade North Carolina.
After the embarrassment of Camden, Gates retreated to Hillsborough, North Carolina, where he composed his report to Congress on August 20th, 1780.
The report to the President of the Continental Congress, Samuel Huntington, began:
"In deepest Distress and Anxiety of Mind, I am obliged to acquaint your Excellency with the Total Defeat of the Troops under my Command."
In a letter to George Washington on August 30th 1780, Gates also wrote:
“But if being unfortunate is solely a Reason sufficient for removing me from Command I shall most cheerfully submit to the Orders of Congress; and resign an office few Generals would be anxious to possess...”
Indeed, 2 months after the loss at Camden, Major General Gates was replaced by Major General Nathanael Greene, who accepted the command of the Southern Army.
Greene went on to play a critical role in the Carolinas, directing operations that eventually led to the American victory. (Note from Kate: more on this in a future newsletter!)
Today, the Camden Battlefield is located about 5.5 miles north of Camden. There are yearly reenactments of the Battle of Camden that the public can experience. The next reenactment will be Saturday-Sunday, November 9-20, 2024. See website here. (Note from Kate: I have seen this live with my family and it’s a lot of fun!)
Approximately 479 acres of the core of the battlefield is owned by the Palmetto Conservation Foundation. The original 5 acres were owned by the Hobkirk Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) who gave their portion over to the current owners. The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved more than 294 acres of the battlefield as of mid-2023.
The site was declared a National Historic Landmark in 1961, and placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1966.
Aspects of the battle were included in the 2000 movie The Patriot, though were not totally historically accurate.
In 2022, the remains of 13 soldiers were discovered in shallow graves at Camden Battlefield: 12 who fought for the Continental Army, and 1 who fought for the British. They were subsequently reburied in 2023 with full military honors.
Please scroll to the bottom of this email for my source for this section
Please leave a comment below!
II.
Did you know that the infamous 1956 Caning of Senator Charles Sumner by US Representative Preston Brooks of South Carolina was spurred on by an anti-slavery speech Sumner had given just before — a fiery speech that was 111 pages long?
On May 22, 1856, the floor of the "world's greatest deliberative body", the U.S. Senate, became the scene of a bloody and history-altering incident.
In one of the most dramatic and deeply ominous moments in the Senate's entire history, a member of the House of Representatives entered the Senate Chamber and savagely beat a senator into unconsciousness.
The impetus for this clash came 3 days earlier when Senator Charles Sumner, a Massachusetts antislavery Republican, addressed the Senate on the explosive issue of whether Kansas should be admitted to the Union as a slave state or a free state.
In his "Crime Against Kansas" speech — a speech that was 111 pages long, that he delivered for 5 hours a day, over the course of 2 days (!) — Sumner identified two Democratic senators as the principal culprits in this crime — Stephen Douglas of Illinois and Andrew Butler of South Carolina.
If you are curious, here is the full text of the “Crime Against Kansas” speech.
Sumner characterized Douglas to his face as a "noise-some, squat, and nameless animal . . . not a proper model for an American senator."
Sumner then turned his speech to Andrew Butler, who was not present in the Senate chambers.
Mocking the South Carolina senator's stance as a man of chivalry, the Massachusetts senator charged him with taking "a mistress…who, though ugly to others, is always lovely to him; though polluted in the sight of the world, is chaste in his sight—I mean," added Sumner, "the harlot, Slavery."
U.S. Representative Preston Brooks was Butler's South Carolina kinsman. If he had “believed Sumner to be a gentleman, he might have challenged him to a duel.”
Instead, Brooks chose to use his cane.
Shortly after the Senate had adjourned for the day, Brooks entered the old chamber, and approached Sumner.
Moving quickly, Brooks slammed his metal-topped cane onto the unsuspecting Sumner's head. Brooks struck Sumner again and again until Sumner rose and “lurched blindly about the chamber, futilely attempting to protect himself.” After a very long minute, the skirmish ended.
Bleeding profusely, Sumner was carried away.
Brooks walked calmly out of the chamber without being detained by the stunned onlookers.
Overnight, both men became heroes in their respective regions.
In the aftermath of the “Caning of Charles Sumner” here were reports praising Brooks in the Southern papers:
From the Richmond (Virginia) Whig:
A glorious deed! A most glorious deed! Mr. Brooks, of South Carolina, administered to Senator Sumner, a notorious abolitionist from Massachusetts, an effectual and classic caning. We are rejoiced. The only regret we feel is that Mr. Brooks did not employ a slave whip instead of a stick. We trust the ball may be kept in motion. Seward [another abolitionist senator] should catch it next.
From the Petersburg (Virginia) Intelligencer:
We entirely concur with the Richmond Whig, that if thrashing is the only remedy by which the abolitionists can be controlled, that it will be well to give Senator William H. Seward a double dose at least every day until it operates freely on his political bowels.
From the Richmond (Virginia) Examiner:
Good!--good!--very good! The abolitionists have been suffered to run too long without collars. They must be lashed into submission. Sumner, in particular, ought to have nine-and-thirty [lashes] every morning... Senator Wilson...[is] also dying for a beating. Will not somebody take him in hand?... If need be, let us have a caning or cowhiding [whipping] every day.
And here were reports condemning Preston Brooks conduct in the Northern papers:
From the Boston Courier:
“Hon. Charles Sumner, one of the Senators of Massachusetts, was yesterday brutally assaulted by a ruffian named Brooks, who represents South Carolina in the lower House. Those who know Mr. Sumner will readily believe that nothing in his conduct or conversation could have provoked the outrage, and that it must be attributed to the bold and vigorous demonstration of the Kansas inequity, which he has just uttered in the Senate. The reign of terror, then, is to be transferred to Washington, and the mouths of the representatives of the North are to be closed by the use of bowie-knives, bludgeons, and revolvers. Very well; the sooner we understand this the better. If violence must come, we shall know how to defend ourselves. We hope, for the credit of the State, that every man in it will feel this outrage upon Mr. Sumner as a personal indignity, no less than an insult to the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and that there will be such a general and spontaneous expression of opinion, as will fully manifest our deep disinclination to submit to any repetition of the contumely.”
From The Cincinnati Gazette:
"The South cannot tolerate free speech anywhere, and would stifle it in Washington with the bludgeon and the bowie-knife, as they are now trying to stifle it in Kansas by massacre, rapine, and murder."
From The New York Evening Post:
"Has it come to this, that we must speak with bated breath in the presence of our Southern masters? ... Are we to be chastised as they chastise their slaves? Are we too, slaves, slaves for life, a target for their brutal blows, when we do not comport ourselves to please them?"
In the aftermath of the incident, “thousands attended rallies in support of Sumner in Boston, Albany, Cleveland, Detroit, New Haven, New York, and Providence.”
More than a million copies of Charles Sumner's “Crime Against Kansas” speech were distributed.
In the months that followed, there was an attempt to oust Brooks from the House of Representatives for his brutal behavior, but instead he received “only token punishment” in his criminal trial.
Instead, Brooks resigned in order to “allow his constituents to express their view on his conduct” and consequently, he was immediately reelected. Though he died shortly after his reelection at age 37.
In a resignation speech delivered on July 14, 1956, Preston Brooks said to the House of Representatives:
“Some time since a Senator from Massachusetts allowed himself, in an elaborately prepared speech, to offer a gross insult to my State [South Carolina], and to a venerable friend [Andrew Butler], who is my State representative, and who was absent at the time. Not content with that, he published to the world, and circulated extensively, this uncalled for libel on my State and my blood. Whatever insults my State insults me. Her history and character have commanded my pious veneration; and in her defense I hope I shall always be prepared, humbly and modestly, to perform the duty of a son. I should have forfeited my own self-respect, and perhaps the good opinion of my countrymen, if I had failed to resent such an injury by calling the offender in question to a personal account. It was a personal affair, and in taking redress into my own hands I meant no disrespect to the Senate of the United States or to this House. Nor, sir, did I design insult or disrespect to the State of Massachusetts.”
Meanwhile, it took Senator Charles Sumner 3 years to recover from the incident.
The Massachusetts Legislature reelected Sumner in 1856, "and let his seat sit vacant during his absence as a reminder of Southern brutality.” Sumner returned to the Senate, where he remained for another 18 years.
This infamous incident served to bring tensions between North and South to a fever pitch as the Civil War loomed.
The US Senate’s website summarizes the importance of the Caning of Charles Sumner: “The nation, suffering from the breakdown of reasoned discourse that this event symbolized, tumbled onward toward the catastrophe of civil war.”
Please scroll to the bottom of this email for my sources for this section
Please leave a comment below!
➳ Quote from an SC historical figure
“Sir, I cannot, on my own account, assume the responsibility, in the face of the American people, of commencing a line of conduct which in my heart of hearts I believe would result in subverting the foundations of this Government, and in drenching this Hall in blood. No act of mine, on my personal account, shall inaugurate revolution; but when you, Mr. Speaker, return to your own home, and hear the people of the great North and they are a great people speak of me as a bad man, you will do me the justice to say that a blow struck by me at this time would be followed by revolution and this I know."
— Continued excerpt from US Representative Preston Brooks in his resignation speech, July 14, 1856
Battle of Camden article sources:
“Battle of Camden 1780 | A Pivotal Moment in American Revolution History.” Experience Camden, South Carolina, 4 Apr. 2023, https://experiencecamdensc.com/visitors/what-to-do-page/historic-sites/battle-of-camden/#:~:text=On%20August%2016%2C%201780%2C%20more,defeat%20of%20the%20American%20Revolution. Accessed 9 May 2024.
“Camden Battle Facts and Summary.” American Battlefield Trust, https://www.battlefields.org/learn/revolutionary-war/battles/camden. Accessed 9 May 2024.
“The Battle of Camden.” SC Battle Ground Trust, https://www.scbattlegroundtrust.org/the-battle-of-camden. Accessed 9 May 2024.
The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner article sources:
“Secession Era Newspaper Editorials: The Sumner Assault.” Furman University Scholar Exchange, https://scholarexchange.furman.edu/secession-editorials/all/editorials/60/. Accessed 9 May 2024.
“Southern Newspapers Praise the Attack on Charles Sumner.” SHEC: Resources for Teachers, https://shec.ashp.cuny.edu/items/show/1548. Accessed 9 May 2024.
“Speech of Hon. P. S. Brooks, of South Carolina, on resigning his seat in Congress. Delivered in the House of representatives, July 14, 1856.” Library of Congress, https://tile.loc.gov/storage-services/service/rbc/rbpe/rbpe20/rbpe202/20201900/20201900.pdf. Accessed 9 May 2024.
“The Crime Against Kansas.” Senate.Gov, https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Crime_Against_Kansas.htm#:~:text=Adopting%20the%20manner%20of%20a,and%20the%20nation’s%20democratic%20institutions. Accessed 9 May 2024.
“U.S. Senate: The Caning of Senator Charles Sumner.” U.S. Senate, https://www.senate.gov/artandhistory/history/minute/The_Caning_of_Senator_Charles_Sumner.htm. Accessed 9 May 2024.
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