Ranger Adrian tells the story of the little-known Snow Campaign.

William: Hey everyone, and welcome to Southern War, a podcast about the Southern Theater of the American Revolution.

[sound effects of musket shots, men shouting, and horses running]

William: I’m Ranger William from Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail.

Adrian: And I’m Ranger Adrian from Ninety Six National Historic Site. William: Together we will explore some of the well-known and not so well known stories from the American Revolution here in the American South. Time to make the history.

[sound effects of musket shots, men shouting, and horses running]

William: So today we are joined with Ranger Adrian again, and we’re gonna be diving into some really cool stories. I’m excited to hear about this, something that maybe not a lot of historians know about here in the southern theater, here in South Carolina, and that is the Snow Campaign. So welcome Ranger Adrian!

Adrian: Thank you!

William: So let’s start out with the really cool name. Not every military campaign gets a snappy little title like this, the Snow Campaign. Can you tell us why that is and kinda start setting the scene for us.

Adrian: Yeah, so the Snow Campaign happens after the battle at Ninety Six, almost directly after, by December right around Christmas. The Snow Campaign happens, the battle happens, and just after the battle when everybody’s marching back to Charleston it decides to snow. And it snow almost two feet in thirty, thirty hours straight. So, that’s unusual in South Carolina even at that point in time.

William: Right, ‘cause you are looking at this happening, this, this era, during the Little Ice Age.

Adrian: Mhmm.

William: So it was a little bit cooler, it was a little more snowy and icy. But yeah, you said thirty, I’m sorry, two, no, two feet in thirty hours?

Adrian: Yeah.

William: Yes, that, I think that’s definitely a good monicker. The battle of the blizzards, the snow campaign, something like this; gotta be catchy. So you’re saying this is happening after the Battle of Ninety Six, and this is the first battle, November 19th through 21st, 1775 correct?

Adrian: Right. So, that battle happens, and if you remember during the agreements, cessation of arms, part of the agreement is, and quote “should any reinforcements arrive to Major Williamson or Major Mayson, they also shall be bound by the cessation.” Apparently this does not happen, because we end up with the Snow Campaign. And the Snow Campaign is led by Colonel Richard Richardson. He had been marching into the backcountry while the battle at Ninety Six was going on. At first he did not know the battle was going on, but when he learns about it he kinda changes his direction, crosses the Congaree River, and heads to Ninety Six hoping to make it to Ninety Six in time to bring relief to Major Andrew Williamson. Of course we know he does not make it. And then when he finds out that the battle is over, and finds out that this agreement, this peace treaty, has been made, he brings in a council of war and they debate “do we qualify for this agreement? Are we to be held to it?” And they all decide that no, they’re not held to it, even though they’re supposed to be reinforcements for Williamson. William: And now to clarify, we’re looking at the patriot forces here, the rebels, the whigs, the congress-men…

Adrian: Right.

William: Okay.

Adrian: Right. Yeah.

William: So how big is Richardson’s column that he’s he’s marching with? Like how close did he cut it to getting there to the siege of Ninety Six in time to relieve the besieged patriots and chase off the tories?

Adrian: Um, he’s, he’s at least a week if not more behind schedule [laughs]

William: Oh wow.

Adrian: But, yeah, but he does have a pretty large group of men and it just keeps growing. Early in his march after he crosses the Congaree he has around 1,500. By the end of the Snow Campaign in late December it has grown to around 3,000. And these men are coming from all areas of South Carolina, but also he has 500 men from North Carolina that join him. So not all South Carolinians.

William: So you’re looking at a massive army of Patriot reinforcements…

Adrian: Mhmm.

William: Led by, I’m assuming, a pretty powerful and influential officer, arriving in the backcountry, just as they have missed the first battle in the southern theater. They have just missed the Battle of Ninety Six.

Adrian: Right.

William: And they decided that they are not held by the peace treaty, even though they kinda fall under that definition of reinforcements to arrive, what’s going to be their course of action? Um.

Adrian: Right.

William: I think we talked about back in the Ninety Six episode that the loyalists do hold to this treaty and do disband, um, so now here is Richardson in a region with no real mobilized forces to contend him: what is he going to do now?

Adrian: Right. Yeah. So, and I did want to mention that Richardson, he was born sometime around 1704 so he’s one of the older influencers in the area, and he was in the Anglo-Cherokee wars back in the 1760s, so he’s, he’s had a lot of experience and had time to you know grow that influence. But he and his men decide that “you know what? We just need to put an end to this loyalist uprising” basically. And they decide that they’re going to start capturing loyalist leaders and any other people who may oppose them. So they begin kinda rounding them up. Colonel Fletchall is one of the first loyalists, major loyalist leaders that they are able to take prisoner. There’s kind of conflicting stories on how he’s captured. One story says that he, his house was surrounded by like 300 men and he was taken there, and then another one, at least in Richardson’s letters Henry Laurens, says that he was captured from a cave where he was hiding. But they capture Fletchall, they capture Pearis, um, and some other leaders before they even really truly get started in the campaign. By December 2nd, they’re camping across the Saluda River, in that area where the Broad River joins in, at a place called McLaurin’s Store. And this is where Richardson issues a proclamation a couple days later, um, with what his plans are and what he wants all the locals to do. So the proclamation basically demanded that the local inhabitants hand over any one who had participated in the taking of the supply wagon that kind of started the battle of Ninety Six, and then who also participated in the Battle of Ninety Six. Primarily, they're focus being Patrick Cunningham, Henry O'Neill, Hugh Brown, David Russ and Nathaniel Howard and Henry Green, but other ones were, you know, commanded or wanted as well. But those were the most prominent people. After that he sits around and waits to see if anybody's gonna follow those instructions, if anybody's going to hand them over or tell them where they're at and during that time he is joined by several other regiments, a total of 550 men. At that point, and then he also gets word that the regiments from North Carolina are coming down to join them, so his ranks are really starting to swell. On December 12th that's when we know that his force has grown to around 3,000 men and they are at this point near the great survey line or the Cherokee border. That border was around like the Greenville, what is Greenville County today, that part of South Carolina.

William: So, so real quick, I was just about, I was thinking about that.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: You're talking about being McLaurin’s Store and being joined by these North Carolinians. You mentioned the area where the Saluda joins the Broad, about, yeah, about where do we think this camp may have been today?

Adrian: So I'm not positive on that one. I do have kind of a better idea of where the actual when they end up having the battle where the battle was located.

William: So what you're talking about being near the survey line, the Cherokee boundary line, I believe that it's been identified as kind of Greer, SC today kind of between Greenville County to the west and Spartanburg County to the east that that was part of that boundary line.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: So assuming somewhere around there may have been this camp?

Adrian: Somewhere around there. I mean, it's a, you know, it's a pretty long line. But yeah, I think somewhere in that Greer - Greenville area.

William: OK.

Adrian: Well, like I said, by this point he has captured some of the loyalist leaders, but he really I think he really is wanting Cunningham, honestly. He's kind of the one to stir all the problems up. On December 16th Richardson's men are camps near Camp Liberty, which is on the Enoree River, and they get word that Richard Pearis's son and some others have gone to the Cherokee and they are trying to get the Cherokee to support their side and the loyalist side. But they are unsuccessful. That's probably good for Richardson, but probably good for the Cherokee as well. I mean, 3,000 men is a lot.

William: Right.

Adrian: And then finally on December 21st, Richardson actually kind of splits up his army. He sends a detachment of around 1,300 under the command of Colonel Thomas Ford, past the line. They marched 23 miles not directly into the line, but kind of along the line on the other side of the line, and they finally come across the loyalist camp. There are about 200 loyalists in this camp, including Patrick Cunningham. Um, they're able to sneak up on them, and so at night, they sneak up, circle around. The plan is to attack at daybreak. Before they can completely circle around, before daybreak, they are kind of discovered early in the morning. Umm, but it's, they’re still pretty well surrounded or the loyalists are pretty well surrounded. However, it does give enough warning for Patrick Cunningham to escape. But even with him escaping around 130 of those 200 men are captured.

William: Goodness.

Adrian: Yeah, it's a pretty devastating capture. Uh, kind of, I guess, funnily, funny, Richardson writes in his letter to Henry Laurens that, yeah, the alarm alerted Patrick Cunningham, who was able to escape on a bare back horse. And then he writes kind of in parentheses, without his breeches. So it's kind of a interesting mental image.

William: Can’t even get dressed, running for your life…

Adrian: Uh-huh.

William: …in December, into a cane break or something, my goodness.

Adrian: Yeah. And he's and while he's running, Cunningham is basically telling everybody, you know, fend for yourself, run if you can, get out of here, there's no way we're gonna stand up against all these men. I mean 200 against 1,300, that's pretty, pretty slim numbers.

Adrian: A lot of people are captured, but as far as wounded and killed go, there's, of the loyalist of the 200 loyalists that were in the camp, 6 to 7 of them were killed and then of course, the 130 captured. And then on the patriot side, there was only one man killed and that was the son of Colonel Polk from North Carolina. So Thomas, and his men, Colonel Thomas and his men returned to the main force as soon as that battles over, they've got their prisoners. And it's almost as soon as they get back to the main camp is when it starts to snow. And like I said it's, at the beginning, it snows 30 hours, this is December 23rd, so right before Christmas Eve and blankets everything in at least 2 feet of snow. Unfortunately nobody is prepared for this weather. Nobody has really good clothing, clothing is scant, shoes are falling apart, nobody has tents, so a lot of men end up with frostbite and some end up with frostbite so bad that they lose the use of some of their extremities. Private Hugh Allison, who was on the Patriots side, lost all normal use of his fingers to the point where he could no longer hold a sword or fire a gun. And so for the rest of the war, he served as a “horse doctor” and also sometimes even stepped in and tended wounded men. So some people were permanently scarred from this campaign without without battle. A lot of people, actually. William: This is one of those stories that it's heart rending to hear, but it's really important that we that we talk about this because so often we think about the American Revolution in the context of the battles…

Adrian: Right.

William: …the fighting that was done, the violence, the bloodshed without remembering that just surviving in some of these conditions and locations, just surviving itself was the battle. It was not only man versus man, but it was man versus nature.

Adrian: Right, nature.

William: And this is this is an amazing example of this. I'm a little hesitant; I'm trying to imagine myself being sick or wounded, and here comes the doctor, who I know can't even pick up a sword or work a rifle…

Adrian: I know!

William: And he's the one who's gonna be tending to me. Hopefully he's doing something not delicate.

Adrian: Hopefully he's making, like poultices or something.

William: Applying a nice soft bandage or something.

Adrian: Yeah, yeah.

William: Uh, do we have any idea where the surviving loyalists, the escaping loyalists, Cunningham included, they're, they're tearing off, they’ve escaped…

Adrian: Right.

William: And this is the Battle of the Great Cane Break, correct?

Adrian: Yeah, yes.

William: Do we have any idea where they going?

Adrian: Yeah, so the battle actually the cane breaks were on the just right at the northern reaches of the Enoree River in what is now southern Greenville County, and they end up heading farther into the Cherokee territory, and then a lot of them will end up going into the Florida area. So when we get to Florida, we might hear some names that we've talked about previously.

William: And it's so funny because you're talking about these locations and you're looking at a pretty small scale we're talking about.

Adrian: Yeah. William: Oh, they gathered up where the the Broad and the Saluda Rivers meet, they're going up along the Enoree River. We're talking about a not huge geographic area, it's covered by one or two counties, and then you just drop that in there, “Yeah, and they're gonna make their way eventually to Florida.”

Adrian: Yeah.

William: Talk about a scale change. These guys are again tearing off into the woods in a cane break in December on a horse with no pants, and he's gonna try and pick up supplies and clothing…

Adrian: I would hope.

William: I am assuming some local people are helping them, other loyalist refugees are gathering together. You do see this big, I don't wanna call it a migration, but this big diaspora, this big kind of spread of loyalist refugees…

Adrian: Right.

William: …into anywhere that they can be safe, including a lot making their way all the way down to Pensacola or Saint Augustine. So hopefully some of them had some mixture extra threads for them because my goodness.

Adrian: Oh, I know.

William: I'm sure that snowstorm was not localized. Okay, so we're looking at big patriot victory, not a lot of bloodshed, but a massive blow to any efforts of the loyalist to organize themselves.

Adrian: Right.

William: Where are they gonna take all these prisoners? Do we know what Richardson is gonna do with these guys now that it's snowing as well?

Adrian: Yeah. So Richardson, now that it's snowing on Christmas Day, he dismisses the North Carolina regiments. So they can go home. And he also dismisses a large portion of the South Carolina regiments. The rest he will continue on with and they will march back to Charleston, taking all the prisoners with them. Before they start marching, however, he does make the majority of the prisoners sign a document stating that if they take up arms against the provincial government again or disrupt the peace that they are going to end up forfeiting their property. So they sign that and then he chains them, handcuffs them, and they all start marching towards Charleston. Snow is still there. The snow sticks around for about 7 days. The only reason the snow melts is that it starts to rain and sleet. So it's still cold, it's just not quite freezing when it's doing that. And the rain and sleet starts to melt the snow. And then of course, you've got the problems of the rivers start swelling and unlike today, we don't have a lot of bridges, so crossing rivers during that time can be very difficult. But they are finally able to make it back to the Santee area and once they make it back to the Santee area, Richardson dismisses even more of his of his troops and they continue and send the rest of the prisoners to Charleston. Thomas Fletchall is actually put in prison in Charleston and he will stay in prison until July of 1776. So he's he's in prison for what, a good 6-7 months?

William: Do we know where they're being held in Charleston?

Adrian H: There was a jail down in Charleston, but I don't know that it would hold that many people.

William: Okay, so because I know that when Richard Pearis is arrested, he's describes being jailed in the kind of the the dungeon under the Customs House.

Adrian: Ah yeah, that makes sense.

William: Which you can still visit and tour today.

Adrian: Yeah. Yeah.

William: And he's gonna be held there kind of the same as Fletchall until the the summer of ‘76.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: And I think he says that it's when the the the Cherokee War begins, he finally agrees to take the oath of allegiance and go out to the frontier to see how he can help try to keep the peace. So possibly some of their some of some guys are in those areas.

Adrian: Probably.

William: So we're looking at 130 guys captured here at the cane break. Do we have any idea how many prisoners Richardson ends up with total bringing back from this campaign?

Adrian: It's around, it's not much more than 130. I think it's like 136, maybe 140 somewhere in that area. Like I said, he had captured a few, but it was only really just about a handful or two before the cane break.

William: But even though it's not a huge number, you have to think of some of the personalities that he's been able to arrest. You mentioned Fletchall, Cunninghams on the run, he's taken Pearis.

Adrian: Right.

William: Richard Pearis, not the city.

Adrian: Yeah!

William: So you're looking at even though it's not…

Adrian: Yeah, if you're from the Greenville area, Paris Mountain is named for him, yeah.

William: Right, yes, Richard Pearis, I think there's a great information about him right there in downtown Greenville.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: I believe that's the, that's the part of the Reedy River where he actually had his home and his trading post. So you're looking at, not necessarily the numbers being what crushes the loyalist organization, but it's the leadership, it's the loss of these key figures.

Adrian: Yeah, it's all your leaders are pretty much gone. I mean by that by the time at the of the end of the Snow Campaign, other than Cunningham being on the run, there's really, really only one major loyalist leader left, and that's Thomas Brown, at least in the South Carolina - Georgia area. And he's not going to stick around terribly long.

William: Right. I believe we mentioned Cunningham making his way down to Florida eventually. I know Brown does as well.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: Just because there is no opportunity to try and organize anyone because of how scattered or defeated or captured they are.

Adrian: Right.

William: Because of Richardson. Because of this campaign, because of this massive mobilization of thousands of armed men.

Adrian: Right.

William: Uh, that kind of answers one question I had is kind of the aftermath. What do we see happening in this region in the aftermath of this campaign?

Adrian: Yeah.

William: Is there anything else that we need to add to kind of paint the picture?

Adrian: So there, yeah, there are actually some changes that come into effect. So from the time Richardson gets back to about late February, there is a system of disarming anybody else who may be, you know, rebelling against the new government. But finally that ends in February, and the area is divided into three electoral districts, as well as military regimental divisions. And so that division and being divided like that kind of gives that area that previously had very little representation, gives them some more representation with the new government. The area is also allowed to regulate their own local issues. Governmental issues. So you know, some of the complaints that had previously been reasons for people to to be loyal to the Crown are maybe not completely taken care of, but they're starting to be maybe understood, and hey, maybe we should give more representation to some of these people in the back country in this new government. So I think that kind of helps, and it kind of does, I think help along with having all your loyalists run out and tamped down. But I think it does kind of help somewhat keep the peace, at least until the Southern Campaign starts.

William: Right now I want to touch on something that you mentioned too about getting more of that representation in the backcountry. Because when you're looking at the American Revolution and it's beginning here in 1775, prior to the revolution, the the seat of power is Charleston…

Adrian: Yeah.

William: …that is the capital, both the seat economically, socially, but the seat of government is Charleston. And the representation is very much Charleston.

Adrian: Yes.

William: This is going right back to the regulator movement in the 1760s of the lack of government, the lack of law and order, the lack of representation in the backcountry compared to the low country.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: So I think, how much do you think is this, this getting more government, this creating these new districts in the West, is this trying to convince the backcountry to join this side, or is it simply trying to cut things up smaller pieces so they're easier to organize?

Adrian: Probably a combination of both. [laugh]

William: Right. And I'm I'm thinking back as well. You mentioned all the prisoners that Richardson takes. I recall coming across a document. It was a list of some of the names…

Adrian: Yeah, I actually, yeah.

William: and I believe he uses the term “scovilite.”

Adrian: Yes.

William: Have you come across this?

Adrian: So I do actually have that list been one somewhere in here. There is a book, well, it's actually a series of three books, called Documentary History of the American Revolution and volume one covers the Battle of Ninety Six and, the first Battle of Ninety Six, and the Snow Campaign. But that's from 1764 to 1776 and it's documents from that time period. But that list is somewhere in this book. But yeah, so I tried looking it up and what I got is that it was basically a derogatory term for a somebody who was loyalist, but the patriots were kind of saying that they were lawbreakers and and scallywags and stuff like that. So it is somewhat like they're trying to deface somebody's name.

William: Yes. So fun trivia, going back to when the regulators mobilized…

Adrian: Yeah.

William: …and they come near 4 or 5,000 men threatening to march on the governor in Charleston, and he raises the Moderators, the militia, to combat these vigilantes…

Adrian: Right.

William: He commissions a John Scovil to be one of their colonels.

Adrian: Yes.

William: And apparently he was not the most up and up individual. Apparently there were a few instances of him trying to swindle and cheat people, but yeah, so this is you see this, this derogatory nickname, Scovillite, because of his name to his men who opposed the Regulators. And I've always loved how here you are, a couple years later, with these guys, especially Richardson, given his status given his age, I'm sure he was a leading figure in the Regulator movement…

Adrian: Oh I’m sure.

William: …and now here you have him using this same derogatory Regulator war term for his loyalist prisoners.

Adrian: Right.

William: So maybe it's some of those same people. Maybe he's he recognizes them.

Adrian: Right could be.

William: Or maybe he just sees the similarities. Or he just figures, well, they're fighting us, they're nothing but a bunch of Scovillites.

Adrian: Right.

William: Uh, let's bring it back, guys. 18th century revolutionary slang. Scovillite is gonna be hitting the streets any day now. So some really cool comparisons with how you see the Regulator war shape the early years of the revolution here in South Carolina. The the use of some of these terms, some of the divisions of who's gonna be on what side, and then even the push to get more representation in the back country to give the the frontier settlers something that the British crown or at least the the British government in Charleston, had been unable to do earlier. Really interesting.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: Now I've got one of the questions for you, Ranger Adrian

Adrian: Okay.

William: We're looking at this, we kind of wrap, we - I think we put a pretty good bow on the Snow Campaign.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: We looked at some of the aftermath and all that, some of the big individuals. What other connections can we find in this? When we're looking at this story, those who are involved and the situation that they've created in the Southern Theater, where else can we see some connections to other parts of our history, of our story?

Adrian: Right. So we've already basically said that we'll probably see Brown, Thomas Brown, and some of the other loyalists in the when we get to Florida. But on the Patriot side, a lot of the men, Richardson included, they end up at down in Charleston at the Battle of Sullivans Island in, what is that, June 1776.

William: Mhm.

Adrian: So they're they're getting some action a little later on. And then, well, some of them, you’ll actually see maybe at some of the other battles, some of the larger battles, not all of them, but there's still some names out there that that'll be mentioned. You know, Snow campaign really wraps up the early part of the war for the most part other than, I guess, the Battle of Sullivan’s Island. But it wraps up the backcountry early-war period almost in a nice bow. And you don't get much going on back here until you get the fall of Savannah and the British forces start working their way inland much later in the war.

William: Right, because you've seen just such a scattering of loyalist leaders. Such a disheartening, I imagine, just disheartening patriot victory for the loyalists that there it's gonna be a while until they feel like they're supported enough, confident enough to try again to try and revitalize their campaign.

Adrian: Right.

William: You do see the loyalist refugees are gonna be involved in the Cherokee War there in that summer of ‘76, around the same time the British are attempting to attack along the coast, but as far as large internal campaigns, large groups of loyalists, large groups of patriots chasing each other, yeah, not until the British Army really comes back and gives them something to rally around, are you gonna see this part of South Carolina getting involved again.

Adrian: Yeah.

William: Thank you so much Adrian for telling us all about this, sharing with us this large, big military campaign here in December of 1775, the Snow Campaign aptly named for that 2 feet of snow in 30 hours. And that's going to conclude another episode of Southern War, a podcast about the Southern Theater of the American Revolution. So to learn more about the American Revolution and our home National Park sites, you can check out www.nps.gov/N I S I for Ranger Adrian and Ninety Six National Historic Site and www.nps.gov/O V V I for me, Ranger William and Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail. So thank you for listening, we hope you enjoyed, and we'll see ya’ll next time when we revisit the Southern Theater of the American Revolution.

Adrian: Bye! [sounds of musket shots, soldiers shouting, and horses running]