ich, if we
are to estimate the merits of a leader only by the magnitude of his
victories, will leave us wholly at a loss to know by what means his
great reputation was acquired. But the value of his services is best
gathered from the effect which they had upon the enemy. The insults and
vexations which he unceasingly occasioned to the British, were not to
be borne; and Col. Watson was dispatched with a select force of five
hundred men to hunt him up and destroy him. We have seen Tarleton and
others engaged in the pursuit, but without success. Watson was destined
to be less fortunate. In the meanwhile, and before Watson came upon his
trail, Col. Peter Horry had been engaged in a series of petty but rather
amusing skirmishes, in the neighborhood of Georgetown. A party of
the British were engaged in killing beeves at White's bridge near
Georgetown. Horry's men charged them while at this employment, and
killing some, pursued the rest towards that place. The firing was heard
in the town, and the facts of the case conjectured. This brought out
a reinforcement, before which the detachment of Horry was compelled
to retreat. But, on gaining the woods, they were joined also by their
friends; and the fight was resumed between the Sampit and Black river
roads, with a dogged fierceness on both sides, that made it particularly
bloody. In the course of the struggle, Horry at one moment found himself
alone. His men were more or less individually engaged, and scattered
through the woods around him. His only weapon was his small sword. In
this situation he was suddenly assailed by a Tory captain, named Lewis,
at the head of a small party. Lewis was armed with a musket, and in the
act of firing, when a sudden shot from the woods tumbled him from his
horse, in the very moment when his own gun was discharged. The bullet
of Lewis took effect on Horry's horse. The shot which so seasonably slew
the Tory, had been sent by the hands of a boy named Gwin. The party of
Lewis, apprehending an ambush, immediately fell back and put themselves
in cover. The conflict lasted through the better part of the day, one
side gaining ground, and now the other. It closed in the final defeat of
the enemy, who were pursued with a savage and unsparing spirit. One half
of their number were left dead upon the ground. Their leader was Major
Gainey. Great expectations were formed of his ability to cope with
Marion. On this occasion, though he made his escape, his mode of