forty-five men of his regiment, pressing forward to the fences on the
enemy's left, drew upon him the bayonets of the British, before which
they yielded. Marion's men, in the meantime, seeing the danger of
Taylor's party, with a degree of firmness and gallantry which would have
done honor to any soldiers, rushed through a galling fire and extricated
them; and, notwithstanding the imperfect covering afforded them by the
rail fence along which they ranged themselves, they continued to fight
and fire as long as a single charge of ammunition remained with the
corps. The brunt of the battle fell upon them, and they maintained in
this, the reputation acquired in many a border struggle. More than fifty
men, all of Marion's, were killed or wounded in this affair, but the
loss did not dispirit the survivors. They were drawn off in perfect
order, only when their ammunition was expended.

The fight lasted three hours, from four o'clock until dark. Seventy
of the British fell. But the want of the field-piece left behind with
Singleton, and the failure of their ammunition, not a charge of which
remained with the Americans at the close of the fight, saved the enemy,
whose infantry alone, according to Sumter, was superior to his whole
force. The Americans attacked them with half their number. But Coates
held his position, and tidings of the approach of Rawdon, who had left
Orangeburg, prompted Sumter to retreat across the Santee. His expedition
had not been successful. It does not concern us to inquire by whose
errors or defects it failed. Enough, that, in all things, where Marion
and his men were concerned, they acquitted themselves in a manner
calculated to sustain their former reputation. The attack upon Coates
at the house, we are told, was made against Marion's opinion, who blamed
Sumter for wasting the lives of his men. Without a field-piece, it
was scarcely possible that an inferior should have succeeded against a
superior force, in a strong position. Sumter was courageous to rashness.
His spirit could not be restrained in sight of the enemy. With a brave
force at his command, he was not satisfied to be idle, and his courage
was frequently exercised at the expense of his judgment. The men of
Marion complained that they had been exposed unnecessarily in the
conflict. It is certain that they were the only sufferers. Had Sumter
but waited for his artillery, and simply held the enemy in check,
the victory must have been complete, a