n Act; but the
necessities of the time seemed to demand it, and it will be difficult
for any judgment, having before it all the particulars of the cruel
civil war through which the country had gone--not to speak of the army,
and the present and pressing necessity for maintaining it--to arrive
at any other conclusion, or to censure the brave men who urged and
advocated the measure. The proceeding seems perfectly defensible
on general principles, though in particular instances--as in the
application of all general principles--it may have been productive of
injury. The estates of the loyalists, by this measure, were seized upon
as a means for building up the credit of the State, supplying it with
the necessary funds for maintaining order as well as war, and for
requiting and supporting that army which was still required to bleed in
its defence.

What part was taken in this act by Marion, is not known. Though kind and
indulgent in his nature, he was stern and resolute in war. We have no
reason to suppose that he entertained any scruples about a proceeding,
the necessity of which, at the time, seems to have been beyond all
dispute.

The absence of our partisan from his brigade, was almost fatal to it. He
left it with reluctance, and only with the conviction that his presence
in the Senate was important to the interests equally of the army and the
country. Indeed, without him there would not have been a quorum. There
were only thirteen Senators present. He was interested, besides, in the
passage of the new Militia Act, and in one designed to raise the
State quota of Continental troops. These were sufficient to compel
his presence. But he remained with reluctance. His letters from
Jacksonborough betray the most constant anxiety about his brigade. He
had yielded it to Horry with the most earnest exhortations to caution.
By his orders, the latter, the more completely to ensure its safety,
removed to a position on the north side of Wambaw, a creek emptying into
the Santee. Here, in an angle formed by the two roads which pass from
Lenud's Ferry road to Horry's plantation, about a quarter of a mile
from the bridge, Horry occupied a post which caution might have rendered
safe. In his rear was a wood. His newly raised regiment, not half
complete, lay at Durant's plantation, about a mile above, under the
command of Major Benson. Horry does not seem to have been remiss in his
duties, but about this time he fell sick, and, for some ti