e men and officers, who had
borne the brunt of the contest. The term of service of the former had in
great part expired, some of his best officers were on furlough, and he
had offended others. Sumter had left the army in disgust; Pickens was
operating against the Indians; Marion was recruiting his brigade on
the Santee; Williams had gone home; Howard was in Maryland, scarcely
recovered from his wounds; Wayne was in Georgia, doing good service in
that quarter; St. Clair was absent on leave; Lee had gone to Virginia to
get married, and his legion was almost shorn of officers; Eggleston
had gone with him to Virginia, and the brave fellows, Armstrong and
Carrington, had fallen into the hands of the enemy. The time was well
chosen for mutiny, and as the hour drew near for the consummation of
the purpose of the conspirators, the British army was set in motion from
below,--not so secretly, however, but that their movements were made
known to the Americans. Symptoms of mutiny became apparent in the camp,
and it was necessary to proceed with vigor. Doubtful of a large number
of those around him, Greene summoned Marion with all his force from the
Santee, while his own army was kept in order of battle. The arrest of
Gornell, with that of four others, all sergeants of the Pennsylvania
line, took place the night before the conspiracy was to take effect.
Gornell was tried and executed; the others were sent under guard into
the interior. This proceeding was the signal for the flight of at least
a dozen more, who, having been committed, broke away on the night of
Gornell's seizure, and found protection with the enemy, who advanced in
force to receive them. This prompt proceeding suppressed the mutiny. The
development of the conspiracy, the state of preparedness in the camp of
Greene, and the movement of Marion, had the effect of discouraging the
farther advance of the British army; and Marion, while yet in motion
for the camp of Greene, from which he was but eight miles distant, was
summoned in haste to the protection of Georgetown, against which the
enemy was reported to have sailed from Charleston. A forced march of
four days brought him to White's Bridge, when it was discovered that the
alarm was unfounded. The enemy had not shown himself, and was not nigh.
In this march of one hundred and sixty miles, Marion's men had but a
single ration of rice. Their sole food, with this exception, was lean
beef. The march took place in April, when