hich it was the happy faculty of our partisan to
extract from his followers. It is to tradition that we owe the vague
memory of numerous like advantages, of which history preserves no
records. Under his guidance, his men seldom suffered panic. They fancied
themselves invincible when he led. In the present instance he declared
that not a man faltered--that he even had to restrain their eagerness,
and prevent them rushing out into the open field, to meet the charge of
the cavalry. His own coolness never deserted him. He never lost sight
of the whole field, in the vehement action of a part. His keenness of
vision, his vigilance of watch, his promptness in opposing his best
resources to the press of danger, of covering his weak points, and
converting into means and modes of defence and extrication, all that was
available in his situation--were remarkable endowments, which soon fixed
the regards of his followers, and upon which they unhesitatingly relied.
In the absence of his cavalry, a defeat would have been a rout; his
infantry would have been cut to pieces, and his cavalry subsequently
exposed to similar disaster. Had the latter been present, the safety of
the British must have depended solely on the fleetness of their steeds.
With this affair ended the actual conflicts of our partisan. His men
were not yet disbanded. He himself did not yet retire from the field
which he had so often traversed in triumph. But the occasion for
bloodshed was over. The great struggle for ascendancy between the
British crown and her colonies was understood to be at an end. She was
prepared to acknowledge the independence for which they had fought, when
she discovered that it was no longer in her power to deprive them of it.
She will not require any eulogium of her magnanimity for her reluctant
concession.

Chapter 20.

The British propose Terms of Pacification--Rejected by the
Civil Authorities--They penetrate the Combahee with their
Fleet--Death of Col. Laurens--Anecdote of Marion--Death
of Wilmot--The British evacuate Charleston--Marion
separates from his Brigade at Watboo--His Military Genius.

Though the war in Carolina was understood to be nearly at an end, and
the toils and dangers of the conflict well nigh over, yet motives for
vigilance still continued. There was ample room for vicissitudes. The
British still held possession of Charleston and its harbor, but they
were confined to these narrow limit