unty. A few days afterwards they were
joined by some Carolina militiamen under Colonel Hammond and Major
Jackson.

With this force, Colonel Williamson took up a position twelve hundred
yards from the British works, and fortified his camp. The Americans were
compelled to wait nearly a month for the aid they expected from General
Greene. The militia, worn out with waiting for the reenforcements, were
about to withdraw from the camp in despair, when Jackson, that truly
great Georgian, made them an address full of the most passionate and
patriotic eloquence, and this appeal changed their purpose. Jackson's
voice was afterwards heard in the halls of Congress; but we may be sure
that he was never more in earnest or more truly eloquent than when he
pleaded with the faint-hearted Americans to stand to their cause and
their arms. Jackson's address revived their courage; and when, on
the 15th of May, Elijah Clarke rode into camp, restored to health
and accompanied by one hundred fresh recruits, the confidence of the
militiamen was fully renewed.

It was at this time that General Pickens and "Light Horse Harry" Lee
(the father of General Robert E. Lee) were ordered by General Greene to
march on Augusta and capture that post When Lee reached the neighborhood
of Augusta, he learned, from a party of light horse which he had sent on
ahead to collect prisoners and gain information, that the annual royal
present intended for the Indians had arrived at Fort Galphin, some
distance below Augusta. The present comprised blankets, liquor, salt,
small arms, powder, and ball. There was a great lack of these articles
in the American camp, and Lee resolved to capture them. The supplies
were so valuable, that Brown, the British commander, had sent two
companies from Augusta to garrison Fort Galphin. This was the situation
when "Light Horse Harry" arrived on the ground. The British in Augusta
had not yet discovered his approach, and promptness was necessary.
Leaving Eaton's battalion, the artillery, and the footsore men of the
legion, to follow more slowly, Lee mounted a detachment of infantry
behind his dragoons, and made a forced march to Fort Galphin.

This point he reached on the 21st of May, 1781. The weather was
extremely hot, and for miles the troopers and their horses had been
unable to find a drop of water: consequently neither the men nor the
animals were in a condition to make the attack when the command was
brought to a halt under th