Qass'E.^ QT 
 Book .Gs2.P7 
 
A MEMOIR 
 
 L/C , 37/71 
 
 L ^ 
 
 OP 
 
 Gren, CMstoplier Gradsden, 
 
 r:ead before the 
 
 South Carolina Historical Society, 
 
 By F. A. PORCHER, 
 
 president south CAROLINA HISTORICAL SOCIETY. 
 
 PUBLISHED BY AUTHORITY OP THE SOCIETY. 
 O 
 
 CHARLESTON, S. C. 
 
 THE JOURNAL OP COMMERCE JOB OFFICE, 
 No. 2(J Chalmers Street. 
 
 ] 878. 
 
£1 ^o'l 
 
Memoir of Gen. Christopher Gadsden. 
 
 As I pass in review tlie history of 
 Soutli Carolina and the illustrious men 
 whose precepts, but still more whose ex- 
 amples made her what she was, I liave 
 always regarded Christoplier Gadsden as 
 one of the noblest of that noble band. 
 His was the stern virtue which we were 
 long taught lo believe, characterized the 
 ancient Spartan, tempered by the mild 
 influences of the modern Christian. He 
 was perhaps, what in our degenerate 
 / days would be called an impracticable 
 man; that is, a man who could not bend 
 from the dictate of principle to that of 
 polii;y, and could therefore, be neither a 
 good party leader, nor even a good party 
 man. He followed always the impulse 
 of incorruptible honesty, and was the 
 impersonation of the most exalted chiv- 
 alry. Fear and favor were alike foreign 
 to Ills nature. He i-espected himself, 
 and reverenced his Creator. Duty had no 
 more obedient follower; truth no more 
 devoted servant. Enthusiastic even to 
 , rashness in the cause of American Inde- 
 \ pendence, his capacious heart beat as 
 keenly for the wrongs of Massachusetts 
 as for the insults to Carolina. He served 
 his whole country with his whole heart, 
 and when he died and his remains were 
 committed to the keeping of his mother 
 9arth, she closed upon the noblest heart 
 that ever beat with love for his country's 
 virtues, or bled at witnessing the out- 
 rages which were heaped upon her de- 
 voted bosom. 
 
 More than seventy years have passed 
 since lie was removed from the sight of 
 man, and few memorials are left to record 
 his acts. A meagre account of his life is 
 to be found in the chapter of biographical 
 notices in Ramsay's fIistor3' of South 
 Carolina, and tradition has preserved a 
 few anecdotes. In essaying at this time 
 totrace the history of'his life, I cannot 
 promise to add anj^thing new. I can in- 
 corporate into the memoir some of the 
 K anecdotes, and a _fo£tunate chance has 
 \ put me in possession of some letters 
 ( which shed a bright, but a transient light 
 upon a portion of his history. While in 
 this Centennial year men are everywhere 
 celebrating the praises of the dead" of old 
 times, no titter theme can be selected for 
 Charleston than Christopher Gadsden, 
 and in the humble hope of reviving his 
 memory, I offer to the Historical Society 
 this contribution to the history of our 
 State, as exemplified in the life of one of 
 her illustrious sons. 
 
 Christopher Gadsden was born in 
 Charlestown, in 1724. His father w\as 
 Thomas Gadsden, a Lieutenant in the 
 
 Royal Navy, and the King's Col- •• 
 lector for the Port of Charleston. 
 
 Sent to England ft)r instruction, he re- 
 ceived a classical education, to which he 
 subsequently added a knowledge of some 
 of the oriental tongues. Returning from 
 England as a passenger on board a King's 
 ship, the purser died, and JNIr. Gadsden 
 was appointed to take his place, and con- 
 tinued to hold it for about two years. He 
 then left the service and devoted himself 
 to mercantile life, which he followed 
 with great success in Charleston. Like 
 many other merchants of this time and 
 place, he was also engaged in the occu- 
 pation of a planter. It was whilst en- 
 gaged in these pursuits that he construct- 
 ed the wharf which still bears his name. 
 This kind of architecture seems to have 
 pleased him, and to have called out his 
 mechanical powers. In 1776, when Gen. 
 Lee insisted on the necessity of having a 
 bridge from Sullivan's Island to Had- 
 drell's Point, so as to furnish an escape for 
 the troops under Moultrie and Thomp- 
 son in case of disaster, Mr. Gadsden, 
 then Colonel Gadsden, in command at 
 Port Johnson, undertook the work, and 
 from his own resources and his own 
 money, in a very few days, completed the 
 desired work. 
 
 In 1759 when Governor Lyttleton made 
 bis expedition against the Cherokees, 
 there was not a single field piece mount- 
 ed in all Carolina. Mr. Gadsden, who was 
 a member of the Legislature, obtained 
 the passage of an act for raising a com- 
 pany of artillery. He was appointed the 
 Captain of this company, and at the head 
 of it, accompanied the Governor into the 
 Indian territory. This was the origin of 
 what, after many changes and enlarge- 
 ments, was afterwards known as the 
 Ancient Battallion of Artillerv. 
 
 It is well-known that the unwise con- 
 duct of Governor Lyttelton resulted in a 
 peace so hollow, that at the very moment 
 that the people of Charleston were giving 
 him the honors of a triumphal entry on 
 his return, hostilities more frightful than 
 ever were recommenced in the interior. 
 In 1761 a well ordered expedition, com- 
 manded by Colonel Grant, of the regular 
 army, with a detachment of British 
 troops, aided by the South Carolina mili- 
 tia under Colonel Middleton, effectually 
 subdued the turbulent Cherokees and 
 gave peace to the country. I am not able 
 to find Mr. Gadsden's name among the 
 officers of this expedition. In Colonel 
 Middleton's subordinates were Moultrie, 
 Marion and Pinckney, who afterwards 
 distinguished themselves in the war of 
 
 
the Revolution. It is more than lilcel y 
 that the artillery company was then un- 
 der the command of its founder. 
 
 On a careful revision of the history of 
 the country befoi-e the outbrealc of the 
 war of the Revolution, it would seem that 
 two causes were at work in the several 
 colonies which harmonized witli each 
 other, and brought the North and South 
 to act together. The question of taxation 
 as such taken by itself was not sufficient 
 to justify war, for surely, never was a 
 people in Christendom so little disturbed 
 by the tax collector. It is true that the 
 conduct of our ancestors has been put on 
 the lofty ground of principle. It was 
 not the amount actually involved, but 
 the possibilities of the future which 
 guided our statesmen. I doubt whether 
 a prosperous people would ever exercise 
 s© much self-denial as to hazard their 
 prosperity because of a transient, and at 
 the worst, rather vexatious stretch of 
 power. The causes lay deeper than in 
 this apparently lofty principle, and it 
 pleased Providence to afflict England at 
 that critical moment with an obstinate 
 and conceited King and vain and unwise 
 Ministers. Had cotnuion sense gov- 
 erned the counsels of England, the epoch 
 of colonial independence might have 
 been indefinitely deferred. 
 
 England was using her colonies for 
 her own purposes, and the fostering of 
 her own industry. In the Northern 
 colonies she saw not only possible, but 
 actual rivals in her own peculiar line of 
 industry, and her jealousy was clearly 
 shown by an order which limited the 
 number of apprentices that any master 
 workman in the colonies might enter- 
 tain. The people of New England there- 
 fore had real causes of complaint against 
 the mother country, and the British Gov- 
 ernment acted with consummate folly, 
 when by the irritating and vexatious 
 Writs of Assistance, followed by the greed 
 of petty gain which proposed to raise a 
 revenue by a tax on stamped paper, they 
 gave the colonists a plausible ground for 
 resisting both the tax and the harassing 
 and vexatious restrictions Avhich had re^ 
 strained their social and industrial 
 growth. 
 
 At the South the case was different, 
 their productions fed the commerce of 
 England and soon were even encouraged 
 by bounties. The restrictions on trade 
 and industry were uncared for, because 
 they conflicted with no priyate interests. 
 South Carolina in particular was a pet of 
 the mother country. In 1773 Josiah 
 Quinc^, of Boston, visited Charlestown 
 and saw commercial activity, wealth 
 and magnificence, which he did not be- 
 lieve to exist in America. In this har- 
 bor were upwards of three hundred and 
 fifty vessels of merchants. The hospi- 
 tality which he largely enjoyed, showed 
 in every house luxury and wealth such 
 as he had never conceived. At a concert 
 of the St. Cecilia Society he saw upwards 
 of two hundred and fifty ladies. The 
 music of the concert was ravishing. 
 Three members of the permanent band 
 were employed at a salary of five hun- 
 
 5 
 
 X 
 
 dred guineas a year, and another musi- 
 cian was occasionally employed at fiftv 
 guineas a month, and the people who en- 
 joyed the means of indulging in such • 
 luxuries were^ going to hazard the^' 
 loss of all for a petty tax on 
 stamped paper, and a tax' upon tea, ; 
 a commodity probably unknown to nine- ' 
 tenths of the people of the colony. But v 
 there was another cause at work, one . 
 perhai^s more potent over the actions of ^' 
 men, which co-operated with the tax and / 
 fanned the flame of resistance, in fact ^ 
 gave energy and vitality to the tax; thisi • ' 
 was the habitual contempt with which { 
 American gentlemen were treated whenj 
 ever they had official interjourse with/ ^ 
 British officers, both civil and militarv. ^ 
 
 An order in council respecting the rank h^ 
 of American military officers was con- -, 
 sidered so outrageous to all manly self- 
 respect, that Washington, who had struck % 
 the first blow in the great war known as the ^ 
 seven year's war, threw up his commis- 
 sion in disgust. If he served with Brad- nJ 
 dock it was only as a volunteer. Brad- ^^ 
 dock had the good sense to value the v 
 presence of such a man on his expedi- J 
 tion, and earnestly solicited his company , 
 as a volunteer. It was his misfortune 
 that illness prevented the volunteer from 
 joining him until it was too late to save 
 him.>>f.Colonel Middleton, of South Caro- 
 lina, was hardly persuaded by Governer 
 Bull to take service under Colonel Grant 
 in the Cherokee war; and the Governor, 
 himself a Carolinian, knowing Dy expe- 
 rience the insolent temper of the British 
 officials, gave Colonel Middleton the ex- 
 traordinary power of resigning liis com- 
 mission whenever he should please. It 
 would be an unnecessary digression to 
 dwell longer on that history here. 
 
 This spirit of insolence was most offen- 
 sively manifested by Governor Thomas 
 Boone to the whole Legislature of South 
 Carolina, and Mr. Gadsden was, accident- 
 ally, an interested party in the trans- 
 action. 
 
 It had pleased Governor Boone to re- 
 commend an alteration of the election 
 laws of the provinces. The Assembly 
 not agreeing with the views of the Gov- 
 ernor, made no change in the law. Dur- 
 ing the session, sometime after the organ- 
 ization of the House, Mr. Gadsden pre- 
 sented himself for qualification as a 
 member for St. Paul's. After his cre- 
 dentials were approved by the Assembly, 
 he was. according to an old custom, sent ^ 
 to the Governor to take before him what ^ 
 was called the State oaths, viz: an oath of ^ 
 allegience to the King, and an oath ab- > 
 juring all cognizance of the right of the 
 Stuart familv. When he presented him- 
 self before the Governor, the latter not 
 only refused to recognize him on account 
 of the invaliditv of his election, but dis- 
 solved the Commons House of Assembly 
 for contumacy. 
 
 In thus determining against the validi- 
 ty of Mr. Gadsden's election, Governor 
 Boone violated all parliamentary law, and 
 established a personal despotism. Wher- 
 ever a representative body is known to 
 the law, it is invariably the final judge of 
 
 X 
 
 ^ 
 
^c 
 
 the qualification of its members. In the 
 next Assembly, which met in December 
 of that year, ' 1762, Mr. Gadsden was 
 a^ain a member. The Assembly imme- 
 diately protested against the illegality of 
 the late dissolution, and as the Governor 
 would Htake no concessions, they de- 
 clared that they would transact no bu- 
 siness with him until he sliould concede 
 the just claims of the House; and this 
 state of defiant hostility continued for 
 Cwo years, until Governor Boone, wearied 
 with the contest, left the province and 
 went home. 
 
 During this suspension of legislative 
 business he gave several exhibitions of 
 petty and childish insolence which must 
 have made a deep impression on a high- 
 toned, generous and manly people. Dur- 
 ing this session. Sir John Colleton pre- 
 sented himself and claimed his seat. After 
 his credentials were veritied he was sent 
 to the Governor to take the State oaths, 
 accompanied by Christopher Gadsden and 
 William Moultrie, who were sent accord- 
 ing to an old custom, first to certify to the 
 Governor that the candidate had been 
 duly elected, and then to certify to the 
 House that they had witnessed the ad- 
 ministering of the oaths to the new mem- 
 ber. Governor Boone demanded of 
 Messrs. Gadsden and Moultrie what was 
 their business there, and on being in- 
 formed in what capacity they were there, 
 replied that the Assembly had no light to 
 intrude visitors upon him, rang the bell, 
 and ordered the servant who answei'ed it 
 fco conduct these gentlemen out of his 
 
 Government unwisely gave them a pal- 
 pable cause of complaint by the passage 
 of the stamp act. The colonies were 
 greatly excited by the passage of this act, 
 and the ferment exhibited itself in several 
 of the legislatures. The General Court of 
 Massachusetts, in June, 1765, issued a 
 circular letter to the several colonies, 
 inviting them to meet each other 
 by their deputies in New York, in the 
 month of October following. In July the 
 letter was discussed before the House of 
 Assembly. After a long discussion, in 
 which the call was supported by Mr. Rut- 
 ledge, the subject was referred to a com- 
 mittee of which Mr. Gadsden was chair- 
 man. The committee reported in favor 
 of the proposed Congress, and Christo- 
 pher Gadsden, John Rutledge and 
 Thomas Lynch, Sen., were elected to re- 
 present the Colony. This action of the 
 Assembly, Mr. Bancroft regards as tlie 
 founding of the American Union by South 
 Carolina. "Massaciiusetts, he says, sound- 
 ed the trumpet, but to South Carolina is 
 it owing that it was attended to. Had it 
 not been for South Carolina, no Congress 
 would then have happened. When we 
 count up those who above others, con- 
 tributed to the great result, we are to 
 name the inspired madman James Otis, 
 and the great statesman, the magnani- 
 mous, unwavering, faultless lover of his 
 country, Christopher Gadsden." These 
 are the words of Bancroft. The measure 
 was supported by the eloquence of Rut- 
 ledge, but it was the zeal of Gadsden, 
 which gave aninuition to the party of as- , 
 house. Sir John Colleton was stopped, jistence. In a letter written thirteen vears 
 
 and, it is to be supposed, took the oaths. 
 The indignation of the Assembly at this 
 outrage offered to them through their 
 members may be conceived. At first 
 they refused to permit Colleton to take 
 his seat, inasmucli as none of their mem- 
 bers had seen him take the oaths. They 
 relented, however, so far as to permit 
 him to testify in his own case. Some 
 time afterwards, when Sir John Colleton 
 and Mr. Parsons were sent to attend a 
 new member for the same purpose, the 
 Governer repeated the insult, with an ad- 
 ditional outrage. He refused the testi- 
 mony of these gentlemen, as to the elec- 
 tion of the new member, saying that he 
 would examine the roll and judge for 
 himself. 
 
 Thus, now, were gentlemen, representa- 
 tives of the people, who might be reason- 
 ably supposed to represent the most re- 
 fined class of the people, rudely dismissed 
 from the Governor's housed and their 
 testimony refused as untrustworthy. Is 
 it surprising that such gentlemen should 
 eagerly catch at any opportunity for re- 
 venge which offered itself? And' shall we 
 be thought to diminish the lustre of their 
 fame, when we impute to wounded pride 
 the bold determination which they not 
 long afterwards made to sever them- 
 selves entirely from a Governuient 
 which could with impunity thus reck- 
 lessly insult them ? 
 
 Whilst the petty and childish insults of 
 Governor Boone were still rankling in 
 the hearts of these gentlemen, the British 
 
 afterwards to Wm. Henry Drayton, hej 
 says; "No man in America ever strove 
 more (and more successfully) first to 
 bring about a Congress in 1765, and then 
 to support it ever afterwards than myself." 
 Northern writers are disposed, I know 
 not why, to pass over the services of Rut- 
 ledge, and ascribe merit in preference to 
 any other claimant. I believe, however, 
 that in this case, but bare justice has been 
 done to Mr. Gadsden. There was at that 
 time this difference between his position 
 and that of Mr. Rutledge; the latter was 
 earnest in hoping for a redress of griev- 
 ances ; the former, even then looked for- 
 ward to a severance of the tie which 
 bound the colonies to the parent State. 
 
 The Congress of 1765 did little besides 
 making the several parts of America 
 known to each other. Two of the dele- 
 gates of South Carolina, Mr. Lynch and 
 Mr. Rutledge, were at the head respec- 
 tively of the committees to address, the 
 one, the House of Lords, the other, the 
 Commons of England. Here again, Mr, 
 Gadsden gave an exhibition of his stub- 
 born consistency. As a subject of the 
 King, he wotild address him on the sub- 
 ject of the grievances of the people, but 
 he would stoop to no petition to either 
 House of Parliament. "The House of 
 Commons, he said, refused to receive the 
 addresses of the Colonies, when the mat- 
 ter was pending; besides, we hold our 
 rights neither from them nor from the 
 Lords," but he was induced at last to 
 
withdraw his opposition, for, said he, 
 union is most certainly all in all. 
 
 It is known that if the aotion of the 
 Congress was inoperative, the sturdy- 
 opposition of the people caused the re- 
 peal of the Stamp Act. From this time 
 until the next Congress, in 1774, we tind 
 nothing to record of Mr. Gadsden. 
 That he was diligently engaged in his 
 private business we know, and also that 
 he was genex'ally a member of the Com- 
 mons House of Assembh'. In 1773, a very 
 intelligent gentleman from Boston, Josiah 
 Quincy, saw him one day in the House of 
 Commons, and recorded a few words of a 
 speech which is worth preserving as a 
 photograph memorial of the man. In his 
 journal, of March 19th, 1773, Mr. Quinc^y 
 says: "Spent all the morning in hearing 
 the debates of the House; had an oppor- 
 tunity of hearing the best speakers of the 
 Province. T. Lynch, Esq., spoke like 
 a man of sense aiid a patriot, with dignity, 
 tire, and laconism. Mr. Gadsden was 
 plain, hlunt, hot and incorrect,though very 
 sensible. In the course of the debate he 
 used these very singular exi)ressior.s tor 
 a member of Parliament, 'And, Mr. 
 Speaker, if the Governor and Council 
 don't see tit to fall in with us, I say let 
 the general duty law, and all, go to the 
 devil, sir, and we go aboutour business." ' 
 It is but a glimpse of the earnest man, 
 — but it reveals a world of character — he 
 was very unparliamentary, but he was 
 very much in earnest. 
 
 We will not repeat the oft- told story 
 of British taxation and American re- 
 sistance. You remember that a scheme 
 was cunnincly devised by which the 
 people would be enticed to drink 
 their tea and pay the obnoxious dutj'. 
 Alarmed at the prospect of seeing a 
 whole people recreant to their pledges 
 by the allurement of cheap tea, the 
 leaders of the revolutionary movement 
 organized resistance throughout the 
 (!ouutrv against this insidious measure. 
 In manv places, in this city among 
 (Hhers, the tea was openly put away for 
 destruction. In Boston a party of dis- 
 guised men went by night to the wharf 
 where the tea laden vessels were lying, 
 took out the accursed thing and cast it 
 into the sea. The open and undisguised 
 resistance met with no rebuke ; but as all 
 attempts to discover the Boston rioters 
 wei-e baffled, the ministry lost their 
 temper, and, in an unguarded moinent, 
 annulled the charter of Massachusetts, and 
 closed the port of Boston, making all 
 commerce with that city a punishable 
 otfence. 
 
 This high handed act of oppressive 
 vengeance acted through the whole 
 country like an electric spark. All felt 
 that the cause of disfranchised Massa- 
 chusetts was the common cause. At the 
 call of New York a Congress of the Colo- 
 nies met in Philadelphia, in September, 
 1774. The Representatives from South 
 Carolina were chosen by a general vote 
 of the citizens. The first measure of re- 
 sistence which suggested itself was a 
 general non-importatioD and non-expor- 
 tation agreement. This was opposed by 
 
 pleasant 
 a redress 
 was even 
 for inde- 
 
 the mercantile interest generally, ami 
 two sets of candidates were presented to 
 tl)e voters. Representatives of each were 
 elected, Mr. Gadsden, Thomas Lynch, 
 and ?::dward Rutledge, representing the 
 extreme party; Henry Middleton, and 
 John Rutledge, tlie moderate party. Mr, 
 Gadsden and J. Rutledge were respec- 
 tively the representatives, the first of the 
 extreme party for resistance, the 
 latter long continued to hope for 
 a restoration of the old 
 relations with England by 
 of greivanaes. The former 
 before this time, anxious 
 pendence, the latter came very slowly 
 and very reluctantly into the 'measure. 
 As the delegates elected represented th^e 
 two parties, it was agreed that no motion 
 or resolution of the Congress should be 
 binding uijon the colony, unless it was 
 agreed to by the deputies of the colony. 
 They went to the Congress unpledged, 
 uninstrucied. The people had perfect 
 faith in their patriotism and their wisdom. 
 
 It was desired to give the delegates an 
 official sanction by legislative action; but 
 Gov. Bull had always kept a strict eye 
 over the House of Assembly, and inva- 
 riably )>rorogued it whenever he thought 
 it was treading on dangerous ground. On 
 the present occasion it had been pro- 
 rogued to the second of August. It was 
 an old custom of the House to meet at 10 
 o'clock, but now all business had been 
 secretly arranged, and at 8 o'clock the 
 members were in their seats; a message 
 was sent to the Governor, to inform hinri 
 of their organization, and they instantly 
 adopted two resolutions, one approving 
 and confirming the election of the five 
 gentlemen whom the people bad chosen, 
 and another providing for the expense of 
 their voyage. The Governor, informed 
 of the unusal meeting of the House, in- 
 stantly sent for them to prorogue them. 
 But he was too late. In less than half an 
 hour the House had met, resolved, and 
 was prorogued. 
 
 In this Congress we find Mr. Gadsden 
 always acting with those who were fore- 
 most in leading on the revolution. Nay, 
 he may be said to have been the foremost. 
 Fancying that war was inevitable he 
 wished to secure to his country all the 
 advantages possible, and he urged upon 
 the Congress the expediency of at- 
 tacking Gen. Gage in Boston at once and 
 defeating him before he could obtain re- 
 inforcements. He was described by some 
 of the members as "if possible, worse 
 than ever; more violent, more wrong- 
 headed." The non -importation and non 
 exportation agreement was passed, with 
 an exception in favor of Carolina rice, 
 Mr. Rutledge gave good and satisfactory 
 reasons for this exception, but Mi*. Gads- 
 den stood alone in his opposition to it, and 
 even on his return home made efforts to 
 have the exception rescinded. Interest 
 and expediency were powerless with 
 him when principle was involved. 
 
 When the delegates returned home the 
 subject of the exception of rice from the 
 non-intercourse agreement was discussed, 
 and Mr. Gadsden earnestly moved that 
 
 /■ 
 
the execpttois be repealed. But Mr. Rut- 
 ledge insisted that tiie exception was the 
 only means by wliich the North and the 
 South could be placed on an equality of 
 sutt'ering in the non-intercourse measure 
 of resistence. It is, perhaps ou account 
 of his speech on that occasion that he has 
 ever since been made the object of relent- 
 less criticism by a certain party at the 
 North. 
 
 Hesaii "that be was in favor of im- 
 mediate non-intercourse, but the Con- 
 gress, in their wisdom, had postponed 
 it until the following September. That 
 the Northern trade would be but 
 little affected by the association, and he 
 saw no reason why our's should be 
 ruined. It was evident, he said, that the 
 Colonies were less intent to annoy the 
 mother country in the matter of trade, 
 than to preserve tlieir own trade ; so he 
 thought it but justice to his constituents 
 to preserve to them their trade as entire 
 as possible." Itis very remarlcable tljat 
 this language should have been used re- 
 specting the different positions of the 
 North and the South, not only by those 
 who were founding the Union, but at the 
 very moment the work ot Union was 
 going on. 
 
 The exception was retained by the As- 
 semblj^ but Mr. Gadsden, though over- 
 ruled in this matter, does not seem to 
 have lost the confidence of his constitu- 
 ents. He and Mr. Rutledge were both 
 returned to the Congress of 1775. 
 
 Before that Congress met, the revolu- 
 tionary war had commenced in the 
 skirmish at Lexington, and the Provin- 
 cial Congress immediately set about or- 
 ganizing the military force of the 
 province. In pursuance of this organiza- 
 tion, Mr. Gadsden was elected Colonel of 
 the First Regiment of Foot, and Williis.m 
 Moultrie of the Second. Both these gen- 
 tlemen had seen service in tlie Cherokee 
 war, and though elected on the same da^'. 
 Colonel Gadsden was the senior of Colonel 
 Moultrie, and on his return home to serve 
 his country in the arm\', he assumed the 
 command of all the forces of the province. 
 It appears by a note in Moultrie's Me- 
 moirs that he assumed the command in 
 February, 1776. 
 
 in March, of that year, it was found 
 absolutely necessary to establish civil 
 government in South Carolina ; the Pro- 
 vincial Congress, therefore, adopted a 
 Provisional Constitution, under which 
 John Rutledge was elected President of 
 South Carolina. It was thus that the call 
 of the citizens for their services at 
 home, deprived Gadsden and Rutledge, 
 her two most eminent citizens, of the 
 distinction of enrolling their names 
 among the signers of the Declaration of 
 Independence. 
 
 Early in June, General Charles Lee 
 arrived in Charleston, and assumed the 
 general direction of military affairs. 
 Colonel Gadsden's post was at Fort John- 
 son. Colonel Moultrie was stationed at a 
 point on Sullivan's Island, which com- 
 manded the entrance into the harbor, and 
 Colonel Thompson at the northeast of the 
 Island, to prevent the landing of troops 
 
 from Long Island. It is well known tliat 
 General Lee looked upon the tenui-e of 
 Sullivan's Island as a desperate measure, 
 and but for the obstinacy of President 
 Rutledge, he would have drawn off the 
 troops. He insisted upon the necessity of a 
 bridge across the north channel, so that 
 the troops might retreat to the main land if 
 necessary. This work was accomplished 
 at his own expense, by Colonel Gadsden. 
 The successful defense of the Island, by 
 Colonel Moultrie and Lieutenant-Colonel 
 Thompson, deprived Colonel Gadsden of 
 any participation in the honors of the 
 28th of June. During the calm which 
 followed the storm of war, we have little 
 to record. Both Colonels were soon after- 
 wards taken into the Continental service 
 and commissioned as Brigadier-Generals. 
 In August, 1777, General Gadsden re- 
 signed his commission and served hia 
 country afterwards entirely in civil life. 
 
 e succe!isful defence of the islan^Jay 
 ColSf^l Moultrie and LiieutenAnt-pdtonel 
 Thomp*^, deprived Colonel Gsfasden of 
 any partiCT^ation in the iKmors of the 
 28th June. During th^-^tion which fol- 
 lowed the storm'>'^Av^ we have little to 
 record. Both c^ionei^were soon after- 
 wards taken^tfu) the Cb«itinental service, 
 and compoissioned as brigHdier-generals. 
 In Augtist, 1777, General (>»4sden re- / 
 sien<»S his commission and s^lrv^d hia/ 
 country afterwards entirely in civiTTM^ 
 The accidental preservation and dis- " 
 covery of a small letter-book shed a ray 
 of light upon both his own history and 
 that of the State during the years 1777 
 and 1778, and with this precious relic be- 
 fore one it is very hard to resist the 
 temptation to make full copies of hia 
 letters. 
 
 The resignation of General Gadsden 
 and the duel which arose out of it be- 
 tween him and General Howe, is an 
 episode in the lives of both these gentle- 
 men, of so remarkable a character, that 
 one who undertakes to give the history 
 of General Gadsden's life can scarcely 
 refuse to narrate it. With every disposi- 
 tion to see General Gadsden alwaj-s right, 
 I am constrained to sa^"- that in this mat- 
 ter he appears to me to have been wrong. 
 But he was, if I may so express myself, 
 gloriously wx-ong. In the annals of pri- 
 vate warfare there was neyer exhibited 
 such pure chivalry, such perfect devotion 
 to the point of honor as was shown by 
 him on this occasion. Major Andre, who 
 seems to have had a keen sense of hu- 
 mour, amused himself and the public by 
 a humorous ballad on the occasion of the 
 duel; but though the British officer 
 laughed, he could not but show the pro- 
 found respect with which he was in- 
 spired by the high and gallant bearing of 
 the two gentlemen who furnished food 
 for his mirth. The account of the meet- 
 ing deserves to be studied by those per- 
 sons who in these modern times have 
 converted the chivalrous settlement of 
 the point of honor into a barbarous and 
 sanguinary riot. 
 
 The origin of the dispute lay in the 
 unsettled relations between the States 
 and the Congress. When General Lee 
 
 41 
 
 (jrv^'*-'" 
 
 
 
arrived in Charleston, in June, 1776, the 
 general direction of military affairs was 
 committed to bim, but tbe Executive re- 
 linquished none of bis rights as com- 
 mauder-in Chief. Thus President Kut- 
 ledge wrote to General Moultrie, "General 
 Lee wishes you to evacuate the fort. You 
 will not, without an order fron^ me, and 
 I would sooner cut off my right hand 
 than write one." 
 
 Not long after tbe action of fort Moul- 
 tiie, General Lee left Charleston for his 
 mad expedition against Florida. He 
 bad Howe and Moultrie in bis army. 
 Colonel Gadsden was probably left in 
 defence of the city. Lee had not pro- 
 ceeded further than Savannah when an 
 express called bim to join Washington 
 at tbe North; he obeyed the orde^', went 
 Noith, aad immedia ely entered upon 
 that course of capr'cious opposition 
 to tbe Commander-in-Chief which 
 resulted in hia rediculous capture 
 by a scouting pa^ty of tbe Brit- 
 ish army. On his return through 
 Charleston be left General Moore in com- 
 mand, with a body of North Carolina 
 troops. Moore was succeeded by Nash, 
 pnd on bis departure Geaeral Howe, the 
 senior oflQcer, assumed the command. 
 He was from North Carolina, and by his 
 own account well connected in both the 
 Ca.olinas. On the 29th October, 1776, he 
 published in orders the promotion of 
 Colonels Gadsdei and Moultrie to tbe 
 rank of Brigadier-General, and assigned 
 to them their respective commands, that 
 of General Gadsden being on Sullivan's 
 Island. On the 23d August, 1777, General 
 Gadsden resigned his commission into 
 the hands of General Howe. Unforlu- 
 nate?v, while General Gadsden has pre- 
 served for us General Howe's report of 
 the affair, he did not take tbe same pains 
 to p.rserve his reply to General Howe. 
 He had a piofound reverence for the 
 Congress, and it was this reverence which 
 induced him to send his resignation to 
 General Howe, and not as many other 
 aggrieved officers had done — directly to 
 Congress. He supposed thatsome inquiry 
 would be made by the Congress as to the 
 cause of bis resignation, and he v/as buit 
 at its being received without any coui- 
 ment. As he was in a manner the origi- 
 nator of tbe Congress, be felt that his 
 resignation ou;^ht not to have been 
 accepted without his being al.'owed a.i 
 opportunity of vindicating himself. He 
 wrote often and confidentially to his 
 friend Wm. Henry Drayton, and through 
 bim received in Juoe, 1778, a copy of 
 Howe's letter to Congress. To this letter 
 the General replied in a letter dated July 
 4, to Wm. Henry Drayton, a copy of 
 which was sent to General Howe. This 
 letter, in his subsequent correspondence, 
 he refers to continually as a Public letter, 
 and perhaps it was because he so con- 
 sidered it, that he took no pains to pre- 
 serve it. Unfortunately, Mr. Drayton did 
 not so consider it, and made no effort to 
 publish it among tbe members of Con- 
 gress. This letter was the cause of the 
 duel between the two Generals. 
 General Howe says that about four 
 
 months before the date of his letter, that 
 is about May 1. after he had been more 
 than six months in undisputed command 
 of this post, General Gadsden desired to 
 know by what right he commanded, and 
 claimed that he himself was tbe natural 
 commander in South Carolina. General 
 Howe explained to him his right, and 
 showed the error ?nto which General 
 Gadsden bad fallen respecting conflicting 
 claims of right. On the request of the 
 latter that the matter be referred to Con- 
 gress, General Howe replied that as he 
 bad no doubt respecting his own right he 
 would express none, but if the other 
 desired it he would communicate -hose 
 doabts to Congress as his, and this was 
 assented to. At a subsequent interview 
 a few days afterward General Howe was 
 led to believe that General Gadsden Wc*s 
 now satisfied as to his right, and the letter 
 was not written. One day in August they 
 met at the liouse of President Lowndes, 
 and General Gadsden inquired whether 
 the letter had been written as bad been 
 agreed, and on General Howe replying in 
 the negative and giving his reasons for 
 not havingdone it, he said that tbe ma;ter 
 sbi>!7ld be brought before the House of 
 Assembly. A motion was accordingly 
 made shortly after by Wm. Henry Dray- 
 ton, to inquire into tbe nature of Gen. 
 Howe's command in this State. Tbe motion 
 was, in my opinion, very pioperly re- 
 fected, and Gen. Gadsden immediately 
 resigned his commission into Gen. Howe's^ 
 hands. This is a brief of Gen. Howe's 
 letter, and I do not believe there was any 
 s*^atement in it, which Gen. Gadsden con- 
 tradicted. The rest of the story shall be 
 told in his own words: 
 ^ "On the 11th of August, I received by the 
 General's Aide-de-Camp, a long expostu- 
 latory letter, dated two days before, with 
 demand for satisj'action at the clr e, 
 unless I made bim reparation for the ex- 
 p; essions I had made use of, relative to 
 him in my letter of tbe 4ib of July. I 
 wrote for answer next morning, that, I 
 was ready to give him any satisfactioi he 
 thought proper, when and wbeje be 
 pleased. That I thought bim the aggres- 
 sor in having wrote such an unnecessary 
 detail of that mater in it, omitting my 
 principal objection, and e^'pecially for not 
 letting me, whom it so nearly concerned, 
 have a copy of it, and that be bad nobody 
 to blame but himself— hat I never saw 
 his detail, which had such immediate 
 effect, for ten months after the date of it, 
 Turee letters ''rom him and ; wo from me 
 passed before tbe matter came to a point. 
 In bis, he gave me assurance that be did 
 not mean in anything he said to reject 
 upon or injure me, and as to the breach 
 of promise I accused him of, be declared 
 be really understood me as he had set 
 forth, so that if there was a fault, his un- 
 derstanding and not his integrity was to 
 blame; and had he imagined I wished to 
 see his letter, he should most cheerfully 
 have sent it to me; that be had not the 
 least wish to conceal it from me. My 
 friends. Col. Elliott and Col. Horry, who 
 were the only persons that had tbe least 
 hint of this affair from me, seemed to 
 
 4 
 
 
 
think this a great concession, and re- 
 quired some notice or apology on my side, 
 and our friend Col. Pinckney, who was 
 the General's second, appeared to be of 
 the same opinion. But I, looking upon 
 it only as private and personal to me; 
 and whereas the expressions of me, he 
 particularly referred to, (of my letter to 
 you) related to the manner of a public 
 act, his getting as it seemed to me, in 
 command here, and as I did not see how 
 it was possible with any kind of propriety 
 or adherance to truth, to abstract the 
 private letter from the public, I deter- 
 mined to make no concession, but to 
 meet him in any manner he pleased. 
 Accordingly we met on the 30th . and 
 were placed at the distance of eight very 
 small paces. As the General demanded 
 satisfaction of me, and I had already 
 taken mine by exposing his letter with 
 my observations thereon, I was deter- 
 mined to receive his fire, which I accord- 
 ingly did — after some time, fired my 
 pistol broad off, and called him to fire 
 again, which he declined. The matter 
 thus being over, I thought the apology, 
 or rather the notice my friends seemed to 
 think due on his concessions, would 
 come in with propriety, I thereofore told 
 him that though I might perhaps men- 
 tion the matter again, yet he might be 
 assured that I shall never in future, make 
 use of anv harsh exfK>s«i'©s concerning 
 him." " ..^ ,, 'iu'.-.' 
 
 This narration, compiled from original 
 sources, shows that Dr. Johnson was in 
 error in stating in his Traditions of the 
 Revolution that the duel arose out of 
 strictures by Gen. Gadsden of Howe's 
 conduct of the Florida expedition. I 
 will supplement this account of the mat- 
 ter with an extract trora i.he South Caro- 
 linian and American General Gazette, 
 dated Charleston, September 3, 1778. 
 This repoi-t needs no comment from us, 
 and I would commend it to the attentive 
 perusal of those gentlemen who, in 
 modern times, have lost sight of the high 
 principle involved in the duel, and con- 
 verted it into a means of blood thirsty 
 revenge: 
 
 "After the generals met and courteous- 
 ly saluted each other. General Howe de- 
 sired his second to acquaint his friends, 
 in case he should fall, that it was his earn- 
 est request they should not prosecute 
 General Gadsden beyond the formality of 
 a trial, and General Gadsden desired 
 both the seconds to acquaint his friends, 
 in case he should fall, that he entirely 
 forgave General Howe, and earnestly 
 begged them not to prosecute him; and he 
 particularly enjoined Colonel Pinckney 
 to charge his son not to intermeddle in 
 the aflair at all. General Howe's second 
 then stepped off the distance fixed upon 
 by him and Colonel Elliott — eight short 
 paces — and the Generals being placed. 
 Colonel Ellliott said: Gentlemen, we 
 have marked out your distance, and 
 leave you to act as you please, 
 not doubting but that, as this is 
 an affair of honor, you will act consist- 
 ently with the strictest rules of hon- 
 or. General Howe then said to General 
 
 Gadsden, 'Fire, sir.' General Gadsden 
 said, 'Do you fire first.' General Howe 
 replies, 'We will both fire together.' 
 General Gadsden made no answer, but 
 both presented. There was a pause for a 
 few seconds, and General Howe lowered 
 his pistol and said, with a smile, 'Why 
 won't you fire. General Gadsden?' Gen- 
 eral Gadsden replied, 'You brought me 
 out, General Howe, to this ball-play, and 
 ought to begin the entertainment.' Gen- 
 eral Howe fired and missed. General 
 Gadsden, after a short interval, fired his 
 pistol over his left arm, about at right 
 angles from General Howe, and then 
 called out to General Howe to fire again. 
 General Howe smiled, and at the same 
 time dropping his hand, with the pistol 
 in it, said, 'No, General Gadsden, I can- 
 not, after this.' General Gadsden's sec- 
 ond said he was glad to see so much 
 honor in the General; that he did not 
 think General Gadsden could have made 
 a handsomer apology, or General Howe 
 have shown a higher sense of honor than 
 in acting as he had done. Then Gen- 
 eral Gadsden went up to him and said: 
 'Now, General Howe, I will mention to 
 you what I could not do before, as my 
 letter was a public one, and the words 
 contained in it seemed to me proper; and 
 as your's was a private one,the parts in it 
 which, in the opinion of my fiiends, left 
 an opening for an apology, I could not 
 take notice of; but I told my friend 
 in the carriage, before I came on the 
 ground that I intended to receive your 
 fire; and though I may, perhaps, "talk 
 this matter over again, I assure you I 
 shall never in future make use of any 
 harsh expressions concerning you.' Gen- 
 eral Howe said that it was very agreeable 
 to him that the matter terminated in this 
 way, and he was happy that he had 
 missed him. General Gadsden's second 
 said he hoped now the differences that 
 had occasioned this duel might now sub- 
 side and be left on that spot. The Gene- 
 rals, then, in token of this reconciliation, 
 shook hands and parted." 
 
 The letters which have been my guide 
 in the history of this duel show General 
 Gadsden during the same year as a magis- 
 trate; and we still find the same indom- 
 itable courage in the discharge of duty, 
 the same high regard for principle, and 
 the same respect for law and authority 
 which marked every incident of his 
 life. 
 
 It must be remembered that in March, 
 1776, the Provincial Congress establishad 
 a provisional constitution for the govern- 
 of the province during the continuation 
 of the unhappy disputes with the parent 
 country. Under this constitution John 
 Rutledge was elected President, and 
 Henry Laurens Vice-President of South 
 Carolina. In March, 1778 the Legis- 
 ture enacted a new constitution, and sub- 
 mitted it to the President for his approval, 
 Mr. Rutlege refused to approve of it, and 
 returned it to the Legislature with his 
 reasons. It is oat of our province to ex- 
 amine these reasons. Some cavillers 
 have inferred from a part of his speech 
 that he still hoped for a reconciliation 
 
with Britain. Of this calumuN'- his subse- 
 quent history is a sufficient refutation. 
 In order that the Legislature might have 
 free liberty of action, his veto messai^e 
 contained, also, his resignation. As the 
 A'^ice-President, Mr. Laurens, was, at 
 that time, President of the Continental 
 Congress, it was necessary to elect en- 
 tirely new executive officers. Mr. 
 Rawlins Lowndes was elected Presi- 
 dent, and General Gadsden Vice-Presi- 
 dent, and ex-offlcio chairman of the Privy 
 Council. I said at the outset that he 
 must have been a bad party man. Here 
 we have a little proof of it from his own 
 pen. In one of his letters to Mr. Drayton 
 he asserts that this honor was con- 
 ferred upon him for the purpose of getting 
 rid of him at future meetings of the 
 House of Assembly, and to make him 
 ineligible to the next. He says: " I saw 
 plainly their views, but could not avoid 
 accepting without throwing the State into 
 confusion. But this I did not do without 
 letting them know I plainly perceived 
 their motives," 
 
 Towards the end of March, 1778, the 
 Legislature had passed an ordinance ex- 
 acting an oath of fidelity and allegience, 
 imposing severe penalties upon those 
 who should refuse or neglect to take it by 
 a certain day. Like all severe acts, it 
 was imperfectly executed. The time had 
 expired, and there were many delinquents. 
 At the suggestion of the General Congress 
 and the Privy Council, President 
 Lowndes issued a proclamation to extend 
 the time for taking the oath. This act of 
 indulgence gave rise to scenes w'hich be- 
 trayed the weakness ot the Government, 
 and the existence in the city of a power 
 superior to the law. 'Whether the 
 proclamation was printed I know not. 
 I do not find it in the gazettes of the day, 
 but there is extant a letter from Gover- 
 nor Gadsden, who in consequence of the 
 illness and domestic affliction of Mr. 
 Lowndes, was discharging Executive bu- 
 siness. to Mr. Timothy, making an earn- 
 est appeal to him to print tift3' copies. 
 This letter savours more of a petition 
 asking a fayor than the order of a Magis- 
 trate for the performance of work. The 
 rest of the story is best told in General 
 Gadsden's own words: "It, (the procla- 
 mation) was scarcely got into the Sheriff's 
 hands, before some myrmidons alarmed 
 the town. We were setting up a procla- 
 mation against law— going to ruin their 
 liberties— and what not? The proclama- 
 tion, I believe, was never read. A depu- 
 tation was sent to the President, of Dr. 
 Budd, and some others. The proclama- 
 tion was returned to him in my presence, 
 which of itself is insult enough, biit be- 
 sides that, the spokesman, Ward, told 
 the President that he thought the people 
 were right, and that he would lose the 
 last drop of his blood to support them. 
 This I thought so high an insult that I 
 immediately began with Ward, sarcasti- 
 cally applauded his heroism and great 
 exertions for the public good. In return 
 he told me I was a madman, but first 
 took care to sneak out of my reach, how- 
 ever. Had he not, I should have done 
 
 nothing more, as I was prepared — than 
 what I did — laugh in his face. 
 
 The President did all that he could do, 
 but to no purpose. A meeting was called 
 in the evening. Dr. Budd put in the chair, 
 every press prohibited from printing the 
 proclamation, and the magistrates de- 
 terred from granting certificates to the 
 penitent. At this crisis. I, Don Quixote 
 Secundus, who had never acted the mag- 
 istrate before, gave out publicly that I 
 would give the oath of fidelity, and cer- 
 tificates to all applicants by the 10th, and 
 accordingly did to many. I was in the 
 midst of the people when I found them 
 chiefly a mere mob, with here and there 
 some who ought not to have been, and I 
 was sorry to see there; and had reason 
 to suspect that day much negative im- 
 pulse. I told them I advised the measure, 
 and that they should put a halter around 
 my neck and hang me at once if they 
 thought it wrong. That they had a con- 
 stitutional remedy. They might impeach 
 the President and Council if they had 
 acted improperly, and that they had bet- 
 ter do that. But all to no purpose. In 
 my opinion, if they wore not set on, the 
 old leven was at heart, sorry for it." 
 
 General Gadsden further on intimates 
 that the parties engaged in the riotous 
 opposition to the President were ashamed 
 of their conduct. But certain it is, that 
 the President was successfully resisted 
 by a mob, and the proclamation was not 
 published. The truth was that the peo- 
 lile were never satisfied with the resig- 
 nation of President Rutledge, and their 
 feelings were shown in factious op- 
 position to his successor. In Sep- 
 tember the Legislature met, and 
 President Lowndes sent in his 
 message an account of the riots in op- 
 position to his proclamation. The 
 House of Assembly seemed to be un- 
 willing to deal with the subject, and after 
 the lapse of a month, referred it to the 
 consideration of the next House, that is, 
 to one which, according to the constitu- 
 tion, would be be elected in the following 
 January. Whereupon General Gadsden 
 wrote the following letter to the Hon. 
 Thomas Bee, Speaker of the Commons 
 House of Assembly, October 5, 1778: 
 
 •'Dear Sir: The honorable House, 
 thinking proper, atter having had his 
 Exce'lency the President's message, rel- 
 ative to his proclamation of the 5th June, 
 and the outrageous treatment it met with 
 from a part of the people of Charleston, a 
 month before them, to postpone the mat- 
 ter to the next House, in parliamentary 
 language, 'ad Grecas Calendas, consider- 
 ing the part I acted, in earnestly advising 
 that step, in which I am conscious of 
 having done nothing improper, I submit 
 it to tiie House, how they think I must 
 feel, under such, at least negative censure, 
 especially after the deliberately gross 
 treatment the Executive received from a 
 body of men, mentioned in no part of the 
 constitution, as I can recollect, who call 
 themselves the Hint club. 
 
 The contemptible, surprising and use- 
 less situation with regard to the public, 
 I find myself reduced to, upon this oc- 
 
9 
 
 casioii, lays me uiidor the necessity of Believe ine, sir, the exquisite reelinj;s 
 entreating vou to request the honorable arising from a consciousness of having 
 House for the public salie as well as my acted in this steady, uniform manner in 
 own to deliver me from it by accepting public life, has made me more than 
 my 'resignation as Vice-President. It amjjle amends for every neglect,every dis- 
 may not be proper for me, perhaps, to let agreeable circumstance it has occasioned 
 my feelings carry me further; am there- through selfish, ambitious, arbitrary, and 
 fore resigned to stop here, if sir, you <lesigning men wliose private views have 
 think my particular reasons following been occasionally thwarted thereby. 1 
 too free, or will give ottense to the House, have served with pleasure under the 
 which I would be sorry to be thought President and witness to his indefatiga- 
 capable of intending. But if 3'ou judge ble attention to the public interest, not 
 not and the House will bear with the only in his present, but in several other 
 remonstrance of an old and faithful ser- important stations on very trying occa- 
 yant I shall then be obliged to you to lay sions; have long and well known his 
 them before them." honest, sensible lieart and fixed attach- 
 The letter is very long, and must not ments to the public good, feel extremely 
 be quoted at length. It fully justifies for his delicate situation, and most earn- 
 Mr. Quincy's discription of his style as estly wish, for my countr3^'s sake, that he 
 plain, blunt, hot and incorrect, though had that support he so much merited 
 very sensible. He begins by avowing from every good and honest man in the 
 himself tlie adviser of the proclamation, State, and to which as a private citizen I 
 then shows the evil of mob law and its am hopeful to contribute my mite. In a 
 inevitable tendency to degrade and nul- public station, as times go, I can afford 
 lify the legitimate government. He re- none. Give leave to conclude, with de- 
 fers casually as to a thing well known to daring that had I not thus shown my 
 the circumstances which led to his elec- public resentment in the strongest man- 
 tion as Vice-President and the reasons ner I am able, against the proceedings 
 which induced him to accept it, and he lastly represented by the President in 
 concludes with this touching and manly his message of the 3d of September, I 
 
 defence of his whole life: "I have had, 
 without asking or soliciting any man's 
 vote, directly or indirectly, the honor to 
 serve my country for many years in va 
 
 should have ever thought myself accoun- 
 table for all the riots and mobs through- 
 out the State that may happen in conse- 
 quence of that which happened in 
 
 rious stations, always totally devoted to Charlestown, the 5th of June, and as 
 
 that particular part occasionally alloted having abetted the artful opposers and 
 
 to me — never quitting it while the least disturbers of the peace, by negatively at 
 
 hope remained of having that necessary least, assisting them in their indirect, un- 
 
 support the station required. Zealous derhanded practicings in the weakest 
 
 and attentive in all to the honor of the part of the Constitution, the present 
 
 Ijublic and their nearest concerns; un- allowed dispoportion of members iu order 
 
 biased either by friend or foe — intimidat- to throw all into confusion, and when an 
 
 ed by none — constantly attending to mj- opportunity serves, get the whole new 
 
 duty while a member of Assembly — mak- 
 ing no promises, but always keeping my- 
 self disengaged upon every ques- 
 tion for every officer whatever 
 
 modelled more to tlieir gout, and 
 as sacrificing the duty I owe as otiicer to 
 the whole State, to the idle tickling of a 
 momentarj'^ popularity with a too assum- 
 
 wanted for any department of the State ing small part." 
 
 or concerning any other matter of Without pretending to decide the 
 
 moment, 'till it came before the House, merits of the controversy between the 
 
 and then voted according to my own. President and Gen. Gadsden and tha 
 
 judgment for the good of the whole. House of Assembly, I take pleasure in 
 
 always thinking it cowardly to leave the recording that the latter body was 
 
 House on a division upon any question composed of gentlemen. Not only 
 
 whatever, unless it merely concerned were they not aggrieved at the 
 
 myself, or I really did not understand the rebuke which the Vice-President 
 
 terms it was put in. Seldom, upon administered to them, but thej^ unani- 
 
 making a motion, have I previously mously sent a deputation to entreat him 
 
 secured even a second, but more than to withdraw his resiKuation. An extract 
 
 this I always looked upon as caballing, from a letter to Mr. Drayton will explain 
 
 warping men's judgments, and a kind of his conduct, and conclude the history of 
 
 ti-eason against, or at best pitifully and this affair: "The House met according 
 
 dirtily crimping for the State; and if I to adjournment, very few members in- 
 
 now towards the close of a long, disin- deed ; the President made a verj^ proper 
 
 terested and laborious service ask any and spirited representation of the be- 
 
 favor, either of individuals or the public havior of the mob in Charleston on the 
 
 in general, let it be only to be looked 5th of June, which mob was ostensibly 
 
 upon as a citizen detesting licentiousness on account of his proclamation, but 
 
 and totally devoted to the cause of really (as I am verily persuaded) artfully 
 
 equal constitutional libertj', religious and stirred up and set a going by a cabal, 
 
 civil to all, governor and governed, and The House, after having it before them a 
 
 having not a desire, (and who never had) month, through the influence of the 
 
 for himself and family in these respects, Town members, put it ofi' to the next 
 
 that he does not from the bottom of his House. In the meantime the President 
 
 soul wish for every honest man in the and Privy Council are to put up with the 
 
 State, and indeed in all the world. insult, f was much afraid Mr. Lowndes 
 
10 
 
 would have resigned, whicli would have 
 put the State into great confusion, and 
 would have given the party, wlio were 
 hopeful that officers would not have been 
 found to set the new Constitution agoing, 
 the utmost pleasure. The resignation of 
 the Council would have done the same ; 
 as for my part, as Vice-President, and a 
 new election so near at hand, I thought 
 my resignation could be of little moment 
 to the State, and at the same time think- 
 ing it would beof some si'ood consequence 
 that some part of the Executive should 
 show a feeling upon so monstrous an in- 
 sult as they received; I thought myself 
 in a manner peculiarly called upon to do 
 it, from my station, and accordinglj' 
 wrote the within letter to the Speaker, 
 which was laid before the Hoiise, who, I 
 thought, would have accepted my resig- 
 nation immediately. However, I was 
 mistaken, for they did me the honor 
 unanimously to send two members to 
 desire T would continue. This I could 
 not refuse, therefore still remain in statu 
 quo, and am not without reason to think 
 my letter has done some good that may 
 appear in future." 
 
 In January, 1779, the Legislature met 
 in pursuance of the provisions of the new 
 Constitution. In the same month, John 
 Rutledge was elected Governor and 
 Thomas Bee Liieutenant-Governor. At 
 what time Gen. Gadsiien was elected to 
 the latter office does not appear, but it was 
 probably in 1780, when Thomas Bee was 
 sent to Congress and the approach of the 
 invading English army caused the Legis- 
 lature to adjourn, after having conferred 
 upon Governor Rutledge those extraor- 
 dinary powers which have since given 
 him the title of Dictator. It may be ob- 
 served, in passing, that this extraordinary 
 power, conferred by the Legislature, is a 
 sufficient reply to those malignant cavil- 
 lers who see "in Rutledge's veto of the 
 Constitution a longing to go back to 
 British rule, and in his parley with Gen- 
 eral Prevost, in 1779, a treasonable attempt 
 to effect the same object. 
 
 Whilst the siege of Charleston was 
 going on, General Lincoln pressingly 
 iirged Governor Rutledge to leave tha 
 town with the whole of his Council, 
 thinking that the civil authority of the 
 State would be more advantageously exe- 
 cuted in the country than in the besieged 
 metropolis, and that thus the executive 
 authority might be preserved, even if 
 the Capital should fall— that the citizens 
 in the country should not conceive them- 
 selves deserted in the hour of danger. 
 In pursuance of this advice, Governor 
 Rutledge left Charleston April 12, 1780, 
 with three of the Privy Council. Lieu- 
 tenant-Governor Gadsden, with the other 
 five, remained, to await the issue of the 
 siege. A month afterwards. May 12, 
 Lincoln surrendered his army, and by 
 tlie terms of capitulation, Lieutenant- 
 Governor Gadsden, together wdth all 
 others who held any civil authority, were 
 held as prisoners of war on parole. 
 
 It is needless to say that General Gads- 
 den, though a prisoner, was firm to the 
 cause of independence. Though restrain- 
 
 ed by their paroles from doing anything 
 injurious to the cause of His Britannic 
 Majesty, yet the silent example of him- 
 self and others who fell with hiin, men 
 who were revered by their fellow-citizens, 
 had a powerful intluence in restraining 
 many from exchanging their paroles as 
 prisoners for the protection and freedom 
 of British subjects. After the unsuccess- 
 ful attempt of General Gates to relieve 
 the State, Lord Cornwallis regarded it as 
 aconquered province, and utterly violated 
 the terms of the capitulation. On the 27th 
 August, General Gadsden, most of the 
 civil officers of the State, and some others, 
 whose attachment to the cause of the Rev- 
 olution was conspicuous, were taken,, 
 early in the morning, from their beds 
 and their houses, and escorted by armed 
 parties to the Exchange, whence they 
 were sent to a guard ship, and a few days 
 afterwards to St. Augustine. 
 
 This was a gross violation of the capit- 
 ulation. General Moultrie, from his 
 quarters in Christ Church Parish, whither 
 he had been assigned on parole, wrote to 
 Colonel Balfour to protest against the out- 
 rage; to which the commandant replied, 
 that his letter was writien in such excep- 
 tionable and unwarrantable terms that it 
 should not be answered. Nothing daunt- 
 ed by this repulse, the General made an- 
 other effort in behalf of the unfortunate 
 prisonei's, to which he received a verbal 
 answer, that the commandant would do 
 as he pleased with the prisoners, for the 
 good of His Majesty's service, and not as 
 General Moultrie pleases. 
 
 On their arrival at St. Augustine, the 
 prisoners were offered the liberty of the 
 town on their parole. This General Gads- 
 den indignantly refused to give. " I gave 
 ray parole once," he said, ** and it has 
 been shamefully violated by the British 
 Government; I shall not give another to 
 people on whom no faith can be reposed." 
 He was told that a dungeon would be the 
 alternative. "Be it so," be answered, 
 " I give no more paroles to British offi- 
 cers." The next day he was confined in 
 a dungeon of the castle, were he remained 
 forty-two weeks. A common soldier, 
 honoring the inyincible firmness of the 
 hero, offered to supply him with light- 
 for he was allowed no other light but that 
 of day, as this was contrary to orders, 
 the General refused to accept the offer. 
 Among other objects to which he devoted 
 his enforced leisl^re was the study of the 
 Hebrew tongue, and he came out of the 
 dungeon a more learned man than when 
 he entered it. 
 
 British severity did not deny them 
 books, but the prisoners were studiously 
 kept misinformed respecting affairs at 
 home. The prospects of America were 
 brightening, but they were led to believe 
 that ruin was hanging over them. They 
 were threatened with being called upon to 
 expiate the death of Major Andre. They 
 i:)atiently endured all threats and out- 
 rages, and not one sued for British pro- 
 tection. 
 
 After ten months of seclusion, General 
 Gadsden was liberated and sent with his 
 fellow-prisoners to Philadelphia. So 
 
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11 
 
 strictly hv.d they been kept in ignorance 
 of the progress of the war that it was not 
 until they reached Philadelphia that they 
 heard of Greene's successful campaigns 
 after the disastrous defeat of Gates. Gen. 
 Gadsden hastened home to assist in re- 
 covering South Carolina from the Brit- 
 ish, and was immediately elected a mem- 
 ber of tlie Legislature, which met iu 
 Jacksonboro, 1782. Governor Rutledge, 
 laid down his office before the Legisla- 
 ture, and Gen. Gadsden was elected to 
 the vacant place. He declined the honor, 
 however, saying : 
 " I have served you in a variety of sta- 
 "" , tions for thirty years, and I would now 
 \ cheerfully make one forlorn hope on 
 ? an assault on the lines of Charleston, if 
 J it was probable that with the certain loss 
 J- of my life you would be reinstaied in 
 ^ your capital. What I can do for my coun- 
 JL try, I am willing to do. My sentiments 
 »- for the American cause, from the Stamp 
 r Act downward, have never changed. I 
 ^ am still of oiDinion tliat it is the cause of 
 J liberty and of human nature. If my ac- 
 L ceptance of the office of Governor would 
 p serve my country, tliough my adminis- 
 p tration would be attended with the loss of 
 ^ personal credit and reputation, I would 
 cheerfully undertake it. The present 
 times require the vigor and the activity 
 of the prime of life ; but I feel the in- 
 creasing infirmities of age to such a de- 
 gree that I am conscious I cannot serve 
 you to advantage. I therefore beg that 
 you would indulge me with the liberty of 
 declining the arduous trust." 
 
 He was indulged in his i-equest. But 
 though he declined the office of Chief 
 Magistrate, he continued to serve the 
 State both in the Assembly and in the 
 Council. Notwithstanding the long con- 
 finement which he had suffered in the 
 castle of St. Augustine, and the immense 
 loss of property which the war had caused 
 him, he was one of the few who, in the 
 Jacksonboro Legislature, opposed the 
 bills for confiscating and amercing the 
 estates of those who had opposed the rev- 
 olution. In December of that year he 
 had the satistaction of witnessing the de- 
 parture from Charleston of the British 
 fleet and army, and the consequent resto- 
 ration of the whole State to the govern- 
 ment of her own citizens. From this 
 time forward his life was devoted to pri- 
 vate pursuits, except in two cases. In 
 1788 he was a member of the Convention 
 which ratified the Constitution. To this 
 object, all the aspirations of his life were 
 devoted. He had in 1765 founded the 
 American Union by his exertions in the 
 Provincial Assembly, and he had the 
 pleasure, twenty-three years afterwards, 
 to assist in ratifying it by an act which he 
 fondly hoped would make that Union 
 
 « perpetual. In 1790 he was a member of 
 Convention which formed the new Con- 
 
 I stitution of the State. He was now sixty- 
 six years of age, and he lived fifteen years 
 longer a private citizen with the good 
 
 old man's blessings— love, honor, obedi- 
 ence, troops of friends. In August, 1805, 
 an accidental fall deprived him of life. ., J^ /^L. 
 
 In compliance with the instructions'; , ... 
 contained in his Will, his body was de- '^•^^'^ '' 
 posited in the family cemetery, in the V^ ^/^ 
 western church yard of St. Philip's, and ( / y 
 the grave levelled — no stone marks the V'^*^ ^t 
 spot of his final resting place. -'^^X,.^*- 
 
 In reviewing the history of a country, 
 we remember those only who have done ^/^/^ ^ 
 deeds that fire the imagination of the his- ^ 
 torian. Brilliant talents dazzle for a day, 
 and secure for their possessor the plaudits 
 of contemporaries, but when time stills 
 the echo of applause, the memory of the 
 popular favorite jDasses away, and poster- 
 ity regards his name with listless curi- 
 osity. 
 
 We cannot claim for the hero of our 
 sketch the performance of any of those 
 great actions which are among the land- 
 marks of history, and outside of South, 
 Carolina his name is probably in the great L 
 catalogue of undistinguished celebrities T 
 who shone for a day, and then passed into . 
 oblivion. But iu South Carolina he has 
 a claim to our fond regard, not so much 
 for what he did as for what he so largely 
 helped to do. If, in the history of our 
 country, the South, and South Carolina, 
 has had an undue share of influence in 
 guiding the political bark, it was the re- 
 sult, not of the brilliant talents, but of 
 the solid character of her representatives. . 
 They were felt to be men who might be 
 trusted; who had noselfish ends to carry; 
 who had but one rule of action in both 
 private and public life, and that was de- 
 votion to truth and to right. Men who 
 act thus are representative men — a poor 
 constituency can never send such men to 
 represent them. They choose men like 
 themselves. 
 
 A good public sentiment is formed by 
 the influence of the men who stand at the 
 head of society. As they direct, the 
 masses think and act; and here is South 
 Carolina largely indebted to Christopher 
 Gadsden. He was the soul of honor. 
 His youth and early manhood were spent 
 where corruption in high places had 
 reached its highest point in England; but 
 his pure spirit shrank from contamina- 
 tion. He was the soul of integrity. The 
 natural effect of the Revolution was to 
 produce anarchy, and disobedience to law 
 and authority. The wise spirit of Chris- 
 topher Gadsden saw the danger and re- 
 sisted it, and in his own person set the 
 highest example of obedience. He was a 
 living illustration of dutv. It was not he 
 alone that moulded public sentiment; no 
 one man could do it; but he was foremost 
 among those who were unconsciouslv en- 
 gaged in that good and noble work," and 
 to no one is more applicable the motto 
 proposed by Major Gorden as his epi- 
 taph: 
 
 In difficillimis Reipublicse temporibus 
 urbem nunquam deserui, in prosperis 
 nihil de publico delibaui; in desperatis 
 nihil timui— [Cic. 
 
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