An Intriguing Character Emerges in the Revolutionary War’s Southern Campaign

The British were convinced that their southern campaign strategy would bring them victory and an end to what had become an expensive and an increasingly unpopular war in Parliament. There were still many Loyalists in the Carolinas and the British counted on the antagonism between the Patriots and the Loyalists to prove their strategy successful.

British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton left New York in late December 1779 with fourteen warships and 8500 troops on ninety transports. Winter storms off the Outer Banks of North Carolina significantly scattered the ships, but by mid February they had arrived within thirty miles of Charleston. 

This is the story of a lesser known character, a strong and courageous woman by the name of Elizabeth Jackson. Elizabeth and her husband had come from Ireland and settled in the Waxhaws settlement near the North Carolina and South Carolina border. In 1767, after her young husband died unexpectedly, Elizabeth and her three sons moved into the home of her sister and brother-in-law. Her sister had been ailing since moving from Ireland was now an invalid. Elizabeth provided nursing care and housekeeping for the large Scots-Irish immigrant extended family.

All three of Elizabeth’s sons, the youngest being only thirteen, joined the Patriot cause. Her oldest was killed in 1779. After the bloody Battle of Waxhaws her remaining two sons were injured, captured and held prisoner where they became infected with smallpox. Elizabeth arranged a prisoner transfer. The older of  the two died after returning home, and her remaining son took several weeks before he regained enough strength to leave his bed.

The Siege at Charleston began on April 2, 1780 and lasted six weeks. In 1776 and again in 1779 the British had unsuccessfully tried to capture the city of Charleston, but the city’s natural defenses were too strong. But this new campaign would change that ― for awhile.

Charleston Harbor

The Americans suffered their worst defeat of the revolution. Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered to British Lieutenant General Sir Henry Clinton. Of the American forces, 92 were killed, 148 were wounded, and 5,266 were captured. Those that were captured were sent to British hulk ships in Charleston Harbor, and some of them were later sent to do service in Jamaica.

The disease and plight of the captives touched many local residents. Many of the women of Charleston began visiting the prison ships bringing food, medicine and comfort to the prisoners; one of these ladies was Elizabeth.  When Elizabeth’s two nephews were captured in the Siege at Charleston, she made trips to the prison ships to bring food, medicine, and to nurse them and other prisoners. She became known as an angel of mercy before herself falling victim to the cholera that swept through the prison ships.

Elizabeth was buried in an unmarked grave. While her youngest and only surviving son promised to locate her remains and rebury her alongside his father and brothers, he was never able to locate her grave. That young man was Andrew Jackson who would one day become the seventh President of the United States.