Defiant Doyenne

This leap-year edition of the Yankee Doodle Spies highlights the bold and brave housewife who played a hand in saving her home, her state, and her country. Meet the up-country distaff doyenne who stood up to British bullies like few men could.

Martha Bratton was  a patriot farmwife

Upcountry South Carolina saw some of the most vicious fighting of the American War for Independence. The rugged Scots-Irish settled on the rolling hills and fertile meadows north of Columbia. Among them were William and Martha Bratton, who, in 1766, bought 200 acres along the South Fork of Fishing Creek in what today is York County, South Carolina. William built a rough-hewn log home and, with the help of a few slaves, turned the land into a thriving, if modest, homestead.

The Bratton's built a log farmhouse on the frontier

The world changed when the Shot Heard Round the World was fired in April 1775. As South Carolina formed both militia and Continental Line regiments for the upcoming struggle, William Bratton did his bit and marched off to join. Martha was now the head of the household and responsible for keeping their plantation alive.

Shot Heard Round the World - Lexington Green

But in  May 1780, the British took Charleston and occupied a string of garrisons from the port city on the low country coast to the famous star fort at Ninety-Six, the last outpost along the South Carolina frontier. The governor of South Carolina had asked William Bratton, a militia commander, to use his house to store some of the patriot gunpowder, which was a precious commodity for both sides but mainly for the patriots. With William away, Martha, as head of the household, had responsibility for securing it.

Ruins of Ninety-Six

The Whig-Tory struggle in the Carolinas was brutal, with neighbors fighting neighbors and sometimes families being torn apart. Bands from both sides roamed the countryside, either supporting the Continentals and Regulars or acting as independent bands. Spies and traitors lurked everywhere. British gold easily bought information. Exactly how they found out that Martha held a store of the powder is unknown. What is known is they approached her farm to demand she turn it over or face reprisal.

But spies worked both ways, and someone raced to the Bratton farm to warn Martha of the approaching column. She knew she did not have time to move it—it filled a nearby shed. What to do?

Gunpowder was a valuable commodity

Martha ordered one of her slaves, named Watt, to bring her a flaming piece of wood from the kitchen stove. Before the British could arrive, Martha tossed the flaming faggot into the shed, and in seconds it blue sky high with a thunderous boom that sent chunks of burning logs into the air and thumping into the fields around them.

Gunpowder explosion

The explosion warned the British, who arrived to see the last charred timbers of the shed collapse into a smoking pile. She defiantly told them, "Let the consequence be what it will. I glory in having prevented the mischief contemplated by the cruel enemies of my country."

Martha had foiled them, but she was now marked as a rebel, and they would keep an eye on her and the Bratton farm.

By the summer of 1780, the war was setting York County ablaze. Columns of British Regulars, patrols of mounted dragoons, and bands of Tories and Loyalist Provincials scoured the land. This was the epic struggle between American partisans like Sumter and Marion and the likes of Banastre Tarleton and Patrick Ferguson. But the most hated enemy was the Loyalist officer of the British Legion, the German-born Captain Christian Huck. In a struggle that featured brutality on both sides, Huck stood tall. He rampaged across the state, destroying rebel property, burning homes, and killing his enemies.

Loyalist Dragoons rampaged the Carolinas

On 10 July, Huck set out to arrest rebel leaders in York County at the head of 120 determined men, But word spread like wildfire, sending most scurrying for safety. On Huck's list was the husband of the rebel whose wife had humbugged the British before—William Bratton. As they rode hell-bent for leather toward the plantation, Huck's men, true to form, took foodstuff, horses, and other valuables from the small farms along the way.

Fortunately, Colonel Bratton's militia regiment was on the Catawba River, where it had joined up with General Thomas Sumter's forces. Huck's troops arrived at the Bratton plantation as the sun was setting on 11 July. Knowing the threat Huck and his men posed, Martha Bratton sent Watt to warn her husband of their presence.

Martha sends Watt to warn her husband

Entering her log home, Huck demanded to know her husband's whereabouts.

Notorious Christian Huck

"You'll have to find him on your own, as I am not privy to his whereabouts, sir," she told the British commander.

An enraged officer reached for a reaping hook dangling from the wall and thrust the cutting edge to her throat. "Madam, you'll tell us what we want, or you'll not say anything again, as your pretty head will be shorn from your shoulders!"

Martha defied all threats

Martha straightened and glared defiantly. "Even if I knew where my husband and the militia were. I would not betray them or my country, sir. Do your worst!"

"Put that thing down," ordered Huck as he drew his saber and slammed its hilt into his hot-tempered officer, sending him tumbling to the heavy plank floor. Frustrated by her refusal, Huck angrily ordered Martha to fix a meal for him and his officers.

Once they had eaten their fill, the officers and their men mounted and rode off for their next destination—the nearby William plantation. The delay gave the patriots time to assemble a force that gathered at the plantation and launched a surprise attack as the sun rose. Lead flew in all directions, but the Loyalists were trapped. Huck leaped on his horse to escape but was struck by a hail of musket balls. The notorious raider fell out of the saddle, dead.

Huck's forces were surprised and destroyed at Williams Plantation

It did not take long to eliminate one of South Carolina's worst scourges. The battle was over in just a quarter-hour. The American Legion lost 30 killed and 50 wounded, with the rest taken prisoner. Almost poetically, some of the gravely injured Legionnaires were taken to the Bratton farm, where Martha herself ministered to their wounds.

Huck's defeat was just a minor skirmish, but it gave a considerable boost to patriot morale in the Carolina backcountry, and more and more men flocked to the cause. From it stemmed a chain of events that included the Overmountain Men crushing Fergusson's Loyalist brigade at King's Mountain and Dan Morgan smashing Tarleton at Cowpens. And finally, Nathanael Greene forced Cornwallis's abandonment of the Carolinas for the safety of Yorktown, Virginia. So, in no small way,  Martha Bratton's courage and craftiness played a pivotal role in the ultimate defeat of the British cause in the Carolinas.

The family expanded the farmstead after the war, with their son building a new home, which is now the site of a historic interpretation center called Brattonsville.

Historic Brattonsvile, South Carolina, commemorates 

the life and times of William & Martha 

 

 

 

 

One Huck of a Loyalist

Christian Huck is a name only a writer could come up with. So, who is this guy with a name straight out of Hollywood's badboy casting? He was, in fact, a prominent Loyalist during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies. But he was much more than that. And I am posting this on the anniversary of the day that made him famous—the day he died.

Huck the Immigrant

Christian Huck was born somewhere in Germany around 1747. His origins are pretty vague since "Germany" in the 18th century was not a nation but a region in Central Europe. By the early 1770s, he had emigrated to America and settled in Philadelphia, where he studied law. His law practice mainly dealt with real estate, a profitable yet risky business at the time. He focused on buying and selling property for cash or short-term credit, often on very favorable terms and with security. Because banks were scarce and money was tight, a lot of interesting things could happen in that field. Even George Washington himself invested in land—though that’s a story for another time. Huck became wealthy, joined the Anglican church, and clearly integrated well into society. He worked his way into Philadelphia’s upper class, many of whom were loyal to the crown and remained so throughout the war. Some of these same Philadelphians later got involved with Benedict Arnold. 

Philadelphia was anything but the City of Brotherly Love
during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies

Huck Goes to War

And so, our German immigrant Christian Huck (sometimes spelled Houck or even Hook) was a Loyalist and remained loyal. When the war broke out, he, along with other prominent Philadelphians, suffered for their loyalty. Harassment by the Whigs, vandalism, public humiliation, and ostracism were common. Huck’s mentor, Isaac Hunt, was paraded through town and forced to admit his Tory “misbehavior." Christian Huck stayed in Philadelphia despite these hardships. He continued working in real estate, buying and selling property. He also helped members of the Tory cause, associating with and aiding those targeted for their loyalty. When the British Army occupied Philadelphia in September 1777, Christian Huck offered his assistance and joined the army. Some might say he joined the wrong side. Because in 1778, the war intensified in its demand for retribution. That year, the Pennsylvania Supreme Court published a list of people accused of knowingly and willingly aiding the enemies of the State and the United States by joining the British Army in Philadelphia. The list included "Christian Hook, attorney at law.” Everyone on the list lost their property for committing high treason. They faced severe penalties, including all “pains and penalties.” This was not a good list to be on!

Captain Christian Huck

Huck followed the British Army when it abandoned Philadelphia and headed to New York. By June 1778, he had raised a company of thirty men for provincial duty and was granted a captain’s commission in a Provincial corps. This corps, under the command of Major Andreas Emmerick, included many men of German descent. Emmerick's corps had participated in several battles in 1777 and 1778, earning a reputation for distinguished service in the Hudson Highland Campaign, skirmishes around Kingsbridge (The Bronx), and the Battle of Monmouth. In 1778, the corps was expanded with new recruits and grew to include two troops of light dragoons, one infantry company, one rifle company, and three chasseur companies, one of which was Huck’s. Chasseurs (French for hunters) were trained to skirmish and fight in small bands. 

Banastre Tarleton

Huck Moves South

Soon, the corps was divided, and one light dragoon troop was assigned to Huck to attach to the British Legion under the notorious Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. Note: Tarleton plays a cameo role in my upcoming novel, The Cavalier Spy. However, by the end of 1779, Huck’s troops were simply known as part of the British Legion. Huck took part in the infamous Battle of the Waxhaws in May 1780. He was involved in the destruction of Hill's Ironworks, an important Patriot supplier and the headquarters for Hill's Militia. The war in the South intensified in 1780. Huck became known for fighting in the Carolina backcountry. He earned the nickname “the swearing captain” because of his reputation for profanity (ach du Scheisse). He was also brutal with the Presbyterians in the region, perhaps because many of his Whig tormentors in Philadelphia were Presbyterian. Some said they reminded Huck of the rebels who had harassed him, accused him of treason, and seized his property. He certainly had reasons to seek retribution for his lost possessions. And of course, he was an Anglican. There might have been a religious reason behind his hatred. Tasked by Cornwallis with recruiting supporters for the Loyalist cause, Huck ravaged the backcountry, threatening and plundering civilians, destroying properties, and earning a reputation for cruelty for himself and his men. 

Back Country Mayhem

In June 1780, Huck was sent from Rocky Mount toward Fishing Creek to disperse rebels believed to be gathering there. Along the way, he recruited 300 Loyalists and burned all the homes and plantations of known Patriots in the Catawba Valley of upper South Carolina. When he reached Fishing Creek, Huck led his men to the Presbyterian Church to seize the pastor, a known Patriot named John Simpson. When they found Simpson had fled, they torched his parsonage. Huck continued his rampage to the New Acquisition District along the North Carolina border, now York County. There, he destroyed two key rebel assets: Whites Mills on Fishing Creek and William Hill's Ironworks. The latter was a vital source of rebel cannon and ordnance. As Huck caused chaos in the backcountry, about 500 loosely organized Patriot militias responded. They launched a sweep through the woods and fields to hunt down the marauders.

Christian Huck continued his rampage and, in early July, arrived at the Bratton Plantation. Desperate to find the proprietor, Colonel William Bratton, a prominent Whig leader, Huck ordered Martha Bratton to reveal her husband’s location. At that time, Bratton was leading his militia in pursuit of Huck and other Tory bands. When Martha refused, she was threatened with a reaping hook (a fitting play on his name). Only the intervention of another Loyalist officer saved her. Note: Incivility, not to mention violence, against women of a certain status was considered particularly vile during the time of the Yankee Doodle Spies. If nothing else, this made him what the Germans call a Schlechter Knabe (Bad Boy).

Martha Bratton stands up to Huck's interrogation

The Mayhem Continues, or A Woman Scorned

Undaunted, Huck moved on to the Williamson Plantation. After capturing five Whig supporters hiding in the corn crib, Huck and his officers took up quarters in the main house. His force of around 120 men set up camp nearby. Because they quickly seized the plantation, they believed there was no threat. As a result, he posted only a few guards and did not place pickets or patrols outside the perimeter. Unaware to Huck, Martha Bratton had sent a family slave named Watt to find her husband, who was with his unit on Fishing Creek. Watt told him where Huck was headed. In a double blow for Huck, a crippled spy named Joseph Kerr also found Colonel Bratton. Based on Kerr and Watt’s intelligence, Bratton planned an attack on Huck’s men.

Bratton's Plantation Today

Icing the Huck

At dawn on July 12, 1780, the rebels moved against Huck’s unsuspecting encampment. There, 250 Patriots under Bratton surrounded the plantation in the cover of darkness. The few guards never saw them coming. When the Loyalist forces were awakened by the attack, Bratton's men shot them down. War in the Carolinas was brutal! Surprised by the morning assault, many of Huck’s men fled into the woods. Huck himself was shot off his horse while trying to rally his men. The Patriots tracked down and killed those of Huck’s forces that had escaped into the woods. Some reports estimate that 85 percent of the Loyalists were killed, wounded, or captured. That’s quite impressive, considering the battle lasted only a few minutes. The Patriots lost only one man killed and another wounded in the skirmish. As for Huck, he died from his wounds and was buried right there. In a final insult to the immigrant Loyalist, his body was later used as a medical skeleton. 

Huck defeated in a battle that lasted minutes

Defeat Significant?

In a word, yes. The Loyalists' morale in the Carolinas declined due to numerous recent losses. Many Carolinians began to see British rule as inevitable. After Huck's defeat, the fact that a Patriot militia group decisively defeated part of the British Legion rekindled the people's support for the cause. The Legion was a formidable and feared force in the Carolinas: well-led, well-equipped, and highly motivated to show no mercy. They were known as the "Huns" of their day and dominated most engagements. Therefore, the defeat of part of the Legion strengthened their resolve against British attacks and skirmishes. This shift ultimately influenced the course of the war. Over time, the British grew frustrated with their efforts to pacify the Carolinas. That frustration led Cornwallis and his troops on a long march to a place called Yorktown. But that's another story (or three). The legacy Christian Huck left behind was one of Loyalist brutality and Patriot revenge. It also highlights the intense hatred on both sides of the American struggle after five years of fighting.