Marjoribanks Makes a Stand

When the British line faltered, only Major John Marjorbanks’s experienced flank battalion was able to stay together as an orderly unit and make a stand in the blackjack thicket near the creek. Lieutenant Colonel William Washington’s calvary tried to dislodge them, but Washington’s horses could not navigate the dense growth. When Washington pulled back and attempted to attack the British from the flank, he exposed his men to devastating fire from Marjoribanks’s soldiers.
During hand-to-hand fight with Marjoribanks’s troops, Washington’s horse was shot out from under him, and the wounded Patriot officer was taken prisoner. Patriot Colonel Otho Hollond Williams remember: “But Col. Washington, impatient, perhaps, of a more favorable opportunity, charged upon the enemy’s right, where unluckily their flank companies were posted. He received a very galling fire, by which his horse fell in front of his dragoons. In an instant, his breast was pierced with a bayonet, which, however, wounded him but slightly. His calvary was repulsed, and that excellent officer became captive.”
Marjoribanks’s light infantry and grenadiers then pulled back to the palisaded and brick house.
Marjoribanks, who valiantly held off the Patriots, survived the carnage, but died shortly after the Battle of Eutaw Springs. He was originally buried at Wantoot Plantation, about 20 miles from here, but was eventually reinterred on this ground, the site of his last military triumph. When British Lieutenant Colonel Alexander Stewart later claimed victory at Eutaw Springs, he reported that the “honor of the day” was largely due to Major Marjoribanks.