The Battle of Long Canes, A Surprise Encounter

A Surprise Encounter: In early December 1780, Patriot Col. Benjaman Few and about 500 South Carolina and Georgia Militia were encamped at Long Canes, pleading with Pickens and Williamson, as well as other local backcountry citizens to side with the Patriots. On December 12, 1780, Lt. Col. John Harris Cruger, the Loyalist commander at Ninety Six, ordered Lt. Col. Isaac Allen to take an equivalent number of Loyalists to White Hall in search of the Patriot militia. Hearing of Loyalists plundering farms in the area, Patriot Col. Clarke called for a hundred volunteers from Col. Few’s encampment to follow him and fight or capture the Loyalists. Around sunset, as the Patriots were scouting the high ground above the bottoms of Long Cane Creek and Reedy Branch, Clarke and his party surprised a small band of Loyalists militia who were helping themselves to supplies and livestock from a nearby farm. The Loyalists foragers fled towards their own camp. The Patriots gave chase, hoping to overtake them until the larger Patriot force could arrive.