Battle of Mobley's Meeting House - Prelude

Prelude

Tories in the area begain raiding and plundering Whig properties, and in early June 1780 established a camp at Mobley's Meeting House, about 12 miles (19 km) north of Shirer's Ferry, located on a high embankment on a branch of the Little River in Fairfield District. They were under the general command of Colonel Robert Coleman of Fairfield District, Colonel Joseph Fleuquinyan and Captain William Nichols. This group had plundered many of the possessions of Whigs in the area, in particular members of the Hampton family, and had sent John and Henry Hampton as prisoners to Lord Cornwallis at Camden. Thus laden down with booty, they awaited British assistance.

Richard Winn, a prominent Whig leader in the area, began to rally supporter to his side. By June 7 he had rallied a force of between one and two hundred men in the New Acquisition District (roughly York County, South Carolina). Its principal commanders were Colonel William Bratton, who had been leading Whig militia since the war began in 1775, as well as Colonels Edward Lacey, John McClure, Samuel Watson, Cooper, and William Hill. This group was composed in large part of the Whig forces that had just the day before routed and scattered a Tory gathering at Beckhamville, South Carolina. Colonel Bratton was elected overall field commander for the engagement, which rode for Mobley's that day, arriving in the early morning hours. They found that the camp, although it had a fortified blockhouse and the meetinghouse itself was of sturdy construction, was not particularly alert against possible attack, and planned a surprise attack.