Battle of Waxhaws - Prelude

Prelude

Colonel Abraham Buford commanded a force of about 380 Virginian Continentals (the 3rd Virginia Detachment (composed of the 7th Virginia Regiment, two companies of the 2nd Virginia Regiment and an artillery detachment with two six-pounders). Most of his men were raw recruits with little battle experience, although Buford did have experienced officers under his command. Due to delays in outfitting his command, Buford had been unable to reach Charleston to participate in its defense. Charleston's commander, General Benjamin Lincoln, had ordered him to take a defensive position near Lenud's Ferry on the Santee River outside the city, but Lincoln surrendered around the time Buford reached this position. Buford was eventually joined by about 40 Virginia Light Dragoons who had escaped the siege or the battles that took place outside the city, and by Richard Caswell's North Carolina militia. Upon receiving news of the surrender, Buford was ordered by General Isaac Huger to return to Hillsborough, North Carolina, so he turned his column around and headed north. At Camden, Buford and Caswell parted ways, with Buford heading north into the Waxhaws region. Buford was accompanied for a time by South Carolina Governor John Rutledge, who had been actively recruiting militia in the backcountry. When Buford stopped to rest his troops at Waxhaw Creek, Rutledge rode ahead toward Charlotte, North Carolina.

General Clinton learned of Huger's force and Rutledge's presence, and on May 15 ordered Lord Cornwallis to bring the South Carolina and Georgia backcountry under British control. His army moving too slowly to keep up with Buford, Cornwallis on May 27 sent Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton in pursuit with a force of about 270 men. Tarleton commanded the British Legion, a primarily Loyalist provincial regiment. The force he took in pursuit of Buford consisted of 170 Legion and British Army dragoons, 100 mounted British Legion infantry, and a three-pounder cannon. Tarleton reached Camden late on May 28, and set off in pursuit of Buford around midnight the next morning. By that afternoon, his advance force of 60 dragoons from the 17th Light Dragoons and the British Legion cavalry, 60 mounted infantry from the British Legion, and an additional flanking force of 30 British Legion dragoons and some infantry, had reached Buford's resting place. Buford had, however, been warned of Tarleton's pursuit, and had begun moving north, and was 2 miles (3.2 km) up the road.