To George Washington from Edward Rutledge, 6 June 1780
From Edward Rutledge
Charles Town [S.C.] June 6th 1780.
My Situation my dear General as a Prisoner of War on Parole precludes me at present from delivering you my Sentiments on the State of Affairs, or an Account of the Manner in which we were reduced to it.1 I hope however that, the Day is not very distant, when I shall have it in my power to w[r]ite with more Freedom; until then I must be silent on the Subject of Politics. I must yet presume on our Friendship to request that if Major Pinckney of the 1st So. Carolina Regiment should go to the part of the World where you may be, you will shew him such Civilities & Acts of Kindness, as a brave officer, & my very particular Friend may require.2 From the earliest period of this Contest, to the present Hour, he has devoted his whole Time to the Service of his Country; & now quits his Wife, a numerous Family of Relatives & a very Easy Fortune, rather than yield to a power which he has abjured, & detests.3 He has many Accomplishments & real Virtues. General Lincoln will give you any Information you may wish to know relative to my Situation & will assure yo. that I continue to be my dear General your very affectionate Friend
Edward Rutledge
ALS, PHi: Gratz Collection.
1. Rutledge had been taken prisoner when the garrison of Charleston, S.C., capitulated on 12 May.
2. During the British siege of Charleston, Thomas Pinckney commanded part of the city’s defenses. He and his brother Col. Charles Cotesworth Pinckney strongly opposed the surrender of Charleston. When the city fell, Thomas Pinckney escaped capture because he had been sent out of the lines by Maj. Gen. Benjamin Lincoln, commander of the southern army, to hasten the march of relieving troops.
Thomas Pinckney (1750–1828) was born in South Carolina but spent his early years in England and Europe, where he studied law and attended the royal military academy at Caen, France. He returned to South Carolina in 1774 and was admitted to the state’s bar. Despite his long residence in England, Pinckney became an ardent revolutionary, joining the 1st South Carolina Regiment in June 1775 as a captain. He became the regiment’s major in May 1778. Pinckney served as aide-de-camp to Lincoln in 1779 and as a special aide-de-camp to French vice admiral d’Estaing during the siege of Savannah in September and October of that year. Pinckney did not join GW’s army in New Jersey; instead, in August 1780 he became an aide to Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates, the newly appointed commander of the southern department. He was severely wounded and taken prisoner at the Battle of Camden, S.C., on 16 Aug. 1780. After his exchange the following December, he remained in the army until the close of the war, serving at the Battle of Yorktown in October 1781.
After the war, Pinckney served as governor of South Carolina from 1787 to 1789. In the latter year, GW offered Pinckney a position as a federal judge, but the South Carolinian declined the nomination (see Pinckney to GW, 22 Oct. 1789, in 4:215–16). GW nominated him minister to Great Britain in December 1791 (see GW to the U.S. Senate, 22 Dec. 1791, in 9:306–8; see also Thomas Jefferson to GW, 6 Nov. 1791, and n.2 to that document, in 9:144–46). In 1795 he served as envoy extraordinary to Spain, negotiating the treaty that bore his name. From November 1797 to March 1801, Pinckney served as a representative in the U.S. Congress. In March 1812, he received a commission as a major general in the U.S. Army and served until he was honorably discharged in June 1815.
3. Pinckney married Elizabeth Motte (1762–1794) in July 1779.