Williamson, Andrew

WILLIAMSON, ANDREW. (1730–1786). Turncoat militia general. South Carolina. Born in Scotland, Williamson came to South Carolina with his family some time before 1750, making his living driving cattle. In 1760 Williamson was commissioned lieutenant of militia, and he served in James Grant's Cherokee expedition of 1761. Four years later he was established as a store owner and planter near Ninety Six, and in July 1768 he joined other local Regulators in a petition to the legislature. When the Revolution started he was a major of militia and leading Patriot. In November 1775 he held off the Loyalists besieging his fort at Ninety Six for three days and then participated in the "Snow Campaign" that captured Loyalists hiding in Cherokee country. The following summer he led close to two thousand militia and Indians in the Cherokee War of 1776 and was promoted to state brigadier general in 1778. (Andrew Pickens succeeded him as colonel.) He also served in South Carolina's first and second Provincial Congresses in 1775 and 1776 and in the assembly from 1776 to 1780. Taking part in the expedition of General Robert Howe against Florida in the spring of 1778, his refusal to take orders from Howe contributed to the American failure. In the unsuccessful operations of Lincoln against Prevost, Williamson commanded twelve hundred men opposite Augusta and helped force back the British at Briar Creek on 3 March 1779. In October 1779 Williamson took part in the unsuccessful Franco-American assault on Savannah. During the Charleston campaign the next year his militia refused to participate and Williamson himself, with some three hundred men, remained idle at Ninety Six.

Initially announcing his intention to continue the fight against the British, he suddenly surrendered the fort. Released by the British, Williamson traveled about the western part of the state encouraging his one-time followers to give up the fight. Accused of treason, he was kidnapped by some friends who tried to determine his loyalties, but he remained obscure. Released, he went straight to Charleston, settling under British rule.

Recaptured in July 1781 by Colonel Isaac Hayne, Williamson was promptly rescued by the British, who hanged Hayne. Williamson was blamed for Hayne's hanging, and in 1782 the legislature confiscated his property. As the war came to an end, General Nathanael Greene informed the South Carolina legislature that Williamson had risked his life in passing information to the Americans. The legislature returned his property, and he died at his plantation in St. Paul's Parish on 21 March 1786.

SEE ALSO Briar Creek, Georgia; Cherokee Expedition of James Grant; Hayne, Isaac; Regulators.

                              revised by Michael Bellesiles