Andrew Pickens (1739-1817) was famous for saying as little as possible, he was once described as someone who would take the words out of his mouth, put them between his fingers and examine them carefully before actually uttering them. While his long, narrow face did not look as if it had been designed to express joy, courage and a steady nature, not a cheerful demeanor, are the key character traits of a successful partisan captain, both of which Pickens possessed. Like many southern partisan leaders, he had gained experience fighting in the Cherokee War of 1760-1761. Pickens was an extremely capable partisan leader during the small-scale civil war that erupted in the Carolinas, and he led 300 men to defeat a Tory force of 700 at Kettle Creek, Georgia, which forced the Tories to keep a low profile until the siege of Charleston.

Following General Lincoln’s surrender of Charleston, he accepted parole, but the strenuous persuasion of one of his favorite officers, Major James McCall, convinced him to renounce his parole. Actually, the British had worked hard to keep him out of the war but a Tory raid on his property ended the parole as far as Pickens was concerned. The British would quickly regret that Tory raid since Pickens would play a key role in Daniel Morgan’s victory over Banastre Tarleton at Cowpens several months later. The value of his steadying influence became clear when Nathanael Greene was forced to send him to escort South Carolina and Georgia militia whose enlistment had expired, just a week before the battle at Guilford Courthouse. Greene used the same strategy that Morgan had used as Cowpens but was less successful, since he found it harder to stiffen the militia without the example of leaders like Morgan and Pickens.

However, Pickens rejoined Greene in time to take part in the happy hunting time that took place when Corwalis led his army into Virginia, essentially abandoning South Carolina to the partisans. Pickens played a key role in Greene's whirlwind campaign that culminated in the battle of Eutaw Springs, where heavy casualties forced the British to give up all of the Carolinas except for Charleston

Pickens continued to lead after the war, serving in the both the South Carolina and federal legislatures, as well as an elder in the Presbyterian Church.  

further reading:

The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas-John Buchanan, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.

The author’s descriptions of the terrain show that he has spent a great deal of time visiting historical sites in the Carolinas, which bring the terrain to life for the reader, although the overly detailed descriptions can be a bit distracting at times. Although it focuses on the Carolinas Campaign (February 1780 to August 1781), the author provides brief but insightful biographical sketches and portraits of all of the major leaders in the South on either side in order to provide more depth. It is not a one stop examination of the Carolinas Campaign since it ends with the battle at Guilford Courthouse in March 1781, hence the name. Buchanan is the rare historian who is an excellent researcher and an entertaining writer, and he has produced a superb book that sets the standard for other works in the field.

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