Brief History

Isaac Hayne was a wealthy planter who fought for i ndependence during the Revolution. After the British captured Charleston in May of 1780, he accepted a parole and returned to his home to live in neutrality. But the British soon revoked many such paroles in a senseless attempt to force Carolinians to choose sides in the war. When his wife and several children became ill with smallpox, Hayne traveled to Charleston to secure medicine. British authorities there forced him to declare allegiance to the Crown. Hayne’s wife and two children died despite his efforts. Eventually Hayne came to believe that neither his oath of neutrality nor his declaration of allegiance were valid. Like many Carolinians, he returned to the fight when the war turned against the British. In July of 1781 he led a troop of horsemen to capture a former Patriot general who had accepted British protection. It was a daring act, but it served no military purpose. Pursuing British cavalrymen soon captured Hayne. Then to prevent others from violating their neutrality, a British military tribunal condemned Hayne as a traitor. He was executed in Charleston on August 4, 1781. The brutal example set by Hayne’s death served no military purpose—the British withdrew from South Carolina in defeat the following year