Only fifty-three out of the entire
regiment were spared and taken prisoners. 'Tarleton's quarter'
thereafter became the synonym for barbarity. * * * Feeling the silent
influence of the eminent citizens under parole in Charleston,
Cornwallis resolved to expatriate them to Florida.
"Lieutenant Governor Gadsden and seventy-seven other public and
influential men were taken from their beds by armed parties, before
dawn on the morning of the 27th of August, 1780, hurried on board the
Sandwich prison ship, without being allowed to bid adieu to their
families, and were conveyed to St. Augustine.
"The pretence for this measure, by which the British authorities
attempted to justify it, was the false accusation that these men were
concerting a scheme for burning the town and massacring the loyal
inhabitants. Nobody believed the tale, and the act was made more
flagrant by this wicked calumny. Arrived at St. Augustine the
prisoners were offered paroles to enjoy liberty within the precincts
of the town. Gadsden, the sturdy patriot, refused acquiescence, for he
disdained making further terms with a power that did not regard the
sanctity of a solemn treaty. He was determined not to be deceived the
second time.
"'Had the British commanders,' he said, 'regarded the terms of
capitulation at Charleston I might now, although a prisoner, enjoy the
smiles and consolations of my family under my own roof; but even
without a shadow of accusation preferred against me, for any act
inconsistent with my plighted faith, I am torn from them, and here, in
a distant land, invited to enter into new engagements.
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