Benjamin Martin (1732-1801) was an American politician and soldier who was best-known as the legendary "Ghost" during the American Revolutionary War. During the war, Martin led a colonial militia force in a guerrilla war against the British Army in his home state of South Carolina, tying down Charles Cornwallis' army until the French could arrive to support George Washington's army in the north. Martin was nicknamed "the Ghost" after an incident in which he was believed to have single-handedly massacred a British patrol of 20 men by appearing and disappearing like a ghost; in fact, he had been aided by two of his sons.
Biography[]
Hero of Fort Wilderness[]
Benjamin Martin was born in South Carolina in 1732, and he served in the British colonial militia under Colonel Harry Burwell during the French and Indian War. As a reward for his heroism at Fort Wilderness, Martin came to own land in the countryside of South Carolina at Wakefield, and he settled on his plantation with his wife, Elizabeth Putnam, and their children Gabriel, Thomas, Nathan, Samuel, William, Margaret, and Susan. They lived a peaceful life, and they were assisted by freed African slaves who worked their land in exchange for lodgings. On 19 February 1773, Elizabeth died at the age of 35, leaving Martin a widower. He raised his children with the help of his African servant Abigail, and they tended to their farm in peace, until the start of the American Revolutionary War in 1775.
Start of the American Revolution[]
Martin and Burwell in 1776
In 1776, Martin was called to the South Carolina General Assembly to vote on a levy supporting the Continental Army during its rebellion against the British government. Martin was sceptical about the revolution, asking fellow delegate Peter Howard why he should trade "one tyrant three-thousand miles away for three-thousand tyrants one mile away", saying that elected legislatures could trample on a man's rights as easily as a king could. He went on to claim that there were alternatives to war, but Colonel Burwell - who was now a Continental Army officer and recruiter - told Martin that the war had already begun at the Battle of Bunker Hill. Martin's own son Gabriel joined the Continentals without asking him.
For two years, Gabriel wrote back to the family about the war, and Charleston fell to the British in 1778. Gabriel Martin, who had become a dispatch rider, arrived at the family plantation with serious wounds, as he needed to recover before heading out to continue his journey. A surprised Benjamin took his son in, and he also took care of several British and Continental soldiers who had been wounded in a nearby skirmish. The next morning, Lieutenant Edward Cook and other British soldiers arrived at the plantation to retrieve their wounded, and Cook thanked Martin for his caring for the British soldiers. However, their exchange was interrupted by the arrival of William Tavington and his Green Dragoons, who ordered for the wounded patriots to be shot, the plantation to be burned, and Benjamin's son, Gabriel Martin to be arrested for being a "spy".
Benjamin attempted to tell Tavington about the rules of war, but Tavington threatened him and his children with his pistol. He proceeded to shoot Thomas Martin when he attempted to rescue Gabriel, and the Dragoons rode off, with Tavington calling Thomas a "stupid boy". An infuriated Martin ran into his burning plantation, retrieved three muskets, and gave two to his sons, telling them that they were going to rescue Gabriel. They ambushed Cook's 20-man platoon in the woods and killed all of them but one, who narrowly survived. They rescued Gabriel, while the surviving soldier reported to Tavington on "the Ghost"'s attack.
Raising a militia[]
Villeneuve and Martin in 1780
Martin decided to join Harry Burwell's force to protect his family from the British, as well as to protect his son, Gabriel, who was now a corporal. Burwell told Martin that George Washington's army had been chased from Morristown by a British army of 12,000 troops, and that the Americans were a breath away from losing the war. With the American defeat at the Battle of Camden, there was no army between Charles Cornwallis' British army in the south and Washington's army in the north, and Burwell told Martin that the Americans had to hold out for at least six months, when 10,000 French Army troops would arrive in a fleet to assist the Americans. Until then, the Americans in the south faced 8,000 infantry and 600 cavalry. Martin was introduced to French Army officer Jean Villeneuve, who had been training the militia; Villeneuve held a grudge against Martin for his role in the massacre at Fort Wilderness, but they would later grow close. Martin was commissioned a Colonel by Burwell, and he was made responsible for recruiting a militia to keep Cornwallis in the south. Martin had Gabriel transferred to his command, and he sent him to recruit men in Harrisville, Pembroke, and Wakefield as he recruited men on the north side of the Santee River with Villeneuve; they would meet at the old Spanish mission at Black Swamp.
Martin and Villeneuve recruited several drunkards and militia veterans at a tavern; among these men were John Billings and Hank Rollins. Gabriel recruited several well-educated people, and the two groups would come to be spiteful of the other. Nevertheless, they proved to be an effective force once trained by Villeneuve, and Martin and Villeneuve led the militia in several ambushes against the British as they moved supplies and troops across South Carolina. At the Battle of the King's Highway, the colonials were ambushed by Tavington's Green Dragoons, leaving 22 dead, 18 wounded, and 20 captured. Martin devised a clever ruse to free the 20 captured; he arranged a parlay with General Cornwallis, and he had Cornwallis agree to a prisoner exchange; Cornwallis released all 20 prisoners, only to find that the "captured British officers" were actually scarecrows dressed in captured officers' uniforms. Cornwallis decided to unleash Tavington against Martin, and Martin and his family were chased to a Gullah settlement after they burned down his sister-in-law Charlotte Selton's plantation on the Santee River. Martin oversaw his son's wedding and himself fell in love, starting a relationship with his sister-in-law.
After the wedding, Martin and his son returned to the war against the British, only to find that the British were now burning down towns accused of helping the patriots, as well as massacring their inhabitants. Martin found that his new daughter-in-law Anne Howard and her family, along with the other townspeople of Pembroke, had been killed when the British burned them alive by locking them in a church as it was razed. His son Gabriel and a group of militiamen rode to avenge the massacre by killing Tavington in an ambush at the Spanish mission, and all of the British soldiers (apart from Tavington) and all of the militiamen (including Gabriel) were killed in the ensuing battle. Benjamin cradled Gabriel as he died in his arms, and his loyalty to the cause wavered due to his grief; however, he was encouraged to rejoin the cause after taking notice of a tattered American flag that Gabriel had repaired. Martin proceeded to stay the course and fight at the Battle of Cowpens, where he lured the British into a trap by having the British chase his retreating militia into the line of fire of Continental regulars. Martin proceeded to lead a counterattack and rally his faltering men by waving the American flag. During the battle, he was heavily wounded in battle with Tavington, but he was able to impale Tavington with a bayonet and kill him. Martin would later fight at the Siege of Yorktown, where he witnessed the final defeat of the British. Afterwards, he parted with Colonel Burwell (who named his own son "Gabriel" in honor of Martin's late son) and Villeneuve, and he returned to his family. They later discovered that his former comrades were raising a new house for him; the freed slave Occam said that Gabriel had once said that the colonists would build a new world once the war ended, and opined that they could start by building the Martins a new home. Martin died in 1801 at the age of 69.