m into corps, with proper officers. All the remainder, with
the baggage of the whole (saving such as is absolutely necessary for
light troops), will march immediately for this town. You will please
take command of the light infantry until Lieut. Col. Henderson arrives,
which I expect will be in a few days. After that, I wish to see you as
soon as possible in Charleston."

In the February following, Marion was dispatched to Bacon's Bridge on
Ashley river, where Moultrie had established a camp for the reception
of the militia of the neighborhood, as well as those which had been
summoned from the interior. It was to Marion that Lincoln chiefly looked
for the proper drilling of the militia. In his hands they lost the rude
and inefficient character, the inexpert and spiritless manner, which,
under ordinary commanders, always distinguish them. Feeling sure of
their Captain, he, in turn, rendered them confident of themselves.
Speaking of Marion's "PATIENCE with the militia"--a phrase of great
importance in this connection--Horry, in his own memoirs, which now
lie before us, adds, "No officer in the Union was better calculated
to command them, and to have done more than he did."* Lincoln knew his
value. The admirable training of the Second South Carolina Regiment had
already done high honor to his skill as a disciplinarian. He discovered
the secret which regularly bred military men are slow to discern, that,
without patience, in the training of citizen soldiers for immediate
service, they are incorrigible; and patience with them, on the part of
a commanding officer, is neither inconsistent with their claims nor with
their proper efficiency.

* MS. Memoir of Gen. Horry, p. 55.--

The accumulation of troops at Bacon's Bridge was made with the view to
the defence of Charleston, now threatened by the enemy. Many concurring
causes led to the leaguer of that city. Its conquest was desirable on
many accounts, and circumstances had already shown that this was not a
matter of serious difficulty. The invasion of Prevost the year before,
which had so nearly proved successful; the little resistance which had
been offered to him while traversing more than one hundred miles of
country contiguous to the Capital; and the rich spoils which, on his
retreat, had been borne off by his army, betrayed at once the wealth
and weakness of that region. The possession of Savannah, where British
Government had been regularly re-established, and the