CHATHAM COUNTY. 165 



ried his daring plan forward by dashing boldly and alone to 

 the camp of the British, and demanding a conference with 

 Trench. " I am the commander, sir," he said, " of the Amer- 

 ican soldiers in your vicinity. If you will surrender at once 

 to my force, I will see to it that no injury is done to you or 

 your command. If you decline to do this, I must candidly 

 inform you that the feelings of my troops are highly incensed 

 against you, and I can by no means be responsible for any con- 

 sequences that may ensue." Trench thanked him for his hu- 

 manity, and said, despondingly, that it was useless to contend 

 with fate or with the large force that he saw was around him, 

 and announced his willingness to surrender his vessels, his 

 arms, his men and himself to Col. White. At this instant Capt. 

 Elholm came suddenly dashing up at full speed, and saluting 

 White, inquired of him where he should place the artillery- 

 " Keep them back, keep them back, sir," answered White, " the 

 British have surrendered. Move your men off, and send me 

 three guides to conduct them to the American post at Sun- 

 bury." The three guides arrived. The five vessels were 

 burned, and the British, urged by White to keep clear of his men, 

 and to hasten their departure from the enraged and formidable 

 Americans, pushed on with great celerity, whilst White re- 

 tired with one or two of his associates, stating that he would 

 go to his troops in the rear and restrain them. He now em- 

 ployed himself in collecting the neighbourhood militia, with 

 which he overtook his guides, and conducted them in safety to 

 the Sunbury post. This took place on the 1st of October, 1779. 

 Lee, in his memoirs, winds up his narration with the following 

 sentence. " The extraordinary address of White was con- 

 trasted by the extraordinary folly of Trench, and both were 

 necessary to produce this wonderful issue. The affair ap- 

 proaches too near the marvellous to have been admitted into 

 these memoirs, had it not been uniformly asserted, as uniform- 

 ly accredited, and never contradicted. Capt. Elholm was an 

 officer of Pulaski's Legion. Capt. JVIelvin, it is believed, lived 

 and died in Savannah." 



Col. White was an Englishman by birth, of Irish parentage, 

 and was at one time a surgeon in the British navy. On leaving 

 the naval service, he embarked with his family for America, 

 and purchased a suitable residence near Philadelphia. When 



