Isaac Hayne

Isaac Hayne assisted in the defense of Charleston the Siege of Charleston in May of 1780, and he was captured by the British in defeat. Despite signing an oath of loyalty to the British in order to remain paroled at this home, he began to serve as a colonel for the Continental Army. When he was captured again by the British in July of 1781, he was executed by hanging the following month without a trial. Many saw this as unjust, and his death fostered anti-British sentiment during and after the war. 

Isaac Hayne was born in 1745 to a prominent South Carolina family, eventually inheriting large properties from his father in the South Carolina lowcountry as well as those enslaved there. As an enslaver, he directed the cultivation of rice and indigo by enslaved labor across his properties. He married Elizabeth Hutson in 1765, and they had six children reach adulthood. In 1769, Hayne was elected to represent the parish of St. Bartholomew in the Common House of Assembly for South Carolina, serving until 1771. He was elected to the Second General Assembly from 1776 to 1778, and again to the Third General Assembly from 1779 to 1780. 

When the Revolutionary War began, Hayne began his service in the colonial militia, which was designed to defend Charleston in an anticipated attack from the British. To further support the war effort, he invested in an iron works to provide cannon shot for Americans. In the Siege of Charleston, he served as a captain in its defense. Ultimately, the city was captured by the forces of British General Sir Henry Clinton. 

After the Continental Army surrendered Charleston to the British, captured soldiers could return home, but as prisoners under parole. Their status as British subjects or prisoners of war was unclear. Two months later, Hayne was recalled to Charleston. He was informed that he must declare himself a British subject by signing an oath of allegiance or he would be punished with closed confinement. The oath of allegiance stated that, “when called upon, the subject must fight for the British army indubitably.”¹ 

Wishing to return to his family who was suffering from smallpox, Hayne struggled with the decision. James Patterson, the British commandant of Charleston, promised Hayne that if he were called upon to serve in the British army after taking the oath that he could decline. Hayne signed the oath in order to return to his family.

In the summer of 1781, Hayne was called to serve the British army to fight against the armies commanded by General Nathanael Greene in South Carolina. The verbal agreement that he made with Patterson had no standing. Instead, Hayne decided to join the Continental Army and advanced to the rank of colonel.

While serving in Colonel William Harden's regiment, Hayne was tasked with a mission to raid and capture British General Andrew Williamson. General Williamson had been a part of the Continental Army, but defected to the British soon after the siege of Charleston. In response to his disloyalty, Hayne’s party captured General Williamson on July 7, 1781.  

The British desired to intercept Hayne to retrieve Williamson. British Lieutenant-Colonel Nisbet Balfour received intelligence that Hayne’s regiment was camped near the Ashepoo River at Horse Shoe Creek. Balfour’s army ambushed the camp. In an attempt to flee, Hayne jumped onto his horse but fell, leaving him to be captured by the British. On July 8, 1781, Hayne was taken prisoner by the British.

Hayne’s status as a British subject was unclear, as he had signed the oath of allegiance the year previous. Hayne wrote to Lord Francis Rawdon and Colonel Balfour, requesting to be tried as a British subject to ensure a legal trial. He believed that if he were tried as an American, he should have the freedom of his previous parole. Rawdon and Balfour did not consider his requests. Hayne was initially told by Charleston Town-Major Charles Fraser that a council of general officers would grant him a trial, but ultimately, Hayne learned that there would be no council to try him.²

On July 29, 1781, Hayne was informed by Town-Major Fraser informing that his sentence would be execution on the counts of treason and espionage. His oath of allegiance was interpreted as reifying his support to the Crown, and in joining the Continental Army he was in violation of that oath. He was executed by hanging in Charleston on August 4, 1781. After his death, Nathanael Greene continually requested Lord Cornwallis for more documentation on the events leading to Hayne’s execution to transmit to Washington.³

News of what was considered by many to be an unjust death quickly spread through Charleston and North America. Some in the Continental Army became called to action, writing in a report that the British demonstrated the “evils or war” and that the Continental Army should retaliate for “all acts of cruelty” in reference to Hayne’s death.⁴ Nathanael Greene wrote to Washington that he desired to “retaliate on the british Officers, as the surest way of putting a stop to a practice that can only serve to gratify private revenge.”⁵ Rawdon, who many deemed responsible for his death was later captured by a French privateer leaving South Carolina, and referred to as a “Butcher” for his involvement.⁶ In his death, Hayne was remembered as a martyr for the American. This inspired many men, especially in South Carolina, to with about 2,000 men joining the American cause in weeks leading up to the Battle of Eutaw Springs and the Battle of Yorktown. 

Diana Vanderbei, George Washington University, Revised by Zoie Horecny 14 March 2025

Notes:

1. Henry Lee and Robert E. Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department (New York, NY: University Publishing Company, 1869), 451.

2. Isaac Hayne to Lord Rawdon and Colonel Balfour, August 1781, in Lee and Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department, 453-55.

3.“To George Washington from Nathanael Greene, 25 October 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives.

4. “Report on Retaliation against British, [1 October] 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives.

5. “To George Washington from Nathanael Greene, 26 August 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives.

6. “To Benjamin Franklin from Jonathan Williams, Jr., 27 November 1781,” Founders Online, National Archives.

Bibliography:

Bowman, Larry G. Captive Americans: Prisoners During the American Revolution. Athens: Ohio University Press, 1976.      

Bragg, C. L. Martyr of the American Revolution: The Execution of Isaac Hayne, South Carolinian. Columbia, South Carolina: University of South Carolina Press, 2016.

Gordon, John W. South Carolina and the American Revolution: A Battlefield History. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2003.

Lee, Henry, and Robert E. Lee. Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department. New York, NY: University Publishing Company, 1869.

Wilson, David K. The Southern Strategy: Britain's Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775-1780. Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2005.