Isaac Payne was born in 1755 in Caroline County Maryland. In
1775, Payne married Mary Hayes and bore 8 children from this
union. At the start of the Revolutionary war, Payne joined the
Caroline county militia. On September 11, 1776 the militia was
called to duty at the Battle of Harlem Heights located on
Manhattan Island
New York mostly on the campus
of
Columbia
College and
Central Park.
The
battle started with skirmishers firing at the British at 106thstreet
and Broadway.
Washington then
attacked the British in a 3 pronged attack. After six hours the
British soon found themselves almost surrounded and began to
retreat. The British retreated to the North end of
Central Park. They were soon
reinforced by other British troops forcing
Washington to
withdraw from the battle.
Some Military analysts see
Harlem
Heights as the turning
point in
America’s
effort to create an effective army. It was the first time the
Continentals fought steadily and effectively against the
British. It showed the Continentals they could win in battle
against a superior force after the Loss of Long Island and the
defeat at
Kipps Bay
NY.
After the battle of
Harlem
Heights, Payne moved
his family to Orange
county
NC to live
near his father Isaiah Payne. In 1780 after the fall of
Charleston, Payne
joined the Hillsborough Militia regiment of the NC militia.
The
next battle Payne would participate in was the battle of Camden
SC. Camden was an important base of operations for the British
because it was central to controlling the back country of
South Carolina and its
crossroads were located between the
Wateree
River and
the Catawba Indian Trail.
On
July 27, 1780, Gates, the American Commander marched to
Camden with 4000 men
mostly militia expecting an easy victory against the 700 man
garrison under the command of British General Rawdon. Rawdon
hearing of Gates march contacted Cornwallis at
Charleston.
Cornwallis brought with him over 2400 troops to
Camden. On August
16, 1780, the two armies met clashing about 2am. Both Commanders
decided to wait until daybreak to resume the battle. By daybreak
most of the Continental army and militia was sick due to Food
poisoning. Gates also made the fatal mistake of placing the
inexperienced militia on the left flank to face the best of
Britain’s
superiorly trained army. Payne and the NC militia under the
command of Col. James Colwell were placed next to the Delaware
Continentals.
The
British began the battle by attacking the left flank first. The
militia was ordered to fix bayonets and charge. Since most of
the militia was ill trained they didn’t know how to do this.
Seeing the British charging towards them they fled. Over 2800
militia fled the battle with Gates in front of them. Only the NC
militia stayed and fought with the Continentals. The NC militia
line was the first to be hit by LT. Col. James Webster’s attack
on the left flank. They fought bravely until Tarletan’s dragoons
attacked their rear. The NC militia then fled the battle. The
battle of
Camden was the worst
defeat for the Continental army in the Southern Campaign.
At
the battle of Cowpens on January 17, 1781, Payne was one of the
NC Skirmishers who first fired at the British killing 15
Dragoons. On February 1, 1781 at the battle of Cowan Ford NC,
Payne fought with Gen. Davidson to prevent the British from
crossing Cowan Ford, but failed to stop them from crossing. On
March 2,1781 Payne was with light Horse Harry Lee at the battle
of Clapps Mill NC when he led an assault on the British killing
17 British troops At Guilford Courthouse NC on March 14, 1781
Payne was one of the 1500 militia that first fired on the 71st
Highlander regiment. On September 13, 1781 at the battle of
Lindley Mill NC, Payne fought with
Butler’s Whigs to
try and rescue NC Governor Burke from the Tories, but failed to
do so. This was the last battle that Payne would participate in
and the last battle fought in Alamance
county
NC during
the war.
At
the end of 1781 Payne moved his family to the Ninety six region
of
South Carolina.
This region had been hotly contested between the British and
Continentals between May and June 1781 and was the scene of the
longest siege by the Continental against a British
Fortification. In 1790, Payne moved his family to
Greenville
South Carolina. In
1810, Payne moved to
Grainger
County
where he lived until 1827 when he died. He was buried near his
home place. Most of his family moved to McMinn
county
TN where
they still live to this day.