Huck, Christian

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Huck, Christian

HUCK, CHRISTIAN. (c. 1747–1780). Loyalist officer. Little is known of Captain Christian Huck, a Philadelphia Loyalist serving in Tarleton's British Legion. As British and Loyalist raiders ravaged South Carolina after the surrender of Charleston, Huck commanded a body of cavalry in the outposts around Camden. Not long after destroying the iron works of William Hill and Isaac Hayne, he moved on Williamsons Plantation. Huck had ninety Loyalists and some twenty-five British soldiers under his command when he camped for the night on 11 July 1780. A slave named Watt came across Huck's encampment and informed his owner, Colonel William Bratton. Bratton gathered some 250 militia together and surprised the Loyalists and the British the following morning. Huck and about thirty of his men were killed in this fierce little battle, most of the rest being taken prisoner.

SEE ALSO Hayne, Isaac; Williamson's Plantation, South Carolina.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Scoggins, Michael C. The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May-July 1780. Charleston, S.C.: The History Press, 2005.

                              revised by Michael Bellesiles

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Huck, Christian

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