Rugeley, Colonel Henry

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Rugeley, Colonel Henry

RUGELEY, COLONEL HENRY. Loyalist officer. A leader of Loyalist forces in South Carolina, Rugeley held the rank of colonel in 1780. His home, Clermont or Rugeley's Mills, located twelve miles north of Camden on the road between that strategic place and Charlotte, North Carolina, figured prominently in the war. Rugeley maintained friendships with several members of the Patriot elite during the Revolution, on one occasion in 1780 giving Governor John Rutledge, who was staying at Clermont, advance warning of a raid by Tarleton, allowing the governor to escape. His unit performed well in holding the center of the line in the fierce battle of Hanging Rock on 6 August 1780. Rugeley's military career came to a humiliating end in the action known as Rugeley's Mills when on 4 December 1780 he surrendered his entire command to William Washington's smaller force of dragoons. At the end of the Revolution, Rugeley settled in Jamaica.

SEE ALSO Rugeley's Mills.

                            revised by Michael Bellesiles