Revolutionary War General Greene needed to get a message to General Sumter, but after none of his men volunteered for the job, an 18-year-old Emily came forward and volunteered for the job.
Here is the story.
Ate the General’s Letter
Once during the Revolutionary War the American General Greene, operating in South Carolina, found it necessary to send a message to General Sumter.
None of his men having volunteered to carry the message through a district filled with Torries, Greene was delighted when Emily Geiger, a girl of eighteen, volunteered for the service.
With his usual caution, Greene told Emily the contents of the letter and warned her against the consequences to herself and to him and his men if it fell into the hands of the British.
The girl mounted a fleet horse, crossed the Wateree at the Camden ferry and pressed on toward Sumter’s camp.
Passing through a swamp on the second day of her journey, she was intercepted by Tory scouts.
The girl was taken to a house on the edge of the swamp and confined to a room. Then the Tories sent for a woman to search her.
No sooner was Emily left alone than she ate Greene’s letter, piece by piece.
The search revealed nothing, and she was released with apologies.
She reached Sumter’s camp and delivered the message.
Source: The Monroe journal. (Monroe, N.C.), 24 June 1913.
