The Partisan Spy

This Beadle and Adams dime novel, The Partisan Spy: or, The Witch of the Santee Swamps by Jos. E. Badger Jr., depicts a Revolutionary War-era confrontation in the Santee region. The story centers on Esther Carew, who keeps a rendezvous with what she believes is her lover, Continental Captain Bertram Cheyne, but is instead ambushed by Calvin Potter, a Tory leader. Potter claims to have killed Cheyne in a skirmish, though his boast proves false when Cheyne himself arrives on horseback. After Esther is thrown from her horse when Potter's men shoot it, Cheyne rescues her, dispatching Potter's two henchmen with brutal saber strokes before Potter escapes into the bushes. The narrative emphasizes romantic melodrama alongside partisan conflict between patriots and Loyalists.