Harper's Encyclopedia of United States History
Benson Lossing, Ed.

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Geiger, Emily 1760-

Heroine; born in South Carolina about 1760. While General Greene was pursuing Lord Rawdon towards Orangeburg, he wished to send a message to General Sumter, then on the Santee, to take a position in front of the enemy and impede his flight. The errand [41] was a most perilous one, and no man in the army was bold enough to undertake it, for the Tories were everywhere on the alert. Emily Geiger, a girl of eighteen years of age, volunteered to carry the letter to Sumter. Greene told her its contents, so that, in case she found it necessary to destroy it, the message might be delivered orally. The girl mounted a fleet horse, crossed the Wateree at the Camden ferry, and, while passing through a dry swamp, was arrested by some Tory scouts. As she came from the direction of Greene's army, her errand was suspected. She was taken to a house at the edge of a swamp, and a woman employed to search her. When left alone, she ate up Greene's letter, piece by piece, and no evidence being found against her, she was released with many apologies. She passed on to Sumter's camp, and very soon he and Marion were co-operating with Greene. Emily afterwards married a rich planter on the Congaree.