[3] At the beginning of the War of Independence, Hayne joined the rebellion, and was a commissioned captain of artillery, and at the same time state senator.

[1] In 1781, as the fortunes of the British began to decline, he, with all the others who were paroled on the same terms, was required to join the royal army or be subjected to close confinement.

He went to Charleston, and, being assured by the deputy British commandant, Patterson, that he would not be required to bear arms against his former compatriots, took the oath of allegiance.

After the successes of General Greene had left the British nothing but Charleston, Hayne was summoned to join the royal army immediately.

Colonel Nisbet Balfour, the British commander in Charleston during the 1781 siege of Charlestown, fearing that Williamson would be hanged as a traitor, sent a column to intercept the raiding party.