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Lee, ever arrogating to himself supreme command, whenever detached, placed the Connecticut volunteers whom he accompanied to New York upon a Continental basis of service. In this he deliberately exceeded his authority and came into direct collision with Congress, which had ordered one of the regiments to be disbanded; and offended the New York patriots, whom he characterized as the “accursed Provincial Congress of New York.” His action received the official disapproval of Washington; and the visit of a Committee of Congress accommodated the formal occupation by the Colonial troops to the judgment of all well-disposed citizens. In no respect was the episode of Lee’s temporary command a reflection upon the patriotism of the citizens. He was ordered to the south; and in the attack upon Fort Sullivan and the preparation of Charleston for defence he gave much good advice, but had to be repressed and controlled all the time by President Rutledge, who was as resolute as Washington himself in the discharge of public duty once confided to his trust. The attitude of South Carolina, at this time, deserves special mention, and it has hardly received sufficient recognition in the development of the United States. Without waiting for the united action of the Colonies this State declared its own independence as a sovereign republic. John Rutledge was elected as President, with Henry Laurens as Vice-President, and William H. Drayton as Chief Justice. An army and navy were authorized; a Privy Council and Assembly were also elected; the issue of six hundred thousand dollars of paper money was authorized, as well as the issue of coin. It was the first republic in the New World to perfect the organization of an independent State.