The Battle of Kings Mountain: recollections

The Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina, occurred on the 7th day of October, 1780, and resulted in the defeat of Lieutenant Colonel Ferguson, who commanded the royal forces, and the loss of his command, not one man escaping from the battle field. The thoroughness of the disaster, and the death of the brave and highly trusted leader, was by far the most serious blow to which the British forces operating in the Southern Provinces had been subjected. The immediate effect upon Cornwallis was to put an end, for the time being, to the further subjugation of the Province of North Carolina. His contemplated advance from Charlotte Town to Salisbury was menaced by a new and unheard of enemy—the men under Campbell, Shelby, Sevier, and others—who came from the region of the mountains, and the back waters that flow to the west; from places so remote and unknown to the British leaders as to be almost mythical. 

—Historical Section of the Army War College*

Lieutenant Anthony Allaire (Loyalist):
Friday, [October] 6th. Got in motion at four o'clock in the morning, and marched sixteen miles to Little King's Mountain, where we took up our ground.
[Diary of Lieut. Anthony Allaire, of Ferguson's Corps, 5 Mar - 29 Nov 1780]

Colonels William Campbell, Isaac Shelby, and Benjamin Cleveland (Patriots):
We reached the Cow Pens, on the Broad River, in South Carolina, where we were joined by Col. James Williams, on the evening of the 6th October, who informed us that the enemy lay encamped somewhere near the Cherokee Ford of Broad River, about thirty miles distant from us. By a council of the principal officers, it was then thought advisable to pursue the enemy that night with nine hundred of the best horsemen, and leave the weak horses and footmen to follow as fast as possible. We began our march with nine hundred of the best men about eight o'clock the same evening, marched all night, and came up with the enemy about three o'clock P.M. of the 7th, who lay encamped on the top of King's Mountain, twelve miles north of the Cherokee Ford, in the confidence they could not be forced from so advantageous a post.
[Colonels William Campbell, Isaac Shelby, and Benjamin Cleveland, Official Report, Battle of Kings Mountain, addressed to General Horatio Gates, published in the Virginia Gazette 18 November 1780]

Colonel Robert Gray (Loyalist):
[Lord Cornwallis] marched from Camden to Charlotte with his army and at the same time directed Major Ferguson, who although he knew his danger and was ordered to join the army, yet after retreating 60 miles he loitered away two days most unaccountably at Kings Mountain and thereby gave time to the rebel militia under the command of Gen. [James] Williams to come up with him, the rebels were greatly superior in number.
He had about 600 militia and 60 regulars, and action ensued in which our militia behaved with a degree of steadiness and spirit that would not have disgraced any regular troops. And the rebels were repulsed three times, but having changed their mode of attack and made an attempt on a small party of North Carolinians on our flank who were not so well disciplined as the South Carolinians succeeded in breaking them. They communicated the disorder to the others and at this critical moment Major Ferguson fell. A total rout ensued.
This unfortunate affair gave a new turn to the war. All the country on Lord Cornwallis' rear was laid open to the incursions of the enemy, who, if they had made a proper use of their victory might have taken both Ninety Six and Augusta, nevertheless the consequences were very important.
[Colonel Robert Gray's Observations on the War in Carolina, published July 1910 in South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine, Vol. XI, No. 3]

Colonel William Hill (Patriot):
There was very little military subordination as all that was required or expected was that every Officer & man should ascend the mountain so as to surround the enemy on all quarters which was promptly executed.
[Col. William Hill's Memoirs of the Revolution, edited by A.S. Salley, published 1921, The State Company, Columbia, South Carolina]

Captain Abraham DePeyster (Loyalist):
This is ominous. These are the damned yelling boys.
[Source: Archibald Henderson, The Conquest of the Old Northwest, published 1920, The Century Company, New York]

Major Thomas Young (Patriot):
Major Ferguson had taken a very strong position upon the summit of the mountain, and it appeared like an impossibility to dislodge him, but we had come there to do it, and we were determined, one and all, to do it, or die trying. The attack was begun on the north side of the mountain. The orders were at the firing of the first gun, for every man to raise a whoop, rush forward, and fight his way as he best could.
... I recollect I stood behind one tree and fired til the bark was nearly all knocked off, and my eyes pretty well filled with it. One fellow shaved me pretty close, for his bullet took a piece out of my gun-stock. Before I was aware of it, I found myself apparently between my own regiment and the enemy, as I judged, from seeing the paper which the Whigs wore in their hats, and the pine knots the Tories wore in theirs, these being the badges of distinction.
[Thomas Young, "Memoir of Major Thomas Young," published 1843, Orion Magazine]

Lieutenant Anthony Allaire (Loyalist):
Saturday, 7th. About two o'clock in the afternoon twenty-five hundred Rebels, under the command of Brig.-Gen. Williams, and ten Colonels, attacked us. Maj. Ferguson had eight hundred men. The action continued an hour and five minutes; but their numbers enabled them to surround us. The North Carolina regiment seeing this, and numbers being out of ammunition, gave way, which naturally threw the rest of the militia into confusion. Our poor little detachment, which consisted of only seventy men when we marched to the field of action, were all killed and wounded but twenty; and those brave fellows were soon crowded as close as possible by the militia. Capt. DePeyster, on whom the command devolved, saw it impossible to form six men together; thought it necessary to surrender to save the lives of the brave men who were left....
[Ibid]

Colonel William Campbell (Patriot):
Col. Shelby's regiment and mine began the attack, and sustained the whole fire of the enemy for about ten minutes, while the other troops were forming around the height upon which the enemy were posted. The firing then became general, and as heavy as you can conceive for the number of men. The advantageous situation of the enemy, being the top of a steep ridge, obliged us to expose ourselves exceedingly; and the dislodging of them was almost equal to driving men from strong breast-works; though in the end we gained the point of the ridge, where my regiment fought, and drove them along the summit of it nearly to the other end, where Col. Cleveland and his countrymen were. They were driven into a huddle, and the greatest confusion; the flag for a surrender was immediately hoisted, and as soon as our troops could be notified of it, the firing ceased, and the survivors surrendered themselves prisoners at discretion.
[Excerpt from a letter, dated 20 October 1780, from Colonel William Campbell to Colonel Arthur Campbell]

Lieutenant Anthony Allaire (Loyalist):
... The action commenced about two o'clock in the afternoon, and was very severe for upwards of an hour, during which the Rebels were charged and drove back several times, with considerable slaughter.
When our detachment charged, for the first time, it fell to my lot to put a Rebel Captain to death, which I did most effectually, with one blow of my sword; the fellow was at least six feet high, but I had rather the advantage, as I was mounted on an elegant horse, and he on foot.
But their numbers enabled them to surround us and the North Carolina regiment, which consisted of about three hundred men.
Seeing this, and numbers being out of ammunition which naturally threw the rest of the militia into confusion, our gallant little detachment, which consisted of only seventy men, exclusive of twenty who acted as dragoons, and ten who drove wagons, etc., when we marched to the field of action, were all killed and wounded but twenty, and those brave fellows were soon crowded into an heap by the militia.
Capt. DePEYSTER, on whom the command devolved, seeing it impossible to form six men together, thought it necessary to surrender, to save the lives of the brave men who were left.
We lost in this action, Maj. FERGUSON, of the Seventy-first regiment, a man strongly attached to his King and country, well informed in the art of war, brave, humane, and an agreeable companion-in short, he was universally esteemed in the army, and I have every reason to regret his unhappy fate.
We lost eighteen men killed on the spot-Capt. RYERSON and thirty-two Sergeants and privates wounded, of Maj. FERGUSON's detachment.
Lieutenant M'GINNIS of ALLEN's regiment, Skinner's brigade, killed; taken prisoners, two Captains, four Lieutenants, three Ensigns, one Surgeon, and fifty-four Sergeants and privates, including the wounded, wagoners, etc.
The militia killed, one hundred, including officers; wounded, ninety; taken prisoners about six hundred; our baggage all taken, of course.
The Rebels lost Brig.-Gen. Williams, and one hundred and thirty-five, including officers, killed; wounded nearly equal to ours.
[Excerpt from a letter written by Anthony Allaire, dated "January 30th 1781," published in Rivington's Royal Gazette, New York, 24 February 1781. It was prefaced with: "This gentleman went from New York with a detachment drawn from the Provincial Brigade, which was commanded by the brave Major Patrick Ferguson. This letter gives the most circumstantial account yet received of the action at Kings Mountain, in South Carolina, Oct. seventh."]

Colonel William Campbell (Patriot):
We fought an hour and five minutes, in which time two hundred and twenty-five of the enemy were killed, and one hundred and thirty wounded; the rest, making about seven hundred regulars and Tories, were taken prisoners. Ferguson was killed near the close of the action. The victory was complete to a wish; and I think it was won by about seven hundred men, who fought bravely. I have lost several of my brave friends, whose death I much lament.
[Ibid]

Sir Henry Clinton (British Commander):
[The Battle of Kings Mountain was] an event which was immediately productive of the worst consequences to the King's affairs in South Carolina, and unhappily the first link in a chain of evils that followed in regular succession until they at last ended in the loss of America.
[Henry Clinton, edited by William Wilcox, The American Rebellion: Sir Henry Clinton's Narrative of His Campaigns, 1775-1782, published 1954, Yale University Press]

Thomas Jefferson (3rd President of the United States):
I remember well the deep and grateful impression made on the minds of every one by that memorable victory. It was the joyful annunciation of that turn of the tide of success which terminated the Revolutionary War, with the seal of our independence.
[Excerpt from a letter dated Monticello, 10 November 1822, to John Campbell, son of Colonel William Campbell]

* 70th Congress, 1st Session House Document No. 328, compiled by the Historical Section of the Army War College, Historical Statements Concerning the Battle of Kings Mountain and the Battle of Cowpens South Carolina, United States Government Printing Office, 1928

Fishing Creek, 18 August 1780

While the humiliating Camden defeat of 16 August 1780 was unravelling for General Horatio Gates and his troops, General Thomas Sumter, who had successfully detached himself from the fiasco, achieved success in taking control of a strategic ferry crossing on Carolina's Wateree River between Camden and Charlotte. A surprise attack totally subdued the British garrison there, and a bounty of war matériel was gained, along with 250 or so prisoners. Sumter, in no hurry to return to Camden, learned, by dispatch from William Davie, of Gates's demise and flight from the disaster that was Camden. 

Lord Cornwallis, in the meantime, learned of Thomas Sumter's raid and gain of valued British supplies and troops, and, in the aftermath of Camden, set Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton on Sumter's trail. It didn't take long.

The day after Camden, Tarleton spotted Thomas Sumter and his men alongside the riverbank of the Catawba River. The following morning, August 18th, Tarleton and his legion tracked Sumter to the junction of Fishing Creek with the river. Here the rebel troops stopped for lunch, along with some rest and relaxation. Sumter enforced no security precautions. "Sentries" enjoyed the afternoon along with their comrades. Tarleton and his men attacked the patriot rebels in total surprise, many, including Sumter, half-dressed and disarmed. Those who could, like Sumter, escaped by any means available. A huge number were casualties, and more than 300 were taken prisoner. More importantly, to the British, their men were rescued, and maybe most importantly: their matériel was recovered. The Americans gained nothing but another huge dose of humiliation as a coda to the Camden defeat.

The Battle of Camden, 16 August 1780

In May 1780 the regular Continental army, those not imprisoned, had retreated northward to Hillsborough, North Carolina, above Durham, and even as far as Virginia, in the aftermath of Charleston's surrender to the British. The Waxhaw Massacre of Abraham Buford's troops that month also signaled retreat for anyone lucky enough to survive.

Late in July, though, with Major General Horatio Gates at the helm, the Continental army returned southward into the Carolinas. They gathered at Charlotte to regroup, calling in the local militia to meet with Continental Army officers. Gates was intent upon taking on Lord Cornwallis and regaining South Carolina. 

He was targeting Camden in particular, a key crossroads which had become a Loyalist stronghold of about a thousand men under British commander Lord Francis Rawdon. Lord Cornwallis was advised of Gates's movement days earlier and arrived on the scene to support Rawdon with additional troops, including Banastre “Butcher” Tarleton and his notorious dragoons.

Soon after your Lordship had first taken possession of Camden, you detached me to Waxhaw with my own regiment, thinking that as it was an Irish corps it would be received with the better temper by the settlers of that district, who were universally Irish and universally disaffected. My conduct towards the inhabitants, and the extraordinary regularity of the troops under my command, I must assert to have been such as ought to have conciliated their firmest attachment; yet I had the fullest proofs that the people who daily visited my camp, not only held constant correspondence with the rebel militia then assembling at Charlotteburg, and with those who were harassing Lieut.-Colonel Turnbull's detachment, but also used every artifice to debauch the minds of my soldiers, and persuade them to desert from their colours. The encouragement which they gave to the men, and the certain means of escape with which they furnished them, succeeded to a very alarming degree, and the rage of desertion was not stopped by our return to Camden.

When your Lordship left me to command in the Back Country, you left me in the territory of an enemy, awed solely by apprehension of our force from open opposition. I soon found (as your Lordship's experience since will readily lead you to believe) that I was betrayed on every side by the inhabitants. Several small detachments from me, were attacked by persons who had the hour before been with them as friends in their camp. As the rebels, however, had not strength to assail the body of the army, they endeavoured to weaken it by treachery. I had the clearest conviction that the militia who swarmed daily in our camp, not only held forth every allurement that could entice the soldiers to desert, but actually furnished horses to such as would go off, and forwarded them from house to house till they were beyond the reach of pursuit.

—Letter from Lord Francis Rawdon to Lord Charles Cornwallis, excerpt

(It is not indicated nor probable that any of the Burke County, North Carolina, McDowells or their overmountain colleagues participated in the Battle of Camden. Thomas Sumter, William Davie, and Francis Marion were more likely to be leading the South Carolina militia. Gates had even reduced his own regular army numbers by sending support troops to Sumter and Marion, who had been sent back to the swamps by Gates. The battle is, however, important in context of what followed for those men.)

Horatio Gates made some questionable choices, especially the choice to hold a large portion of his regular army in reserve. Despite his known lack of faith in militia, he chose to create the entire left  flank from them, while the opposite flank was regular army helmed by Baron Johann de Kalb. In sum, early morning 16 August 1780, within an hour of the first volley, the Continental Army was totally routed by Lord Rawdon and his men. The militia dropped their arms and fled. Baron de Kalb suffered three bullets and eight bayonet wounds, then took three days to die. The battle was still playing out when General Gates mounted his horse and galloped for Charlotte. There, he procured a fresh horse and fled another 120 miles north to Hillsborough. He ran. His troops that were able to flee, aimed for the safety of Charlotte. 

General Gates fled & left his army a great many of whom was killed & taken prisoner and the balance thrown into utter confusion.

–Pension application of Richard Crabtree, excerpt

Errors were made by an overconfident General Gates, and the total collapse of his left flank left about 800 Continentals facing over 2000 British troops. Cornwallis sent in a charge by Tarleton  and his legion. The Continentals turned tail and fled. 

Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford of the Carolina militia had accompanied commander Horatio Gates to Camden. Rutherford was wounded, captured, and ultimately incarcerated in the British prison at St Augustine, Florida, until his exchange in summer of 1781. Gates's regular army and its officers ultimately retreated to Hillsborough, leaving no provision for the patriot militia. 

…and the mortified militia, were left to depend upon their own exertions, and their own fortitude; which, notwithstanding the discouragements they had met with, did not fail. They assembled—formed themselves into small partisan corps—and actually combated successfully, the first detachments of the enemy that came afterwards into their country. These are facts which entitle the patriots of Mecklenburg and Waxsaws, [sic] to a whole page of eulogium, in the best history that shall record the circumstances of the revolution.

—Otho Holland Williams, Adjutant to General Horatio Gates*

In the meantime, militias on the county and local levels, if not casualties or prisoners, disappeared back into the countryside to regroup and continue to strategize. Colonel Charles McDowell and his militia withdrew to the west of the mountains.

* Otho Holland Williams, A Narrative of the Campaign of 1780, transcribed by William Johnson, included in Johnson's Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene, published 1822 by A.E. Miller, Charleston, South Carolina

Clinton's 3rd Proclamation rallies the Backcountry

… that unfortunate Proclamation of the 3d of June has had very unfavorable consequences. The majority of the Inhabitants in the Frontier Districts, tho’ ill disposed to us, from the circumstances were not actually up in arms against us; they were therefore freed from the Paroles imposed by Lt. Colonel Turnbull and myself; and nine out of ten of them are now embodied on the part of the Rebels.

—Letter from Lord Francis Rawdon to Lord Charles Cornwallis dated 7 July 1780, excerpt

On 3 June 1780 Sir Henry Clinton inadvertently (and figuratively) shot himself in the foot. On that day he issued the third of his "Proclamations" in the aftermath of the Continental Army's surrender of Charleston. It was well and good that the proclamation released from parole all prisoners, excepting those taken during the British siege of Charleston, and restored to them their full rights as citizens. The stray bullet, so to speak, was the stipulation that all released parolees were required to take an oath of allegiance to the British empire, or else to be considered in rebellion. In other words, there was no such thing as neutrality subsequent to parole.

Sir Henry Clinton, with one piece of paper, guaranteed the continuance of the American Revolution in the Southern theatre. Not long afterward, Clinton and his fleet returned northward, to New York, and left the Carolinas to the jurisdiction of Charles, Earl of Cornwallis, aka Lord Cornwallis. The Loyalist troops of the Southern theater were his to command, and the Carolinas his to secure. 

The Continental regular army was either imprisoned or headed northward, so any Carolina patriot action in the aftermath of Benjamin Lincoln's surrender of Charleston was left to local and county militias. Paroled prisoners, not wishing to abide by Clinton's ultimatum, rallied to the patriot cause. As Cornwallis dispersed forces northward from Charleston into the Carolina backcountry to subdue remaining belligerents, patriot Colonel Charles McDowell, with networked knowledge of the advancing enemy, gathered his growing militia at a position at Smith's Ford on Broad River between Spartanburg and Rock Hill, South Carolina. 

The Waxhaw Massacre, Prelude

Sir,
Resistance being vain, to prevent the effusion of human blood, I make offers which can never be repeated:— You are now almost encompassed by a corps of seven hundred light troops on horseback; half of that number are infantry with cannon, the rest cavalry: Earl Cornwallis is likewise within a short march with nine British battalions.

I warn you of the temerity of farther inimical proceedings, and I hold out the following conditions, which are nearly the same as were accepted by Charles town: But if any persons attempt to fly after this flag is received, rest assured, that their rank shall not protect them, if taken, from rigorous treatment.

1st ART. All officers to be prisoners of war, but admitted to parole, and allowed to return to their habitations till exchanged.

2d ART. All continental soldiers to go to Lamprie’s point, or any neighbouring post, to remain there till exchanged, and to receive the same provisions as British soldiers.

3d ART. All militia soldiers to be prisoners upon parole at their respective habitations.

4th ART. All arms, artillery, ammunition, stores, provisions, waggons, horses, &c. to be faithfully delivered.

5th ART. All officers to be allowed their private baggage and horses, and to have their side arms returned.

I expect an answer to these propositions as soon as possible; if they are accepted, you will order every person under your command to pile his arms in one hour after you receive the flag: If you are rash enough to reject them, the blood be upon your hand.

I have the honour to be,
(Signed) BAN. TARLETON,
Lieutenant colonel, commandant
of the British legion.

Wacsaws, May 29, 1780.

Colonel Buford, &c. &c.

________________

Wacsaws, May 29, 1780.

Sir,
I reject your proposals, and shall defend myself to the last extremity.

I have the honour to be, &c.
(Signed) ABR. BUFORD, Colonel.

Lieut. Col. Tarleton,
Commanding British legion.

(Source: Lieutenant-Colonel [Banastre] Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Provinces of North America, 1787, Dublin)

Ramsour's Mill, per Graham

From The Battle of Ramsaur's Mill, June 20, 1780, by William A. Graham, 1904, Major on Staff of Adjutant General of North Carolina (excerpts):

... Lord Cornwallis' plan of campaign was to move with the main body of regulars by a central route through Charlotte and Salisbury, and to send a small force under a competent commander to his right to organize his friends in the upper Cape Fear section, and another force to his left to embody the adherents of Britain in upper South Carolina and in Tryon County, North Carolina; to reinforce his main army and also to protect his outposts from the attacks of NC Militia Colonels McDowell, Cleveland and others aided by the "over the mountain men," as those beyond the Blue Ridge were called.
...
In those days there were no post offices or country stores for the congregating of the people. The flouring mills were the points of assembling, and the roads usually named for the mills to which they led.
...
The German population in North Carolina, who mostly came here from Pennsylvania, were, during the Revolutionary War, generally favorable to Great Britain.
...
After the battle of Alamance, Governor Tryon wrote the Secretary of State that the counties of Mecklenburg, Tryon, and western Rowan beyond the Yadkin River were contemplating hostilities and that he had sent General Wadell with the militia of those counties and some other troops to require the inhabitants to take the oath of allegiance. One of the points at which they were assembled for this purpose was Ramsaur's Mill.
...
General Griffith Rutherford, Colonel Neal, Captains Alexander, Shaw, and others were at that time officers of the militia.
...
In some instances this was a fight between neighbors and kindred,... In the thickest of the fight a Dutch Tory, seeing an acquaintance, said: "How do you do, Billy? I have knowed you since you was a little boy, and never knew no harm of you except you was a rebel." Billy, who was out for business and not to renew acquaintance, as his gun was empty, clubbed it and made a pass at his friend's head, who dodged and said: "Stop! Stop! I am not going to stand still and be killed like a damn fool, needer," and immediately made a lick at Billy's head, which he dodged. A friend of Billy whose gun was loaded put it to the Dutchman's side and shot him dead.
...
The troops engaged, except Reep of Lincoln, and Major Wilson, Captains Knox and Smith of Mecklenburg, were from (what to 1777 had been) Rowan County. The officers' surnames were found among the militia officers of the county in the proceedings of the "Committee of Safety," of which many of them were members.
...
This was a battle between the ancestors of the North Carolina Confederate soldier,...
...
This battle is but little known in history, yet is one of the most important in results and best-fought of the American Revolution. King's Mountain and Ramsaur's Mill at that time were both in Lincoln County, and not twenty miles apart. If Moore had obeyed Lord Cornwallis, and delayed organization until Ferguson advanced, he could have reinforced him with two thousand men. If the Whigs had been defeated matters would have been in even worse condition. Ramsaur's Mill was the first and most important "act" in King's Mountain. It destroyed Toryism in that section and caused Bryan, with his followers, to leave the "forks of the Yadkin" and not return until Cornwallis came.

Joseph Graham's Letter

[to "The Hon. A. D. Murphey"]

VESUVIUS FURNACE, 20th Dec., 1827.

DEAR SIR: — Some time past, I forwarded you certain sketches relative to occurrences in the Revolutionary War in the Western part of North Carolina. I have since perused Johnson's History, of the life of Gen. Greene, and strictures on it by Lee, Jr., and would beg leave to correct some errors into which they have fallen.

1. It is stated, not only by these Historians, but by most others, that after Lord Cornwallis arrived in Charlotte, he attempted marching, to Salisbury. Tarleton's legion, and a battalion of infantry, after they had dislodged Col. Davie's command in the village, pursued six or seven miles, to Sassafras fields (where I was wounded), and returned the same evening. After this, no part of the British army went two miles on the Salisbury road, until they retreated from Charlotte, upon hearing of the disaster at King's Mountain.

2. It is stated, by the historians generally, that about and on, the first of February, 1781, the Catawba River was swollen and that this was the reason why Lord Cornwallis did not pursue Gen. Morgan more closely. The statement is erroneous. During the three days immediately preceding the 1st of February, my command of cavalry or portions of it, crossed the river at different fords; and it was not flusher of water than is usual at that season of the year, until the rain, which fell, on the evening of the first of February. This did occasion a rise in the Yadkin, which intercepted the British after Greene's army had passed, on the third of February.

3. Much is stated, and contradictory accounts are given, as to the part Gen. Pickens of South Carolina acted, in the campaign. The facts are these: After the retreat from Cowan's Ford, on the 1st of February, Gen. Pickens, with five or six South Carolina refugees, was in the route of our troops (North Carolina Militia) on the same day, by Tarleton's Cavalry at Torrence Tavern, six miles eastward of the river. Gen. Davidson, the commander of this force had fallen, and there were doubts and disputes among the field officers, as to who should succeed him. In this condition of affairs, while my cavalry were beyond the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, hanging on the rear of the enemy, it was mutually agreed by the field officers to invest Gen. Pickens with the command of Davidson's troops, 
amounting to six or seven) hundred men. This was about the 11th of February, and the South Carolina refugees might then amount to twenty or thirty men. James Jackson, of the Georgia line, a Lieutenant, was appointed Brigade Major. He has since been a member of Congress and Governor of that State. After this organization, the Brigade proceeded, crossing the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin, through Salem, to Guilford Court House. Here intelligence was received of the movements of the enemy to Hillsboro and 
we took that direction, more condensed and cautious than before. Hitherto, the march had been regulated by detachments for the convenience of procuring subsistence.
Arrived at a mill, on Back or Stony Creek, some twelve or fifteen miles from Hillsboro, in the evening of the 17th of Feb., shortly after we had encamped the Brigade Major gave orders that Capt. Graham should furnish twenty dragoons, and Capt. Simmons, of 
Rowan, a like number of riflemen. As soon as these officers reported their quotas in readiness, Gen. Pickens himself came and gave these two officers orders, as follows, viz.: "YOU will proceed down the road towards Hlllsboro with the greatest caution and circumspection. If you find any detachment of the enemy out, inferior to your own, attack them. If you discover a larger party beyond supporting distance from their main army, and you can keep yourself concealed, give me notice, and I will come or send an additional force to assist you. But if you ascertain you are discovered by a larger party of the enemy return immediately. In any event, return early in the morning; for they will then hear of you from the inhabitants of the country. If I move from this place you will find my trail up the west side of this creek and may join me by ten o'clock to-morrow." There were four or five volunteers who went with the party besides those ordered; but none of them were present when the orders were given. Among others I recollect Maj. Micajah Lewis, (a continental officer who was killed a few days afterwards at Dickey's,) and his brother Joel. But though of superior rank, neither Maj. Lewis nor any other, assumed any command over the detachment, or the officers who had received the General's orders. The party set out between sunset and dark. After proceeding several miles on the Hillsboro road, and when it was fully dark, met Robert Fawcett (usually called, as I understood, mad Bob), and another person, whose name is not remembered. They were direct from Hillsboro, and gave us the first information of a picket at Hart's mill, supposed to be about thirty In number. We determined to attack them at light in the morning. Gen. Pickens certainly knew nothing of this picket being at the mill when he detached us, although it is otherwise stated by Johnson. Fawcett at first thought we were a party of the enemy. We compelled him to be our pilot. If he is yet living, I would beg leave to refer you to him for subsequent events. In the morning, when we approached the picket, their sentry fired; and a sergeant and file of men came immediately to his support. Simmons and his riflemen dismounting and tieing their horses, the sergeant and party fired in the direction of the noise, for they could not see us. Maj. Lewis, myself and six others crossed into the road leading towards Mebane's and charged down this road after the sergeant and party, who ran, until we came within sight of the picket. Maj. Lewis then suggested to me the advantage the riflemen might have, by passing to the right, under cover of the hill, until they should be masked by some out buildings (I think a stable and smithshop). We instantly returned and gave Capt. Simmons his instructions, and the cavalry moved off to the left, through an old field, above where buildings have since been erected, in order to attract the attention and fire of the enemy, until the riflemen should gain their destined position. The plan succeeded as we expected. Owing to the great distance, the cavalry sustained no damage from the enemy's fire; and as soon as the riflemen, at the distance of only fifty or sixty yards, in their concealed position, had discharged their pieces at the picket, the cavalry charged, and the whole, consisting of twenty-seven men, were instantly killed or taken.
Now, Johnson states, that this party was under the command of Col. Hugh M'Call, of South Carolina, and was of those who had been with him at the Cowpens. Some two or three volunteers were along besides the Lewises as above mentioned. If Col. M'Call was one of them, it is not remembered by me and others who were present, and of whom' I have made inquiry, since the appearance of this statement. But if he was present, certain I am he had no part, either in planning, or in the execution of the capture of the picket referred to. Nor did we consult respecting it with any other person, except Maj. Lewis (who was a real soldier). His counsels were deferred to by us, knowing, as we did, his past service and experience. But Capt. Simmons and myself gave the orders, and felt the whole responsibility. If M'Call was along, he was no more than a spectator. Several, yet living, can vouch for this. When the Brigade was organized west of the Yadkln, no officers from the south were recognized but Gen. Pickens and Maj. Jackson. For we had over our proportion of field officers from North Carolina, and did not need them. When our party and prisoners arrived in camp, the brigade immediately moved nearly a North course ten or twelve miles, and halted for forage, about mid-afternoon, at a farm with high fences, having left a strong guard in the rear. In half an hour, there was an alarm by a man from the guard, who reported "Tarleton was coming." It being too late to retreat, a disposition was made for battle by lining the fences with men, and making gaps at suitable places for cavalry to move as circumstances might require. By the time these arrangements were made a part of the rear guard and Col. Lee's legion moved in sight. Lee had come upon our trail a few miles back, and we were most agreeably disappointed in greeting him instead of Tarleton.
I am confident that this was the first interview between Lee and Pickens, during the campaign, and my impression always has been, that previous to this time neither Gen. Greene nor Col. Lee knew anything about where Pickens was, or what was his force; nor did Gen. Pickens know that any part of Greene's command had re-crossed the Dan.

4. As I anticipated in the introduction to the sketches I furnished you, the historians of that War have greatly failed to do justice to the troops of North Carolina, For example, everything that was done by Gen. Sumter's force at Hanging Rock, Rocky Mount, &c., while he commanded North Carolinians in 1780, and by that of Pickens, while he commanded Davidson's Brigade in 1781 as above related, is placed to the credit of South Carolina from the circumstances of the two Generals commanding. Judge Johnson even states that at the battle of Cowpens, Maj. Jo. McDowell and his command from Burke County in this State were from South Carolina.

5. Col. Lee having written his Memoirs upwards of thirty years, after the transactions he relates, has omitted to mention many things, and of others he must have forgotten the circumstances; though upon the whole, he is more correct as far as I had a personal knowledge, than any other historian I have read. You may recollect that in his memoirs he passes unnoticed the skirmish at Clapps Mill, although he had command of the party engaged. Col. Otho Williams calls it "the skirmish on the Alamance," and says we had but three killed. On the day after the action, Pickens and Lee detached me with a party to the battle ground, and I got the inhabitants to bury eight of our men (all militia, and two of my own company). I beg leave to refer you to what I have written before on this subject.

6. Johnson's History is the only one I have seen, which notices the fact that, on the second night after the affair at Clapp's Mill, on Alamance, a detachment of British cavalry fell in with a party of Tories on their march to join the British, and that mistaking each other for adversaries, a number of the Tories were killed or wounded, before the mistake was discovered. But he appears to know nothing of our party teazing the British in the afternoon: and at night charging and dispersing their patrol, and capturing its commander, and that these were the reasons why a large body of horse were dispatched up the Salisbury road, which met the Tories and occasioned the mishap he mentions. This you will find in the Sketches.

7. Lee states that at Pyle's defeat the action was commenced by the firing of the Tories on the Militia, in his rear. Whereas, the fact was that I riding in front of the Militia dragoons, near to Capt. Eggleston who brought up Lee's rear, at the distance of forty or fifty yards, pointed out to him, the strip of red cloth on the hats of Pyle's men, as the mark of Tories. Eggleston appeared to doubt this, until he came nearly opposite to the end of their line, when riding up to the man on their left, who appeared as an officer, he inquired, "Who do you belong to?" The answer was promptly given, "To King George," upon which Eggleston struck him on the head with his sword. Our dragoons well knew the red cloth on the hats to be the badge of Tories, but being under the immediate command of Lee, they had waited for orders. But seeing the example set by this officer, without waiting for further commands, they rushed upon them like a torrent. Lee's men, next to the rear, discovering this, reined in their horses to the right upon the Tory line, and in less than one minute the engagement was general. Col. Lee being in front, and at the other end of the line, say forty poles, from where the action commenced, might have believed the Tories first attacked us. If, however, he had inquired of Capt. Eggleston, he could have informed him otherwise.

As to other events, of which I have a personal knowledge there are misrepresentations, but it is not convenient for me to point out of all them.

I am, sir, very respectfully, 
Your most obedient,
J. GRAHAM.

The Hon. A. D. Murphey.

Gen. Nathanael Greene in the South

The Continental Congress had been unfortunate in its selection of commanders in the South. It had chosen Robert Howe, who lost Savannah. It had chosen Benjamin Lincoln, who lost Charleston. In August 1780, near Camden, South Carolina, the British attacked Horatio Gates' army, which broke and ran in wild confusion. The way was cleared for Lord Cornwallis to pursue his goals of gathering southern Loyalists and taking the war into Virginia. His southern ports could be mobilized to move men and materiel into the Carolinas.
Congress entrusted General Washington with the choice of Gates' successor. On October 5 it resolved "that the Commander-in-Chief be and is hereby directed to appoint an officer to command the southern army, in the room of Major General Gates." George Washington acted without delay. The day after he received his copy of the resolution, he wrote to Nathanael Greene at West Point, "It is my wish to appoint You." Congress approved the appointment, and gave Greene command over all troops from Delaware to Georgia with extraordinarily full powers, "subject to the control of the Commander-in-Chief." Greene took command at Charlotte, North Carolina on December 2, 1780. Brigadier General Isaac Huger of the South Carolina Continentals was appointed his second in command.

(Source: Wikipedia)

Nathanael Greene to Francis Marion, 4 December 1780:

". . . I have not the Honor of your Acquaintance but am no Stranger to your Character and merit. . . . Untill a more permanent Army can be collected than is in the field at present, we must endeavor to keep up a partizan war and preserve the tide of sentiment among the People as much as possible in our Favour. Spies are the Eyes of any army. . . . At present I am badly off for Intelligence. It is of the highest Importance that I get the earliest Information of any Reinforcements which may arrive at Charlestown or leave the Town to join Lord Cornwallis. I wish you therefore to fix some Plan for procuring such Information and for conveying it to me with all possible Dispatch. The Spy should be taught to be particular in his Enquiries, and to get the names of the Corps Strength and Commanding Officer's name, Place from whence they came and where they are going. It will be best to fix upon some Body in Town to do this, and have a Runner between you and him, to give you the Intelligence as a Person cannot make these Enquiries without being suspected who lives out of Town. The utmost Secrecy will be necessary in this Business."

The Battle of Moores Creek Bridge: Martin's Plan

In exile, royal governor Josiah Martin planned the reconquest of North Carolina. First, he would raise within that colony an army of 10,000 men, two-thirds loyalist Highlanders and former Regulators. This army would then rendezvous on the coast with a powerful expeditionary force under Lord Cornwallis, Sir Henry Clinton, and Sir Peter Parker. These combined army and naval forces were to concentrate at Brunswick, a seaport town below Wilmington, by February 15, 1776. Together they would re-establish royal authority in the Carolinas, striking wherever rebellion showed itself. Martin persuaded his London superiors and commander-in-chief Thomas Gage that this host could easily restore order. The British ministry approved the plan, and dispatched orders to the several commanders.

Martin now set about recruiting his army. On January 10, 1776, he called upon all loyal subjects to unite to put down "a most daring, horrid, and unnatural Rebellion." Six months earlier General Gage had sent Donald MacDonald and Donald McLeod to North Carolina to recruit a Highland battalion. Martin now appointed MacDonald a brigadier general and McLeod a lieutenant colonel in the loyalist militia with directions to enlist men.

To all Highlanders who pledged service to the Crown, the British government promised 200 acres of land, cancellation of land fees, and tax exemption for 20 years. These terms, and Martin's efforts among other groups, brought in recruits, though not nearly as many as had been expected. The call went out for loyalists to assemble under MacDonald near Cross Creek (Fayetteville) and then march to the coast. When the force was organized on February 15, there were about 1,600 men present: Highlanders, other loyalists, and some 130 ex-Regulators.

(Source:  State Library of North Carolina)

The Retreat of Cornwallis, October 1780

From The History of the Origins, Progress and Termination of the American War, by Charles Stedman, self-published, London, 1794:

On the fourteenth of October, which was as soon after lord Cornwallis received certain intelligence of the loss of Ferguson's detachment as the army could be put in motion, he began his march back to South Carolina. Nearly about this time lord Cornwallis fell sick, and continued ill for some time; the command devolved on lord Rawdon. In this retreat the king's troops suffered much, encountering the greatest difficulties; the soldiers had no tents; it rained for several days without intermission; the roads were over their shoes in water and mud. At night, when the army took up its ground, it encamped in the woods, in a most unhealthy climate; for many days without rum. Sometimes the army had beef, and no bread; at other times bread and no beef. For five days it was supported upon Indian corn, which was collected as it stood in the field, five ears of which were the allowance for two soldiers for twenty-four hours. They were to cook it as they could, which was generally done by parching it before the fire. In riding through the encampment of the [Loyalist] militia, the Author discovered them grating their corn, which was done by two men of a mess breaking up their tin canteens, and with a bayonet punching holes through the tin; this made a kind of rasp, on which they grated their corn: The idea was communicated to the adjutant-general, and it was afterwards adopted throughout the army. The water that the army drank was frequently as thick as puddle. Few armies ever encountered greater difficulties and hardships; the soldiers bore them with great patience, and without a murmur: Their attachment to their commander supported them in the day of adversity; knowing, as they did, that their officers', and even lords Cornwallis and Rawdon's fare was not better than their own. Yet, with all their resolution and patience, they could not have proceeded but for the personal exertions of the militia, who, with a zeal that did them infinite honour, rendered the most important services. The continual rains had swelled the rivers and creeks prodigiously, and rendered the roads almost impassable. The waggon and artillery horses were quite exhausted with fatigue by the time the army had reached Sugar Creek. This creek was very rapid, its banks nearly perpendicular, and the soil, being clay, as slippery as ice. The horses were taken out of some of the waggons, and the militia, harnessed in their stead, drew the waggons through the creek. We are sorry to say, that, in return for these exertions, the militia were maltreated, by abusive language, and even beaten by some officers in the quarter-master-general's department: In consequence of this ill usage, several of them left the army next morning, for ever, chusing to run the risque of meeting the resentment of their enemies rather than submit to the derision and abuse of those to whom they looked up as friends.

(Charles Stedman served in the British Army "under Sir W. Howe, Sir H. Clinton, and the Marquis Cornwallis.")

Washington Irving, re: the Mecklenburg Declaration

From History of the McDowells and Connections, by John Hugh McDowell, pub. 1918, C. B. Johnston:

[W]hat says our great and beloved author, the first of Americans who gave to his country a character of literature in Europe, and appropriately closed his long and bright career by a Biography of Washington, published in 1857? I speak of Washington Irving, all of whose works are American classics. In the fourth volume 
of this work, speaking of the invasion of North Carolina, which had been assigned to Lord Cornwallis, he says:

"It was an enterprise in which much difficulty was to be apprehended, both from the character of the people and the country. The original settlers were from various parts, most of them men who had experienced political or religious oppressions, and brought with them a quick sensibility of wrong and a strong appreciation of their rights, and indomitable spirit of freedom and independence. And this part of the state was of a hard Presbyterian stock, the Scotch-Irish, as they were called, having emigrated from Scotland to Ireland, and thence to America, and was said to possess the impulsiveness of the Irishman 
with the large resolution of the Covenanter. The early history of the colony abounds with instances of this spirit among its people. 'They always behaved insolently to their governors,' complains Governor Burrington, in 1731; 'some they have driven out of the country—at other times they set up a government of their own choice, 
supported by men under arms.' It was, in fact, the spirit of popular liberty and self-government which stirred within them, and gave birth to the glorious axiom: the rights of the many against the exactions of the few. It was this spirit that gave rise to the confederacy called the Regulation formed to withstand the abuses of power, and the first blood shed in our country in resistance to arbitrary taxation was at Alamance, in this province, in a conflict between the Regulators and Governor Tryon. Above all, it should never be forgotten that at Mecklenburg in the heart of North Carolina, was culminated the first Declaration of Independence of the British crown upward of a year before a like declaration by Congress." Again: "Cornwallis decamped from Camden and set out for North Carolina. Advancing into the latter province, Cornwallis took post at Charlotte, where he had given rendezvous to Ferguson. Mecklenburg, of which it was the capital, was, the reader may recollect, the 'heady, high-minded' county where the first Declaration of 
Independence had been made; and his lordship, from uncomfortable experience, soon pronounced Charlotte 'the hornet's nest of North Carolina.'
"Instead of remaining at home and receiving the King's money in exchange for their produce, they (the inhabitants) turned out with their rifles, stationed themselves in covert places, fired upon the foraging parties; convoys of provisions from Camden had to fight their way, and expresses were shot down and their despatches seized."

Cane Creek: Prelude to Kings Mountain

From Biographical History of North Carolina, by Samuel A'Court Ashe, published 1908, C.L. Van Noppen, North Carolina, pg. 302:

On August 29th [1780] Cornwallis wrote to Sir Henry Clinton that Ferguson was to move into Tryon, now Lincoln County, with what the latter thought was a reliable body of militia. Ferguson accordingly advanced to Gilbert-town, three miles north of the present village of Rutherfordton, where he issued a proclamation to the citizens to renew their allegiance and join the king's army. Learning that McDowell had retired, and that the Watauga leaders had crossed the mountains to their homes, Ferguson began to send out parties of foragers to ravage the county of Burke. This aroused Colonel Charles McDowell, and learning that he was again mustering his men, Ferguson sent out a detachment in search of him. But he again failed to surprise McDowell, who was lying in ambuscade for him at Bedford Hill, three miles southwest of Brindletown and near Cowan's Ford of Cane Creek. On the [12 September 1780, per Lt. Anthony Allaire’s diary] approach of Ferguson's men, McDowell's men fired upon them, killing many of the Tories and wounding Major Dunlap, the trusted lieutenant of Ferguson. Ferguson was forced to retire hastily to Gilbert-town.

Gen. Greene at Steele's Tavern

From Makers of America: Biographies of Leading Men of Thought and Action, Volume II, by Leonard Wilson, pub. 1916, B.F. Johnson, pp. 256-257:

William Steele was a Commissioner of the Borough of Salisbury [North Carolina]. He died November 1, 1773, thirty-nine years of age, leaving only one son, the John Steele whose record has already been given. John Steele was commonly called "General," because he held the office of General of Militia. Elizabeth Maxwell is the heroine of one of the most interesting of all true stories in American history. The story is given as it is told in reliable and fully authenticated records."On a wild and wintry night, February 1, 1781, a lonely horseman sits his weary steed seven miles below Torrence's Tavern. He waits for news of the day's campaign. It is a crucial hour; only by bringing out the militia can he oppose Cornwallis. The preceding day he had sent Morgan towards the Yadkin. The messenger arrives with news that brings despair; General Davidson had been killed, the militia scattered, Cornwallis had crossed the Catawba, Huger is hotly pressed by the British and Greene begins his weary ride to Salisbury. After Morgan learns of the crossing of Cornwallis at Cowan's Ford, he begins his retreat, February 1, toward the Yadkin along Beattie's Ford, or Sherrill's Ford Road to Salisbury. They marched through the town and encamped about one-half a mile east of the town on the Yadkin road in a grove, where is now located the home of Honorable John Steele Henderson. A surgeon of the army, Dr. Joseph Read, with hospital stores and a number of wounded, reached Salisbury. Dr. Read establishes himself at Steele's Tavern; Greene arrives. Dr. Read said:
"It was impossible not to perceive in the deranged state of his dress and the stiffness of his limbs some symptoms of his late rapid movements and exposure to the weather.
"'How do you find yourself?' asks Dr. Read.
"'Wretched beyond measure, fatigued, hungry, alone, penniless and without a friend' (for one time heroic Greene was discouraged).
"Mrs. Steele heard the general's remark and replied:
"'That I deny. Come in, rest, dry yourself, and in a short time a hot breakfast shall cheer and refresh you.'
"A bountiful repast was soon spread. As he sits by the table with bowed head, she enters. Handing to him two bags of specie,
gold and silver coins, her savings of years, she said:
"'Take them, for you will need them and I can do without them.'
"On the wall of the room hung pictures, colored engravings of King George III and Queen Charlotte, which had been given Mrs. Steele by her brother, Dr. James Maxwell. General Greene took a piece of charcoal and wrote under the picture of the king: 'Oh, George, hide thy face and mourn.'"
This colored lithograph was donated to the State of North Carolina, and is still in a good state of preservation.

Maj. Gen. Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee

Henry Lee III, called "Light Horse Harry", (29 January 1756 – 25 March 1818) was a cavalry officer in the Continental Army during the American Revolution. He was born near Dumfries, Virginia, the son of Maj. Gen. Henry Lee II of "Leesylvania" and Lucy Grymes, the "Lowland Beauty".
Lee and his younger brother Charles entered The College of New Jersey (now Princeton University) in the summer of 1770 when they were fourteen and twelve, after a ten-day journey from Virginia by stage and on horseback, along with their friend James Madison. With a view to a legal career, Lee graduated in 1773, but on the outbreak of the Revolutionary War, he joined the Continental Army. In 1776, Lee became captain of a Virginia Dragoon detachment, attached to the 1st Continental Light Dragoons. In 1778, he was promoted to major and given the command of a small irregular corps, with which he earned great reputation as a leader of light troops.
Lee came into prominence in 1779 when, as a 23-year-old major, he led the capture of the British fort at Paulus Hook, New Jersey. He later became cavalry commander in the Southern campaign under General Nathanael Greene. Lee served notably at Guilford Court House, Camden, and Eutaw Springs. He was present at Cornwallis's surrender at Yorktown, but afterwards left the army owing to ill health.
From 1786 to 1788, Lee was a delegate to the Continental Congress, and in the last-named year in the Virginia convention, he favored the adoption of the U.S. Constitution. From 1789 to 1791, he served in the General Assembly and, from 1791 to 1794, Lee was Governor of Virginia. In 1794, Lee accompanied George Washington to help suppress the "Whiskey Rebellion" in western Pennsylvania.
Henry Lee served as a major-general in the U.S. Army in 1798-1800, and from 1799 to 1801, he served in the U.S. House of Representatives. He is credited with writing the phrase used by Chief Justice John Marshall in his address to Congress on the death of Washington–"first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."
Lee had been at his best as a dashing cavalry officer in the Revolution– "a Rupert in battle," Woodrow Wilson called him, "a boy in counsel, highstrung, audacious, wilful, lovable, a figure for romance." He was less well fitted for civil and domestic life, and his later years were marred by financial reverses and long periods away from home. He lost heavily in land speculations and spent a year in debtor's prison when Robert E. Lee (his fifth child by his second wife) was only two. While in prison he wrote his memoirs of the Revolution. In 1812, in Baltimore, he was seriously injured while in the company of a group opposed to "Mr. Madison's War," who were under attack by an angry mob. Madison denounced the rioters as barbarians and offered Lee a commission as major-general in the army, but he was too weak to accept. Ill and impoverished, he spent his last years in the West Indies in a vain effort to regain his health.

(Source: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Henry_Lee_III, and A Princeton Companion, by Alexander Leitch, pub. 1978, Princeton University Press)

Lord Rawdon in the Backcountry

Francis Rawdon-Hastings, 1st Marquess of Hastings, was a British politician and military officer. He was born in County Down, Ireland, the son of John Rawdon, 1st Earl of Moira and Elizabeth Rawdon, 13th Baroness Hastings.
He joined the British Army in 1771 and served in the American Revolutionary War, particularly at the battles of Bunker Hill, Brooklyn, White Plains, Monmouth and Camden, at the attacks on Forts Washington and Clinton, and at the siege of Charleston. Hastings commanded the "Volunteers of Ireland", a Tory regiment raised by General Sir Henry Clinton. In the aftermath of the Battle of Camden, Lord Rawdon wrote to General Cornwallis:

"Soon after your Lordship had first taken possession of Camden, you detached me to Waxhaw with my own regiment, thinking that as it was an Irish corps it would be received with the better temper by the settlers of that district, who were universally Irish and universally disaffected. My conduct towards the inhabitants, and the extraordinary regularity of the troops under my command, I must assert to have been such as ought to have conciliated their firmest attachment; yet I had the fullest proofs that the people who daily visited my camp, not only held constant correspondence with the rebel militia then assembling at Charlotteburg, and with those who were harassing Lieut.-Colonel Turnbull's detachment, but also used every artifice to debauch the minds of my soldiers, and persuade them to desert from their colours. The encouragement which they gave to the men, and the certain means of escape with which they furnished them, succeeded to a very alarming degree, and the rage of desertion was not stopped by our return to Camden. When your Lordship left me to command in the Back Country, you left me in the territory of an enemy, awed solely by apprehension of our force from open opposition. I soon found (as your Lordship's experience since will readily lead you to believe) that I was betrayed on every side by the inhabitants. Several small detachments from me, were attacked by persons who had the hour before been with them as friends in their camp. As the rebels, however, had not strength to assail the body of the army, they endeavoured to weaken it by treachery. I had the clearest conviction that the militia who swarmed daily in our camp, not only held forth every allurement that could entice the soldiers to desert, but actually furnished horses to such as would go off, and forwarded them from house to house till they were beyond the reach of pursuit."

Morgan to Greene, re: Cowpens (Part 1)

General Morgan to General Greene–
Report on the Battle of Cowpens
Camp on Cain Creek on Pedee
January 19th, 1781.

Dear Sir–The troops I have the honor to command have gained a complete victory over a detachment from the British Army commanded by Lieut.-Col. Tarleton. It happened on the 17th inst., about sunrise, at a place called the Cowpens, near Pacolet River. On the 14th, having received intelligence that the British Army were in motion, and that their movements clearly indicated the intention of dislodging me, I abandoned my encampment at Glendale Ford, and on the 16th, in the evening, took possession of a post about seven miles from Chroke on Broad River. My former position subjected me at once to the operations of Lord Cornwallis and Colonel Tarleton, and in case of a defeat my retreat might easily have been cut off. My situation at Cowpens enabled me to improve any advantage that I might gain and to provide better for my security should I be unfortunate. These reasons induced me to take this post, notwithstanding it had the appearance of a retreat. On the evening of the 16th, the enemy occupied the ground we had removed from in the morning. One hour before daylight one of my scouts informed me that they had advanced within five miles of our camp. On this information the necessary dispositions were made. From the activity of the troops we were soon prepared to receive them. The light infantry commanded by Lt.-Col. Howard, and the Virginia Militia under Major Triplett, were formed on a rising ground. The Third Regiment of Dragoons, consisting of about 80 men, under command of Lt. Col. Washington, were so posted in the rear as not to be injured by the enemy's fire, and yet to be able to charge them should an occasion offer; the Volunteers from North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia under the command of Col. Pickens were posted to guard the flanks. Major McDowal, of the North Carolina Volunteers, were posted on the right flank in front of the line 150 yards. Major Cunningham, of the Georgia Volunteers, on the left, at the same distance in front, Colonels Brannon and Thomas, of the South Carolina Volunteers, on the right of Major McDowal, and Colonels Hays and McCall of the same corps to the left of Major Cunningham. Capts. Tate and Buchanan, with the Augusta Riflemen, were to support the right of the line. The enemy drew up in one line four hundred yards in front of our advanced corps. The first battalion of the 71st Regiment was opposed to our right, the 7th to our left, the Legion Infantry to our centre, and two companies of the light troops, 100 each, on our flanks. In their front they moved two pieces of artillery, and Lieut.-Col. Tarleton, with 280 cavalry, was posted in the rear of the line. The disposition being thus made, small parties of riflemen were detached to skirmish with the enemy, on which the whole line advanced with the greatest impetuosity, shouting as they advanced. Majors McDowal and Cunningham gave them a heavy and galling fire, and retreated to the regiments intended for their support; the whole of Col. Pickens' command then kept up a fire by regiments, retreating agreeable to orders. When the enemy advanced on our lines they received a well directed and incessant fire, but their numbers being superior to ours they gained our flanks, which obliged us to change our position. We retired, in good order, about fifty paces, formed and advanced on the enemy and gave them a brisk fire, which threw them into disorder. Lieut.-Col. Howard observing this gave orders for the line to charge bayonets, which was done with such address that the enemy fled with the utmost precipitation. Lieut.-Col. Washington discovering that the cavalry were cutting down our riflemen on the left, charged them with such firmness as obliged them to retire in confusion. The enemy were entirely routed, and the pursuit continued upwards of twenty miles. Our loss was inconsiderable, not having more than twelve killed and sixty wounded. The enemy's loss was to commissioned officers and over 100 rank and file killed and 200 wounded, 29 commissioned officers and about 500 privates prisoners which fell into our hands with two pieces of artillery, two standards, 800 muskets, one travelling forge, thirty-five baggage wagons, seventy negroes and upwards of 100 dragoon horses, with all their musick. They destroyed most of the baggage which was immense. Although our success was complete we fought only 800 men and were opposed by upwards of one thousand chosen British Troops. Such was the inferiority of our numbers that our success must be attributed, under God, to the justice of our cause and the bravery of our Troops. My wishes would induce me to mention the name of every private centinel in the Corps. In justice to the brave and good conduct of the officers, I have taken the liberty to enclose you a list of their names from a conviction that you will be pleased to introduce such characters to the world. Major Giles, my aid de camp, and Captain Brooks, acting as Brigade Major, deserves to have my thanks for their assistance and behavior on this occasion. The Baron de Glabuck, who accompanies Major Giles with these despatches, behaved in such manner as to merit your attention.

I am sir, Your obedient servant,

DAN MORGAN

Lord Cornwallis to Banastre Tarleton, Wynnesborough, Jan. 2d, 1781, seven o'clock A.M.

Dear Tarleton,

I sent Haldane to you last night, to desire you would pass the Broad river, with the legion and the first battalion of the 71st, as soon as possible. If Morgan is still at Williams', or anywhere within your reach, I should wish you to push him to the utmost: I have not heard, except from M'Arthur, of his having cannon; nor would I believe it, unless he has it from good authority: It is, however, possible, and Ninety Six is of so much consequence, that no time is to be lost.

Yours sincerely,

Cornwallis

Let me know if you think that the moving the whole, or any part of my (c.) corps, can be of use.

(from: A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781, in the Southern Province of North America, by Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, pp 244-245)

Lt. Col. Thomas Brown & the King's Rangers

From the New Georgia Encyclopedia, "Thomas Brown (1750-1825)", by Edward J. Cashin, Augusta State University:

Commanding a regiment of loyalists known as the King's Rangers, Thomas Brown took part in several important actions in Georgia during the Revolution. ...
Born in 1750 in Whitby on the North Sea coast of England, Brown was the son of a wealthy merchant and alum manufacturer. When he was twenty-four his father outfitted a ship for him and recruited more than seventy indentured servants in Yorkshire and the Orkney Islands for a voyage to Georgia. Young Brown and his servants established Brownsborough in St. Paul Parish, above Augusta, Georgia, in November 1774. Governor James Wright appointed him a magistrate in that region.Brown's arrival coincided with the increase of Revolutionary sentiment in Georgia. He strongly opposed the efforts of the Sons of Liberty to enforce the continental association against trade with Britain. As a result the "Liberty Boys" made an example of him, almost killing him. When he recovered Brown rallied Loyalists in the South Carolina upcountry but was advised by the royal governor, Sir William Campbell, to await the arrival of British troops. Under threat of arrest by the Revolutionary government of South Carolina, Brown fled to British East Florida. He unveiled his plan for the subjugation of Georgia and Carolina to Patrick Tonyn, the governor of Florida, and he volunteered to raise a regiment of rangers who would ride with the Indians against the people on the frontier, in conjunction with the invasion of British troops along the coast. Governor Tonyn became an ardent advocate of the plan, sometimes known as the "southern strategy." Tonyn commissioned Brown as a lieutenant colonel of the Florida Rangers in June 1776.
Brown formed his regiment of rangers, recruited Indian allies, and began a campaign of harassment of the Georgia frontiers. In response Georgia staged three abortive invasions of Florida to secure the borderlands. When General Sir Henry Clinton, the British commander in chief, adopted the southern strategy in 1778, he sent an army under Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell to land on the Georgia coast, march to Augusta, and there meet Indian allies. Brown's rangers joined Campbell's regulars in Savannah and marched to Augusta. On the way they attempted to rescue Loyalists in the Burke County jail; Brown was wounded in the effort.
The Indians were slow to arrive, and a contingent of Loyalists were caught by Georgia and South Carolina militia under Elijah Clarke, John Dooly, and Andrew Pickens and defeated in the Battle of Kettle Creek on February 14, 1779. The British retreated from Augusta, only to turn on the pursuing Americans in the Battle of Briar Creek, March 3, 1779. The British victory there permitted the restoration of royal government in Georgia and the return of Governor James Wright and his council.
During the French and American Siege of Savannah in October 1779 Brown and his rangers helped defend the city. Sir Henry Clinton dispatched more troops to Georgia and South Carolina and laid siege to Charleston. When that important city fell to the British on May 12, 1780, American opposition generally collapsed. Thomas Brown and his rangers, now styled the King's Rangers, garrisoned Augusta. In 1779 Brown became superintendent of the Creek and Cherokee Indians and attempted to employ them against rebel resistance according to his original plan. In September 1780, however, Brown was surprised by a raid of approximately 600 Georgians under Clarke. In the course of a four-day battle Brown was again wounded but was relieved by British reinforcements from Ninety-Six, South Carolina. Either Brown or Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger, who outranked him, ordered thirteen American prisoners hanged in accordance with Lord Cornwallis's standing order regarding those who swore to lay down their arms and took them up again.
For better protection of Augusta, Brown constructed Fort Cornwallis on the grounds of St. Paul's Church, dismantling the church in the process. He withstood a siege by continentals under Lieutenant Colonel Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, Georgians under Lieutenant Colonel Elijah Clarke, and South Carolinians under General Andrew Pickens. After two weeks of fierce fighting, during which Americans dug trenches near the fort and mounted a cannon on an improvised tower, Brown, together with his rangers and their Indian allies, surrendered on June 5, 1781.
Brown was taken under escort to Savannah and paroled. When he was exchanged for an American officer held by the British, he recruited another regiment of rangers and engaged in skirmishes outside Savannah with encircling American troops under General Anthony Wayne. After Savannah surrendered, in July 1782, Brown joined the thousands of refugees who went to British Florida, only to be forced to leave when that province was returned to Spain in the peace treaty of 1783. Some Loyalists migrated to Nova Scotia, but Brown and many of his rangers settled on Abaco Island in the Bahamas. Loyalists regarded Brown as a hero and elected him to the Bahamian legislature.

Gen. Lord Charles Cornwallis (1738-1805)

Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis, is most remembered as one of the primary British generals in the American Revolutionary War. His 1781 defeat by a combined American-French force at the Siege of Yorktown is generally considered the end of the War, as the bulk of British troops had surrendered with Cornwallis, although minor skirmishes continued for another two years.

Cornwallis was educated at Eton College—where he received an injury to his eye by an accidental blow at hockey from Shute Barrington, afterwards Bishop of Durham—and Clare College, Cambridge. He obtained his first commission as Ensign in the 1st Foot Guards on December 8, 1757. His military education then commenced, and after travelling on the continent with a Prussian officer, Captain de Roguin, Lord Brome, as he was then known, studied at the military academy of Turin. He also became a Member of Parliament in January 1760, entering the House of Commons for the village of Wye in Kent. He succeeded his father as 2nd Earl Cornwallis in 1762.

Throughout the Seven Years' War, Lord Cornwallis served four terms in different posts in Germany, interspersed with trips home. In 1758, he served as a staff officer to Lord Granby. A year later, he participated at the Battle of Minden. After the battle, he purchased a captaincy in the 85th Regiment of Foot. In 1761, he served with the 11th Foot and was promoted to Brevet Lieutenant-Colonel. He led his regiment in the Battle of Villinghausen on July 15-July 16, 1761, and was noted for his gallantry. He became colonel of the 33rd Regiment of Foot in 1766.

During the 1760s and early 1770s, Cornwallis regularly spoke out against the repressive tax policies that Britain was imposing on its American colonies. However, his sympathy did not extend to support for independence and he joined British forces in America in August 1776.

Cornwallis saw action in most of the major campaigns of the American Revolutionary War. He served with William Howe on Long Island in the late summer of 1776, then assisted in the pursuit of George Washington across New Jersey. He was present at the American victories at Trenton and Princeton, and, in September 1777, the British triumph at Brandywine. Cornwallis was impatient with Howe’s seeming lack of initiative and was later similarly critical of Sir Henry Clinton. In frustration, Cornwallis resigned his commission, but his resignation was not accepted.

In 1778 Cornwallis was named second in command under Clinton and, in 1780, he assisted in opening a renewed effort in the American South. He won a key victory at Camden over Horatio Gates in June 1780, but was forced to retreat after his army's Pyrrhic victory in the March 1781 Battle of Guilford Court House. They subsequently marched north through North Carolina into Virginia, where the forces of General Washington and the French fleet compelled his surrender at Yorktown in October 1781.

The defeat at Yorktown did not destroy Cornwallis' career. In 1786, he was appointed governor-general of India, where he brought important reforms to the civil service and the judiciary. He also instituted a major land reform and led military campaigns against native uprisings. In 1792, he was made a marquess for his service in India. In 1798, Cornwallis became viceroy and commander-in-chief in Ireland. He won some measure of respect from both Roman Catholics and Protestants for his sincerity and dedication. Other contributions included quelling a rebellion in 1798 and thwarting a French invasion. He supported the Act of Union in 1801, which joined the British and Irish in Parliament, but resigned when the king failed to guarantee political rights for Catholics. Cornwallis served as minister plenipotentiary during the negotiation of the Treaty of Amiens (1802), which brought a cessation in the Napoleonic Wars.

In 1805, Cornwallis returned to India as governor-general, but died shortly after his arrival.

(info: Wikipedia, http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Cornwallis; Charles Cornwallis, http://www.u-s-history.com/pages/h1304.html)