Past and Present. Major Ferguson detached to the Upper Country.

Gathering of Tories.

Surprise at Greene's Spring. gleaming through the boughs dripping with melting snows, garnished the forest for a few moments with all the seeming splendors of the mines; gold and silver, diamonds and rubies, emeralds and sapphires, glittered upon every branch, and the glowing pictures of the Arabian Nights, which charmed boyhood with the records of wondrous visions, crowded upon the memory like realities. Alas! on this very spot, where the sun-light is braiding its gorgeous tapestry, and suggesting nothing but love, and beauty, and adoration, the clangor of steel, the rattle of musketry, the shout of victory, and the groans of dying men, whose blood incarnadined the forest sward, and empurpled the mountain streams, were once heard-it was an aceldama; and there, almost at our feet, lie the ashes of men slain by their brother man! History thus speaketh of the event:

On the sixteenth of August, 1780, the Americans, under General Gates, were defeated by Cornwallis, near Camden, and dispersed. Two days afterward, Tarleton defeated Sumter at Rocky Mount, and elsewhere the American partisan corps were unsuccessful. The whole South now appeared to be completely subdued under the royal power; and the conqueror, tarrying at Camden, busied himself in sending his prisoners to Charleston, in ascertaining the condition of his distant posts at Ninety-Six and Augusta, and in establishing civil government in South Carolina. Yet his success did not impair his vigilance. West of the Wateree' were bands of active Whigs, and parties of those who were defeated near Camden were harassing the upper country. Cornwallis detached Major Ferguson, a most excellent officer and true marksman, of the 71st regiment,' with one hundred and ten regulars under the command of Captain Depuyster, and about the same number of Tories, with an ample supply of arms and other military stores. He ordered him to embody the Loyalists beyond the Wateree and the Broad Rivers; intercept the Mountain Men,' who were retreating from Camden, and also the Americans, under Colonel Elijah Clarke, of Georgia, who were retiring from an attack upon Augusta; endeavor to crush the spirit of rebellion, which was still rife; and, after scouring the upper part of South Carolina, toward the mountains, join him at Charlotte. Ferguson at first made rapid marches to overtake the Mountain Men, and cut off Clarke's forces. Failing in this, he proceeded leisurely, collecting all the Tories in his path, until about the last of September, when he encamped with more than a thousand men, at a place called Gilbert Town, west of the Broad River, near the site of the present village of Rutherfordton, the county seat of Rutherford, in North Carolina. These were all well armed, and Ferguson began to feel strong. True to their instincts, his Tory recruits committed horrible outrages upon persons and property wherever they went, and this aroused a spirit of the fiercest vengeance among the patriots. At different points, large

The Wateree River is that portion of the Catawba which flows through South Carolina. It is the Catawba to the dividing-line of the states, and, after its junction with the Congaree, is called the Santee. The Congaree is formed by a union of the Broad and Saluda Rivers at Columbia, the head of steam-boat navigation upon the Santee and Congaree, from the ocean.

2 This was the regiment that behaved so gallantly at the battle of Guilford.

3 The pioneers who had settled in the wilderness beyond the mountains, now Kentucky and Tennessee, were called Mountain Men.

4 While Ferguson was in Spartanburg District, on his way toward Gilbert Town, a detachment of his little army had a severe skirmish with Colonel Clarke and his men at Greene's Spring. Clarke and his com. pany, some two hundred in number, had stopped at the plantation of Captain Dillard, who was one of them. and, after partaking of refreshments, proceeded to Greene's Spring. The same evening Ferguson arrived at Dillard's, whose wife soon learned, from the conversation of some of his men, that they knew where Clarke was encamped, and intended to surprise him that night. She hastily prepared supper for Ferguson and his men, and while they were eating she stole from the room, bridled a young horse, and, without a saddle, rode to the encampment of Clarke, and warned him of impending danger. In an instant every man was at his post, prepared for the enemy. Very soon Colonel Dunlap, with two hundred picked mounted men, sent by Ferguson, fell upon the camp of Clarke. Day had not yet dawned, and the enemy were greatly surprised and disconcerted when they found the Americans fully prepared to meet them. For fifteen minutes the conflict raged desperately in the gloom, when the Tories were repulsed with great slaughter, and the survivors hastened back to Ferguson's camp.

5 Those of his recruits who were without arms Ferguson furnished with rifles. Some of them so fixed the large knives which they usually carried about them. in the muzzle of their rifles, as to be used as bayonets, if occasion should require.

Leaders of the Mountain Men. Ferguson West of the Broad River.

.

Expedition against him.

Concentration of Troops.

bodies of volunteers assembled simultaneously, without concert, and placed themselves under tried leaders, the chief of whom were Colonels Campbell, of Virginia; Cleaveland, Shelby, Sevier, and M.Dowell, of North Carolina; and Lacy, Hawthorn, and Hill, of South Carolina. They all had but one object in view-the destruction of the marauders under Ferguson. They were men admirably fitted by their daily pursuits for the privations which they were called upon to endure. They had neither tents, baggage, bread, nor salt, and no Commissary Department to furnish regular supplies. Potatoes, pumpkins, roasted corn, and occasionally a bit of venison supplied by their own rifles, composed their daily food. Such were the men who were gathering among the mountains and valleys of the Upper Carolinas to beat back the invaders.

On his way to Gilbert Town, Ferguson had succeeded in capturing two of the Mountain Men. These he paroled, and enjoined them to tell the officers on the Western waters, that if they did not desist from their opposition and "take protection under his standard, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay waste their country with fire and sword." While Colonel Charles M'Dowell,' of Burke county, who, on the approach of Ferguson, had gone over the mountains to obtain assistance, was in consultation with Colonels Shelby and Sevier, the paroled prisoners arrived, and delivered their message. These officers were not dismayed by the savage threat of Ferguson, but decided that each should endeavor to raise all the men that could be enlisted, and that the forces thus collected should rendezvous at Watauga on the twenty-fifth of September. It was also agreed that Colonel Shelby should give intelligence of their movements to Colonel William Campbell, of Washington county, in Virginia, hoping that he would raise a force to assist them. The following official report of events from the meeting of these several forces at Watauga, until the defeat of Ferguson, I copied from the original manuscript among Gates's papers. It is full, yet concise, and being official, with the signatures of the three principal officers engaged in the affair, attached, it is perfectly reliable:3

COLONEL ISAAC SHELBY.4

"On receiving intelligence that Major Ferguson had advanced up as high as Gilbert Town, in Rutherford county, and threatened to cross the mountains to the Western waters, Colonel William Campbell, with four hundred men, from Washington county, of Virginia, Colonel Isaac Shelby, with two hundred and forty men, from Sullivan county, of North Carolina, and Lieutenant-colonel John Sevier, with two hundred and forty men, of Washington county, of North Carolina, assembled at Watauga, on the twenty-fifth day of September, where they

1 General Joseph Graham, who lived in the vicinity of King's Mountain, and knew many of those who were employed in the battle, wrote a graphic account of the events connected with that affair. His account is published in Foote's Sketches of North Carolina, page 264-269, inclusive.

2 The M'Dowells were all brave men. Joseph and William, the brothers of Charles, were with him in the battle on King's Mountain. Their mother, Ellen M'Dowell, was a woman of remarkable energy. Mrs. Ellet relates that on one occasion some marauders carried off some property during the absence of her husband. She assembled some of her neighbors, started in pursuit, and recovered the property. When her husband was secretly making gunpowder in a cave, she burned the charcoal for the purpose upon her own hearth, and carried it to him. Some of the powder thus manufactured was used in the battle on King's Mountain. Women of the Revolution, iii., 356.

3 General Gates sent a copy of this report to Governor Jefferson for his perusal, and desired him to forward it to Congress. His letter to Jefferson is dated Hillsborough, November 1, 1780.

Isaac Shelby was born on the eleventh of December, 1750, near the North Mountain, a few miles from Hagerstown, in Maryland. His ancestors were from Wales. He learned the art of surveying, and at the age of twenty-one years settled in Western Virginia. He was with his father, Evan Shelby, in the battle at Point Pleasant, in 1774. He was afterward employed as a surveyor under Henderson & Co., in Kentucky. In July, 1776, he was appointed captain of a company of minute-men by the Virginia Committee of Safety. Governor Henry appointed him a commissary of supplies in 1777, and in 1778 he was attach

Selection of a Commander-in-chief.

March to the Cowpens.

Colonels Shelby, Campbell, and Williams.

were joined by Colonel Charles M Dowell, with one hundred and sixty men, from the counties of Burke and Rutherford, who had fled before the enemy to the Western waters. We began our march on the twenty-sixth, and on the thirtieth we were joined by Colonel Cleaveland, on the Catawba River, with three hundred and fifty men, from the counties of Wilkes and Surry. No one officer having properly a right to the command in chief, on the first of October we dispatched an express' to Major-general Gates, informing him of our situation, and requested him to send a general officer to take command of the whole. In the mean time, Colonel Campbell' was chosen to act as commandant till such general officer should arrive. We marched to the Cowpens, on Broad River, in South Carolina, where we were joined by Colonel James Williams, with four hundred men, on the evening of the

3

ed to the Continental Commissary Department. In the spring of 1779, he was elected a member of the Virginia Legislature, from Washington county, and in the autumn Governor Jefferson gave him the commission of a major. He was engaged in defining the boundary-line between Virginia and North Carolina, the result of which placed his residence in the latter state. Governor Caswell soon afterward appointed

him a colonel of the new county of Sullivan. In the summer of 1780, he was engaged in locating lands for himself in Kentucky, when he heard of the fall of Charleston. He returned home to engage in repelling the invaders. He raised three hundred mounted riflemen, crossed the mountains, and joined Colonel Charles M'Dowell, near the Cherokee Ford, on the Broad River. In that vicinity he was very active, until he joined other officers of like grade in an attack upon Major Ferguson, on King's Mountain. Col. onel Shelby soon afterward suggested to Greene the expedition which resulted so brilliantly at the Cowpens. In the campaign of 1781, Shelby served under Marion, and was in the skirmish at Monk's Corner. Colonel Shelby was a member of the North Carolina Legislature in 1782; and ten years afterward, he was among the framers of the Constitution of Kentucky. In May of that year, he was elected the first governor of the new state. He served one term with great distinction; and in 1812, consented again to an election to the chief magistracy of Kentucky. His energy and Revolutionary fame aroused the patriotism of his state when the war with Great Britain broke out. At the head of four thousand volunteers, he marched to the shores of Lake Erie, to assist General Harrison in his warfare with the British and Indians in the Northwest. During the whole war, his services were great and valuable in the highest degree; and for his bravery at the battle of the Thames, Congress honored him with a gold medal. In 1817, President Monroe appointed him his Secretary of War, but on account of his age (being then sixty-seven), he declined the honor. His last public act was that of holding a treaty with the Chickasaw Indians, in 1818, in which General Jackson was his colleague. He was attacked with paralysis, in February, 1820, which somewhat disabled him. He died of apoplexy, on the eighteenth of July, 1826, at the age of seventy-six years. Shelby county, in Kentucky, was named in honor of him in 1792. A college at Shelbyville also bears his The Legislature of North Carolina voted him a sword. It was presented by Henry Clay in 1813. 1 Colonel Charles M.Dowell. His brother, Major M'Dowell, commanded his regiment till his return. * WILLIAM CAMPBELL was a native of Augusta, Virginia. He was of Scotch descent, and possessed all the fire of his Highland ancestors. He was among the first of the regular troops raised in Virginia in 1775, and was honored with a captain's commission. In 1776, he was made lieutenant colonel of the militia of Washington county, and, on the resignation of Evan Shelby, the father of Governor Shelby, he was promoted to colonel. That rank he retained until after the battle on King's Mountain and at Guilford, in both of which he greatly distinguished himself, when he was promoted by the Virginia Legislature to the rank of brigadier. La Fayette gave him the command of a brigade of riflemen and light infantry. He was taken sick a few weeks before the siege of Yorktown, and soon afterward died at the house of a friend. He was only in the thirty-sixth year of his age when he died. His military career, like those of Warren and Montgomery, was short, but brilliant, and on all occasions bravery marked his movements. Foote relates that in the battle on King's Mountain he rode down two horses, and at one time was seen on foot, with his coat off, and his shirt collar open, fighting at the head of his men. He also says, that on one occasion Senator Preston, of South Carolina, a grandson of Campbell, was breakfasting at a house near King's Mountain, and, while eating, the old landlady frequently turned to look at him. She finally asked him his name, and remarked, apologetically, that he appeared very much like the man she had most dreaded upon earth. who is that?" Preston inquired. "Colonel Campbell," replied the old lady, "that hung my husband at King's Mountain.”*

name.

"And

3 James Williams was a native of Granville county, in North Carolina. He settled upon Little River, Laurens District, in South Carolina, in 1773, where he engaged in the pursuit of a farmer and merchant. He early espoused the patriot cause. Williams first appears as a colonel in the militia, in April, 1778. In the spring of 1779, he went into actual service, and he was probably at the siege of Savannah. He was with Sumter in 1780, but does not seem to have been permanently attached to the corps of that partisan. In the early part of that year, he was engaged in the battle at Musgrove's mill, on the Ennoree River. After that engagement, he went to Hillsborough, where he raised a corps of cavalry and returned to South Carolina; and during Ferguson's movements, after crossing the Wateree, Williams continually hovered around

*Sketches of North Carolina, page 271.

Pursuit of Ferguson.

The Battle.

Colonel Sevier.

Frankland.

sixth of 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 principal officers, it was then thought advisable to pursue the enemy that night with nine hundred of the best horsemen, and have the weak horse and footmen to follow us as fast as possible. We began our march with nine hundred of the best men about eight o'clock the same evening, and, marching all night, came up with the enemy about three o'clock P.M. of the seventh, who lay encamped on the top of King's Mountain, twelve miles north of the Cherokee Ford, in the confidence that they could not be forced from so advantageous a post. Previous to the attack on our march, the following disposition was made: Colonel Shelby's regiment formed a column in the center, on the left; Colonel Campbell's regiment another

on the right, with part of Colonel Cleaveland's regiment, headed in front by Major Joseph Winston; and Colonel Sevier's' formed a large column on the right wing. The other part of Cleaveland's regiment, headed by Colonel Cleaveland

himself, and Colonel Williams's regiment, composed the left wing. In this order we advanced, and got within a quarter of a mile of the enemy before we were discovered. Colonel Shelby's and Colonel Campbell's regiments began the attack, and kept up a fire on the enemy, while the right and left wings were advancing to surround them, which was done in about five minutes, and the fire became general all around. The engagement lasted an hour and five minutes, the greater part of which time a heavy and incessant fire was kept

his camp. In the sanguinary battle upon King's Mountain, he was slain. He was near Major Ferguson and both officers received their death-wound at the same moment. He died on the morning after the bat tle, and was buried within two miles of the place where he fell. Tradition says that his first words, wher reviving a little soon after he was shot, were, "For God's sake, boys, don't give up the hill!"

1 Colonel Williams had just been joined by sixty men from Lincoln, under Colonel Hambrite and Major Chronicle.

Joseph Winston was a native of North Carolina, and was the first senator in the Republican Legislature, from Stokes county. He was a member of Congress from 1793 to 1795, and again from 1803 to

1807. He died in 1814.

2 John Sevier was descended from an ancient French family. The original orthography of the name was Xavier. His father settled on the Shenandoah, in Virginia, where this son was born, about 1740. In 1769, he accompanied an exploring party to East Tennessee, where, with his father and brother, he settled on the Holston River. He aided in the construction of Fort Watauga; and while in that fortress as commander, bearing the title of captain, he caught a wife! One day, in June, 1776, he saw a young lady speeding, like a fawn, toward the fort, closely pursued by Cherokees, under “Old Abraham." She leaped the palisades, and fell into the arms of the gallant captain. Her name was Catharine Sherrill; and in 1779 she became the second wife of Sevier, by whom he had ten children. Sevier was with Shelby at the battle of Point Pleasant, in 1774. During the first five years of the war, he was an active Whig partisan, on the mountain frontier of the Carolinas, was raised to the rank of colonel, and greatly distinguished himself at King's Mountain. He was in the battle near Musgrove's Mills, and early in the following year he chastised some of the turbulent Indians among the mountains. At the close of the war, he received the commission of brigadier; and he was so much beloved by the people, that by acclamation he was acknowledged governor of the "State of FRANKLIN" or FRANKLAND."* He was so often engaged in treaties with the Indians, that they called him the treaty-maker. When the State of Tennessee was organized, and admitted into the Union, Sevier was elected its first governor. In 1811, he was elected to a seat in Congress, with Felix Grundy and John Rhea, and in 1813 was re-elected. During the war, Madison appointed him Indian commissioner, and while engaged in his duties, near Fort Decatur, on the east side of the Tallapoosa River, he died, on the twenty-fourth of September, 1815. Under the direction of the late General Gaines, he was buried with the honors of war. No stone marks his grave; but in the Nashville cemetery, a handsome marble monument to his memory has lately been erected. Upon the monument is the following inscription: SEVIER, noble and successful defender of the early settlers of Tennessee; the first, and for twelve years governor; representative in Congress; commissioner in many treaties with the Indians. He served his country faithfully for forty years, and in that service died. An admirer of patriotism and merit unrequited erects this cenotaph."

* At the close of the Revolution, that portion of North Carolina bordering East Tennessee contained quite a large and exceedingly active population. Dissatisfied with the course pursued by North Carolina, they called a convention, adopted a Constitution, and organized a state government, which they called FRANKLAND, in honor of Dr. Franklin. They chose John Sevier for governor, and organized a judiciary, &c. When informed of this movement, Governor Caswell issued a proclamation against "this lawless thirst for power," and denounced it as a revolt. But the mountaineers did not heed official menaces Violence ensued. The difficulties were finally settled, and the State of Frankland disappeared.

Surrender of the British and Tories.

Loss in the Battle.

Effect of the Battle.

Death of Ferguson

up on both sides. Our men in some parts where the regulars fought, were obliged to give way a distance, two or three times, but rallied and returned with additional ardor to the attack. The troops upon the right having gained the summit of the eminence, obliged the enemy to retreat along the top of the ridge to where Colonel Cleaveland commanded, and were there stopped by his brave men. A flag was immediately hoisted, by Captain Depeyster,' the commanding officer (Major Ferguson having been killed a little before), for a surrender. Our fire

DBryster

immediately ceased, and the enemy laid down their arms (the greatest part of them charged), and surrendered themselves prisoners at discretion. It appears from their own provision returns for that day, found in their camp, that their whole force consisted of eleven hundred and twenty-five men, out of which they sustained the following loss:

Of the regulars, one major, one captain, two sergeants, and fifteen privates killed; thirtyfive privates wounded, left on the ground not able to march; two captains, four lieutenants, three ensigns, one surgeon, five sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, and forty-nine privates, taken prisoners. Loss of the Tories, two colonels, three captains, and two hundred and one killed; one major, and one hundred and twenty-seven privates wounded, and left on the ground not able to march. One colonel, twelve captains, eleven lieutenants, two ensigns, one quarter-master, one adjutant, two commissaries, eighteen sergeants, and six hundred privates taken prisoners.

Banj && leatond

Total loss of the enemy, eleven hundred and five men at King's Mountain. Given under our hands at camp.

on Shelby

Zaa
MM Campails

No battle during the war was more obstinately contested than this; for the Americans were greatly exasperated by the cruelty of the Tories, and to the latter it was a question of life and death. It was with difficulty that the Americans, remembering Tarleton's cruelty at Buford's defeat, could be restrained from slaughter, even after quarter was asked. In addition to the loss of men on the part of the enemy, mentioned in the report, the Americans took from them fifteen hundred stand of arms. The loss of the Americans in killed was only twenty, but they had a great number wounded. Among the killed were Colonel Williams and Major Chronicle. Colonel Hambrite was wounded. Major Chronicle and Major Ferguson were buried in a ravine at the northern extremity of the battle-hill, where the friends of the former erected a plain monument, a few years ago, with inscriptions upon both sides. monument is a thick slab of hard slate, about three feet high,

MONUMENT ON KING'S MOUNTAIN.

rough hewn, except where the inscriptions are."

The

1 Captain Depeyster belonged to a corps of Loyalists, called the King's American Regiment. His signature, here given, I copied from a letter of his to General Gates a few days after the battle, while Depeyster was a prisoner.

2 The following is a copy of the inscriptions: North side.-"Sacred to the memory of Major WILLIAM CHRONICLE, Captain JOHN MATTOCKS, WILLIAM ROBB, and JOHN BOYD, who were killed here fighting in defence of America, on the seventh of October, 1780." South side.-Colonel FERGUSON,* an officer belonging to his Britannic majesty, was here defeated and killed."

Major Patrick Ferguson was a Scotchman, a son of the eminent jurist, James Ferguson, and nephew of Patrick Murray (Lord Elibank). He entered the army in Flanders at the age of eighteen years. He came to America in the spring of 1777, and was active in the battle on the Brandywine, in September of that year. He was active on the Hudson in 1779, and accompa nied Sir Henry Clinton to South Carolina. He so distinguished himself at the siege of Charleston in 1780, that he was partic