USA > North Carolina > Biographical history of North Carolina from colonial times to the present; > Part 8
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burn's Creek, a branch of Reedy River in Laurens District, South Carolina, and engaged in trafficking with the Indians. That part of the country was inhabited by the Scovellites, who had been sup- pressed about the time of the Regulation movement in North Carolina, and like the Regulators they sided with the King rather than with the Whigs.
David Fanning Jeft a journal from which the events of his career are collated.
In April, 1775. Colonel Fletcher, the colonel of Laurens County, who was a Royalist, directed the captains to muster their com- panies and present two papers to be signed, to see who were friends to the King and who would join the Whigs. Fanning, then in his nineteenth year, was sergeant of his company, and at the muster on the 15th of May he presented the papers, and 118 men signed in favor of the King. There were sharp collisions be- tween the Loyalists and their Whig neighbors during that year ; and that Autumn, when it was learned that a large quantity of ammunition was being sent to the Cherokee Nation by the new Whig Government, as was customary, Fanning and his friends intercepted the pack-horses and secured the powder. Because of this, the "Snow Campaign" of December, 1775, was under- taken by Colonel Martin, Colonel Rutherford, and others, with North Carolina forces, and the Loyalists dispersed and the am- munition recovered. In July, 1776, the Indians made their foray on the western frontier of North and South Carolina, in accord- ance with the plan devised by Governor Martin for the subjuga- tion of North Carolina, beginning their massacre on the very day of the bombardment of Fort Moultrie. Fanning hastened to join the Indians, carrying twenty-five of his neighbors with him, and they attacked a fort in South Carolina containing 450 Whigs, but the assailants were driven off, and Fanning came to North Caro- lina. After experiencing numberless hardships, however, he re- turned to his home in March, 1777. From the beginning, in May, 1775, he had been constantly active as a zealous Loyalist, always on the warpath, and undergoing many vicissitudes; and this course he continued to pursue, being entirely irrepressible.
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In March, 1778, he was chosen commanding officer of the Loyalists of his region, and there were daily conflicts between his followers and the Whigs, until at last the Loyalists were dis- persed, and for three months he was obliged to remain in the woods, living only on what was killed in the wilderness.
Eventually there were embodied some 500 Loyalists determined to go to St. Augustine, but the Whigs having intercepted them and dispersed them, Fanning undertook to make his way to Hol- stein River, but later returned to Raeburn's Creek; and after a great many thrilling experiences he agreed to live peacefully at home under a conditional pardon. For a year he observed the terms of his surrender, but on the reduction of Charleston in May, 1780, he and one William Cunningham, known as "Bloody," con- cluded to embody a party of men, and they were rapidly joined by many Loyalists. They captured the fort at Ninety-Six and the fort at White Hall, together with 300 men. Fanning now with a small party scouted on the frontiers, and he fell in with Colonel Ferguson's detachment five days before the destruction of that force at King's Mountain, but did not join it. After that battle, the Whigs in upper South Carolina took heart, and Fanning's situation becoming alarming, he left that State and came to Deep River, where he remained quiet, but all the while discovering who were friends to the King.
In July, 1780, when South Carolina was entirely submissive to the British and the North Carolina Loyalists were bold and exulting, Major Ferguson arranged for their organization and commissioned seven captains with their subordinates for com- panies in Randolph ; six captains for Chatham ; four for Cumber- land ; three for Anson and two for Orange; and so the organiza- tion and nucleus of a loyal militia force in that part of North Caro- lina was substantial. These officers, however, remained inactive until Craig took possession of Wilmington and Cornwallis reached Hillsboro and issued his proclamation for the Loyalists to embody. Captain John Rains, of Randolph County, was the first to begin to embody his company. Doctor John Pyle, who was a physician and an estimable man, one of the Regulators, feeling conscien-
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tiously bound by his oath, also responded and was assigned the command of some 300 men, the first Loyalists to collect. On their way to join Cornwallis at Hillsboro they fell in with Colonel Lee and his troops, on the 25th of February, 1781, near the site of the town of Burlington, and were cut to pieces. At that time, however, Fanning was still on Deep River, with a smaller party, arousing the Loyalists to action.
He joined Cornwallis at Dixon's Mills on Cane Creek, but after accompanying him as far as Cross Creek, he separated from the army and began the career of murder and rapine that has made his name infamous. It must be said, however, that he was one of the boldest men, most fertile in expedients and quick in execution, that ever lived in North Carolina. Had he been on the Whig side, his fame would have been more enduring than that of any other partisan officer whose memory is now so dear to all patriots. Foraging on the country, seizing what he wanted, slaying, slaughtering, burning homes and butchering in cold blood according to his mood, he became a terror and a scourge.
His headquarters were at Coxe's Mill on Deep River, and from there he sallied forth in every direction, intercepting all parties passing to and from General Greene's camp in South Carolina, and terrorizing all that region. Early in June Colonels Collier . and Balfour led a detachment to dislodge him, but Fanning by a forced march was enabled to make a night attack upon them and drove them off. For a time then Colonel Christopher Dudley oc- cupied Coxe's Mills with a force of 300 Virginians, but could not suppress this indefatigable partisan. Emboldened by the protec- tion and by the presence of the British Army, the Tories of Cum- berland, Bladen and Duplin had likewise become very active and the Whigs had been driven from their homes, while many who were not resolute partisans had submitted to the dominion of the Loyalists. In Chatham, Randolph, Anson and Cumberland, Fan- ning and his coadjutors were in absolute control; and all that region was dominated by the Royal adherents.
About the first of July there was a muster of the Loyal militia at Fanning's camp, and he was chosen colonel, and thereupon
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set out for Wilmington to obtain a commission : and on the 5th of that month Major Craig commissioned him colonel of the Loyal militia in Randolph and Chatham Counties. On his return he at once collected about 150 men and began active operations. A few days later, about the middle of July, there being a general muster and a court-martial at Pittsboro, Fanning made a descent upon that place and took fifty-three prisoners, including all the militia officers of the county except two, a Continental captain and three members of the Assembly. He parolled some and carried others to Wilmington. It was a great advantage to these Tory bands that they could obtain all the ammunition that they needed from the British Army, while the Whigs were entirely without am- munition and were very badly armed.
Fanning's next exploit was to attack Colonel Alston's party at his house ; and on the 11th of August he again passed on down to Wilmington to obtain supplies and ammunition. Returning towards the end of August, he found Colonel Slingsby at Eliza- bethtown, and the night that he separated from Colonel Slingsby occurred the Battle of Elizabethtown, in which Slingsby was killed and the Loyalists were routed by Colonel Brown. A day or two later he joined Colonel McNeil on Drowning Creek, who was threatened with attack by Colonel Wade. Fanning, however, be- came the assailant, and won a victory. On the 9th of September, being joined at Coxe's Mills by Colonel McDougal with 200 men from Cumberland, and Colonel Hector McNeil with his party from Bladen, and having himself some 950 men, he proposed to put in execution a plan he had long had in mind of capturing the Governor of the State. General Butler and Colonel Robert Me- bane lay within forty miles of Coxe's Mills, and Fanning let it be understood that he proposed to attack them. He marched to Rocky River, and then, changing direction, pressed on to Hills- boro without stopping. At seven o'clock on the morning of the 12th he entered the town in three divisions, killed fifteen, wounded twenty, and took upwards of 200 prisoners, including the Gov- ernor, Burke, his Council, and many officers of the Continental Line and seventy-one Continental soldiers. At noon that day they
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left Hillsboro and early the next morning reached Lindsay's Mill on Cane Creek, where General Butler intercepted them. At the first outset eight of the Tories fell, including Colonel McNeil; but after a four hours' conflict Butler's troops were driven off. Fan- ning, however, lost heavily: twenty-seven killed, sixty so badly wounded that they could not be moved, and thirty others slightly wounded. Fanning himself received a shot in his left arm, break- "ing the bone in several places ; and his loss of blood was so great that he had to be secreted in the woods on Brush Creek. His army, however, proceeded under Colonel McDougal and the prisoners were safely delivered to Major Craig at Wilmington. In this Battle of Cane Creek Butler lost twenty-four men, killed, and left ninety wounded on the ground, and the Loyalists took ten prisoners. Of the killed were Colonel Luttrell and Major Knowles. It is of interest to record that Colonel Pyle, who was a humane man and a physician, attended these wounded Whigs so carefully that he was pardoned by the Whig Government, and became a quiet, peaceful citizen during the remainder of the war.
A month elapsed before Colonel Fanning was able to move about. Then having received a fresh supply of ammunition, and embodying about one hundred and fifty men, he sallied forth again. But the Whig forces pressed him so closely that, learning of Cornwallis's surrender and of Craig's evacuation of Wilming- ton, he divided his followers into small squads, continuing, how- ever, to scour the country. On the 10th of December Colonel Isaacs led a party from the west and took possession of Coxe's Mills, and after this Fanning was in the woods and kept moving with a small party as occasion required. Daily he performed some extraordinary feat, until at length in January he proposed terms for an armistice. Pending these negotiations, he was more quiet, but when they fell through, receiving a message from Colonel Balfour that "there was no resting-place for a Tory's foot upon the earth," on the 12th of March he set out for Balfour's planta- tion. "When we came upon him." says Fanning in his Narrative, "he endeavored to make his escape : but we soon prevented him, fired at him and wounded him. The first ball he received was
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through one of his arms and ranged through his body ; the other through his neck, which put an end to his committing any more ill deeds." Miss Balfour's account of this murder is given else- where in this work.
Hard and bitter indeed was the conflict during those bloody months between the Tory and Whig elements throughout the en- tire Cape Fear section from Guilford County to the sea. All that region was a scene of turmoil, rapine and fierce warfare, but the fires of patriotism were not extinguished, and the trials, suffer- ings, sacrifices and endurance of the Whig people were heroic. A momentary view of what they suffered is given in the Nar- rative of Fanning, after he had murdered Balfour :
"We then proceeded to their Colonel's (Collier), belonging to said county of Randolph. On our way we burnt several rebel houses and caught several prisoners. The night coming on, and the distance to said Collier's was so far that it was late before we got there. He made his es- cape, having received three balls through his shirt. But I took care to destroy the whole of his plantation. I then pursued our route and came to one Captain John Bryan's, another rebel officer. I told him that if he would come out of the house I would give him parole, which he re- fused. With that I immediately ordered the house to be set on fire, which was instantly done. As soon as he saw the flames of the fire increasing. he called out to me and desired me to spare his house, for his wife and children's sake, and he would walk out with his arms in his hands. I immediately answered him that if he walked out that his house should be saved for his wife and children. When he came out he said, 'Here, damn you, here I am.' With that he received two balls through his body; he came out with his gun cocked and sword at the same time."
And so it was almost every day during the period that Fan- ning was raiding in North Carolina, burning homes, murdering, and hanging. On the other side there was equal violence, and many Tories were hanged and many shot without quarter, par- ticularly when taken bushwhacking and marauding in small squads.
Fanning's proposition for a truce was for a neutral territory twenty miles north and south, thirty miles east and west, Ham- mond Coxe's Mill being the center, to be totally clear of the Whig Light-Horse ; to be no plundering or murdering ; all public roads
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to be travelled by any person or company unmolested; the Loyal- ists to have free trade with any port. And that was to last until the end of the war. This proposition was finally rejected about the middle of March; and in April Fanning, together with two of his captains, took unto themselves wives on Deep River, and early in May left North Carolina with their wives and property for the peace-ground on the Pedee in South Carolina. Remaining there a month, on the 17th of June, 1782, he departed for Charleston, and on the 28th of September, together with the other Loyalists at Charleston, he took passage for St. Augustine, Florida, where he remained two years. After peace many of the Loyalists returned to North Carolina. But Fanning's career had been too bloody for him to find a resting-place among the people he had so outraged. His remorseless rapine and murderous exc- cution were without a parallel. Besides individual hangings and minor encounters, he had participated in thirty-six bloody en- gagements ; and the plantations he had ravaged and despoiled, leaving ruin and suffering in his path, were innumerable. The General Assembly extended amnesty and pardon to all Tories with the exception of three, and Fanning was among those pro- scribed. His crimes and butcheries were beyond forgiveness.
In September, 1784, he located near St. John's, New Bruns- wick, and later resided at Digby, Nova Scotia, where he died in 1825.
give the getting con fort S. A. Ashe.
1
PETER FORNEY
P ETER FORNEY was a soldier of the Revolu- tion, a lawgiver for the State and Nation, and the founder of the iron industry in western North Carolina. He was the son of one of the most distinguished of the early settlers of Lin- coln County, and was himself the progenitor of many whose names are upon the honor-roll of this and other States. He was born in Lincoln (formerly Tryon) County in April, 1756, and died there Ist of February, 1834, in the seventy- eighth year of his age. He was the second son of General Jacob and Mariah (Bergner) Forney. His mother was a native of Berne, Switzerland. She came to America on board the same ship which brought the young man to whom she afterwards gave her heart and hand. General Jacob Forney was born about 1721 in Alsace upon the Rhine, to which place his father, who was a Huguenot, had fled after the Revocation of the Edict of Nantes in 1685. About 1735 he went to Amsterdam, then to Pennsyl- vania, and about 1754 joined the tide of emigration for the South, and settled in Lincoln County. In 1781 Cornwallis, while in his pursuit of Morgan, made his headquarters for about three days at the house of General Jacob Forney, and during that time con- sumed much of his food supplies and forage, and carried off his gold and silver, amounting to about one hundred and twenty pounds sterling. The Forney log house, in which Cornwallis
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was an unwelcome guest, was still standing a few years ago, and perhaps is now. The name was originally spelled Farney, but was changed by the grandfather of the subject of this sketch dur- ing his residence in Alsace.
Peter Forney entered military service in 1776, about the first of June, and marched under command of Colonel William Graham and Captain James Johnston to Fort McFadden ( Rutherfordton) to protect the inhabitants of that section against the Indians. He joined a detachment of one hundred men and pursued the fleeing red men for several days. Failing in overtaking them, he re- turned to the fort. His next expedition was against a body of Tories assembled near the South Carolina line. In this expedi- tion he served as lieutenant in the company of Captain Charles Reid, the detachment being in command of Colonel Charles Mc- Lean. The detachment brought back several prisoners who were conveyed to Salisbury. Lieutenant Forney was then transferred to the company of Captain Kuykendal, and was frequently out on expeditions for suppressing and intimidating the Tories. In the Fall of 1779 he volunteered with a party to go to Kentucky (Harrod Station), where he remained but a short while. Lieu- tenant Forney then joined the militia company of Captain Neal, which was preparing to march for the relief of Charleston. While in waiting at Charlotte for the assembling of more troops, he was promoted to the captaincy in place of Neal by Colonel Hampton and Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright. He marched to Charleston under command of Colonel Hall. The militia of the State was then under command of General Lillington. While at Charleston the period of enlistment of most of Forney's men expired, but he succeeded in persuading them to remain for about six weeks, at which time fresh troops were expected. Immediately after his return from Charleston, which was the Spring of 1780, Captain Forney volunteered under Lieutenant-Colonel Hambright and went in pursuit of Colonel Floyd, a Tory leader, on Fishing Creek, South Carolina. Returning from this expedition, he found the Tories assembled at Ramseur's Mill under Colonel John Moore, and another body of them near Mountain Creek. He
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went at once to report these facts to General Rutherford, whom he found encamped at Colonel Dickson's on the Catawba, three miles northwest of Tuckaseege Ford. He attached himself to Ruther- ford's force and marched to Ramseur's, but did not arrive until two hours after the battle. Captain Forney participated in the battle at Cowan's Ford on the Ist of February, 1781. When the gallant Davidson fell the militia was repulsed. Forney retreated across the Yadkin and remained upon Abbott's Creek about six weeks, during which time he had no regular command, but as- sisted the American cause wherever he could do so most effec- tively. His last service in the Revolution was to command a com- pany of dragoons under Major Charles Polk in the expedition of General Rutherford to Wilmington. When these troops ap- proached that city, Major Craig, having heard of Cornwallis's sur- render, fled, and thus carried away from the soil of the State the last red-coat.
Having devoted several years of his life to military operations, Captain Forney now turned his attention to matters of a more peaceful nature, but none the less profitable to his country. He fortunately became the owner of the "Big Ore Bank," located seven miles east of Lincolnton. His brother Abram (who had participated in the battle of King's Mountain) was associated with him for a while. It is recorded in a small note-book of his that he produced hammered iron in his forge on the 26th of August, 1788. This is believed to be the first manufacture of iron in the western part of the State. This iron deposit was "granted" by the State in 1789 to Peter Forney and others whose interests he subsequently purchased. In 1791 he sold a portion of this bank to Captain Alexander Brevard, Major John Davidson and General Joseph Graham. Vesuvius Furnace on Anderson's Creek and Mount Tirzah Forge were erected by this company. Forney erected a forge near his home (now the property of Mrs. Hall), bought other lands, and about 1809 erected Madison (Derr) Furnace on Leeper's Creek about five miles from Lincoln- ton. These works supplied the Government with cannon-balls during the War of 1812. Madison Furnace was washed away by
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a freshet about 1868, and the Mariposa Cotton Mills, owned by Captain Joseph G. Morrison, now occupy the site.
Having served as a soldier and as a "Captain of Industry," Captain Forney had attained to such a position of confidence and respect in the hearts of his fellow-countrymen that he was called upon by them for service in the political affairs of the State. In the meantime he had been appointed by the Legislature to the posi- tion of brigadier-general in the State Militia. He was elected a member of the House of Commons in 1794, 1795 and 1796, and of the State Senate in 1801-02. His services here were so satis- factory that he was elected to membership in the Thirteenth Con- gress over his former partner, General Joseph Graham, one of the most prominent and distinguished men in the State. He served from the 24th of May, 1813, to the 3d of March, 1815, and had the honor of being succeeded by his son, David M. Forney. He was Presidential Elector several times : at first on the Jeffer- son ticket ; then in 1813 on the Madison ticket, and again in 1825 and 1829 on the Monroe ticket.
In 1783 General Forney married Nancy, the daughter of David Abernethy, a lady of great moral worth, goodness of heart, and Christian benevolence. Five sons and seven daughters blessed this union. They and their children have proven themselves worthy of their illustrious ancestry.
General Forney passed away at his home, "Mount Welcome," at a ripe old age. In the language of Wheeler, he was "a bright example of the useful citizen and upright man. Generosity, can- dor, integrity and freedom from pride and vain show were prom- inent traits of his character."
IV. A. Withers.
BENJAMIN FORSYTH
B Y an act of the General Assembly of North Carolina ratified on the 16th day of January, 1849, Stokes County was divided, and out of it was created the county of Forsyth, the name (as the act states) "being given in honor of the memory of Benjamin Forsyth, a native of Stokes County, who fell on the northern frontier in the late war with England." Stokes County had been named as a compliment to Colonel John Stokes, who lost his right arm in a fight with Tarleton's Dragoons during the Revolution ; and it was just and proper that its daughter county of Forsyth should bear the name of another soldier who made a still greater sacrifice ---- even life itself- in defence of America's rights during our second conflict with Great Britain. Benjamin Forsyth's first entrance into the army was as second lieutenant of the Sixth Infantry on April 24, 1800; but he was honorably discharged a few months later, on June 15th. This very brief service was possibly due to a temporary increase in the army on account of the imminent probability of war growing out of the strained relations with France at that time. Returning to his native State, Mr. Forsyth took some part in the politics of that day. In two successive sessions of the North Carolina House of Commons, which met on the 16th of Novem- ber, 1807, and on the 21st of November, 1808, he represented Stokes County. Before the meeting of the latter session Forsyth
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had again been commissioned an officer in the army, but remained in North Carolina to serve out his term in the Assembly, which adjourned on the 23d of December, 1809. Hence he did not ac- tively enter upon his military duties until 1809, though his com- mission bore date July 1, 1808. He was assigned to the Rifle Regiment with the rank of captain, and held this position when the second war with Great Britain opened in 1812. His first ex- ploit in that war was in September of that year. On the 20th of that month he embarked at Cape Vincent on the St. Lawrence River in New York, and went down in boats to the towns of Gananoque and Leeds on the Canadian side, for the purpose pri- marily of destroying the King's store-house at one of those places. In Captain Forsyth's party were seventy riflemen from the reg- ular army, and thirty-four militiamen. They landed before day- break on the 21st without being observed, but were discovered shortly after sunrise and fired upon by a body of 125 British regulars and militia. This fire was returned; and, after a sharp skirmish, the King's forces fled, leaving ten or more of their num- ber dead on the field, while others fell into the stream. Eight British regulars and some of the militia were made prisoners by the Americans, who destroyed the store-house and returned to Cape Vincent with many captured military supplies, after paroling the militia prisoners. In this expedition the United States forces had only one man killed and one slightly wounded. On Janu- ary 20, 1813, Captain Forsyth was promoted to the rank of major. He was an officer not only of great bravery, but of unusual dash, vigor and enterprise.
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