USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina, V I pt 2 > Part 17
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535
BRITISH LEAVE THE CAPE FEAR
enemy near Fort Johnston. Thus matters stood day after day during that period of apprehension and anxiety, but Clinton made no movement.
It being known that the Tories had been disarmed, no aid was expected from them should a column be thrown into the interior ; and it was apprehended that any attempt at subjugation would result in a protracted campaign, which might not be terminated before the troops would be needed for more important movements then in contemplation. And in that event the withdrawal of the force, with subjugation not completed, would have the appearance of defeat, entail- ing worse consequences than would attend making no imme- diate effort to subdue the inhabitants. Influenced by these considerations, General Clinton deemed it inadvisable to be- gin at that time operations in North Carolina, and deter- mined to use the army in connection with the war vessels to reduce Charleston. So toward the end of May the fleet sailed, coming to anchor off that harbor on June 7th.
Governor Martin accompanied Clinton, but there were left on the station several vessels, one of which, the Jenny, was The Jenny the abiding place of a considerable number of Tories, who, deserting their habitations, had sought protection with the fleet. Among these were persons instructed by the gov- ernor to maintain a correspondence with the Loyalists of the interior and give them every possible encouragement during his absence. Governor Martin continued with Gen- C. R., X, 653, 654 eral Clinton during the siege of Charleston, and accompanied him later on his return to the north.
The Council of Safety
While the British army was still in the harbor, it was considered that the Council of Safety should convene at Wilmington, and the members met there on June 5th, and Cornelius Harnett was unanimously chosen president .* The immediate danger had then passed. But affairs were in a
*Some writers have erroneously supposed because Sam Johnston and Willie Jones were chosen to represent the province in the Council of Safety that they presided in the council, but not so. Harnett was chosen to preside over both bodies. He was president of the Sons of Liberty in the six counties of the Cape Fear in 1770, and doubtless from their organization in 1765.
1776
Operations abandoned
C. R., X, 653
The fleet sails
C. R .. X, 619
536
THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY, 1776
1.75 turmoil. There were some outlying malcontents, concerne ! in the insurrection, now in the swamps of Bladen, who sept information to General Ashe that they were desirous vi submitting themselves to the council; and it was resolve : that they would be allowed to return to their homes on taking an oath to fight when called on in the American cause.
C. R., X, 638
To suppress ciis atisfac- tion
Efforts to inflame the minds of the people in Edgecomb . and Dobbs were so important that Colonel Sheppardl wa. directed to call out as many of the militia as were necessar: to arrest those who were endeavoring to dissuade the people from sustaining the congress ; similar action was taken with regard to Johnston County, while in Cumberland two com- panies of light horse were placed under the control of Colonel Folsome to maintain the authority of the congress.
Coal and iron on Deep River
The council continued its efforts to provide munitions of war, and also a supply of salt, so absolutely necessary for the soldiers as well as the inhabitants ; and an arrangement was made for the use of Wilcox's bloomery and forge on Deep River, some thirty miles south of Hillsboro, where good iron was produced from ore beds. The presence of coal in the immediate vicinity and the great profusion of nat- ural supplies led the commissioners to report: "Upon the whole, nature has poured out with a bountiful hand on that part of our country everything necessary for the establish- ment of an extensive iron manufactory."
C. R., X, 649
Armed vessels fitted out
The brig Pennsylvania Farmer, which had been equipped under the orders of congress, lay then at New Bern. and the council directed that she should be armed with eight of the cannon lately imported ; and Richard Ellis, of New Bern. applied for letters of marque and reprisal for his arme.l sloop. the Heart of Oak, of seventy tons burden : and George Dennison, the captain of the vessel, was given letters per- mitting him to act against the enemies of the thirteen united colonies ; and Edward Tinker, captain of the armed schooner Johnston, belonging to John Green and others, of New Bern. was also given letters of marque. Vessels were constantly arriving through Ocracoke with arms and munitions, one. the Little Thomas, having brought in twenty pieces of cannon.
Several of the prisoners who had been sent to Philadelphia
537
BRITISH ATTACK CH. IRLESTON
and Virginia having made their escape and returned to their homes. now began using their utmost influence to infect others with their Tory principles: among them were Dr. Pyle and his son John. Colonel Folsome. in command in Cumberland, was directed to march with a party of horse, with the utmost secrecy, and to arrest them again. There were many other evidences of disaffection, and to counter- act those influences required prompt action on the part of the busy members of the council, who were under a great strain because of the public affairs, much being of a delicate nature, that pressed upon them.
The attack on Fort Moultrie
On the departure of the fleet from the Cape Fear, Lee hastened to Charleston, accompanied by Howe, where he arrived early in June. Moore remained at Wilmington, but two continental regiments under Nash and Martin reached Charleston on June 11th, followed later by the Virginia regi- ment and the Third and Fouth Continentals. not then needed at Cape Fear. A rifle regiment raised at the west likewise repaired to Charleston. Felix Walker, afterward long a member of congress from the Buncombe district, says in his "Autobiography": "I was appointed lieutenant in Captain Richardson's company in the rifle regiment. I returned to Watauga and recruited my full proportion of men and marched them to Charleston in May, 1776, joined the regi- ment, and was stationed on James Island."
When the fleet dropped anchor off the bar the Charles- tonians barricaded their streets and prepared to defend the wharves of the city. and soon troops were stationed on the outlying islands enclosing the harbor. Colonel Moultrie be- gan working night and day constructing a fort on the end of Sullivan's Island by bolting palmetto logs together for walls, with sixteen feet of sand between them. Week after week passed and no attack was made. so that toward the end of June the front of his fort was well finished and thirty odd guns were mounted in it. But powder was scarce, and there were hardly twenty-five rounds of ammunition for the guns. On the northeast of that island lay Long Island, a naked sand bank, and there Clinton landed more than three
1775
C. R., X, 631 Dr. Pyle escapes
June
North Carolina Continentals Charleston
Fort Moultrie begun
538
THE COUNCIL OF SAFETY, 1776
1776
Clark's battalion
thousand troops, intending to cross the narrow intervening waters and thus gain possession of Sullivan Island. To re- sist his advance Colonel Thompson, of South Carolina, was stationed at that end of Sullivan's Island with three hun- dred of his own riflemen, two hundred of Clark's North Carolina regiment, two hundred more South Carolinians under Horry, and with some light pieces on his flank ; while Nash, for whom Lee had conceived a high opinion, was placed to defend the rear of the fort, which was unfinished, and a post of great consequence.
June 23th, Battle of Fort Moultrie
After much fortunate delay, in the early morning of June 28th the fleet approached the fort and the battle be- gan. The British brought into action ten times the number of guns that Moultrie could use, but made no impression on the palmetto fort. A flag of blue with a white crescent emblazoned with the word "Liberty" proudly floated over the rampart. In the torrent of balls the staff that bore it was severed, but as it fell Sergeant Jasper heroically seized the standard and again raised it on the bastion next to the enemy. The attempt to pass from Long Island was no more successful than the attack on the water. The brave Ameri- cans drove the infantry back on two occasions, and the assault both on land and sea was a signal failure. The slow and skilful fire of Moultrie drove off the fleet and destroyed several frigates. the Bristol losing 40 men killed and 71 wounded and the Experiment 23 killed and 56 wounded ; while the American loss, after ten hours of incessant conflict, was but II killed and 26 wounded. Repulsed, defeated, the army re-embarked on the vessels and the contest was over. A more glorious victory was hardly ever won, and the tidings flew from colony to colony, reaching Philadelphia just after the deputies in congress had signed the Declaration of Inde- pendence, and causing great joy throughout America.
A glorious victory
C. R., X, 618c
Conduct of the North Carolina troops
While Moultrie's gunners were heroes the infantry like- wise won great applause. Of the gallant conduct of Clark's North Carolinians, Lee expressed himself in the highest terms, saying : "I know not which corps I have the greatest reason to be pleased with, Muhlenberg's Virginians or the North Carolina troops ; they are both equally alert. zealous, and spirited." Twice the enemy attempted to land, "and
539
MOVEMENTS OF TROOPS
twice they were repulsed by a Colonel Thompson, of the South Carolina rangers, in conjunction with a body of North Carolina regulars. Upon the whole, the South and North Carolina troops and the Virginia rifle battalion we have here are admirable soldiers."
The Council of Safety had directed the county committees to call on every person suspected of Toryism to render an in- ventory of his estate, and in case of neglect, the commanding officer of the county was ordered to bring the suspected per- son before the board. This order. contemporaneous with the glorious news of the repulse of General Clinton at Charles- ton. which created wild enthusiasm among the Whigs, caused a great commotion among the Loyalists, and they flocked in to sign the test and association.
After the repulse of the British fleet by Fort Moultrie, General Clinton still lingered at Charleston. threatening Savannah, and it was apprehended he might yet return to the original plan of subjugating North Carolina. Toward the end of July, however, he abandoned his design against the southern colonies and sailed northward. When this be- came known, early in August, General Ashe discharged the militia brigade from the districts of New Bern. Halifax, and Edenton, reserving only a part of the Wilmington brigade in active service. A British force of fifteen vessels still occu- pied the lower harbor and held Baldhead. remaining there all summer. watched, however, by General Moore and by the continentals and the militia remaining in the service. Hardly had Clinton departed before General Lee began to organize an expedition into Florida, being accompanied by General Howe, the Virginia regiment, the Third North Carolina Continentals, and some companies of the First and Second regiments. But in September, having been ordered north, General Lee departed, leaving Howe in command. The troops in lower Georgia suffering much from sickness. four- teen or fifteen men dying every day, Howe thought it best to relinquish the enterprise, and returned to Charleston. During the fall the other continental regiments were held by General Moore on the North Carolina coast, and efforts c. R., X, were made to complete the organization. 859
1776 --
Tories dis- mayed
C. R., X, 666
CHAPTER XXXI
INDEPENDENCE
Independence declared .- Lee's resolution .- The declaration .--- The North Carolina deputies .- The declaration proclaimed .- The address of the council .- Religious teachings in Anson .- James Hun . ter a patriot .- The Indians hostile .- Rutherford crosses the moun- tains .- Washington district annexed .- The movement against the Indians .- Rutherford successful .- The Surry regiment .- Moore's expedition .- The Tories active .- Salt-making .- The British abandon Cape Fear .- A winter campaign threatened.
Independence declared
Some three weeks after North Carolina had instructed her deputies to concur in declaring independence the Vir- ginia convention met, and on May 15th adopted a resolution directing her deputies to propose independence. On the same day Boston and a majority of the other towns in Massachusetts, in their town meetings, instructed their local representatives to the same effect. On May 27th Joseph Hewes, then the only North Carolina deputy in attendance on the Continental Congress, presented the North Carolina resolution. and immediately the Virginia instructions were also presented. These resolves and the action of the Con- tinental Congress on May 15th. declaring that it was irrecon- cilable with good conscience for the people to take oaths to support government under the Crown, and that the powers of government should be exerted under the authority of the people. brought the subject f independence sharply to the attention of the other colonies, and the leaven had begun to work. Yet nearly two weeks elapsed before there was any movement. Then, on June 7th. Richard Henry Lee offered in congress a resolution "That these united colonies* are and of right ought to be free and independent States."
June 7th, Independ- ence proposed
*The expression "hath, and of right ought to have." the original of this phrase, is found in the reply which the English Commons miade to King James I when he communicated his unsatisfactory answer to their "Remonstrance de droit." Rushworth was studied by the American leaders for precedents.
1776
May 27th, The North Carolina resolution presented
1
1. SAMUEL JOHNSTON 3. JOHN PENN
2. WILLIAM HOOPER 4. JOSEPH HEWES
54!
INDEPENDENCE AGREED ON
This resolution, so fraught with momentous consequences, was not considered that day; but. postponed until the next morning, it was debated until the 10th. Hewes, speaking for North Carolina, was unalterably fixed and urgent in favor of immediate action.
A bare majority of the colonies favored Lee's resolution. New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Delaware, Mary- land, and South Carolina were not prepared to support it, and its further consideration was, by a vote of 7 to 5, postponed until July Ist. Hewes casting the vote of North Carolina against the postponement. By that date it was hoped that new instructions might be received from the provinces that still held back. To lose no time, a committee Jefferson's was appointed to prepare a declaration of independence. and another committee was directed to draft a plan of con- federation, Hewes being a member of the latter.
Seventeen days slowly passed, and then, on June 28th, a draught of the Declaration was reported to the house, where it lay on the table awaiting the decision on Lee's resolution. At length July Ist arrived, and that resolution was again taken up for consideration. Maryland and New Jersey had in the meanwhile given in their adherence. From Delaware only two members were present, and they divided, so the voice of that colony could not be recorded. The delegates from New York, having no instructions, asked leave to retire. Pennsylvania and South Carolina alone voted in the negative. At the request of Rutledge, of South Carolina, hoping for unanimity, the decision was postponed until the next day.
When the congress met the following morning a third member had arrived from Delaware, casting the vote of that province for the resolution ; changes had been made in the Pennsylvania delegation with a like result, and the South Carolina delegates no longer withheld their assent. New York still preferred to remain silent awaiting instructions. which, however, were freely given on the 9th of that month.
Thus on July 2d was finally determined, by virtually the unanimous voice of all the colonies, the great question which North Carolina had proposed on April 12th. At that time Penn, who had left Philadelphia early in April, had returned,
1726
June toth, Bancroft's Hist. U. S .. IV, 424
Works, 1, 13 et seq.
July Ist, Lee's resolution
-
July 2d. Independ- ence agree i on
542
INDEPENDENCE, 1776
1776 and voted with Hewes for independence, but Hooper was still detained in North Carolina.
The declaration
July 4th, Thursday
Jefferson s draught of a Declaration, which had lain on the table since June 28th, awaiting the vote on Lee's resolution, was now taken up for discussion. Every word of it was duly weighed, and the instrument was perfected. During July 2d. 3d. and until the afternoon of the 4th, the con- sideration of the Declaration continued. and then the instru- ment was agreed to. Very considerable changes. were made in the draught reported by the committee, among them being the incorporation into the text of the words used by Lee that the united colonies "are, and of right ought to be, free and independent States."
Changes in Jefferson's draught
The North Carolina delegates
As this glorious consummation was at the instance of North Carolina, and was accomplished measurably through the cordial and zealous support of her delegation, so there was no time when her delegates were not fixed and forward in the important work of the Continental Congress. Caswell had been the soul of energy, and gained for himself the high opinion of the body. Penn, who succeeded him, was equally active and zealous. Hooper had long since cast his philosophic eye to the future, and beheld America "fast striding to independence." His sympathies, his sentiments, and his talents placed him in the front rank of its influential members. In April he gladly announced that he had found the people of Virginia desirous of independence, and that North Carolina far exceeded Virginia : that in many counties there was no dissenting voice-a condition and situation so harmonious with his own personal views that he hastened to send the information back to Philadelphia, where it was published.
Hewes differed from his colleagues in being a trained business man and not having followed a professional career. Yet he had been longer engaged in public affairs than either of his associates, and for years had been one of those who
Hooper's spirit
543
THE WORK OF JOSEPH HEWES
had given direction to political events in North Carolina. Thoroughly acquainted with commerce, connected with a mercantile house at Philadelphia, as at Edenton, familiar with affairs of the seas. he was early assigned to the Marine Committee, of which he became the principal mem- ber, discharging practically the duties of a secretary of the navy ; and his mercantile houses rendered efficient aid. not merely in the course of ordinary business but in making advances for the benefit of congress. His spirit was such that he wanted to take the field. to be in camp, but his work in congress was too important for him to use the good musket and bayonet with which he had provided himself. Four days after the Declaration was signed he wrote : "What has become of my friend Hooper? I expected to have seen him ere now. My friend Penn came time enough to give his vote for independence. I send you the Declaration of Independence enclosed. I had the weight of North Caro- lina on my shoulders within a day or two of three months. The service was ton severe. I have sat some days from six in the morning till five or sometimes six in the afternoon without eating or drinking. Some of my friends thought that I should not be able to keep soul and body together to this time. Duty, inclination, and self-preservation call on me now to make a little excursion into the country to see my mother. This is a duty which I have not allowed myself time to perform during the almost nine months I have been here." And indeed it was time, for this devoted patriot had exhausted his strength and prepared the way for his early grave.
On March 28, 1813. Jolin Adams in the course of a letter drew a picture in which Hewes was presented as changing his attitude toward independence. That, as related, was evidently founded on imagination, tinted by the passage of many years. The circumstances seem to show that the portrayal lacked reality. The matter of independence was not brought positively before congress until May 27th, and then by Hewes presenting the instructions of North Carolina to concur in declaring independence ; and North Carolina, represented alone by him, consistently voted for indepen-
1776 -
Hewes's great work
Adams in error
544
INDEPENDENCE, 1776
1726
dence from the time the subject was first introduced into congress .*
The delay in Congress
Probably when Hewes broke the monotony of congress by presenting the instructions of North Carolina, there was a great and startling sensation, for congress was by no means prepared to act on the measure. Later in the day the Vir- ginia instruction was likewise presented: but so out of harmony was it with the prevailing sentiment that ten days elapsed before the Virginia delegates found resolution to obey their instruction : and then, against the voice of Hewes. the matter was again deferred for three weeks longer.
C. R., X, 494. 498
It appears that as early as March Ist. Hooper, Hewes. and Penn wrote to the Provincial Congress asking in- structions with respect to entering into foreign alliances, and it does not appear that any other delegates had at that time made a similar application. They seem to have been the first to move the waters. Their application on this subject utterly negatives Mr. Jefferson's aspersion, made in his old age, "that we had not a greater Tory in congress than Hooper." Mr. Jefferson imputed to Mr. Adams a failure of memory, and confessed that his own was not to be relied on. In this doubt of his own accuracy he evidently was entirely correct.
Bancroft's Hist. U. S., IV, 316
Mr. Hooper proposed in the Provincial Congress of August. 1775, the articles of confederation, and, being over- borne, in the Continental Congress, contrary to his own wishes. obeyed the instructions of North Carolina. That he favored independence in April, 1776, is evident. Writing to Johnston six months later, when affairs were very gloomy. he expresses the feelings of his inmost heart : "The successes of Howe have given a strange spring to Toryism. Men who have hitherto lurked in silence or neutrality seem will- ing to take a side in opposition to the liberties of their country. . . . Were I to choose a motto for a modern Whig it should be. 'Whatever is, is right,' and on the reverse. 'Vil desperandum! " Such was Hooper's spirit, to sustain all measures, to be steadfast in hope and constant in effort.
Jones's Defence, 325, 326
*Adams must have had in mind Rutledge, of South Carolina, who changed on July 2d. deciding the measure, to the dismay of those members who still feared to take this final step.
545
INDEPENDENCE PROCLAIMED
In the congress he, with Franklin, Morris and Lee, formed the Secret Committee of Foreign Intercourse elected by the suffrages of the members. No higher testimonial of implicit confidence was afforded to any of his associates.
The declaration proclaimed
The council had thought it best to hold sessions at differ- ent points in the province and from Wilmington it removed to Dobbs County, and then proceeded to Halifax. opening its session there on July 21st. And now came the joyful news that independence had been declared. and the colonies were free and independent states. The day following. its meeting, a copy of the Declaration of Independence was received. and the council directed that it should be read on August Ist in the town of Halifax, and that it should be proclaimed by the committees of every town and county in the most publie manner.
When Thurs lay. August Ist, came, an immense concourse August Ist of people assembled at Halifax to witness the ceremony of a public proclamation of independence. The militia com- panies of the county were all drawn up in full array. At midday Cornelius Harnett, the president of the Council of Safety, ascended a rostrum erected in front of the court- Jones's Defence, 269 house. and the enthusiasm of the vast crowd was mani- fested with tremendous rejoicing. Harnett, who had ever been among the foremost in leading the way to indepen- dence, now "read the declaration to the mute and impas- sioned multitude with a solemnity of an appeal to heaven. When he had finished all the people shouted with joy, and cannon after cannon . . proclaimed the glorious tidings that the thirteen colonies were now free and independent states. The soldiers scized Harnett and bore him on their shoulders through the streets of the town, applauding him as their champion, and swearing allegiance to the instrument he had read."
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