USA > North Carolina > North Carolina, 1780-'81 : being a history of the invasion of the Carolinas by the British Army under Lord Cornwallis in 1780-'81 > Part 4
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The battle of Ramsour's Mill was fought the very day the Baron DeKalb arrived at Hillsboro, North Carolina.
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Its effect was to completely crush out the Tory element in that portion of the State, and they never attempted to organize again during the war. The men who assembled at Ramsour's Mill to resume their allegiance to the British Government were not marauders in search of plunder, nor violent ment seeking revenge for injuries inflicted in border warfare ; they were nearly all simple-minded, artless Germans, industrious, frugal and honest citizens, who had never been in arms before, nor suffered persecutions from the Whigs. They believed the representatives of the army of Cornwallis, who informed them that the royal authority had been re-established in the South, and they were confirmed in this by the accounts of the absolute subjection of South Carolina and Georgia, and the example of leading citizens of those States who had "taken British protection." They 'came to renew their citizenship and allegiance, as they thought duty and conscience required. Only a few hundred were armed, they were undisciplined and unorganized, and yet, when contending for what they believed to be right, they evinced a courage and resolution worthy of a better cause.
Though Cornwallis encamped on this very ground, in the January following, and urged them to join the royal standard again, none of them were after- wards found among the British forces. They went back to their peaceful and plentiful honies "wiser and better men."
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Captain Dobson, of the Whigs, was buried upon the battle-field and several of his family have been laid beside him. His grave, surrounded by a neat brick wall, is near the highway leading north from Lincolnton to Newton, Catawba County. The next day after the battle the friends and neighbors of both parties assembled and decently interred the dend. A long trench or grave was dug, running northeast and southwest, and into this were placed Whig and Tory alike, while those who performed this sad rite were representatives of both sides. A large pine tree on the summit of the hill, in the field, marks the line of this burial place.
The MeDowell mentioned in General Graham's narrative was joseph MeDowell, of Burke County, known as " Quaker Meadows Joe " to distinguish him from his cousin " Pleasant Garden Joe." McDowell was afterwards a leader at King's Moun- tain and Cowpens, a member of Congress, and brigadier general of militia, and was called General Joseph MeDowell. We shall have occasion to speak more fully in regard to him hereafter.
After the battle of Ramsour's Mill, Major Davie took position on the north side of Waxhaw Creek. south of Charlotte. Here he was reinforced by Major Crawford with some South Carolina troops, and 35 Catawba Indians under their chief " New River," and the Mecklenburg County militia under Colonel Higgins :
"Davie was one of the most splendid and knightly figures on the American continent. He was then fresh
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from his law books and only 25 years old. Tall, grace- ful and strikingly handsome, he had those graces of poison which would have made him the favorite in the clanging lists of feudal days. To this he alded elegant culture, thrifting cloquence, and a graciousness of manner which was to charm in after days the salons of Paris. He had won high honors and had been dangerously wounded at Stono, on the 20th June, 1779. Since then he had expended the whole of his estate in egtipping. at his own cost, the only organized body of troops now left to do battle in behalf of the cause he loved. "#
"General Davie was not only distinguished as an intelligent but an intrepid soldier. His delight was to lead a charge: and, possessing great bodily strength, is said to have overcome more men, in personal conflict, than any individual in the service."+
Such was the soldier and hero who was now, in this dark and depressing hour of our history, about to strike the British outposts and restore confidence and hope to the people. He was on familiar ground, among the scenes of his early childhood and maturer years. He was inspired by a fervid ambition to deeds of valor and patriotism, and his friends and associates were to be witnesses of his achievements. Their hopes of deliverance from the sword and the prison, or perhaps the gallows, were centred on him, and with noble daring he entered the lists determined with his little band of patriots and soldiers to strike the foe before "the harvest
*Moore's History, vol. I, p. 265. +Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolution, p. 39.
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was gathered." He was now in four and a half miles of Hanging Rock, one of the British outposts, and on the ecth July, he intercepted at Flat Rock a convoy of provisions and clothing intended for that garrison. The dragoons and volunteer loyalists who guarded the convoy were captured and brought to camp. The wagons and provisions were destroyed, but the horses, which were much needed. and the arms more so, were brought off in safety.
This seemingly small affair aroused the spirit of his troops and they were ready for adventurous deeds. Davie resolved to gratify this spirit, and planned a strike at Hanging Rock. "With forty mounted riflemen and the same number of dragoons he approached the outpost. It was garrisoned by a strong force. While he was reconnoitering the ground to begin the attack, he received the informa- tion that three companies of mounted infantry, returning from an excursion, had halted at a house near the post. This house was in full view of Hanging Rock. It was a point of a right angle made by a lane, one end of which led to the enemy's camp, the other end to the woods. Davie advanced cautiously from the end near the woods, while he detached his riflemen, whose dress was similar to the Tories, with orders to rush forward and charge. The riflemen passed the enemy's sentinels without suspicion or challenge, dismounted in the lane, and gave the enemy, before the house, a well-directed fire; the surprised loyalists fled to the other end, where they were received by the dragoons in full
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gallop, who charged boldly on them and gave them another destructive volley. They retreated in con- fusion to the angle of the lane, where they were received by the infantry and charged with impetu- osity. which closed up all retreat. The dragoons surrounded them and they were cut to pieces in the very face. of the British camp at Hanging Rock."* One hundred good muskets, recently issued to these recreant Tories, and sixty horses, so much in demand for the mounted riflemen, were secured by this second adventure. There was joy in the American camp, confidence was restored and the troops were eager to follow their dashing leader wherever his vigilance discovered a place to strike. They had arms and ammunition and horses now, furnished by Lord Cornwallis through his recent converts to loyalty, and they felt the impulse to use them.
Colonel Sumter, of South Carolina, and Colonel Irwin, of North Carolina, had made an attempt on Flat Rock, the day that Davie cut the loyalists to pieces at Hanging Rock, but had been repulsed with severe loss.
Davie had not. to this time, lost a single man. Colonels Suinter and Davie now met at Lansford, on the Catawba River, and agreed to unite their forces and make a combined attack on Hanging Rock. This was on the 5th day of August, 1780.
When Major Davie advanced to the Waxhaws, General Rutherford moved up the Yadkin River,
*Wheeler's History, vol. 2, p. 192.
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hoping to overtake or intercept Colonel Samuel Bryan, a Tory leader, from the upper Yadkin, who had embodied the lovalists of that section and was on his way to join the swelling numbers of Lord Cornwallis.
These Tories presumed, too, that the struggle was over, and, like vultures, were flocking together to share the prey. Bryan was too fleet for Ruther- ford. The news of Ramsour's Mill had put expe- dition into the feet of these renegades, and they marched with great celerity until they reached Hanging Rock. There were about ico of them.
The garrison of Hanging Rock had in it now these North Carolina Tories. and about the same number of Tarleton's troops, who had taken part in the dreadful massacre of Buford's men, near where Davie lay in camp.
Goaded by the tales of horror which the witnesses of that wretched butchery daily poured into his ears, and mortified beyond measure that North Carolina Tories were now in front of him, in the ranks of the oppressors, and remembering that his own fellow-citizen. Captain Stokes, had been slashed and dismembered of his good right arm by the men who were in the garrison of Hanging Rock, Davie was impatient to avenge himself and his State upon this miscreant band. " Tarleton's Quarters," mean- ing the black flag of revenge, had become a familiar by-word in the American camp, and the soldiers of Tarleton had little hope or reason to expect mercy when the day of reckoning should come. The
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Whigs of that day seldom had time to take Tory prisoners, and no place to put them if captured. I shall now incorporate the account of the
BATTLE OF HANGING ROCK
as related by Major Davie himself. It is taken from Wheeler's History: 1
"On the 5th day of August, the detachments inct again at Lansford, on the Catawba. Their strength was little diminished : Major Davie had lost not one man. The North Carolina militia under Colonel Irwin and Major Davie numbered about five hundred men, officers and privates, and about three hundred South Carolinions under Colonels Sumter, Lacy and Hill.
" It became a matter of great importance to remove the enemy from their posts, and it was supposed, if one of them was taken, the other would be evacuated. Upon a meeting of the officers, it was determined to attack the Hanging Rock on the following day. As this was an open camp. they expected to be on a more equal footing with the enemy, and the men whose approbation in those times was absolutely requisite, on being informed of the determination of the officers, entered into the project with spirit and cheerfulness. The troops marched in the evening and halted about midnight within two miles of the enemy's camp, and a council was now called to settle the mode of attack.
"Accurate information had been obtained of the enemy's situation, who were pretty strongly posted in three divisions.
"The garrison of Hanging Rock consisted of five
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hundred men ; one hundred and sixty infantry of Tarle- ton's Legion, a part of Colonel Brown's regiment, and Brvan's North Carolina Tory regiment. The whole commanded by Major Carden.
"The regulars were posted on the right; a part of the British legion and Hamilton's regiment were at some houses in the centre, and Bryan's regiment and other loyalists some distance on the left, and separated from the centre by a skirt of woods; the situation of the regular troops could not be approached without an entire exposure of the assailants, and a deep ravine and creek covered the whole of the Tory camp.
"Colonel Sumter proposed that the detachments should approach in three divisions, march directly to the centre encampments, then dismount, and each division attack its camp. This plan was approved by all the officers but Major Davie, who insisted on leaving the horses at this place and marching to the attack on foot, urging the confusion always consequent on dismounting under a fire, and the certainty of losing the effect of a sudden and vigorous attack. This objection was, how- ever, overruled. The divisions were soon made, and as the day broke the march recommenced. The general command was conferred on Colonel Sumter, as the senior officer ; Major Davie led the column on the right, con- sisting of his own corps, some volunteers under Major Bryan, and some detached companies of South Carolina refugees ; Colonel Hill commanded the left, composed of South Carolina refugees, and Colonel Irwin the centre, formed entirely of the Mecklenburg militia. They s turned to the left of the road to avoid the enemy's picket and patrol, with an intention to return to it under cover of a defile near the camp: but the guides, either
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from ignorance or timidity, led them so far to the left that the right centre and left divisions all fell on the Tory encampment. These devoted people were soon attacked in front and flank and routed with great slaughter, as the Americans pressed in pursuit of the Tories who fled toward the centre encampment. Here the Americans received a fire from one hundred and sixty of the Legion infantry, and some companies of Hamil- ton's regiment posted behind a fence ; but their impetu- osity was not one moment checked by this unexpected discharge ; they pressed on, and the Legion infantry broke and joined in the flight of the loyalists, yielding their camp, without a second effort, to the militia.
"At this moment a part of Colonel Brown's regiment had nearly changed the fate of the day. They, by a bold and skillful maneuvre, passed into a wood between the Tory and centre encampments, drew up unperceived, and poured in a heavy fire on the militia forming from the disorder of the pursuit on the flank of the encamp- ment. These brave men took instinctively to the trees and brush-heaps, and returned the fire with deadly effect; in a few minutes there was not a British officer standing, and many of the regiment had fallen, and the balance, on being offered quarters, threw down their arms.
"The remainder of the British line, who had also made a movement, retreated hastily towards their former position and formed a hollow square in the centre of the cleared ground.
"The rout and pursuit of these various corps by a part of one detachment, and plunder of the camp by others, had thrown the Americans into great confusion.
"The utmost exertions were made by Colonel Sumter' and the other officers to carry the men on to attack the
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British square; about two hundred men and Davie's dragoons were collected and formed on the margin of the roads, and a heavy but ineffectual fire was com- menced on the British troops. A large body of the enemy, consisting of the Legion infantry. Hamilton's regiment. and Tories, were observed rallying, and formed on the opposite side of the British camp, near the wood; and lest they might be induced to take the Americans in Bank, Major Davie passed around the camp under cover of the trees, and charged them with his company of ' dragoons. The troops, under the impressions of defeat, were routed and dispersed by a handful of men.
" The distance of the square from the woods, and the fire of the two pieces of field artillery, prevented the militia from making any considerable impression on the British troops, so that, on Major Davie's return, it was agreed to plunder the encampment and retire. As this party were returning towards the centre, some of the Legion cavalry appeared and advanced up in the Camden road with a countenance as if they meant to keep their position, but on being charged by Davie's dragoons, they took the woods in flight. and only one was outdone.
" A retreat was now become absolutely necessary; the British commissary's store- were taken in the centre encampment. and a number of the men were already intoxicated; the greatest part were loaded with plunder, and those in a condition to fight had exhausted their ammunition. About an hour had been employed in plundering the camp, taking the paroles of the British officers, and preparing litters for the wounded.
"All this was done in full view of the British aring, who consoled themselves with some military music, and an interlude of three cheers for King George, which was
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immediately answered by three cheers for the hero of America. The militia at length got into the line of march, Davie and his dragoons covering the retreat; but as the troops were loaded with plunder, and encumbered with their wounded friends and many of them intoxi- cated, this retreat was not petformell in the best military style. However, under all these disadvantages, they filed off unmolested, along the front of the essay, about one o'clock.
" The loss of the Americans was never correctly ascer- tained, for want of regular returns, and many of the wounded being carried immediately home from action. Captain Read, of North Carolina, and Captain MeClure, of South Carolina, were killed. Colonel HiHI, South Carolina, Major Wynn, South Carolina, Captain Craig- head, Lieutenant Fletcher. Ensign MeLien, wounded. " The British loss greatly exceeded ours. The loss of Bryan's regiment was severe. Sixty-two of Tarleton's Legion were killed and wounded.
" Major Divie's corps suffered much while tying their horses and forming under a heavy fire from the Tories. a measure which he had reprobatedl in the council which had decided on the mode of attack.
"It is an evincible trait in the character of militia. that they will only obey their own officers in time of action. and this battle would have been more decisive had the troops not fallen into confusion in pursuit of the loyalistsand the Legion infantry, by which circumstances the different regiments became mixed and confounded; or, had the divisions of this army left their horses where it was proposed they should, and marched in such a manner as to have assailed each encampment at the same time, a vigorous and sudden attack might have pre-
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vented the British from availing themselves of their superior discipline; the other encamoments must have been soon carried. and the corps remaining distinct. would have been in a situation to push any advantages that Davie's column might have gained over the British line.
" This account is nearly verbatim from the manuscript left by Mr. Davie.
"After the affair at Hanging Rock, Major Davie con- veyed his wounded to a hospital, which his foresight had provided at Charlotte, then hastened to the general rendezvous for the army under General Gates at Rugely's Mil's.
"On the 16th of August, 1780, about ten miles from Camden, Major Davie, on his way to unite his forces with General Gates, met a soldier. He was an American, and was in full speed. He arrested him as a deserter, but soon learned from him that on that fatal day, the whole American army, under General Gates, and the whole British force, under Cornwallis, had met, and that the British were triumphant. This unexpected infor nation was too soon confirmed by the appearance of General Gates himself, in full iliglit.
"General Gates desired Major Davie to fall back on Charlotte, or the dragoons would soon be on him. He replied, 'His men were accustomed to Tarleton, and did not fear him.' Gates had no time to argue, but passed on.
"Of General Huger, who then rode up, Major Davie asked how far the directions of Gates ought to be obeyed, who answered, 'Just as far as you please, for you will never see him again.' He again sent a gentleman who overtook General Gates, to say, that if he wished, he would return and bury his dead. The answer of Gates was, ' I say retreat ! Let the dead bury the dead.'"
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The massacre of Buford's men was partially avenged. Bryan's Tories ended their weary march to fall before the sabres of Davie's dragoons, and learned that treachery was as dangerous as it was dishonorable.
The Americans had now crossed bayonets with British infantry, flushed with victory and pride, and led them away captive. The spell of invinci- bility which had surrounded them was broken, · their prestige was gone, and they were no longer dreaded nor feared by the Americans. Major Davie retreated to Charlotte sullen and irritated. and was rejoiced when a leader came in whom he confided. Leaving him at Charlotte, I will follow another band of patriots, who had gathered ou the right of Davie and under leaders as impetuous and bold. if not as accomplished, as he, and whose track was marked by victory and vengeance keen and severe.
In I-Sc, before the formation of the State of Tennessee, the counties of Washington and Sulli- van, the homes of Colonel Isaac Shelby and Colonel John Sevier-" Nollichucky Jack" as his soldiers and neighbors familiarly and lovingly called him- were in North Carolina, and both of these military heroes held civil and military offices in this State.
Both of these men were the friends and fellow- soldiers of Colonel Charles McDowell, of Burke. and their lives ran parallel even to the storming of King's Mountain and the death of Patrick Ferguson.
Governor Swain, in the University Magazine of
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March, 1861, says that the most correct account of the expeditions. in the summer of r7So, of MeDowell and Shelby, is found in the " National Portrait Gal- lery" mow before me), and that it was known to have been written substantially by Shelby himself; and I shall offer no apology for transferring it to these pages. My object in this work is to give as nearly as possible the exact truth of history, and 1 can imagine no safer guide to such a result than to let those who made the history, if they be honest and true, tell the tale. Many authors, in endeavor- ing to extract truth from cotemporary narratives, give the gloss of their own feelings or judgment to the acts they record and seize only upon such facts as sem essential to establish their own opinion of these deeds :
COLONEL ISAAC SHELBY AND COLONEL CHARLES MCDOWELL'S CAMPAIGN IN ITSO.
"In the summer of 1; So, Colonel Shelby was in Ken- tucky locating and securing those lands which he had five years previously marked out and improved for him- self, when the intelligence of the surrender of Charleston, and the loss of the army, reached that country. He returned home in July of that year, determined to enter the service of his country, and remain in it until hier independence should be secured. He could not continue to be a cool spectator of a contest in which the dearest rights and interests of his country were involved.
"On his arrival in Sullivan, he found a requisition from Colonel Charles McDowell, requesting him to furnish all
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the aid in his power to check the enemy, who had over- miin the two Southern States, and were on the borders of North Carolina. Colonel Shelby assembled the militia of his county, and called upon them to volunteer their services for a short time on that interesting occasion, and marched, in a few days, with three hundred mounted riffemen, across the Alleghany Mountains.
" In a short time after his arrival at MeDowell's camp, near the Cherokee Ford of Broad River, Colonel Shelby, Lieutenant Colonels Sevier and Clarke, the latter a refugee officer from Georgia, were detached, with six hundred men, to surprise a post of the enemy in front, on the waters of the Pacolet River. It was a strong fort, surrounded by abattis, built in the Cherokee 'war, and commanded by that distinguished loyalist, Captain Pat- rick Moore. On the second summons to surrender, after the Americans had surrounded the post within musket shot, Captain Moore surrendered the garrison, with one British sergeant major, ninety-three loyalists, and two hundred and fifty stand of arms, loaded with ball and buckshot, and so arranged at the portholes as to have repulsed double the number of the American detach- ment.
"Shortly after this affair, Colonels Shelby and Clarke were detached. with six hundred mounted inen, to watch the movements of the enemy, and, if possible, to cut up his foraging parties.
"Ferguson, who commanded the enemy, about twen- ty-five hundred strong, composed of British and Tories, with a small squadron of British horse, was an officer of great enterprise, and, although only a major in the British line, was a brigadier general in the royal militia establishment, made by the enemy after he had overrun
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South Carolina, and was esteemed the most distinguished partisan officer in the British army.
" He made several attempts to surprise Colonel Shelby, but his designs were baffled. On the first of August, however, his advance, about six or seven hundred strong, came up with the American commander at a place he had chosen for battle, called Cedar Spring, where a sharp conflict ensued for half an hour, when Ferguson approached with his whole force. 1
"The Americans then retreated, carrying off the field fifty prisoners, mostly British, including two officers.
"The enemy made great efforts for five miles to regain the prisoners ; but the American commander, by forming frequently on the most advantageous ground to give battle, so retarded the pursuit that the prisoners were placed beyond their reach. The American loss was ten or twelve killed and wounded. It was in the severest part of this action, that Colonel Shelby's attention was arrested by the heroic conduct of Colonel Clarke. He often mentioned the circumstance of ceasing in the midst of battle, to look with astonishment and admira- tion at Clarke fighting.
"General McDowell having received information that five or six hundred Tories were encamped at Musgrove's Mill, on the south side of the Enoree, about forty miles distant, again detached Colonels Shelby, Clarke and Wil- liams, of South Carolina, with about seven hundred horsemen, to surprise and disperse them. Major Fergu- son, with his whole force, occupied a position immediately on the route.
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