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 5
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"The American commanders took up their line of march from Smith's Ford of Broad River, just before sundown, on the evening of the ISth of August, 1780,
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continued through the woods until dark, and then pur- sued a road. leaving Ferguson's camp about three miles to the left. They rode very hard all night, frequently in a gallop, and just at the dawn of day, about a half a mile from the enemy's camp, met a strong patrol party. A short skirmish ensued, and several of them were killed. At that juncture, a countryman, living just at hand, came up and informed them that the enemy had been reinforced the evening before with six hundred regular troops (the Queen's American regiment from New York, under Colonel Innes, destined to reinforce Fergu- son's army. ) The circumstances attending the informa- tion were so minute that no doubt was entertained of its truth. To march on and attack the enemy then seemed to be imiproper ; fatigued and exhausted as were the Americans and their horses, to attempt an escape was impossible. They instantly determined to form a breast- work of old logs and brush, and make the best defence in their power. Captain Imman was sent out with twenty-five men to meet the enemy, and skirmish with them as soon as they crossed the Enoree River.
"The sound of their drum and bugle horns soon announced their movements. Captain Inman was ordered to fire upon them and retreat, according to his own dis- cretion. This stratagem (which was the suggestion of the Captain himself) drew the enemy out in disorder, supposing they had forced the whole party ; and when they came up within seventy yards, a most destructive fire commenced from the American riflemen, who were concealed behind the breastwork of logs. It was an hour before the enemy could force the riflemen from their slender breastwork ; and just as they began to give away in some parts, Colonel Innes was wounded, and all the
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British officers, except a subaltern, being previously killed or wounded, and Captain Hawsey, a noted leader among the Tories being shot down, the whole of the enemy's line commenced a retreat. The Americans pursued them closely, and beat them across the river.
"In this pursuit Captain Iuman was killed, bravely fighting the enemy hand to hand. Colonel Shelby com- manded the right wing, Colonel Clarke the left. and Colonel Williams the centre. According to McCail's History of Georgia, the only work in which this battle is noticed, the British loss is stated to be sixty-three killed and one hundred and sixty wounded and taken; the American loss to be four killed and nine wounded. Amongst the former, Captain Inman and amongst the latter, Colonel Clarke and Captain Clarke. The Americans returned to their horses, and mounted with a determination to be, before night, at Ninety-Six, at that time a weak British post, distant only thirty miles. At that moment an express came up from General McDowell in great haste, with a short letter in his hand from Gor- ernor Caswell, dated on the battle ground, apprising McDowell of the defeat of the American grand armny under General Gates, on the 16th, near Camden, and advising him to get out of the way, as the enemy would. no doubt. endeavor to improve their victory, to the greatest advantage, by destroying all the small corps of the American army.
" It was a fortunate circumstance that Colonel Shelby knew Governor Caswell's handwriting, and what reli- ance to place upon it ; but it was a difficult task to avoid the enemy in his rear, his troops and their horses being fatigued, and encumbered with a large number of British prisoners. These, however, were immediately distributed
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amongst the companies, so as to make one to every three men, who carried them alternately on horseback, directly towards the mountains. The Americans continued their march all that day and night, and the next day until late in the evening, without even halting to refresh. This long and rapid march saved them : as they were pursued, until late in the afternoon of the second day after the action, by a strong detachment from Ferguson's army. Colonel Shelby, after seeing the party and pris- oners out of danger, retreated to the western waters with his followers, and left the prisoners in charge of Colonels Clarke and Wilhams, to convey them to some point of security in Virginia ; for at that moment there was not the appearance of a corps of Americans south of that State.
"The panic which followed the defeat of Gates and Sumter induced the corps of MeDowell's army to dis- perse, some to the west and some to the north. The brilliancy of this affair was obscured, as indeed were all the minor incidents of the previous war, by the deep gloom which overspread the public mind after the disas- trous defeat of General Gates."
This was the foretaste that Ferguson had of these "dare-devils," "over-mountain men;" these hardy hunters and Indian fighters of the mountain wilderness ; these children of nature, whose expe- rience and common sense were their only guides, and whose sleepless vigilance was their protection from danger. They all carried the Deckhard rifle, called for the maker, who lived in Lancaster, Penn- sylvania. It was generally three feet six inches
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long, weighed about seven pounds, and ran seventy bullets to the pound of lead. This rifle was remark- able for the precision and the distance of its shot.#
Ferguson himself was one of the finest riffe shots in the world, and was the inventor of a breech- loading rifle used at that date in the British army. It could be fired seven times a minute. He, there- fore, knew how effective the riffe was in the hands of a steady and determined soldier, and he dreaded the encounter with these men which was, in the near future, before him.+
There was still a third partisan corps of North Carolinians that gathered to the left of Davie on the Pee Dee.
A considerable number of North Carolina militia assembled on the 20th of July at Anson Court House. Observing this movement Major McAr- thur, who commanded the British forces on the Pee Dee, called in his detachments and marched to join the royal army at Camden. On the day that he left, the inhabitants, distressed by McArthur's depredations upon them, generally took up arms. Lord Nairne and one hundred and six invalids, descending the river, were made prisoners by a party of the Americans commanded by Major Thomas, who had lately been received as loval sub- jects. A large boat, well filled with supplies for McArthur, was also seized. All the new-made
*Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee, p. 228.
+Ramsay's Annals of Tennessee, p. 224.
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British militia officers, excepting Colonel Mills.8 were made prisoners by their own men .?
While these partisan leaders in Western North Carolina, volunteers without wages or rations, were threatening and attacking the British out- postsand intercepting and destroying their convoys. the militia of the State was assembling at Cheraw Hill, in South Carolina, where they arrived about the 1st day of August, 1780. This point is just across the State line, sixty-five miles from Char- lotte and one hundred and six miles from Wil- mington. The men of the west were under Briga- dier General Rutherford of Rowan, those of the east under General Isaac Gregory of Camden County, and those from the centre under General John Butler of Orange. This last was an old Regu- lator, for whose head Tryon had offered a high reward in tzn. Butler had never ceased to hope and to struggle for freedom. The militia, to use a familiar term, were "raw" and undisciplined and not accustomed to be organized into large bodies. Their mode of fighting was in small bands, under chosen leaders individually known to every soldier in the ranks, and they followed their leader because they confided in him personally. Personal faitlı gave them steadiness and energy. The rifle was their weapon and a tree their protection from the cavalry and the bayonet. In this mode of watfare they excelled; they knew but little of any other.
*Captured at King's Mountain and hung.
fRamsay's History of South Carolina, p. 202.
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These generals were all sincere patriots and brave "General Rutherford was an Irishman by birth, uncultivated in mind and manners, but brave, . ardent and patriotic,"# and, no doubt, as impulsive in his nature as any son of the Emerald Isle and as heartily opposed to British tyranny as any of his race. He resided west of Salisbury. in the Locke settlement. He was an Indian fighter and had commanded 2,400 men in 1776 in a successful · invasion of the Cherokee nation. Of General Gregory we know but little, but that little is hon- orable alike to his courage and his patriotism. He shed his blood for the cause.
General Horatio Gates, the captor of Burgoyne's army, the accidental victor of one battle, had, on the 13th day of June, been appointed by Congress com- mander-in-chief of the Southern army and about the 25th of July he reached the camp of DeKalb. on Deep River, in North Carolina, seventy-five miles northeast of Caswell's camp at Cheraw, and superseded him. Sad day for American history when vanity and arrogance were promoted over unselfish courage and conservative judgment; when the martinet ranked the soldier, and the adventurer took command of the patriot.
General Washington greatly desired to have General Nathanael Greene appointed to this com- mand, but popular enthusiasm had become so much aroused by the capture of Burgoyne that the people and their representatives in Congress were deaf to
"Wheeler, vol. 2, p. 382.
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every remonstranceand impatient of any suggestion which questioned the greatness and invincibility of General Gates. It was said that Washington "had slain his thousands, but Gates had slain his tens of thousands." The opposition of Washington was attributed to jealousy and envy aud he was compelled to yield reluctantly to the popular clamor. It was a repetition of the old story of republics in which the people sing hosannas one day to the conquering hero and cry "crucify him" the next; but the people are much like children or "foolish virgins" -- they seldom learn wisdom except in the suffering school of experience. Like children they often need to be restrained or forced, as occasion may require, by a master's hand. A little tyranny might have been wholesome in 1780, but Washing- ton had no element of this character in his nature. He preferred sacrifice with the people rather than glory or success through the exercise of arbitrary power. He not only yielded to Congress but gave to Gates more than one-fourth of his best troops, regulars and veterans from Maryland and Delaware. A strange infatuation took possession of General Gates: he contemned cavalry and heard with indifference the suggestion of their necessity in an open country where they could move with celerity and obtain the information so absolutely necessary to the success of military operations. Cavalry are figuratively called the eyes and ears of an army, and these Gates closed and went forward like the blind leading the blind, and the ditch of disaster
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was not far removed. Caswell has been accused of "disregarding orders from the vanity of acting separately,"# but Gates was equally foolish in making no attempt to reconcile these differences and secure unity and harmony of action. DeKalb, wise, prudent and cautious, advised that Camden should be approached from the direction of Meck- lenburg and Rowan, where stores could be procured for the army and a line of retreat be prepared in the event of disaster; but Gates was imperious and obstinate and would listen to no plan except marchi- ing directly through a barren wilderness to attack Rawdon. without inquiring what was his force or the strength of his situation.
"Orders were immediately issued to the troops to hold themselves in readiness to move at a moment's warning, and on the 27th July, 1;So, the army was marching in the direct route across the barrens to Mark's Ferry on the Pee Dee. He had not at this time one day's provision to serve out for his army."+ On the 7th day of August Gates formed a junction with Caswell and on the 13th the combined forces encamped at Rugely's Mills near Caniden. The next day General Stevens of Vir- ginia came up with a brigade of militia. In the meantime Lord Cornwallis, having been apprised of the advance of the American army, left Charleston with a large reinforcement and reached Lord Raw- don at Camden before dawn of the 14th, and at ten
*Bancroft, vol. 5, p. 384. +Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. I, p. 201.
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o'clock on the night of the 15th set his troops in motion in the hope of attacking the Americans at the break of day.
General Gates was wholly ignorant that Com- wallis had reinforced Rawdon and supposing that he could obtain an easy victory over the latter, who was inferior in numbers, he put the American army in motion on the night of the 15th of August also, with the view of surprising Lord Rawdon.
· "The unhappy fate which awaited him is that which must ever attend the commander who neg- lects the ineans of intelligence. His laurels were strewn in the dust, his venerable head bowed down with humiliation, an army destroyed and the South- ern States brought to the verge of ruin.""
Both armies unexpectedly met in the night. The British fired into Colonel Armand's cavalry which became disordered and fled, but the infantry under Porterfeild and Armstrong, of North Carolina, checked the advance. Both armies were surprised and apprehensive, and by mutualconsent, as it were, withdrew to await the attack of the other. When the long night of weary suspense had passed the lines of battle were formed, which Bancroft thus describes : "The position of Lord Cornwallis was most favorable. A swamp on each side secured his flanks against the superior numbers of the Ameri- cans. At daybreak his last dispositions were made. The front line, to which was attached two six- pounders and two three-pounders, was commanded on the right by Lieutenant Colonel Webster, on
*Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. I, p. 297.
the left by Lord Rawdon; a battalion with a six- pounder was posted behind each wing as a reserve; the cavalry were in the rear ready to charge or to pursue.
"On the American side the second Maryland brigade with Gist for its brigadier, and the men of Delaware occupied the right under DeKalb; the North Carolina division, with Caswell, the centre, and Stevens with the newly arrived Virginia militia. . the left ; the best troops on the side strongest by nature, the worst on the weakest.
"The first Maryland brigade, at the head of which Smallwood should have appeared, formed a second line about two hundred yards in the rear of the first. Theartillery was divided between the two brigades."" This corresponds with the account given by Steadman .:
The opposite armies being thus arranged in order of battle, Lieutenant Colonel Webster was ordered by Lord Cornwallis to advance and charge the enemy. They met Stevens on the left, who was also advancing. The Virginia militia were untrained and undisciplined and soon gave way, the retreat became a rout and they fled in every direction, throwing away their arms and knapsacks and intent only on escaping from the cavalry, which they dreaded, in their rear. The left flank of the North Carolina militia being thus exposed to a raking fire from the advancing British line and having no
*Bancroft, vol. 5, pp. 357-'S. +History American War, vol. 2, p. 208.
Battle :.
Words
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Woude.
British advancetry
WATEREE RIVER
Lieut Col. Webstere maan Du Fritich Fight vistexter: from Sammutor1. Lord Raudon Commanded British LOPEN !! Second Position Barce Dekalb brows the: 42 the British Left Wing Britishturn_American RISAL.
Corroded and Brautig Col Carriat y.
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cavalry to protect them, began also to give way. General Rutherford acted with distinguished gal- lantry, until he received a musket ball through his thigh, which disabled him and he was captured. General Butler vainly endeavored to keep the centre of the North Carolina line in position, but it and a part of the line under General Gregory, who was on the left. fled also. General Gregory, too, was wounded during the thickest of the fight, but by his courageous example a part of his brigade stoutly maintained its position and adhered to the Mary- land line.
Lee, in his " Memoirs" of the war, thus narrates the noble conduct of this part of the North Carolina militia :
"None without violence to the claims of honor and justice can withhold applause from Colonel Dixon and his North Carolina regiment of militia. Having their flank expo-ed by the flight of the other militia, they turned with disdain from the ignoble example; and fixing their eyes on the Maryianders, whose left they became, determined to vie in deeds of courage with their veteran comrades. Nor did they shrink from this daring resolve. In every vicissitude of the battie this regiment maintained its ground, and when the reserve. under Smallwood, covering our left, relieved its naked flank, forced the enemy to fall back. Colonel Dixon had seen service, having commanded a Continental regiment under Washington. By his precepts and example he infused his own spirit into the breast of his troops, who, emulating the noble ardor of their leader, demonstrated
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the wisdom of selecting experienced officers to command raw soldiers.
" The American war presents examples of first-rate courage occasionally exhibited by corps of militia, and often with the highest success. flere was a splendid instance of self-possession by a single regiment out of two brigades. Dixon had commanded a Continental regiment, and of course to his exemple and knowledge much is to be ascribed; yet praise is nevertheless due to the troops.
" While I record with delight facts which maintain our native and national courage, I feel a horror lest demagogues, who flourish in a representative system of government [the best when virtue rules, the wit of man can devise ] shall avail themselves of the occasional testi- mony to produce a general result.
. Convinced, as I am, that a government is the mur- derer of its citizens which sends them to the field, unin- formed and untaught, where they are to meet men of the same age and strength mechanized by education and disciplined for battle, I cannot withhold my denuncia- tion of its wickedness and folly, much as I applaud, and must ever applaud those instances like the one before us, of armed citizens vieing with our best soldiers in the first duty of man to his country.".
The English historian Lamb, an officer in the British army, says :+
" The Continental troops behaved well, but some of the militia was soon broken. In justice to the North Carolina militia, it should be remarked, that part of the
#Lee's Memoirs, pp. 186-'7. +Lamb's History, p. 304.
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brigade commanded by General Gregory acquitted themselves well. They were formed immediately on the left of the Continent il, and kept the field while they had a cartridge to fire ; Gregory himself was twice wounded by a bayonet in beinging off his men. Several of his regiment and many of His brigade, who were made prisoners, had no wound est cot from bayonets."
There can be no doubt that if the North Carolina militia had been supported on their left by the Virginians, that the event of this battle would have been far different from the unfortunate result which followed their stampede.
The stubborn courage of Divon's regiment, which formed the left of the Maryland line, is the more conspicuous when we consider that it was not only attacked in front by Rawdon, but bore the brunt of the charge from the light infantry and twenty-third regiment, which had wheeled from the pursuit of Stevens and Rutherford and concentrated its fire on the North Carolinians who had stood their ground. Steadman relates that "Lord Rawdon began the action on the British left with no less vigor and spirit than Webster had done on the right; but here and in the centre, against a part of Webster's division, the contest was more obstinately maintained by the Americans, whose artillery did considerable execution. Their left flank was, how- ever, exposed by the flight of part of the militia ; and the light infantry and twenty-third regiment, who had been opposed to.the fugitives, instead of
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pursuing them, wheeled to the left and came upon the left of the American Continentals, who after a brave resistance for near three-quarters of an hour were thrown into total confusion.">
The Marylanders and Delawares under DeKalb. with Dixon's regiment of North Carolinians, main- tained their position until, outflanked and outnum- bered, they were compelled to give ground. Dekalb's horse was killed under hint and he himself severely wounded, but he continued the fight on foot. " At last," says Bancroft, "he led a charge, drove the division under Rawdon, took fifty prisoners and would not believe that he was not about to gain the day when Cornwallis poured against him a party of dragoons and infantry. Even then he did not yield until disabled by many wounds."
Ramsay gives the following account of the cap- ture of DeKalb and General Rutherford :
" Major General Baron DeKalb, an illustrious German in the service of France, who had generously engaged in the support of American independence, and who exerted himself with great bravery to prevent the defeat of the day, received eleven wounds, of which, though he received the most particular assistance from the British, he in a short time expired. Lieutenant Colonel Du- Buysson, aid-de-camp of Baron DeKalb, embraced his wounded General, announced his rank and nation to the surrounding foe, and begged that they would spare his life. While he generously exposed himself to save his friend, he received sundry dangerous wounds and was
*Steadman, vol. 2, p. 209.
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taken prisoner. Brigadier General Rutherford, a val- uable officer of the most extensive influence over the North Carolina militia, sur endered to a party of the British Legion, one of whom, after his submission, cut him in several places."
With the fall of De Kalb all was lost. Tarleton's cavalry had now returned from the pursuit of the militia, and the only 'escape for the remaining Americans was to wade through the morass on their right. In this effort many of the officers made their way out singly or in groups, but Major An- derson, of the ad Maryland, who afterwards died a glorious death at Guilford, was the only officer who succeeded in keeping any organization. About one hundred of his men clung together with him, and came safely through to Charlotte, North Carolina. "Colonel Howard and others collected some men in their train, and the whole proceeded in a state of utter dissolution to Charlotte. Scarcely any of the wagons escaped, for the horses were used to carry the wounded officers. The artillery, baggage, everything became a prize to the victor, and to the utter astonishment, but infinite relief of the scat- tered Americans, Lord Cornwallis, satisfied with his triumph, returned to celebrate it in Camden, by offering the lives of his prisoners to the manes of his soldiers or the demon of revenge."+
The bayonet wounds received by General Greg- ory, of North Carolina, and the men of his brigade
*Ramsay's South Carolina, p. 207. Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. 1, pp. 298-'9.
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attest the fact that the militia of North Carolina stood before this terrible weapon in the hands of the disciplined regulars of the British army, and groupled with their adversaries in deadly conflict. Bus few instances in military history occur where the cross of bavonets is recorded; but when it is, the weapons were in the hands of veterans who had been "mechanized" into unflinching soldiers. I venture to assert that history does not record another instance where native courage and a sense of duty enabled untrained militia to engage regular troops with the bayonet and "force them back." This peculiar glory belongs to North Carolina, by the concurrent testimony of friend and foe.
Colonel Dixon, who won such immortal renown on this battlefield, was one of the officers who lost his position as major when the seven regular regi- ments were compressed into three in May, 1 ;; 8.
He was familiarly known among his troops as "Hal. Dixon." a pet name of the soldiers who seem to have been familiar with him, and to have borne him great affection. He came to North Car- olina. and as soon as the call for the militia to join Caswell was made, he volunteered, and as colonel of militia performed heroic deeds at Camden. He survived the battle, and in ITSI, as we shall see, was acting as Inspector General of militia, for want of a regular command. He never sulked in his tent. and was never idle when he could find any military duty to perform. I do not know his native county. He speaks in his letters in ITSr of
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returning to Caswell County. The roster of regu- lar troops has this entry opposite his name, " Dec'd July 17. 1782."
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