USA > Texas > Border fights & fighters; stories of the pioneers between the Alleghenies and the Mississippi and in the Texan republic > Part 6
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With this money the men were promptly provided with horses and powder. Even the women entered into the spirit of the occasion, and it is related that some of the powder which was afterward used with such deadly effect was made by their assistance, for they burned the charcoal on the family hearthstones.
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V. The Dash to Catch Ferguson
Early on the morning of the 26th of September was the hour appointed for the march. Old Parson Doak, stern Presbyterian, black-gowned, stood in the midst of the one thousand rugged riflemen in their hunting shirts, who doffed their coon-skin caps, or buck-tail hats, and ringed themselves about him, leaning upon their arms, while he invoked the Divine blessing upon the expedi- tion, bidding them to go forth and strike with the sword of the Lord and of Gideon. After this impressive cere- mony, the men, speeded by the cheers of those unwill- ingly left behind, and followed by the prayers of the women, immediately took up the march. With them, rifle in hand, went another clergyman, the Reverend Stephen Foster.
Being well mounted, they made great progress. Un- encumbered by baggage train of any sort, they were able to take short cuts and traverse apparently impracticable paths over the range, which they found covered with deep snow. There was no commissariat, a few beeves were driven on the march and slaughtered for the first day's rations, but the men depended upon what they could pick up on the way, or shoot with the rifle, to eke out the supply of parched corn which every man carried for himself. It is not too much to say that the west was won by parched corn and the powder horn.
They marched with great swiftness for several days, being joined at the foot of the mountains by Cleaveland, a redoubtable, if merciless and ferocious fighter, with three hundred and fifty men from Wilkes and Surrey Counties, on the 30th of September. On Monday, the
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Ist of October, they marched eighteen miles, but were stopped by the rain. On the 2d they determined to select one of the various colonels who should command the expedition, pending the arrival of an officer of rank.
Choice fell upon William Campbell of Virginia, who had the largest regiment. McDowell of North Carolina, who was senior, had the smallest regiment, and was not thought sufficiently vigorous for such an undertaking. He relieved the dilemma regarding him, by volunteering to ride express to General Gates and ask him to send an officer of merit to take charge. Campbell hesitated to assume the command, and earnestly urged Sevier, Shelby, or other officers to take it, but they insisted that he should undertake the duty which they had devolved upon him, and at last he consented.
On the 3rd of October, while still in the gap at South Mountain, before the march was taken up, Cleaveland, who seems to have been the orator of the assemblage, addressed the men in the following terms:
" Now, my brave fellows, I have come to tell you the news. The enemy is at hand, and we must up and at them. Now is the time for every man of you to do his country a priceless service-such as shall lead your chil- dren to exult in the fact that their fathers were the con- querors of Ferguson. When the pinch comes I shall be with you. But if any of you shrink from sharing the battle and glory, you can now have the opportunity of backing out and leaving, and you shall have a few min- utes for considering the matter."
Other colonels in brief, terse words seconded old Cleaveland, and then requested those who desired to retire from the proposed expedition to step three paces
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to the rear. No one did so, of course. Ferguson was believed to be in the vicinity of Gilbert Town. They proceeded cautiously, therefore, to that point, and the next day learned that he had retreated and that he was thought to have gone southward to Ninety Six.
In the vicinity of Beattie's Ford on the Catawba, thirty miles away, were a body of Sumter's men under Colonels Hill, who was too badly wounded to take part in the campaign, and Lacey, and a small party of South Carolinians under Williams, altogether about four hun- dred in number. Williams had been appointed to com- mand the militia, and Sumter had disputed his right. Pending the settlement of the question, Sumter had withdrawn from his troops, otherwise he would have ex- ercised chief command in the battle that was to follow. Williams, however, had remained in the neighborhood; although Sumter's troops had refused to acknowledge him, he had gathered a small body of his own.
When this assemblage heard these mountain men had come for the purpose of taking Ferguson, Colonel Lacey made an all-night ride through the wilderness to Camp- bell's camp, on the Green River, which he reached an hour or so before daybreak, offering to co-operate with them and informing the mountaineers that Ferguson had not gone to Ninety Six, but was marching toward King's Mountain. They believed at first that Lacey was a Tory spy, but he finally persuaded them of his integrity, and they agreed to meet his party at the Cowpens, south of the Broad, soon to be the scene of another famous victory, the next evening, the 6th of October. Selecting some seven hundred of the best men, the mountaineers at once set out, leaving the rest to follow as fast as possible.
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With scarcely an hour's sleep, Lacey mounted his horse and returned to his men, reaching them about ten o'clock in the morning, having ridden sixty miles in fourteen hours. On the appointed evening the whole party, now amounting to some eleven hundred men, rendezvoused at the Cowpens. The indomitable Lacey had succeeded in getting his men there at the hour agreed upon. Before they took up their march again they carefully selected, by a second weeding out, nine hundred and ten of the most efficient with the freshest horses, with whom they determined to push on to meet Ferguson .* Fifty foot soldiers resolved to keep up with the horsemen if possible.
Sure intelligence had been received that Ferguson had halted on King's Mountain. This is a low spur of the Alleghenies, sixteen miles long, running northeast and southwest. Ferguson was encamped on the southern end of it in York County, South Carolina, a mile and a half from the border. He had sent despatches to Corn- wallis, whom he had been endeavoring to join, urging him to send Tarleton to escort him over the thirty miles of rough broken country between his army and Char- lotte, his lordship's head-quarters, for he had been ap- prised by two deserters of the storm that was gathering on his heels.
* This number was made up, according to McCrady, as follows: Camp- bell, 200; Sevier, 120; Shelby, 120; Cleaveland, 110; McDowell, a brother of the officer who had gone to seek Gates, 90; and Winston, a subordinate to Cleaveland, 60; making seven hundred chosen at Green River. Additional troops were selected at the Cowpens, as follows : Lacey, 100; Williams, 60, and Graham and Hambright, 50, making 210: total, 910. 200 of these were Virginians, 510 were from North and 200 from South Carolina. The foot soldiers mentioned did not arrive until the close of the action, so they are not counted. The rest were to follow as fast as they could.
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Not that he had any fear of being able to defend his present position, for he considered his force entirely ad- equate to hold it forever, although not sufficiently strong to take the offensive. The affair at Musgrove's Mills had given his troops, if not himself, a healthy respect for the mountaineers. Unfortunately for him, some of his messengers were captured, and others were forced by the dangers of the way to take such circuitous routes that they did not reach Cornwallis until the battle was over.
Ferguson had chosen the position from the point of view of the European soldier, with much skill. Profes- sional soldiers have called it admirable for defence. He is alleged to have said, in various profane ways, that he could hold his post against any force that might be brought against him.
A great deal of unscientific criticism has been heaped upon him for this choice of position. To be sure he did not hold it against an inferior force, which seems to bear out the censures; but that force was unique in com- position and its attack was an unusual one, which no theoretical experience could have led Ferguson to ex- pect. He could probably have held the place success- fully against regular soldiers without difficulty. But the men who were after him were not regular troops. They knew nothing of the school of the soldier and cared less; their character was peculiar and their tactics in accord- ance.
VI. King's Mountain ; Launching the Thunderbolt
About nine o'clock on the night of the 6th, the army set forth from the Cowpens for King's Mountain, some thirty-three miles away. It was pitch dark and to add
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to their difficulties and discomforts a chill rain came driving upon them for a large part of the night. To keep their muskets dry the men were forced to take off their blankets and shirts and wrap them around the gun- locks. Chilled to the bone they urged their jaded steeds through the clogging mud and cold driving rain of the furious storm during the long night.
When day broke they reached the Catawba at Chero- kee Ford, crossed it, still in the pelting rain, and plodded on. Some chroniclers aver, that, oppressed by their long, hard march, the slow progress they had made, the worn-out condition of the men, some of the officers sug- gested that they give over the attempt and return. Shelby, marching in the van, curtly replied,
" I will not stop until night if I follow Ferguson into Cornwallis' lines! "
So they pushed resolutely on. It continued to rain harder than ever during the morning until noon, when the storm broke and the sun came out with a fine breeze, to the great refreshment of the army. Spies and scouts sent on ahead confirmed the truth of their impression that Ferguson was on King's Mountain. At one Tory farm-house, from which they could get no information, one of the women came out secretly and ran across the fields until she intercepted the American advance.
"How many men have you? " she cried.
" Enough to whip Ferguson if we can find him," was the reply.
" You will find him on that mountain yonder," she said, pointing to the hill three miles away.
It was two o'clock when the army reached the vicinity of the mountain after their eighteen-hour struggle in the dreadful storm. Hard on their heels followed the de-
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voted fifty foot, who had made an unparalleled march.
The portion of King's Mountain upon which the bat- tle occurred is an isolated hill some six hundred yards long, about one hundred feet high, and varying in width from sixty to one hundred and twenty yards across. It is a long stone-crested ridge, the sides covered with trees, the top bare and desolate. The rocks around the edge of the crest formed a natural breastwork. The narrowest part of the hill was toward the south. At this narrow end of the ridge a man standing could be seen from the foot of either slope. Ferguson's camp was pitched near the northern end, and except for the natural cover afforded by the rocks and bowlders, had no other pro- tection. The baggage-wagons were parked along the northeastern, the most exposed edge, near the widest part.
Ferguson had with him one hundred and twenty of the Seventy-first regulars, and some eight hundred Tory militia, about equally divided between the two Carolinas. He had had this militia under his command for some time and had drilled and exercised them with unfailing zeal and success until he rated them equal to British regular soldiery. His own troops, of course, were provided with bayonets, and he caused the hunting knives of the Tories so to be arranged that they could be fitted into the muzzles of the guns; thus the militia contingent was supplied with a formidable weapon for close quarters. His main reliance was upon the bayonet, therefore. There were no bayonets of any sort in the American army, and it was to be rifle bullet against cold steel.
The second in command on the mountain was Cap- tain de Peyster of New York, a brave, efficient officer. It is interesting to note that, with the exception of Fer-
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guson himself, there were probably no men of British birth in either of the two contending armies.
Riding as near the hill as they dared without being discovered, the men dismounted, with the exception of a few of the ranking officers, and were formed up in four
CLARK'S
FORK
WOODS
CH
CLEAVELAND
HAN
BRITISHDAAD
FINOLSNIM
QUARR
KING'S
E
KING'S MOUNTAIN
WOODS
O FERGUSON'S HEAD QUARTERS.
.+ PLACE WHERE FERGUSON WAS KILLED.
H. PLACE WHERE HORSES WERE LEFT.
Plan of Battle of King's Mountain.
divisions; Campbell taking the command of the right centre division; Shelby the left centre; Sevier, with McDowell's and some of Winston's men under him, led the right wing; while Cleaveland with Williams, Lacey, and the others took charge of the left wing.
A party of horse under Major Winston who knew the
CREEK
EBR
LACEY
WILLIAMS
CAMP
MINISEVIER . I.MC DOWELL
: AMERICAN:
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field of battle, were ordered to make a long detour and approach the mountain from the northern end. Camp- bell and Shelby were to attack the right and left sides of the mountain at the narrow lower end, Sevier and Cleaveland were to defile past them and range along the east and west sides respectively, while Winston closed the remaining gap. The attack was delivered about three o'clock. The rallying word was "Buford," the name of the commander whom Tarleton had treacher- ously killed in the massacre at Waxhaws.
It was not until fifteen minutes before the battle be- gan that Ferguson became aware of the threatened dan- ger. Instantly his men were called to arms. Shelby and Campbell, having the shortest distance to go, were the first to engage the enemy. The honor of beginning the battle must be given to Campbell. The stout old Presbyterian, stripped to his shirt sleeves, led the Vir- ginians up the hill, waving an old claymore, a weapon of his Scottish ancestors, shouting,
" Here they are, my brave boys! Shout like Hell and fight like devils!"
Yelling and firing rapidly they swarmed up the hill. When de Peyster heard these deafening yells, which he remembered from the disastrous fight at Musgrove's Mills, he turned to Ferguson saying,
"These things are ominous; these are the d-d . yelling boys!"
The Englishman was not daunted by the yelling, how- ever. Throwing his regulars upon them in a fierce bay- onet charge, Ferguson drove them down the slope. Meanwhile Shelby had sustained a severe fire while get- ting into position and had hard work restraining the fire of his men; at last yelling,
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" Give them Indian play, boys!" he rode up the other slope at their head.
A similar bayonet charge by de Peyster and the Tories repulsed their attack. The men gave back so reluc- tantly, however, that several of them were bayoneted as they retreated. Flushed with victory for the moment, Ferguson's enthusiasm was rudely dispelled by the crackling of muskets on the eastern side of the moun- tain.
Yelling like fiends, Sevier's men breasted the slope of the hill. Indeed, it is said that the so-called " rebel yell," which was heard on so many battle-fields in the next century, had its origin in this body of mountaineers led by Sevier. Galloping to the threatened point, Fer- guson threw some of his men upon the Watauga boys. The ground here was more broken, and the same rocks which served for the British ramparts played a like pur- pose for the Americans. Sevier could not be driven away. He established himself on the crest of the hill behind the rocks, pouring in a deadly fire.
At the same instant Colonel Cleaveland came into action. He was a great speech-maker, this Cleaveland, and as his soldiers raced along the base of the hill to get to the position from which they were to make the ascent, he is said to have made the following speech in · broken sentences:
" My brave fellows, we have beaten the Tories, and we can beat them again. They are all cowards. If they had the spirit of men, they would join us in supporting the independence of the country. When you are engaged, do not wait for the word of command. I will show you by my example how to fight. I can undertake no more. Every man
" Ferguson showed himself a very paladin of courage."
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must act on his own judgment. Fire as fast as you can, and stand your ground as long as you can. . When you can do no better, get behind trees, or retreat; but I beg you not to run off." Then pointing to the crest of the hill from which a deadly fire was plunging, he cried, "Yonder is your enemy, and the enemy of mankind ! "
At the same instant Colonel Hambright with his brave Germans, and Majors Winston and Chronicle of the Car- olinians, closed the gap. Williams, who had sulked be- cause he had not been recognized or consulted by the other officers, could stand it no longer.
"Come up, boys!" he shouted, " the old wagoner never yet backed out!" and he rushed into action to the right of Cleaveland.
The mountain was now completely encircled. Sevier had gained the summit and was clinging to it with grim tenacity. As Ferguson withdrew his troops from the southern end, Campbell and Shelby immediately turned and followed them up the hill. Both sides fought well. Three times did the British and Tories throw themselves upon the approaching Americans. Three times did the deadly bayonet do its work, but they could not drive the men from the fight further than they could continue the charge. They always came back. Campbell had two horses shot under him. Shelby's face had been burned by powder, so close had been the action.
The mountain was ringed with fire and covered with smoke. The roar of the rifles and muskets could be heard for miles. Ferguson showed himself a very pala- din of courage. Mounted on a white horse he rode fran- tically up and down the plateau, rallying his men, launch- ing charge after charge upon whatever part of the line
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ventured to expose itself on the crest. The bulk of these charges fell upon the regiments of Shelby and Campbell, but the beleaguered force struck out desper- ately on every hand. Finally a last charge furiously hurled upon the Virginians, coupled with shouts that Tarleton was at hand, put the regiment to flight. Im- ploring, protesting, swearing, the brave commander es- sayed to stop the retreat of his men, but it was not until they had been driven some distance from the foot of the hill that he could get them in order again to lead them back.
Meanwhile Sevier led his men from the crest of the hill and dashed at the British in the open. At the same in- stant a simultaneous advance all along the lines drove the British back in every direction. The Virginians rallied and came fiercely up again. The British fell in scores.
Some one raised a white flag. Ferguson instantly ordered it down, swearing that he would " never surren- der to such a d-d set of banditti!" Blowing the silver whistle which had rung over the field and by which he had given his commands, he rallied his forces for an- other final charge. De Peyster led it with the remnant of the regulars, but before they came in contact with the mountaineers, their deadly discharge reduced his line to twelve people. Another flag was raised and this time Ferguson cut it down.
But the day was lost. De Peyster realized it and advised surrender. Ferguson, however, would not see the inevitable and disdained to yield. He put himself at the head of his men for another charge and was shot by a dozen bullets and instantly killed. The British were now crowded in a huddled mass near the northeast end,
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surrounded on all sides by the mountaineers. To resist longer was to be slaughtered like sheep in a pen.
De Peyster raised the flag a third time. Some of the mountaineers, so ignorant of the customs of war that they did not realize the meaning of the signal, and mad- dened by the fighting, continued their fire, which was returned by some of the desperate British soldiers and Colonel Williams was instantly killed. The Americans yelling " Give them Buford's play," then poured a volley in on the unresisting Tories, most of whom had practi- cally surrendered.
There was a scene of wild and terrible confusion on the mountain top. De Peyster wildly protested against the butchery of surrendered men. Sevier, Shelby, and Campbell did their best to restrain their reckless, undis- ciplined soldiers, who continued to fire upon the huddled mass of British crying "Quarter ! Quarter!" and the battle bade fair to degenerate into a massacre. Finally the mountaineers were stopped, and at Shelby's words, "D-n you, if you want quarter, throw down your arms!" the British threw down their guns and were marched away from them.
VII. After the Battle
The battle was over at four o'clock in the afternoon. It had lasted scarcely an hour. In the confusion some of the Tories, who wore no uniform, escaped, but the results of the battle were some three hundred killed, or so severely wounded that they had to be left on the field, and six hundred captured. On the American side the casualties were twenty-eight killed, and sixty-two wound- ed, the disparity being due in part to the fact that the
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British firing down the hill overshot their opponents, in accordance with a natural tendency under the circum- stances.
They bivouacked that night upon the hill. It was a night of horror. There was but one surgeon in both armies, Ferguson's. He did what he could to alleviate the sufferings of the wounded but with little success. The Americans had gained a stupendous victory but their position was still most precarious. With a number of prisoners almost equal to their total force, they were in imminent danger of attack, for they believed Tarleton was near. Anxious hours were passed until daybreak and they took up their march in retreat.
After the first day's march information was brought them that Cruger at Ninety Six had ruthlessly hanged a number of Whigs whom he had captured. At the in- stance of the Carolina men, with the spirit of revenge hot in their breasts, thirty of the principal men among the Tories were tried by summary court-martial and sentenced to death. Nine of them in bunches of three were at once hanged from a huge tree near the head- quarters. Among those sentenced were the two moun- taineers who had deserted on the march and betrayed the advance to Ferguson. One of them was a mere boy. He was at once reprieved. The other was one of Sevier's men. The gallant soldier claimed him and begged the other officers that he might be permitted to have him. The request was granted, and the grateful man became one of the most zealous partisans of the Revolution thereafter.
One of the condemned men had a young brother among the prisoners-a mere boy. After the first group had been executed the lad begged permission to speak
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to his brother. Seizing his opportunity he cut the man's bonds, and he made a dash for freedom, the mountain men, cheering the daring of the boy and the desperate courage of the man, refrained from firing on him. Sevier, seconded by Shelby, thereupon interfered and the bloody reprisal ceased.
In twenty-eight days the whole army was back over the mountains, and at home again-all but those who slept on the field of their glory or who died from their wounds on the return journey and had been buried on the way. One of these was the brother of Sevier.
The heroic courage of the Scotch Presbyterian, Campbell; the resolute determination of the Welshman, Shelby; the dashing gallantry of the Frenchman, Sevier; the enthusiastic devotion of the Irishman, Lacey; the stern valor of the German, Hambright; the stubborn, dogged courage of Cleaveland, the Englishman, had won this most marvellous battle on the hills.
Success came in the very nick of time. Cornwallis in great alarm recalled his scattered forces and hastily fell back into South Carolina, thus giving the Americans time to re-create an army under General Greene, that organizer of victory. The annihilation of Ferguson greatly encouraged the South Carolina Whigs, or rebels, and coupled with the victory of the Cowpens shortly after, where Morgan with some of the King's Mountain men to assist him, crushed Cornwallis' only other suc- cessful partisan, Tarleton, paved the way to Yorktown and the end of the Revolution.
APPENDIX
A N original account, never before published, of the BATTLE OF KING'S MOUN- TAIN, by the REV. STEPHEN FOSTER, A PARTICIPANT. The original document has been preserved by the descendants of Col. William Campbell, who com- manded the American forces in the battle. Its use is allowed by Mr. T. W. Preston, now of Vicksburg, Miss., one of his descendants, and a native of south West Virginia.
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