USA > Virginia > Augusta County > Augusta County > Annals of Augusta county, Virginia, from 1726 to 1871 > Part 31
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Gap and Lynch's Ferry, (Lynchburg.) Before the battle of Guilford the men were dismounted and the horses sent back .*
Two or more companies went from Rockbridge. One of the Rock- bridge captains was Alexander Tedford, whose only daughter, wife of Elisha Barclay, was the mother of Alexander T. and Hugh Barclay. He was killed at Guilford. His wife going in search of his body, was crazed by hier hardships and sufferings, and died soon afterwards. Another Rockbridge captain was John Paxton, brother of Gen. Sam Houston's mother. His wife was Phebe Alexander, daughter of Capt. Archibald Alexander. He was wounded in the foot by a musket ball at Guilford, and never fully recovered.
Col. Samuel McDowell and Maj. Alexander Stuart commanded the Rockbridge companies. Archibald Stuart, son of the Major, and afterwards Judge Stuart, was commissary, but fought in the ranks at Guilford.
Capt. Tate and many of his men were killed in the battle of March 15th. It is said that as one of the results of the battle there were eight or ten widows in the bounds of Bethel congregation. Some of the men who came back carried on their persons ever afterwards the marks of British sabres. Major Stuart was taken prisoner. It is said that "his captors plundered him and left him standing in his cocked
* Col. William Preston and Col. William Campbell, both originally of Augusta county, participated in the battle of Guilford Court-house. Col. Harry Lee, in his "Memoirs of the War," relates the circumstances under which Col. Preston joined the Southern army. Gen. Greene had recrossed the Dan, from Virginia to North Carolina, and Lee and others, detached from the main army, were opera- ting against the Tories and endeavoring to circumvent Tarleton. Late one even- ing, when the advanced sentinels and patrols of the opposing forces were in sight of each other, Lee heard from some countrymen, who were refugees from their homes on account of the enemy, that a small party of militia had collected for safety a few miles off, and sent a dragoon to request them to hasten to his camp, hoping to obtain valuable information from them. "It so happened," he says, "that with the militia company was found Colonel Preston, of Montgomery county, Virginia, just arrived at the head of three hundred hardy mountaineers, who, hearing of Greene's retreat, had voluntarily hastened to his assistance,-alike ignorant until that hour of the General's having recrossed the Dan and of Tarle- ton's corps being but a few miles in front." Encouraged by the arrival of these auxiliaries, Lee's Legion, and Preston's men also, were eager for a fight the next morning ; but Tarleton withdrew before day-light. On the 2nd of March, how- ever, they had an encounter with Tarleton, and killed and wounded about thirty of his men. Col. Campbell brought with him a company of riflemen from Wash- ington county, who had fought at King's Mountain. He afterwards with his company joined La Fayette in Virginia.
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hat, shirt and shoes."* He was detained for some time on board a British ship. In the retreat, Samuel Steele, who died in his old age near Waynesborough, shot a British dragoon who followed him but two others assailed him and he was forced to succumb. He refused, how- ever, to give up his gun, which he afterwards succeeded in reloading, and then put his captors to flight. David Steele, of Midway was cut down in the retreat and left for dead. He revived, and came home and lived to old age. Foote states that the scar of a deep wound over one of his eyes painfully disfigured him. Several persons who often saw the old soldier, have informed us that his face was not disfigured at all. His skull was cleft by a sabre and to the end of his days lie wore a silver plate over the spot. Colonel Fulton, who was at Guil- ford, and afterward for many years represented Augusta in the Legis- lature, is said to have been disfigured as Steele is described to have been. One of the Wilsons, of Bethel, was probably the last survivor of Guilford in this region. The Rockbridge troops started from Lex- ington, February 26, and the survivors reached home again on March 23, following.t
The scene of the battle, old Guilford Court-house, is six or seven miles northwest of Greensboro, the present county seat. The graves of the slain were long ago obliterated, and no memorial of the battle existed on the spot, till about the year 1888, when a monument was erected.
Among the militiamen from Rockbridge, in the expedition to Guilford, was Samuel Houston, afterward for many years a highly es- teemed Presbyterian minister. He was twenty-three years of age and a student of divinity when the call came for the militia to go to the as- sistance of General Greene. Laying aside his books, he fell into the ranks of a Rockbridge company, and had Archibald Stuart, afterward the Judge, as his messmate.
* His sword, a somewhat uncouth weapon, presumably of local manufacture, was some years ago presented by his grand-son, Hon. Alexander H. H. Stuart, to the Virginia Historical Society, of which the latter was president. The sword is without scabbard, that having been lost during the late war between the States, in hiding the weapon from Federal invaders.
t Among the Revolutionary soldiers from Augusta, who died between 1835 and 1848, are the following : James Robertson, December 25, 1835, in the eighty- fifth year of his age ; John Tate, August 6th, 1836 ; Samuel Steele, June 8, 1837 ; Major Samuel Bell, May 15, 1838 ; Lewis Shuey, January 22, 1839; Robert Harns- berger, February 7, 1840 ; Smith Thompson, May 12, 1840 ; Peter Lohr, Septem- ber 21, 1841 ; Samnel Gardner, January 11, 1842 ; Francis Gardner, July 26, 1842; John Bell, Sr., October 17, 1842 ; Claudius Buster, November 20, 1843; Captain Robert Thompson, Jauuary 23, 1847 ; William McCutchen, June 29, 1848.
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Mr. Houston kept a diary of the trip, writing every day, except one, from his departure till his return, which is published in full in the Second Series of Foote's Sketches of Virginia. It is provoking for its brevity and omission of much that would now be interesting, but con- tains some items worth reproducing.
The Rockbridge company marched from Lexington to Grigsby's on Monday, February 26th. The next day they marched fifteen miles, and encamped at Purgatory, near Buchanan, in Botetourt county. On the Ist day of March the distance made was seventeen miles. "Drew liquor in the morning," says Mr. Houston, and "I paid fifteen dollars for beer to Mrs. Breckinridge." This lady was doubtless the widow of Colonel Robert Breckinridge who removed from Staunton to Bote- tourt in 1769. The incident mentioned shows that the best women of the time were not above gaining money by any honest means. No doubt there was need of economy and thrift. But the question arises, did young Houston consume $15 worth of beer himself ? Perhaps he did, as the currency was almost worthless, like Confederate money at the close of the late war, and purchased very little of anything.
Apparently, the command was in no hurry to reach the enemy. Imagine Stonewall Jackson marching fifteen miles one day and twelve the next, while on his way to reinforce General Lee ! On Sabbath, March the 4th, however, the day's march was twenty miles, to a point beyond New London. This day "we pressed a hog, which was served without scraping." The word "pressed," so familiar to Confederate soldiers, is therefore as old as the Revolution.
The night of the 4th was spent at a Major Ward's, and on the next day the command crossed Staunton river, into Pittsylvania, and marched eight miles. On the 6th they advanced fourteen miles, when Major Ward overtook them, with a complaint that some of his person- al property had disappeared. "We were searched," says the diary, "and Mr. Ward's goods found with James Berry and John Harris, who were whipped. (!) The same were condemned to ten lashes for disobeying the officer of the day on Monday." Harris deserted on the 7th, and Berry was arrested and sent to prison.
The Dan river was crossed on the 8th. "At this river some imean cowards threatened to return. This morning," (the 9th), "Lyle, Hays and Lusk went to General Greene and returned. The same day deserted Geo. Culwell."
The headquarters of General Greene's army was reached Satur- day night, the roth, and the battle of Guilford was fought on Thurs- day, March 15th. Colonel Moffett's and Colonel McDowell's battalions
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of Augusta and Rockbridge militia composed a part of General Stevens' brigade. The men were ordered to "take trees," whichi they did with alacrity, many, however, crowding to one tree. The close firing began near the centre, but soon extended along the line. During the battle, which lasted two hours and twenty-five minutes, Mr. Houston discharged his rifle fourteen times. He says, "our brigade Major, Mr. Williams, fled." For some time the militia dis- played great bravery ; they repulsed the enemy several times, and after advancing fell back, when compelled, in good order .* Finally they were assailed by the British light horse, "were obliged to run, and many were sore chased and some were cut down." Major Stuart was captured, and Captain Tate killed .; The men "all scattered," but soon came together, and with Colonel Moffett and other officers retreated fourteen miles. The following night, "through darkness and rain and want of provisions we were in distress. Some parclied a little corn."
Early in the morning of the 16th, the men were " decamped, and marched through the rain till we arrived at Speedwell furnace, where Greene had retreated from Guilford town." There "we met many of our company with great joy, particularly Colonel McDowell." Other men given up for lost also came in. In the evening "orders were read to draw provisions and ammunition, to be in readiness, which struck a panic on the minds of many."
The next day the men discussed the matter of returning home, pleading want of blankets and clothing. "Many went off ; a few were remaining when General Lawson came and raged very much ; and about ten o'clock all but McDowell canie off."
Dan river was re-crossed on the 18th. "A little afterward many went to a tavern, where some got drunk and quarreled." On the 21st, " we paid Murphy one dollar a man for horses to carry us over Goose Creek." On the 22d, "my brother and I hired Mr. Rountree's horses, and his son came with us to Mr. Lambert's, when, after he received forty-three dollars, he returned. We eat with Mr. Lambert and paid him ten dollars each. I bought five books from him and paid him four hundred and twelve dollars and a half. We crossed the mountains, and in the valley saw the wonderful mill without
* All accounts agree that Stevens' brigade, including the Augusta and Rock- bridge militia, behaved well in the battle.
t A North Carolina historian (Schenck ) says : "Captain Tate of Virginia, so distinguished at Cowpens, received a ball which broke his thigh."
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wheels, doors or floors." On Friday, March 23d, Mr. Houston arrived at his brother William's, and there the diary ended.
We are accustomed to think of the men of the Revolutionary period as all heroes panting for the fray, and patriots ready to make any sacrifice for the cause of their country. Here we see they were very much like other people. The men who composed Colonel McDowell's battalion were, most of them, worthy citizens, of fully average courage and public spirit. But they were hastily levied, untrained, and easily demoralized. However brave each man might be, he could not rely with certainty on the support of his neighbors in the ranks, and therefore provided for his own safety according to his best judgment. So raw militia have nearly always acted, and nearly always will.
" The second day after the battle," says Foote, " when they must either march further in pursuit of Cornwallis or return home, they all, in face of their Colonel marched off home. Some, both of the Caro- lina and the Virginia militia, fled from the battle-ground on the 15th, and never rested till they reached their homes. Some of the Virginia men that fled thus, in the fear lest they should be called to account for their flight, retreated into the western ridges of the Alleghany, and even to old age dreaded the approach of a stranger, as perhaps an officer for their arrest for desertion."
Upon the authority of an old army list, it is stated on a preceding page that Captain Andrew Wallace was killed at the battle of King's Mountain. Foote states, however, and no doubt correctly, that he was killed at Guilford. (See Sketches of Virginia, second series, page 147.) He says : " Captain Andrew Wallace, from near Lexington, was in the regular service, and had always shown himself a brave man. That morning he expressed a mournful presage that he would fall that day. In the course of the action, he sheltered himself behind a tree, with some indications of alarm. Being reproached, he im- mediately left the shelter, and in a moment received his death wound."*
We have an echo from the battle of Guilford C. H. in a letter written by Major Charles Magill to Governor Jefferson, from General Greene's head-quarters, March 19, 1781. Major Magill says :
* Foote says, also : "A brother of his, Captain Adam Wallace, was with Buford at the terrible massacre on the Waxhaw. After killing many of the enetny with his espontoon " [a kind of pike], " he died, bravely figliting."
Another brother, Captain Hugh Wallace, in the regular army, died in Philadelphia, of small-pox.
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"I am sorry to inform your Excellency that a number of the Virginia militia have sully'd the Laurels reap'd in the Action, by making one frivolous pretence and another, to return home. A number have left the Army very precipitately, the best men from Augusta and Rockbridge have been foremost on this occasion."
Joseph Bell, of the Stone Church family, was in 1781, an agent for buying cattle, and on February 24th wrote to the Governor in re- gard to his difficulties. The farmers were unwilling to sell to the State on credit, and under orders from Col. Wood he had seized many cattle. Attorneys, "paid to do so," pronounced the proceedings illegal, and he expected to be sued. He said, however : "Good Whigs perform their duty with most punctuality."
THE BELLS.
Three or more persons named Bell, not at all related, as far as known, were among the early settlers of Augusta county. Two of these, and perhaps three, were named James. A James Bell was a member of the first County Court.
To distinguish between the families, we shall designate them by the respective neighborhoods in which they lived,-North Mountain, South River, Stone Church, and Long Glade.
North Mountain Bells .- The first of this family in the county was James Bell, who located on a tract of land one mile and a half east of Buffalo Gap, on a part of which his descendant, John Chris- tian, lives at present (1888). It was his dwelling that was raided by Indians, as related on a former page. His children were three sons, James, Samuel and Francis; and three daugliters, Ann, Betty and Mary.
I. James Bell, son of James, removed to Kentucky and located near Lexington. He was a near neighbor of Henry Clay, who conse- quently visited the Bells of Buffalo Gap several times on his trips to and from Washington.
II. Samuel, known for many years before his death as Major Bell. He was a soldier in the Revolution, while quite young, and, with many of his countymen, was with Morgan at the Cowpens. He lived on the farm recently owned by his son, Samuel H. Bell, and now by Archibald A. Sproul, a short distance west of Swoope's Depot.
Major Bell was married three times. His first wife was Nancy, daughter of James Bell, of Long Glade, and her children were: 1. Sarah, wife of Robert Christiau ; 2. James, who was a lieutenant in the
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.
war of 1812, and known for many years as Captain James Bell; and 3. Nancy, wife of John Brownlee, of the Greenville neighborhood.
The second wife of Major Bell was a Miss Cunningham, who had one child, a daughter, who died young.
The third wife was Rebecca Hays, mother of Sammnel H. Bell, de- ceased, and Francis Bell, late of Pulaski county.
III. Francis Bell, son of James, married Sally, daughter of James Bell, of Long Glade, who had only one child, a son named James, who died in his youth.
IV. Ann Bell, wife of Francis Gardiner, a soldier of the Revolu- tion. Their children were the late James and Samuel Gardiner, Mrs. Henry Sterrett, Mrs. Robert Wright, and others.
V. Betty, the next daughter, was the wife of Benjamin Brown, and mother of Major Joseph Brown, a prominent citizen of the county for many years, who removed to Illinois in 1837, and afterwards to Missouri. Major Brown's wife was a daughter of Jacob Swoope, the old merchant and Congressman.
VI. Mary, third daughter of James Bell, died unmarried.
The South River Bells .- James Bell, the first of this family in the county [how related to other families of the name, if at all, is not known] had the following children :
1. Agnes, who married James Gamble, and was the mother of Col. Robert Gamble and others.
2. Dorcas, who married Love, and was the mother of Robert Love, William Love and others.
3. Sarah Bell.
4. James Bell sold his land in Augusta in 1795, and moved to Bardstown, Ky.
5. Wm. Bell, married and his descendants live in Tennessee.
6. Thomas Bell died unmarried, in 1797, in Charlottesville, a Captain in the Revolution.
7. John Bell died unmarried in 1797.
8. Joseph Bell, a Revolutionary soldier often mentioned in the Annals, died unmarried in 1832.
9. Samuel Bell, died unmarried in 1788, having been an officer in the Revolution.
The Stone Church Bells .- There is some uncertainty in regard to the name of the ancestor of this family. It was probably Joseph, as a Joseph Bell purchased a lot in Staunton, in 1747. All that is certainly known of him is, that he was a married man and had children, one of whom was named Joseph, and that he and his wife were murdered, as heretofore related.
Joseph Bell, son of the former, was born in Augusta, May 25, 1742, and died in 1823. His wife was Elizabeth Henderson. Their
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residence was on the present macadamized turnpike, about four miles north of Staunton.
The children of Joseph and Elizabeth Bell, who attained maturity, were three sons and two daughters. One of the daughters was the wife of the senior John Wayt, and the other the wife of Dr. John John- ston.
I. William Bell, son of Joseph, known as Major Bell, was for many years County Surveyor of Augusta. His wife was Margaret, daughter of Captain James Allen.
II. James Bell, son of Joseph, was born in 1772, and died in 1856. He was long the senior Justice of the Peace in Augusta. His first wife was Sarah, daughter of Captain James Allen, whose children, leaving posterity, were the late Colonel William A. Bell, and Sarah, first wife of John Wayt, Junior.
III. Joseph Bell, Junior, the third son of Joseph, Senior, resided during most of his life in Rockbridge county, near Goshen. His wife was a daughter of Alexander Nelson.
The Bells of Long Glade .- James Bell came from Ireland and set- tled on Long Glade, Angusta, about 1740. His wife was Agnes Hogs- head. He is said to have been a school teacher, and also a surveyor aud scrivener. He probably was the James Bell who was one of the first county magistrates in 1745. His children were :
I. John Bell married three times, successively. His first wife, a widow Young, and his second, Esther Gamble, (sister of Colonel Rob- ert Gamble, ) had no children. His third wife, Elizabeth Griffith, had four sons and two daughters. He served two "tours" during the Revolution.
II. William Bell, son of James and Agnes, never married. Killed in battle during the Revolution.
III. Francis Bell, married Polly Ervin. No children.
IV. David Bell was in the military service during the war of 1812, and was called Captain Bell. His wife was a Miss Christian. He had five children, two of whom died young.
V. James Bell, son of James and Agnes, went to Kentucky and died childless.
VI. Thomas Bell, son of James and Agnes, married Rebecca Robertson, of Botetourt. He inherited his father's homestead, the present Dudley farm, and died in 1854, aged eighty-two years.
VII. Nancy Bell, daughter of James and Agnes, was the first wife of Major Samuel Bell, of North Mountain.
VIII. Sally Bell, daughter of James and Agnes, was the wife of Francis Bell, of Northı Mountain.
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Of the descendants of James and Agnes Bell, eighteen were sol- diers in the Confederate army during the war of 1861-'5 ; five were killed in battle or died of wounds, and six died of disease contracted in the army.
THOMAS POSEY is worthy of special mention here, because of his personal merit and his intimate association in his early life with Augusta county and her people.
He was born, July 9, 1750, on the Potomac river, but when nineteen years old came to western Virginia. It is said that he was aide to Gen. Lewis in the Point Pleasant expedition, and also that he was a member of the Augusta County Committee in 1775. It has been stated further that his first wife was a daughter of Col. Sampson Mathews, but the known descendants of Col. Mathews deny that he had such a daughter.
During the whole Revolutionary war he was in active military service. He first appears as a Captain in the 9th Regiment, com- manded by George Mathews .- Afterwards he was a Captain in Morgan's rifle corps. At the storming of Stony Point he was Major of Col. Febiger's regiment. For some time in 1781, he was at Staun- ton as a recruiting officer. He, however, aided in the capture of Corn- wallis at Yorktown. Subsequently, he served under Wayne in Georgia, as Lientenant-Colonel of a new regiment. After the war he settled in Spotsylvania county, and from 1786 to 1793 was County Lieutenant. In the latter year he was appointed Brigadier General. The distinguished Rev. Dr. Archibald Alexander, when a youth of seventeen, was private tutor in General Posey's family, about the year 1789. He afterwards described the General as a man of noble ap- pearance and courtly manners. Though somewhat decayed in wealth, the Poseys maintained much of the style which belonged to old Virginia families. There were two sets of children at that time.
In 1794, General Posey was second in command under Wayne in his Indian campaign. We next find him living in Kentucky-a member of the State Senate-Lieut. Governor for four years-and Major General of Kentucky levies in 1809. Then he removed to Louisiana, and was U. S. Senator from that State in 1812-13. He succeeded Gen. Harrison as Governor of Indiana Territory in 1813. In 1816 he was agent for Indian affairs. He died at Shawnectown, Illinois, March 19, 1818.
MARRIAGE LAWS, ETC.
From the many acts in respect to marriage found in Hening's Statutes at Large, it would seem that the early Burgesses were great- ly perplexed over the subject. One would suppose that whatever tended to increase population in a regular way would have been
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favored ; but some of the laws might have been styled "Acts to dis- courage matrimony."
For more than twenty years after the settlement at Jamestown, persons desiring to marry had to apply to the Governor for license, ex- cept that marriages after publication of the banns in the parish church on three successive Sundays, were allowed. Till the Revolu- tion, only ministers of the established church were permitted to per- form the ceremony. Any "pretended marriage," made otherwise, was declared null and void, the offspring illegitimate and the parents liable to prosecution for unlawful cohabitation. The minister was subjected to a heavy penalty.
After the settlements were extended, liceuses were issued by the Justice of the Peace first in commission in the county, and the Clerk of the Court was required to report the names of the parties to the Secretary of the Colony, "that the Governor may have account of the fees."
To prevent alarms and waste of powder, an act was passed in 1642-3, prohibiting the firing of guns, except "at weddings and funeralls."
At the session of 1705, a long act was passed "concerning mar- riages," embracing the provisions of former acts. It provided also that the minister of the parish should receive all the fees for marriages and funeral sermous in his parish, although another minister per- formed the services. This act was in force at the date of the first settlement in the Valley, no other act making material changes in the law having been passed till the session of 1748. The act of 1748 pro- vided that licenses should be issued by the Clerk of the County Court where the feme resided ; and the prescribed fees were : The Gover- nor's, 20 shillings ($3.3373) ; the Clerk's, 5 shillings (837/3); the minister's, 20 shillings if by license, by banns 5 shillings; and for publishing bauns one shilling and six pence (25 cents). This act took effect June 10, 1751, and from that time till 1775, no act concerning marriages was passed.
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