```"We marched to the Cowpens, Campbell was there,
```Shelby, Cleveland, and Colonel Sevier;
```Men of renown, sir, like lions, so bold--
```Like lions undaunted, ne'er to be controlled.
```We set out on our march that very same night;
```Sometimes we were wrong, sometimes we were right;
```Our hearts being run in true liberty's mold,
```We valued not hunger, wet, weary, or cold.
```On the top of King's Mountain the old rogue we found,
```And, like brave heroes, his camp did surround;
```Like lightning, the flashes; like thunder, the noise;
```Our rifles struck the poor Tories with sudden surprise."
`````Old Song.* =
[Illustration: 9637]
HE Sabbath which I passed in Charlotte was exceedingly unpleasant. The
morning air was keen and hazy; snow fell toward evening, and night set
in with a gloomy prospect for the morrow's travel. I breakfasted by
candle-light on Monday morning, and before sunrise was on the road for
King's Mountain and the Cowpens. I passed the United States Branch Mint,
upon the road leading from the village to the Tuckesege or Great Catawba
Ford, and at the forks, about a mile from the town, halted a moment to
observe the operation of raising gold ore from a mine, by a horse and
windlass.
[Illustration: 8637]
This mine had not been worked for fifteen years, owing to litigation,
and now yielded sparingly. The vein lies about seventy feet below the
surface. This is in the midst of the gold region of North Carolina,
which is comprehended within the limits of eleven counties. **
From Charlotte to the Catawba, a distance of eleven miles, the country
is very hilly, and the roads were bad the greater portion of the way.
I crossed the Catawba at the Tuckesege Ford, the place where General
Rutherford and his little army passed, on the evening of the nineteenth
of June, 1780, when on their way to attack the Tories at Ramsour's
Mills. *** I was piloted across by a lad on horseback.
The distance from shore to shore, in the direction of the ford, is more
than half a mile, the water varying in depth from ten inches to three
feet, and running in quite a rapid current. In the passage, which is
diagonal, two islands, covered with shrubbery and trees, are traversed.
This was Charley's first experience in fording a very considerable
stream, and he seemed to participate with me in the satisfaction
experienced in setting foot upon the solid ground of the western shore.
I allowed him to rest while I made the above sketch,
* The song called "The Battle of King's Mountain," from which these
lines are taken, was very popular in the Carolinas until some years
after the close of the war. It was sung with applause at political
meetings, wedding parties, and other gatherings, where the ballad formed
a part of the proceedings. Mr. M'Elwees, an old man of eighty-seven, who
fought under Sumter, and with whom I passed an evening, within two miles
of King's Mountain, remembered it well, and repeated the portion here
given.
**& These are Randolph, Montgomery, Richmond, Davidson, Stanley, Anson,
Cabarras, Rowan, Iredell,
Mecklenburg, and Lincoln, all east of the Catawba.
* See page 597.
**** This view is from the western bank of the Catawba, looking down the
stream.
[[[Passage of the South Fork of the Catawba.--Loss of Way in a
Forest.--Road to King's Mountain.]]]
{628}and then we pushed on toward the South Fork of the Catawba, almost
seven miles farther.
I was told that the ford there was marked by a row of rocks, occurring
at short intervals across the stream; but when I reached the bank,
few of them could be seen above the surface of the swift and swollen
current. The distance across is about two hundred and fifty yards, and
the whole stream flows in a single channel. The passage appeared (as
it really was) very dangerous, and I had no guide. As the day was
fast waning away, a storm seemed to be gathering, and there was not an
inhabitant within a mile, I resolved to venture alone, relying upon the
few rocks visible for indications of the safest place for a passage.
Taking my port-folio of drawings from my trunk, and placing it beside me
on the seat, and then folding my wagon-top, I was prepared to swim, if
necessary, and save my sketches, if possible. Charley seemed loth to
enter the flood, but once in, he breasted the stream like a philosopher.
Twice the wheels ran upon rocks, and the wagon was almost overturned,
the water being, in the mean while, far over the hubs; and when within
a few yards of the southern shore, we crossed a narrow channel, so deep
that my horse kept his feet with difficulty, and the wagon, having
a tight body, floated for a moment. The next instant we struck firm
ground. I breathed freer as we ascended the bank, and with a thankful
heart rode on toward Falls's house of entertainment, away among the
hills near the South Carolina line, twenty-six miles from Charlotte.
On account of numerous diverging ways, it was very difficult to keep in
the right road from the South Fork to Falls's. I tried to reach there
before dark, but the clouds thickened, and night fell suddenly. In the
uncertain twilight, I missed a diverging road which I was directed
to pursue, and got into the midst of a vast pine forest. Just before
entering the woods, I had a glimpse of Crowder s Knob, the highest peak
of King's Mountain, estimated to be three thousand feet above the level
of the sea.1 It was about twelve miles distant, and loomed up from the
wilderness of pines which intervened, like some ancient castle in the
dim light. For more than an hour I pursued the forest road, without
perceiving the diverging one which I was directed to follow. I stopped
to listen for sounds of habitation. All was silent but the moaning of
the wind among the pine boughs, the solemn voice of an owl, and the
pattering of the rain upon my wagon-top. For almost another hour I rode
on in the gloom, without perceiving an opening in the forest, and I
began to think I should be obliged to "camp out" for the night. Again
I listened, and was cheered by the distant barking of a dog. I gave
Charley a loose rein, and in twenty minutes an open field appeared, and
the glimmer of a candle. A shout brought the master of the cottage to
the door, and, in reply to my solicitation for food and shelter until
morning, he informed me that a contagious disease, which had destroyed
two of his family, yet prevailed in his house. He could not offer me the
hospitalities of his roof and table, but he would mount his horse and
guide me to Falls's, which was four miles distant. I was glad to avoid
the contagion, and to reward him liberally for his kind pilotage. I
ascertained that I had been within a quarter of a mile of Falls's, but,
missing the "turn out," had traversed another road several miles back in
the direction of Charlotte!
Mr. Falls was the postmaster, and an intelligent man, apparently about
sixty years of age. It was the anniversary of the battle of New Orleans,
in 1815,[[Jan. 8]] and as the old man had a brother killed in that
engagement, it was a day always memorable to him. I was entertained
with the frank hospitality so common in the Carolinas, and at my request
breakfast was ready at early dawn. A more gloomy morning can not well be
conceived. Snow had fallen to the depth of two inches during the night,
and when I departed, a chilling east wind, freighted with sleet, was
sweeping over the barren country. King's Mountain battle-ground was
fourteen miles distant, and I desired to reach there in time to make
my notes and sketches before sunset. The roads, except near the water
courses, were sandy and quite level, but the snow made the traveling
heavy. Six miles from Falls's, I forded Crowder's Creek, a stream about
ten yards wide, deep and sluggish, which rises from
* The sides of this peak are very precipitous, and its top is accessible
to man only upon one side.
[[[Visit to the King's Mountain Battle ground.--Character of the
Locality.--View of the Battle-ground]]]
{629}Crowder's Knob, and, after a course of eighteen miles, falls into
the Catawba. A little beyond it, I passed a venerable post oak, which
was shivered, but not destroyed, by lightning the previous summer. It
there marks the dividing-line between North and South Carolina. At noon
the storm ceased; the clouds broke, and at three o'clock, when I reached
the plantation of Mr. Leslie, whose residence is the nearest one to the
battle-ground, the sun was shining warm and bright, and the snow had
disappeared in the open fields.
When my errand was made known, Mr. Leslie brought two horses from his
stable, and within twenty minutes after my arrival we were in the saddle
and traversing a winding way toward Clarke's Fork of King's Creek. From
that stream, to the group of hills among which the battle was fought,
the ascent is almost imperceptible. The whole range, in that vicinity,
is composed of a series of great undulations, from whose sides burst
innumerable springs, making every ravine sparkle with running water. The
hills are gravelly, containing a few small bowlders. They are covered
with oaks, chestnuts, pines, beaches, gums, and tulip poplars, and an
undergrowth of post oaks, laurel, and sour-wood. The large trees stand
far apart, and the smaller ones are not very thick, so that the march of
an army over those gentle elevations was comparatively easy. Yet it was
a strange place for an encampment or a battle; and to one acquainted
with that region, it is difficult to understand why Ferguson and his
band were there at all.
[Illustration: 0639]
We tied our horses near the grave of Ferguson and his fellow-sleepers,
and ascended to the summit of the hill whereon the British troops were
encamped and fought. The battleground is about a mile and a half south
of the North Carolina line. It is a stony ridge, extending north and
south, and averaging about one hundred feet in height above the ravines
which surround it. It is nearly a mile in length, very narrow upon its
summit, with steep sides. From its top we could observe _Crowder's Knob_
in the distance, and the hills of less altitude which compose the range.
** The sun was declining, and its slant rays,
* This view is from the foot of the hill, whereon the hottest of the
fight occurred. The north slope of that eminence is seen on the left. In
the center, within a sort of basin, into which several ravines converge,
is seen the simple monument erected to the memory of Ferguson and
others; and in the foreground, on the right, is seen the great
tulip-tree, upon which, tradition says, ten Tories were hung.
** The range known as King's Mountain extends about sixteen miles
from north to south, with several spurs spreading laterally in each
direction. One of these extends to the Broad River, near the Cherokee
Ford, where I crossed that stream on my return from the Cowpens. Many of
its spurs abound in marble and iron, and from its bosom a great number
of streams, the beginning of rivers, gush out. The battleground is about
twelve miles northwest of Yorkville, and one hundred and ninety from
Charleston.
[[[Past and Present.--Major Ferguson detached to the Upper
Country.--Gathering of Tories.--Surprise at Greene's Spring.]]]
{630}gleaming through the boughs dripping with melting snows, garnished
the forest for a few moments with all the seeming splendors of the
mines; gold and silver, diamonds and rubies, emeralds and sapphires,
glittered upon every branch, and the glowing pictures of the Arabian
Nights, which charmed boyhood with the records of wondrous visions,
crowded upon the memory like realities. Alas! on this very spot, where
the sun-light is braiding its gorgeous tapestry, and suggesting nothing
but love, and beauty, and adoration, the clangor of steel, the rattle of
musketry, the shout of victory, and the groans of dying men, whose blood
incarnadined the forest sward, and empurpled the mountain streams, were
once heard--and there, almost at our feet, lie the ashes of men slain by
their brother man! History thus speaketh of the event:
On the sixteenth of August, 1780, the Americans, under General Gates,
were defeated by Cornwallis, near Camden, and dispersed. Two days
afterward, Tarleton defeated Sumter at Rocky Mount, and elsewhere the
American partisan corps were unsuccessful. The whole South now appeared
to be completely subdued under the royal power; and the conqueror,
tarrying at Camden, busied himself in sending his prisoners to
Charleston, in ascertaining the condition of his distant posts at
Ninety-Six and Augusta, and in establishing civil government in South
Carolina. Yet his success did not impair his vigilance. West of the
Wateree * were bands of active Whigs, and parties of those who were
defeated near Camden were harassing the upper country. Cornwallis
detached Major Ferguson, a most excellent officer and true marksman,
of the 71st regiment, ** with one hundred and ten regulars under the
command of Captain Depuyster, and about the same number of Tories, with
an ample supply of arms and other military stores. He ordered him to
embody the Loyalists beyond the Wateree and the Broad Rivers; intercept
the Mountain Men, *** who were retreating from Camden, and also the
Americans, under Colonel Elijah Clarke, of Georgia, who were retiring
from an attack upon Augusta; endeavor to crush the spirit of rebellion,
which was still rife; and, after scouring the upper part of South
Carolina, toward the mountains, join him at Charlotte. Ferguson at first
made rapid marches to overtake the Mountain Men, and cut off Clarke's
forces. Failing in this, he proceeded leisurely, collecting all the
Tories in his path, until about the last of September, when he encamped
with more than a thousand men, at a place called Gilbert Town, west of
the Broad River, near the site of the present village of Rutherfordton,
the county seat of Rutherford, in North Carolina. **** These were
all well armed, (v) and Ferguson began to feel strong. True to their
instincts, his Tory recruits committed horrible outrages upon persons
and property wherever they went, and this aroused a spirit of the
fiercest vengeance among the patriots. At different points, large
* The Wateree River is that portion of the Catawba which flows through
South Carolina. It is the Catawba to the dividing-line of the states,
and, after its junction with the Congaree, is ealled the Santee.
The Congaree is formed by a union of the Broad and Saluda Rivers
at Columbia, the head of steam-boat navigation upon the Santee and
Congaree, from the ocean.
** This was the regiment that behaved so gallantly at the battle of
Guilford.
*** The pioneers who had settled in the wilderness beyond the mountains,
now Kentucky and Tennessee, were called Mountain Men.
**** While Ferguson was in Spartanburg District, on his way toward
Gilbert Town, a detachment of his little army had a severe skirmish with
Colonel Clarke and his men at Greene's Spring. Clarke and his company,
some two hundred in number, had stopped at the plantation of Captain
Dillard, who was one of them, and, after partaking of refreshments,
proceeded to Greene's Spring. The same evening Ferguson arrived at
Dillard's, whose wife soon learned, from the conversation of some of his
men, that they knew where Clarke was encamped, and intended to surprise
him that night. She hastily prepared supper for Ferguson and his men,
and while they were eating she stole from the room, bridled a young
horse, and, without a saddle, rode to the encampment of Clarke, and
warned him of impending danger. In an instant every man was at his
post, prepared for the enemy. Very soon Colonel Dunlap, with two hundred
picked mounted men, sent by Ferguson, fell upon the camp of Clarke.
Day had not yet dawned, and the enemy were greatly surprised and
disconcerted when they found the Americans fully prepared to meet them.
For fifteen minutes the conflict raged desperately in the gloom,
when the Tories were repulsed with great slaughter, and the survivors
hastened back to Ferguson's camp.
* (v) Those of his recruits who were without arms Ferguson furnished
with rifles. Some of them so fixed the large knives which they usually
carried about them, in the muzzle of their rifles, as to be used as
bayonets, if occasion should require.
[[[Leaders of the Mountain Men.--Ferguson West of the Broad
River.--Expedition against him.--Concentration of Troops.]]]
{631}bodies of volunteers assembled simultaneously, without concert, and
placed themselves under tried leaders, the chief of whom were Colonels
Campbell, of Virginia; Cleaveland, Shelby, Sevier, and M'Dowell, of
North Carolina; and Lacy, Hawthorn, and Hill, of South Carolina.
[Illustration: 9641]
They all had but one object in view--the destruction of the marauders
under Ferguson. They were men admirably fitted by their daily pursuits
for the privations which they were called upon to endure. They had
neither tents, baggage, bread, or salt, and no Commissary Department
to furnish regular supplies. Potatoes, pumpkins, roasted corn, and
occasionally a bit of venison supplied by their own rifles, composed
their daily food. Such were the men who were gathering among the
mountains and valleys of the Upper Carolinas to beat back the invaders.
On his way to Gilbert Town, Ferguson had succeeded in capturing two
of the Mountain Men. These he paroled, and enjoined them to tell the
officers on the Western waters, that if they did not desist from their
opposition and "take protection under his standard, he would march his
army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay waste their country
with fire and sword." * While Colonel Charles M'Dowell, ** of Burke
county, who, on the approach of Ferguson, had gone over the mountains to
obtain assistance, was in consultation with Colonels Shelby and Sevier,
the paroled prisoners arrived, and delivered their message. These
officers were not dismayed by the savage threat of Ferguson, but decided
that each should endeavor to raise all the men that could be enlisted,
and that the forces thus collected should rendezvous at Watauga on the
twenty-fifth of September. It was also agreed that Colonel Shelby should
give intelligence of their movements to Colonel William Campbell, of
Washington county, in Virginia, hoping that he would raise a force to
assist them.
The following official report of events from the meeting of these
several forces at Watauga, until the defeat of Ferguson, I copied from
the original manuscript among Gates's papers. It is full, yet concise,
and being official, with the signatures of the three principal officers
engaged in the affair, attached, it is perfectly reliable: ***
"On receiving intelligence that Major Ferguson had advanced up as high
as Gilbert Town, in Rutherford county, and threatened to cross the
mountains to the Western waters, Colonel William Campbell, with four
hundred men, from Washington county, of Virginia, Colonel Isaac Shelby,
with two hundred and forty men, from Sullivan county, of North Carolina,
and Lieutenant-colonel John Sevier, with two hundred and forty men,
of Washington county, of North Carolina, assembled at Watauga, on the
twenty-fifth day of September, where they
* General Joseph Graham, who lived in the vicinity of King's Mountain,
and knew many of those who were employed in the battle, wrote a graphic
account of the events connected with that affair. His account is
published in Foote's Sketches of North Carolina, page 264--269,
inclusive.
** The M'Dowells were all brave men. Joseph and William, the brothers of
Charles, were with him in the battle on King's Mountain. Their mother,
Ellen M'Dowell, was a woman of remarkable energy. Mrs. Ellet relates
that on one occasion some marauders carried off some property during the
absence of her husband. She assembled some of her neighbors, started
in pursuit, and recovered the property. When her husband was secretly
making gunpowder in a cave, she burned the charcoal for the purpose
upon her own hearth, and carried it to him. Some of the powder thus
manufactured was used in the battle on King's Mountain.--Women of the
Revolution, iii., 356.
*** General Gates sent a copy of this report to Governor Jefferson for
his perusal, and desired him to forward it to Congress. His letter to
Jefferson is dated Hillsborough, November 1, 1780.
**** Isaac Shelby was born on the eleventh of December, 1750, near the
North Mountain, a few miles from Hagerstown, in Maryland. His ancestors
were from Wales. He learned the art of surveying, and at the age of
twenty-one years settled in Western Virginia. He was with his father,
Evan Shelby, in the battle at Point Pleasant, in 1774. He was afterward
employed as a surveyor under Henderson & Co., in Kentucky. In July,
1776, he was appointed captain of a company of minute-men by the
Virginia Committee of Safety. Governor Henry appointed him a commissary
of supplies in 1777, and in 1778 he was attached to the Continental
Commissary Department. In the spring of 1779, he was elected a member
of the Virginia Legislature, from Washington county, and in the autumn
Governor Jefferson gave him the commission of a major. He was engaged
in defining the boundary-line between Virginia and North Carolina,
the result of which placed his residence in the latter state. Governor
Caswell soon afterward appointed him a eolonel of the new county of
Sullivan. In the summer of 1780, he was engaged in locating lands
for himself in Kentucky, when he heard of the fall of Charleston. He
returned home to engage in repelling the invaders. He raised three
hundred mounted riflemen, crossed the mountains, and joined Colonel
Charles M'Dowell, near the Cherokee Ford, on the Broad River. In that
vicinity he was very active, until he joined other officers of like
grade in an attaek upon Major Ferguson, on King's Mountain. Colonel
Shelby soon afterward suggested to Greene the expedition which resulted
so brilliantly at the Cow-pens. In the campaign of 1781, Shelby served
under Marion, and was in the skirmish at Monk's Corner. Colonel Shelby
was a member of the North Carolina Legislature in 1782; and ten years
afterward, he was among the framers of the Constitution of Kentucky. In
May of that year, he was elected the first governor of the new state.
He served one term with great distinction; and in 1812, consented again
to an election to the chief magistracy of Kentucky. His energy and
Revolutionary fame aroused the patriotism of his state when the war with
Great Britain broke out. At the head of four thousand volunteers, he
marched to the shores of Lake Erie, to assist General Harrison in his
warfare with the British and Indians in the Northwest. During the whole
war, his services were great and valuable in the highest degree; and
for his bravery at the battle of the Thames, Congress honored him with
a gold medal. In 1817, President Monroe appointed him his Secretary of
War, but on account of his age (being then sixty-seven), he declined
the honor. His last public act was that of holding a treaty with the
Chickasaw Indians, in 1818. in whieh General Jackson was his colleague.
He was attacked with paralysis, in February, 1820, which somewhat
disabled him. He died of apoplexy, on the eighteenth of July, 1826, at
the age of seventy-six years. Shelby county, in Kentucky, was named in
honor of him in 1792. A college at Shelbyville also bears his name.
[[[Selection of a Commander-in-chief.--March to the Cowpens.--Colonels
Shelby, Campbell, and Williams.]]]
{632}were joined by Colonel Charles M'Dowell, with one hundred and sixty
men, from the counties of Burke and Rutherford, who had fled before the
enemy to the Western waters. We began our march on the twenty-sixth, and
on the thirtieth we were joined by Colonel Cleaveland, on the Catawba
Priver, with three hundred and fifty men, from the counties of Wilkes
and Surry. No one officer having properly a right to the command in
chief, on the first of October we dispatched an express to Major-general
Gates, informing him of our situation, and requested him to send a
general officer to take command of the whole. In the mean time, Colonel
Campbell was chosen to act as commandant till such general officer
should arrive. We marched to the _Cowpens_, on Broad River, in South
Carolina, where we were joined by Colonel James Williams, *** with four
hundred men, on the evening of the
* Colonel Charles M'Dowell. His brother, Major M'Dowell, commanded his
regiment till his return.
** William Campbell was a native of Augusta, Virginia. He was of Scotch
descent, and possessed all the fire of his Highland ancestors. He was
among the first of the regular troops raised in Virginia in 1775, and
was honored with a captain's commission. In 1776, he was made lieutenant
colonel of the militia of Washington eounty, and, on the resignation of
Evan Shelby, the father of Governor Shelby, he was promoted to colonel.
That rank he retained until after the battle on King's Mountain and at
Guilford, in both of which he greatly distinguished himself, when he
was promoted by the Virginia Legislature to the rank of brigadier.
La Fayette gave him the eommand of a brigade of riflemen and light
infantry. He was taken sick a few weeks before the siege of Yorktown,
and soon afterward died at the house of a friend. He was only in the
thirty-sixth year of his age when he died. His military career, like
those of Warren and Montgomery, was short, but brilliant, and on all
occasions bravery marked his movements. Foote relates that in the battle
on King's Mountain he rode down two horses, and at one time was seen on
foot, with his coat off, and his shirt collar open, fighting at the head
of his men. He also says, that on one occasion Senator Preston, of
South Carolina, a grandson of Campbell, was breakfasting at a house near
King's Mountain, and, while eating, the old landlady frequently
turned to look at him. She finally asked him his name, and remarked,
apologetically, that he appeared very much like the man she had most
dreaded upon earth.. "And who is that?" Preston inquired. "Colonel
Campbell," replied the old lady, "that hung my husband at King's
Mountain." *
*** James Williams was a native of Granville county, in North Carolina.
He settled upon Little River, Laurens District, in South Carolina, in
1773, where he engaged in the pursuit of a farmer and merchant. He early
espoused the patriot cause. Williams first appears as a colonel in the
militia, in April, 1778. In the spring of 1779, he went into actual
service, and he was probably at the siege of Savannah. He was with
Sumter in 1780, but does not seem to have been permanently attached
to the corps of that partisan. In the early part of that year, he was
engaged in the battle at Musgrove's mill, on the Ennoree River. After
that engagement, he went to Hillsborough, where he raised a corps of
cavalry and returned to South Carolina; and during Ferguson's movements,
after crossing the Wateree, Williams continually hovered around his
camp. In the sanguinary battle upon King's Mountain, he was slain. He
was near Major Ferguson, and both officers received their death-wound at
the same moment. He died on the morning after the battle, and was buried
within two miles of the place where he fell. Tradition says that his
first words, when reviving a little soon after he was shot, were, "For
God's sake, boys, don't give up the hill!"
* Sketches of North Carolina, page 271.
[[[Pursuit of Ferguson.--The Battle.--Colonel Sevier.--Frankland.]]]
{633}sixth of October, * who informed us that the enemy lay encamped
somewhere near the Cherokee Ford, of Broad River, about thirty miles
distant from us. By a council of principal officers, it was then thought
advisable to pursue the enemy that night with nine hundred of the best
horsemen, and have the weak horse and footmen to follow us as fast as
possible. We began our march with nine hundred of the best men about
eight o'clock the same evening, and, marching all night, came up with
the enemy about three o'clock P.M. of the seventh, who lay encamped on
the top of King's Mountain, twelve miles north of the Cherokee Ford,
in the confidence that they could not be forced from so advantageous a
post. Previous to the attack on our march, the following disposition was
made: Colonel Shelby's regiment formed a column in the center, on the
left; Colonel Campbell's regiment another on the right, with part of
Colonel Cleaveland's regiment, headed in front by Major Joseph Winston;
**
[Illustration: 9643]
and Colonel Seviers *** formed a large column on the right wing. The
other part of Cleaveland's regiment, headed by Colonel Cleaveland
himself, and Colonel Williams's regiment, composed the left wing. In
this order we advanced, and got within a quarter of a mile of the enemy
before we were discovered. Colonel Shelby's and Colonel Campbell's
regiments began the attack, and kept up a fire on the enemy, while the
right and left wings were advancing to surround them, which was done
in about five minutes, and the fire became general all around. The
engagement lasted an hour and five minutes, the greater part of which
time a heavy and incessant fire was kept
* Colonel Williams had just been joined by sixty men from Lincoln, under
Colonel Hambrite and Major Chronicle.
** Joseph Winston was a native of North Carolina, and was the first
senator in the Republican Legislature, from Stokes county. He was a
member of Congress from 1793 to 1795, and again from 1803 to 1807. He
died in 1814.
*** John Sevier was descended from an ancient French family. The
original orthography of the name was Xavier. His father settled on the
Shenandoah, in Virginia, where this son was born, about 1740. In 1769,
he accompanied an exploring party to East Tennessee, where, with his
father and brother, he settled on the Holston River. He aided in the
construction of Fort Watauga; and while in that fortress as commander,
bearing the title of captain, _he caught a wife!_ One day, in June,
1776, he saw a young lady speeding, like a fawn, toward the fort,
closely pursued by Cherokees, under "Old Abraham." She leaped the
palisades, and fell into the arms of the gallant captain. Her name was
Catharine Sherrill; and in 1779 she became the second wife of Sevier, by
whom he had ten children. Sevier was with Shelby at the battle of Point
Pleasant, in 1774. During the first five years of the war, he was an
active Whig partisan, on the mountain frontier of the Carolinas, was
raised to the rank of colonel, and greatly distinguished himself at
King's Mountain. He was in the battle near Musgrove's Mills, and early
in the following year he chastised some of the turbulent Indians among
the mountains. At the close of the war, he received the commission of
brigadier; and he was so much beloved by the people, that by acclamation
he was acknowledged governor of the "State of Franklin" or Frankland."
* He was so often engaged in treaties with the Indians, that they called
him the treaty-maker. When the State of Tennessee was organized, and
admitted into the Union, Sevier was elected its first governor. In 1811,
he was elected to a scat in Congress, with Felix Grundy and John Rhea,
and in 1813 was re-elected. During the war, Madison appointed him Indian
commissioner, and while engaged in his duties, near Fort Decatur, on
the east side of the Tallapoosa River, he died, on the twenty-fourth of
September, 1815. Under the direction of the late General Gaines, he
was buried with the honors of war. No stone marks his grave; but in the
Nashville cemetery, a handsome marble monument to his memory has lately
been erected. Upon the monument is the following inscription: "Sevier,
noble and successful defender of the early settlers of Tennessee;
the first, and for twelve years governor; representative in Congress;
commissioner in many treaties with the Indians. He served his country
faithfully for forty years, and in that service died. An admirer of
patriotism and merit unrequited erects this cenotaph."
* At the close of the Revolution, that portion of North Carolina
bordering East Tennessee contained quite a large and exceedingly active
population. Dissatisfied with the course pursued by North Carolina,
they called a convention, adopted a Constitution, and organized a state
government, which they called Frankland, in honor ot Dr. Franklin. They
chose John Sevier for governor, and organized a judiciary, &e. When
informed of this movement, Governor Caswell issued a proclamation
against "this lawless thirst for power," and denounced it as a revolt.
But the mountaineers did not heed official menaces. Violence ensued.
The difficulties were finally settled, and the State of Frankland
disappeared.
[[[Surrender of the British and Tories.--Loss in the Battle.--Effect of
the Battle.--Death of Ferguson.]]]
up on both sides. Our men in some parts where the regulars fought, were
obliged to give way a distance, two or three times, but rallied and
returned with additional ardor to the attack.
[Illustration: 9644]
The troops upon the right having gained the summit of the eminence,
obliged the enemy to retreat along the top of the ridge to where Colonel
Cleaveland commanded, and were there stopped by his brave men. A flag
was immediately hoisted by Captain Depeyster, * the commanding officer
(Major Ferguson having been killed a little before), for a surrender.
Our fire immediately ceased, and the enemy laid down their arms (the
greatest part of them charged), and surrendered themselves prisoners at
discretion.
[Illustration: 8644]
It appears from their own provision returns for that day, found in their
camp, that their whole force consisted of eleven hundred and twenty-five
men, out of which they sustained the following loss:
[Illustration: 7644]
Of the regulars, one major, one captain, two sergeants, and fifteen
privates killed; thirty-five privates wounded, left on the ground
not able to march; two captains, four lieutenants, three ensigns, one
surgeon, five sergeants, three corporals, one drummer, and forty-nine
privates, taken prisoners. Loss of the Tories, two colonels, three
captains, and two hundred and one killed; one major, and one hundred and
twenty-seven privates wounded, and left on the ground not able to march.
One colonel, twelve captains, eleven lieutenants, two ensigns, one
quarter-master, one adjutant, two commissaries, eighteen sergeants, and
six hundred privates taken prisoners.
Total loss of the enemy, eleven hundred and five men at King's Mountain.
Given under our hands at camp.
No battle during the war was more obstinately contested than this; for
the Americans were greatly exasperated by the cruelty of the Tories,
and to the latter it was a question of life and death. It was with
difficulty that the Americans, remembering Tarleton's cruelty at
Buford's defeat, could be restrained from slaughter, even after quarter
was asked. In addition to the loss of men on the part of the enemy,
mentioned in the report, the Americans took from them fifteen hundred
stand of arms. The loss of the Americans in killed was only twenty, but
they had a great number wounded. Among the killed was Colonel Williams
and Major Chronicle. Colonel Hambrite was wounded. Major Chronicle and
Major Ferguson were buried in a ravine at the northern extremity of the
battle-hill, where the friends of the former erected a plain monument,
a few years ago, with inscriptions upon both sides. The monument is
a thick slab of hard slate, about three feet high, rough hewn, except
where the inscriptions are. ***
* Captain Depeyster belonged to a corps of Loyalists, called the King's
American Regiment. His signature, here given, I copied from a letter of
his to General Gates a few days after the battle, while Depeyster was a
prisoner.
** The following is a copy of the inscriptions: North side.--"Sacred to
the memory of Major William Chronicle, Captain John Mattocks, William
Robb, and John Boyd, who were killed here fighting in defence of
America, on the seventh of October, 1780." South side.--Colonel
Ferguson,* an officer belonging to his Britannic majesty, was here
defeated and killed."
* Major Patrick Ferguson was a Scotchman, a son of the eminent jurist,
James Ferguson, and nephew of Patrick Murray (Lord Elibank). He entered
the army in Flanders at the age of eighteen years. He came to America in
the spring of 1777. and was active in the battle on the Brandywine,
in September of that year. He was active on the Hudson in 1779, and
accompanied Sir Henry Clinton to South Carolina. He so distinguished
himself at the siege of Charleston in 1780, that he was particularly
mentioned by the commander-in-chief. He was on the high road to military
fame, when he was slain on King's Mountain. His rank is incorrectly
given on the monument. He was only a major.
[[[Execution of Tories.--Character of the Battle-ground.--One of
Sumter's Men.--Route to the Cowpens]]]
{635}On the morning after the battle,[[Oct. 8, 1780]] a court-martial
was held, and several of the Tory prisoners were found guilty of murder
and other high crimes, and hanged. Colonel Cleaveland had previously
declared that if certain persons, who were the chief marauders, and who
had forfeited their lives, should fall into his hands, he would hang
them. Ten of these men were suspended upon a tulip-tree, which is yet
standing--a venerable giant of the forest. This was the closing scene
of the battle on King's Mountain, an event, which completely crushed the
spirits of the Loyalists, and weakened, beyond recovery, the royal power
in the Carolinas. Intelligence of the defeat of Ferguson destroyed
all Cornwallis's hopes of Tory aid. He instantly left Charlotte,
retrograded, and established his camp at Winnsborough,[[Oct. 29, 1780]]
in Fairfield District, between the Wateree and Broad Rivers.
It was from this point he commenced the pursuit of Morgan and General
Greene, after the battle at the Cowpens, as detailed in a preceding
chapter.
After making the sketch on page 629, and that of the monument on King's
Mountain, we rode back to Mr. Leslie's. It was twilight when we arrived;
for we had proceeded leisurely along the way, viewing the surrounding
scenery. I could perceive at almost every turn of our sinuous road the
originals of Kennedy's graphic sketches in the scenery of _Horse Shoe
Robinson_, and a recurrence to that tale at the house of Mr. Leslie
awoke pleasing reminiscences connected with its first perusal. On our
return, we ascertained that the grandfather of Mr. Leslie, the venerable
William M'Elwees, had just arrived. His company for the evening was a
pleasure I had not anticipated. He was one of Sumter's partisan corps,
and fought with him at Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock. He was also in
the battle at Guilford, and during the whole war was an active Whig. Mr.
M'Elwees was eighty-seven years of age when I saw him,[[Jan. 1849]]
yet his intellect seemed unclouded. His narrative of stirring incidents,
while following Sumter, was clear and vivid; and when, at a late hour,
the family knelt at the domestic altar, a prayer went up from that
patriarch's lips, equal in fervid eloquence, both in words and accents,
to any thing I ever heard from the pulpit.
A cold, starry night succeeded my visit to the battle-ground on King's
Mountain, and at sunrise the next morning I was on my way to the Broad
River and the Cowpens. The ground was frozen and very rough. I traversed
King's Mountain in a northwesterly direction, and in the deep narrow
valley at its western base crossed King's Creek, a large and rapid
stream. The country over which I passed, from Leslie's to Ross's Ferry,
on the Broad River, a distance of twenty-one miles, is exceedingly rough
and hilly. In some places the road was deep gullied by rains; in others,
where it passed through recent clearings, stumps and branches were in
the way, endangering the safety of wheel and hoof. Within a mile of
the ferry, I discovered that the front axle of my wagon was broken,
evidently by striking a stump; but, with the aid of a hatchet and strong
cord with which I had provided myself, I was enabled to repair the
damage temporarily.
The sun was about an hour high when I reached the eastern bank of the
Broad River, a little below the mouth of Buffalo Creek. The house of
Mrs. Ross, the owner of the ferry, was upon the opposite side. For more
than half an hour I shouted and made signals with a white handkerchief
upon my whip, before I was discovered, when a shrill whistle responded,
and in a few minutes a fat negro came to the opposite shore, and
crossed, with a miserable bateau or river flat, to convey me over. The
river, which is there about one hundred and twenty yards wide, was quite
shallow, and running with a rapid current, yet the ferryman had the
skill to "pole" his vessel across without difficulty. I was comfortably
lodged at the house of Mrs. Ross for the night, and passed the evening
very agreeably in the company of herself and two intelligent daughters.
Here I observed, what I so frequently saw in the upper country of the
Carolinas, among even the affluent planters--the windows without sashes
or glass. In the coldest weather these and the doors are left wide open,
the former being closed at night by tight shutters. Great light-wood
(pine) fires in the huge chimney-
[[[Ventilation of Southern Houses.--Thicketty Mountain.--Loss of
Way.--Visit to the Cowpens Battle ground.]]]
{636}places constantly blazing, in a measure beat back or temper the
cold currents of air which continually flow into the dwellings. This
ample ventilation in cold weather is universally practiced at the South.
At Hillsborough and Charlotte, I observed the boarders at the hotels
sitting with cloaks and shawls on at table, while the doors stood wide
open! I was now within fifteen miles of the Cowpens, and at daybreak the
next morning[[Jan 1849]] started for that interesting locality.
[Illustration: 9656]
I was informed that the place of conflict was among the hills of
Thicketty Mountain, and near the plantation of Robert Scruggs. To that
gentleman's residence I directed my inquiries. After traversing a rough
road, much of it, especially along the water-courses, of red clay, I
began the ascent of Thicketty Mountain, upon the Mill-gap road, at the
forks leading to Clarke's iron-works and Rutherfordton. Here the ground
was covered with snow, and I had no means of discriminating between the
beaten track of the Mill-gap way and the numerous forks. I ought to
have turned to the northwest after leaving the Rutherfordton Fork half a
mile, and descended the northern slope of the mountain. Instead of that,
I kept along the ridge road, skirted by the forest on each side, without
any indication of habitation. For an hour I slowly traversed this
gradually ascending way, and almost imperceptibly approached the summit
of Thicketty Mountain, until convinced that I was not in the Mill-gap
road. Far to the northward, some thirty miles distant, I could see the
azure range of the Blue Ridge, near the Nutgap, where the springs of
the Broad River gush out from the mountains. They were covered with
snow, and from their lofty summits came a keen breeze, like that of
December at the North. The day was waning, and I had no time to lose
in deliberation, so I turned back and sought a lateral road, toward the
west, to the settlements below. Presently I heard the crying of a child,
and looking in the direction of the sound, I saw some thin blue smoke
curling among the trees near. I tied Charley to a laurel shrub, and soon
discovered a log cabin, in front of which some children were at play.
They fled at my approach, and the mother, a lusty mountaineer, whose
husband was at work in the iron-beds which abound in that mountain,
appeared astonished at the apparition of a stranger. From her I learned
that I had left the Mill-gap road at least three miles back. By her
direction I found it, and at about four o'clock reached the residence of
Mr. Scruggs. His house is upon the Mill-gap road, and about half a mile
west of a divergence of a highway leading to Spartanburg, the capital
of Spartanburg District, in which the Cowpens * are situated. Upon the
gentle hills on the borders of Thicketty Creek, covered with pine woods,
within a triangle, formed by the Spartanburg and Mill-gap roads, having
a connecting cross-road for a base, the hottest part of the fight
occurred. The battle ended within a quarter of a mile of Scruggs's,
where is now a cleared field, on the northeast side of the Mill-gap
road, in the center of which was a log-house, as seen in the annexed
engraving. The field was covered with blasted pines, stumps, and stocks
of Indian corn, and had a most dreary appearance. ** In this field, and
along the line of conflict, a distance of about
* This name is derived from the circumstance that, some years prior to
the Revolution, before this section of country was settled, some persons
in Camden (then called Pine-tree) employed two men to go up to the
Thicketty Mountain, and in the grassy intervales among the hills, raise
cattle. As a compensation they were allowed the entire use of the cows
during the summer for making butter and cheese, and the steers for
tilling labor. In the fall, large numbers of the fattest cattle would
be driven down to Camden to be slaughtered for beef, on account of the
owners. This region, so favorable for rearing cows, on account of the
grass and fine springs, was consequently called The Cowpens.
** They have a dangerous practice at the South in clearing their wild
lands. The larger trees are girdled and left standing, to decay and fall
down, instead of being felled by the ax. Cultivation is carried on among
them, and frequently they fall suddenly, and endanger the lives of
the laborers in the field. Such was the condition of the field here
represented.
[[[Material of the Army under Morgan.--Biography of Morgan]]]
{637}two miles, many bullets and other military relics have been found.
Among other things I obtained a spur, which belonged to the cavalry of
either Washington or Tarleton.=
[Illustration: 9647]
```"Come listen a while, and the truth I'll relate,
```How brave General Morgan did Tarleton defeat;
```For all his proud boasting, he forced was to fly,
```When brave General Morgan his courage did try."
`````Revolutionary Song.=
We have noted on page 596 the disposition which General Greene made of
the "shadow of an army" (less than two thousand men) which he received
from Gates. Brigadier-general Daniel Morgan, * an exceedingly active
officer, who was placed in command of the Western division, was
stationed, toward the close of 1780, in the country between the Broad
and Pacolet Rivers, in Spartanburg District. His division consisted of
four hundred Continental infantry, under Lieutenant-colonel Howard of
the Maryland line; two companies of the Virginia militia, under Captains
Triplet and Tate; and the remnants of the first and third regiments of
dragoons, one hundred in number, under Lieutenant-colonel William
A. Washington. This force, at the time in question, was considerably
augmented by North Carolina militia, under Major M'Dowell, and
some Georgia militia, under Major Cunningham. At the close of
December,[[1780]] Morgan and his troops were encamped near the northern
bank of the Pacolet, in the vicinity of Pacolet Springs. From this
camp Lieutenant-colonel Washington frequently sallied out to smite
and disperse bodies of Tories, who assembled at different points and
plundered the Whig inhabitants. He at-
[Illustration: 8647]
* Daniel Morgan was a native of New Jersey, where he was born in 1737,
and at an early age went to Virginia. He was a private soldier under
Braddock, in 1755, and after the defeat of that officer, returned to his
occupation of a farmer and wagoner. When the war of the Revolution broke
out, he joined the army under Washington, at Cambridge, and commanded
a corps of riflemen. He accompanied Arnold across the wilderness to
Quebec, and distinguished himself at the siege of that city.
* He was made a prisoner there. After his exchange, he was appointed to
the command of the 11th Virginia regiment, in which was incorporated his
rifle corps. * He performed great service at Stillwater, when Burgoyne
was defeated. Gates unjustly omitted his name in his report of that
affair to Congress. He served under Gates and Greene at the South,
where he became distinguished as a partisan officer. His victory at the
Cowpens was considered a most brilliant affair, and Congress voted him a
gold medal. (See next pane). At the close of the war, he returned to
his farm. He commanded the militia organized to quell the Whisky
Insurrection in Western Virginia, in 1794, and soon afterward was
elected a member of Congress. His estate in Clarke county, a few miles
from Winchester, Virginia, was called Saratoga. He resided there until
1800, when he removed to Winchester, where he died on the sixth of July,
1802, in the sixty-seventh year of his age. The house in which he died
stood in the northwest part of the town, and a few years since was
occupied by the Reverend Mr. Boyd. His grave is in the Presbyterian
grave-yard at Winchester; and over it is a plain horizontal slab, raised
a few feet from the ground, upon which is the following inscription:
"Major-general Daniel Morgan departed this life on July the 6th, 1802,
in the sixty-seventh year of his age. Patriotism and valor were the
prominent features of his character, and the honorable services he
rendered to his country during the Revolutionary war crowned him with
glory, and will remain in the hearts of his countrymen, a perpetual
monument to his memory."
[Illustration: 0648]
* In early life General Morgan was dissipated, and was a famous
pugilist; yet the teachings of a pious mother always made him
reverential when his thoughts turned toward the Deity. In his latter
years, he professed religion, and became a member of the Presbyterian
church in Winchester. "Ah!" he would often exclaim, when talking of
the past, "people said old Morgan never feared--they thought old Morgan
never prayed--they did not know old Morgan was often miserably afraid."
He said he trembled at Quebec, and in the gloom of early morning,
when approaching the battery at Cape Diamond, he knelt in the snow and
prayed; and before the battle at the Cowpens, he went into the woods,
ascended a tree, and there poured out his soul in prayer for protection.
In person, Morgan was large and strong. He was six feet in height, and
very muscular. *
* The following are the devices and inscriptions upon the medal: An
Indian queen with a quiver on her back, in the act of crowning an
officer with a laurel wreath; his hand resting upon his sword. A cannon
lying upon the ground; various military weapons and implements in the
background. Legend: Daniel Morgan duci Exercitus Comitia Americana--"The
American Congress to General Daniel Morgan." Reverse: An officer
mounted, at the head of his troops, charging a flying enemy. A battle in
the back-ground. In front, a personal combat between a dragoon unhorsed
and a foot soldier. Legend: Victoria libertatis vindex--"Victory, the
maintenance of Freedom." "The foe put to flight, taken, or slain,
at the Cowpens, January 17, 1781."
* This sketch of the flag of Morgan's rifle corps I made from the
original in the Museum at Alexandria, in Virginia.
[[[Defeat of Tories by Washington.--Pursuit of Morgan by Tarleton.--Gold
Medal awarded to Morgan.]]]
{638}tacked and defeated two hundred of them at Hammond's store, and
soon afterward a section of Washington's command dispersed another Tory
force under Bill Cunningham. Cornwallis, who was still at Winnsborough,
perceived these successes with alarm, and apprehending a design upon his
important post at Ninety-Six, over the Saluda, determined to disperse
the forces under Morgan, or drive them into North Carolina, before
he should rally the Mountain Men in sufficient numbers to cut off his
communication with Augusta. He accordingly dispatched Tarleton with his
legion of horse (three hundred and fifty in number), and the foot and
light infantry attached to it, the 7th regiment, and the first battalion
of the 71st, with two field pieces, to force Morgan to fight, or retreat
beyond the Yadkin. Tarleton's entire force consisted of about eleven
hundred well-disciplined men, and in every particular he had the
advantage of Morgan.
Tarleton commenced his march on the eleventh of January. The roads were
in a very bad condition, and it was not until the fifteenth that he
approached the Pacolet. He had crossed the Broad River near Turkey
Creek, and advanced with all possible speed toward the camp of Morgan.
That officer was at first disposed to dispute Tarleton's passage of the
Pacolet, but, informed of the superiority of his numbers, and that a
portion had already crossed above him, he retreated hastily northward,
and took post on the north side of Thicketty Mountain, near the Cowpens.
Tarleton passed through the place of Morgan's camp in the evening, a
few hours after he had left,[[Jan. 16, 1781]] and leaving his baggage
behind, he pressed eagerly forward in pursuit, riding all night, and
making a circuit around the western side of Thicketty Mountain. Early
the following morning,[[Jan. 17]] he cap-
[[[Disposition of the American Army.--John Eager Howard.--Silver Medal
awarded to Howard.]]]
{639}tured two American videttes, and learned from them the place of
Morgan s encampment. At eight o'clock he came in sight of the advanced
guard of the patriots, and fearing that Morgan might again retreat,
and get safely across the Broad River, he resolved to attack him
immediately, notwithstanding the fatigue of his troops.
The Americans were posted upon an eminence of gentle descent, covered
with an open wood.
[Illustration: 8649]
They were rested, had breakfasted, and were thoroughly refreshed after
their flight from the Pacolet. And now expecting Tarleton, they were
drawn up in battle order. On the crown of the eminence were stationed
two hundred and ninety Maryland regulars, and on their right the two
companies of Virginia militia, under Major Triplet. These composed the
rear line of four hundred and thirty men, and were under the general
command of Lieutenant-colonel Howard. One hundred and fifty yards in
advance of this line was a body of militia, about three hundred in
number, all practiced riflemen, and burning with a spirit of revenge,
because of the cruelties which the British and Tories had inflicted. A
part of these were commanded by Captain Beatty and Samuel Hammond, of
South Carolina. *
They were commanded by Colonel Andrew Pickens, who, with his followers,
had joined Morgan during the night. About one hundred and fifty yards in
advance of this first line, were placed the best riflemen of the
corps of M'Dowell and Cunningham. Those on the right were commanded by
Cunningham, and those on the left by M'Dowell. These were directed to
operate as circumstances should direct, after delivering their first
fire, which was to be
* No accurate plan of the arrangement of the troops on this occasion has
ever been made. Captain Hammond made a sketch many years afterward from
memory, which is published in Johnson's Traditions and Reminiscences
of the Revolution. As it does not fully agree with official reports, I
forbear copying it.
[Illustration: 0649]
** John Eager Howard was born in Baltimore county, Maryland, on the
fourth of June, 1752. When the war commenced, he entered the service as
captain of one of those bodies of militia termed flying camps. He
was present at the battle near White Plains, New York. His corps was
dismissed in December, 1776 and at the solicitation of his friends,
he accepted of the commission of major in one of the Continental
battalions of Maryland. In the spring of 1777, he joined the army under
Washington, in New Jersey, with which he remained until the close of
June, when he returned home, on account of the death of his father. A
few days after the battle on the Brandywine, he rejoined the army, and
was distinguished for his cool courage in the battle at Germantown, of
which he wrote an interesting account. In that engagement, he was major
of the 4th regiment, commanded by Colonel Hall, of Maryland. Major
Howard was present at the battle of Monmouth, in 1778. On the first of
June, 1779, he received a commission as lieutenant colonel of the 5th
Maryland regiment, "to take rank from the eleventh day of March, 1778."
In 1780, he went with the Maryland and Delaware troops to the South, and
served under Gates until the arrival of Greene. Soon after this, we
find him with Morgan, winning bright laurels at the Cowpens; and for his
bravery there, Congress awarded him the honor of a silver medal. Howard
again distinguished himself at the battle of Guilford, where he was
wounded. At the conclusion of the war, Colonel Howard married Margaret,
the daughter of Chief-justice Chew, around whose house at Germantown
he had valiantly battled. In November 1788, he was chosen governor
of Maryland, which office he held for three years. He was commissioned
major general of militia in 1794, but declined the honor. Washington
invited him to a seat in his cabinet at the head of the War Department,
in 1795. That honor he also declined. He was then a member of the
Maryland Senate. In 1796, he was elected to the Senate of the United
States, where he served until 1803, when he retired from public life.
When, in 1814, Baltimore was threatened with destruction by the enemy
the veteran soldier prepared to take the field. The battle at North
Point, however, rendered such a step unnecessary. He lost his wife in
1827; and on the twelfth of Oetober, 1827, he, too, left the scenes of
earth, at the age of seventy-five years. Honor, wealth, and the ardent
love of friends, were his lot in life, and few men ever went down to the
grave more truly lamented than John Eager Howard.
* The following are the device and inscriptions: An officer mounted,
with uplifted sword, pursuing an officer on foot hearing a stand of
colors. Victory is seen descending in front, over the former, holding a
wreath in her right hand over his head. In her left hand is a palm
branch. Legend: "The American Congress to John Eager Howard, commander
of a regiment of infantry." Reverse: A laurel wreath, inclosing the
inscription, "Because, rushing suddenly on the wavering line of the foe,
he gave a brilliant specimen of martial courage at the battle of the
Cowpens, January 17,1781."
[[[Morgan prepared to Fight--His Address to his Troops.--The
Attack.--Tarleton's Charge.]]]
{640}given when the British should be within one hundred and fifty
yards. In the rear of the second line, under Howard, and behind an
eminence of sufficient height to conceal them, * the American reserve
was posted. These consisted of Washington's cavalry, and M'Call's
mounted militia of Georgia, armed with sabers.