us the most service, was his loyalty. It strengthened Washington to
have one man upon whom he could rely so completely. When Gates was
trying to stir up trouble against him and had appointed Lafayette to
take charge of an invasion into Canada over which he had no control, he
urged him to accept, because it would be safer with him than any one
else. Lafayette did accept and he carried it out in such a way that
Gates' scheme failed completely. At the Battle of Monmouth, too, when
Washington sent Charles Lee to command over him, he showed his loyalty
to Washington by submitting quietly and doing all he could to bring
a victory out of a defeat. But what counted most, perhaps, was the
faithfulness with which he carried out every order no matter how small
and unimportant.
Lafayette also aided this country by his active efforts as a French
nobleman. He induced France and Spain to join in preparing a fleet
against the British, and it was not his fault that Spain kept putting
it off until too late--he made the effort. He did succeed in raising
the popularity of the Colonies in France, and in securing six thousand
troops under Rochambeau, a fleet under d'Estaing and supplies for
our soldiers. After the French forces arrived, he was very useful in
keeping harmony between the armies, because of his influence over his
own countrymen as well as Americans.
Lafayette was one of the most faithful soldiers as well as one of the
best generals, this country had during the Revolutionary War. From
the time he offered himself as a volunteer, until the war was over he
served the country faithfully and well. At the very beginning of his
career in this country, he became Washington's aide-de-camp, and as
such learned a great deal of the latter's methods of fighting. In this
capacity he was in the thick of the battle of Brandywine and did much,
by his ready daring to encourage the soldiers. Before a wound, which
he received in this battle, had entirely healed, and while he was out
to reconnoitre, he came unexpectedly upon a large body of Hessians. He
attacked boldly, and they, believing they were fighting all of Greene's
men, retreated. Thus he was ever ready with his wit and daring.
Throughout the long dreary months when the army was wintering at
Valley Forge, Lafayette suffered with the soldiers and helped
alleviate the misery as best he could. It was during this winter
that Gates and Conway made the conspiracy to put Washington out of
power and to put Gates in his stead. To accomplish this, they wished
to secure Lafayette's help, so they contrived to put him at the
head of an expedition into Canada, with Conway second in command.
Upon Washington's entreaty he accepted the commission, but under
such conditions that they knew beforehand that their scheme was a
failure. When he arrived at Albany, he saw that nothing was ready for
an invasion of Canada, and that the affair could be nothing but a
disappointment to America and Europe, and a humiliation to himself,
nevertheless he made the most of his time by improving the forts and
pacifying the Indians.
When the British left Philadelphia, Washington wished to follow and
force a battle, and, when General Lee laid down his command, put
Lafayette in charge. Hardly had the latter started, when Charles Lee
asked for the command again. Washington could not recall Lafayette,
yet he wished to pacify Lee, so he trusted to Lafayette's affection
for himself, and sent Lee ahead with two extra divisions, when, as
senior officer, he would take charge of the whole. Lafayette retired,
sensibly, and did all he could to rally the battle that Lee was
conducting so poorly. Finally he sent for Washington--the only man that
could save the day.
The only real opportunity Lafayette had, of showing his generalship,
was in the southern campaign of 1781, when he was placed in charge of a
thousand light infantry and ordered to check the raids of the British.
By a rapid march he forestalled Philips, who was threatening valuable
stores at Richmond, and harrassed him all the way to the Chickahominy
River. Then, while he was separating the stores, Cornwallis, joined
by Philips, took a stand between him and Albermarle where he had
placed a large part of the stores. While Cornwallis was preparing to
fight, Lafayette, keeping in mind the admonition of Washington not to
endanger his troops, escaped to Albermarle by an unused road. After
this Cornwallis gave up hopes of trapping "that boy," as he called
Lafayette, and fortified himself at Yorktown.
When Lafayette had been given the defense of Virginia, his soldiers,
hungry and destitute, were on the point of desertion. With ready tact
he had supplied, from his own pocket, the direst necessities, and then
had given them an opportunity of going north. Of course, when placed
on their honor, they followed him with good will. Having received
orders from Washington, not to let Cornwallis escape, he took his stand
on Malvern Hill, a good strategic position, to await the coming of
Washington and Rochambeau. When the siege was on and the only possible
escape for Cornwallis was through North Carolina, this, Lafayette
closed and his light infantry also captured one of the redoubts the
British had fixed. The Siege of Yorktown ended his services for the
independence of this country; the war was over and he was needed no
more.
The results of Lafayette's efforts for the cause of American
Independence can hardly be estimated. They say enthusiasm is contagious
and it seemed so in his case, for his very enthusiasm for the cause won
others to it and gave it greater popularity in Europe than it would
otherwise have had. In this country he improved the condition of the
soldiers by his ready generosity, and raised the spirit of the army
by his own example of disinterested patriotism. He gave Washington
what he most needed, at that time, a friend whom he could trust
implicitly, and by his loyalty did his share towards keeping the army
undivided. The forces he secured from France encouraged our soldiers
and the supplies did a good deal towards satisfying their discontent.
By inducing France to acknowledge the United States of America, he
did us one of the greatest services possible. We were then one of the
world's nations, and our credit went up accordingly. It isn't likely
that the results of his efforts as an American soldier and general, can
ever be fully ascertained. He did so many little things just when they
seemed to be so needed, that it is impossible to sum up their results.
All we can say is that he did his best for the cause of American
Independence.--_Report of Sons of the Revolution 1911-12._
JAMES JACKSON.
General James Jackson was born in Morton Hampstead, in the beautiful
English County of Devonshire. His father, James Jackson, died when he
was a boy and left rather a large family. He heard much talk of the
American Colonies and had a great desire to go and live in them. His
mother and grandfather would not consent, and once he attempted to
sail, hidden in the hold of a vessel, but was brought back. Seeing his
determination to go, sooner or later, and influenced by John Wereat,
a leading Whig, the family finally consented. Sailing at his earliest
opportunity, he landed in Georgia; and at the age of fifteen began the
study of law in the office of an eminent lawyer in Savannah.
In 1775, in the beginning of Revolutionary Days, he was one of
the first lads to shoulder a musket for the cause of freedom. He
distinguished himself in several skirmishes near Savannah. In 1776,
Colonel Baker conducted an attack upon Tybee Island, where some of
the enemy from Vessels-of-War were living, and they destroyed the
buildings, and drove the enemy to their ships. In this attack, Jackson
distinguished himself, winning therewith honors from the governor, and
the thanks and admiration of the people.
He served throughout the Revolutionary War, and when Savannah
surrendered, Gen. Anthony Wayne, ordered that the keys of Savannah
be given to Jackson, because of his gallant service to his state and
country, and because "he was the first American soldier to tread the
soil of a town, from which the arms of a tyrant had too long kept its
lawful possessor."
At the close of the Revolutionary War, James Jackson began the practice
of law in Savannah.
Like Joseph, in the Bible story, he remembered and longed for his
youngest brother; so he sent a request to his parents that his brother
Henry be permitted to come to America, promising to educate him and
care for him as a son, but in his stead the family sent his brother,
Abram. He kept his brother and gave him advantages, but again sent
for Henry. The latter came and James Jackson educated him, and at his
death left him a child's share of his property. This Henry was for
years professor at the Georgia State University, and was interpreter
to William H. Crawford, when the latter was minister to France. His
son was General Henry R. Jackson, of Savannah, who was a poet and a
distinguished officer in both the Mexican and Confederate Wars.
General James Jackson had a brother, John, who was in the British Navy
and was killed during the Revolutionary War.
In one of her letters to James, his mother wrote how much she wished
she could see him, and said: "It is a great and a deep water that
divides us and when I think of it my thoughts turn to my poor John."
You see John had been buried at sea, and it was not an easy matter in
those days for James to visit across the ocean, when it took weeks to
make the journey.
General Jackson held many offices and was one of Georgia's greatest
governors. He defeated the Yazoo Fraud, resigning his place in the
National Senate, and going from there to the Legislature of his State
in order to do it. He is the only man in the history of our country who
ever gave up being a Senator to go to the Legislature.
It has been said that if Jackson's heart were cut out after his death,
on it would have been found the beloved word, "Georgia."
He died in Washington years after, again a Senator, and is buried in
the Congressional burial ground. His epitaph was written by his friend
John Randolph, and is as follows:
"In the memory of Major-General James Jackson of Georgia, who
deserved and enjoyed the confidence of a grateful country, a
soldier of the Revolution, he was the determined foe of foreign
tyranny, the scourge and terror of corruption at home."
James Jackson's maternal grandfather never forgave him for fighting
against England in the Revolutionary War, and in his will left to his
grandson, James, only money enough to buy a silver cup.--CAROLINE
PATTERSON, _Mary Hammond Washington Chapter, D. A. R._
EXPERIENCES OF JOAB HORNE.
_Compiled by one of his descendants_, MRS. B. M. DAVIDSON, _Stone
Castle Chapter D. A. R., Dawson Ga._
Away back in the misty past, Isaac Horne, of Scotland, crossed the
Atlantic and settled in Edgecomb County, North Carolina, on the Tar
River. Isaac Horne's name figures in the early history of North
Carolina. He was one of the first commissioners appointed to establish
the boundary lines between the counties of the States. He was a wealthy
planter, but the greater portion of his property was destroyed by the
Tories. He was killed at "Gates defeat." Isaac Horne had three sons:
William, Henry, Joab. This story is of the youngest son, Joab, a
gallant Revolutionary soldier under General Francis Marion.
Joab Horne met and wooed an English girl, Nancy Ricks. They encountered
parental objections to their marriage on account of their youth,
sixteen and fourteen, respectively, but love won and so the union was
consumated. Their parents never forgave them, and refused to aid them
in any way. We can hardly imagine what hardships they endured; but with
his beautiful young wife to encourage him he was determined to surmount
all difficulties. Hearing of the rich lands of Georgia, they decided to
emigrate. Joab had one mule, and he procured a "hogshead" through which
he ran a piece of scantling to serve as an axle, to this axle shafts
were attached; his mule was hitched to this wonderful contrivance,
their clothes put inside the rolling hogshead, and thus the journey to
Georgia was begun.
God had blessed their union with the gift of a little child, but the
exposure resulting from this mode of travel was more than the little
one could with-stand. A little grave by the road side marked the first
mile stone of real sorrow in their lives. Finally, they reached their
destination in Burke County, Georgia, on the Ogeechee River, and began
their new life in a new country. This country was almost a wilderness
at that time. The first preparation for a home was a bush arbor, with a
real Georgia bed-stead, and fresh straw for a mattress; but it was not
long before they had as comfortable a home as could be found in those
days.
Trading seemed to be one of Joab's characteristics. He had two hats,
a "Sunday" and an "every day hat," the Sunday hat he traded for a
wash-pot. Nancy, his wife, would trade her jewelry, which she had
brought from her girl-hood home, for household necessities. Six
children blessed their union, four girls and two boys. Later they moved
to Pulaski County, near Hawkinsville, Ga. The evening of their life was
spent in prosperity, a sure reward for such endurance, labor and love.
Nancy (Ricks) Horne died at the age of sixty-three, on their plantation
in Pulaski County.
Joab moved, with his son Eli, who married Sarah Anderson of
Hawkinsville, to west Florida, on the Yellow River; there he lived
to the ripe old age of eighty-seven. Many a night would he sit by
the fire-side and entertain his children and friends by relating
experiences of other days. He could truly say, with Columbus: "For the
years will give back what the years with-held, and the balance swing
level in the end."
Joab Horne is buried in Stewart cemetery, on Yellow River, west
Florida. The following is a copy of the epitaph on his tomb:
"In Memory of Joab Horne
Member of the Revolution
Born Dec. 30--1753
Died July 28--1840."
"Blow, gentle gale, and bear my soul away to Canaan's Land."
HISTORICAL SKETCH OF MARGARET KATHERINE BARRY, KNOWN AS "KATE BARRY,
HEROINE OF THE COWPENS."
Kate Barry, an important character during the Revolutionary War, was
noted as a scout, and once during her husband's absence was flogged by
the Tories to make her disclose the whereabouts of her husband, and his
company of Rangers. Her husband, Captain Andrew Barry, was a magistrate
under King George III, and continued to exercise that office till the
Revolution began. He was also a Captain in Colonial period, but at the
beginning of the War for Independence, 1776, was recommissioned Captain
of South Carolina Rangers by Governor Rutledge, and was a daring and
brilliant officer during the whole war.
He was at Musgroves' Mill, Cowpens, Cedar Springs, and many other
engagements, and was severely wounded during the battle of Musgroves'
Mill, 18th August, 1780, but with the tender care of his wife Kate
Barry, who was always close by for scout duty, he was soon restored to
health.
Captain Andrew Barry was also a religious man, and was one of the
first elders elected by Nazareth Presbyterian Church in Spantanburg
County, S. C., in which capacity he served the church 'till his death,
June 17th, 1811. His name appears in the book, "Heitman's Historical
Register of the Officers of the Continental Army."
The Richard Barry who signed the Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence was of this family.
It is written of Kate Barry that she knew no fear, and where duty
pointed she dared to go, and where her love and affections centered,
she would risk any and all dangers to guard and protect those whom she
loved. Kate Barry was as remarkable for piety as for patriotism, she
came of a religious family, and not only are there stories of deeds
of kindness and sympathy, well authenticated, handed down in family
traditions, but her sister, Rosa Moore, wife of Richard Barry, was
also noted as a ministering angel at the bedside of the dying; and her
prayers in hours of trial and bereavement made indelible impressions.
During the War of the Revolution Kate Barry acted as a voluntary scout
for the patriot Whigs of South Carolina, and was so efficient that the
patriot bands were seldom surprised by the British. She was the idol of
her husband's company of Rangers, any one of whom would have risked his
own life to save hers.
After the war ended Major Crawford approached Captain Andrew Barry, and
said: "It is your duty to kill Elliott, the Tory who struck Kate Barry
one cut with a whip to intimidate her and make her disclose where the
patriots were encamped; but if you will not, then I will kill him, for
no man shall live who struck Kate Barry." Then eleven men, including
Captain Barry and Major Crawford, went out in search of Elliott, whom
they found at a neighborhood gathering. So soon as they were seen
approaching, Elliott fled into the house, and sought concealment under
a bed. The doors were closed, and after parleying with Captain Barry,
and his friends, Elliott's friends agreed that Captain Barry alone, but
unarmed, might enter the house, and see Elliott, with the promise that
Barry would not kill him, which he might easily have done, as Barry is
described by Dr. Howe in his "History of the Presbyterian Church in
South Carolina," as a handsome man, six feet and one inch in height
and of powerful muscular strength. Barry entered the house, and the
doors were again closed, and Elliott came out from under the bed, when
Captain Barry at once seized a three-legged stool, with which he struck
Elliott to the floor, exclaiming: "I am now satisfied, I will not take
his life."
When General Greene, after Gates' defeat at Camden, was placed in
command of the Army of the Southern Department, he sent General Morgan
into South Carolina to assemble the scattered patriots, preparatory to
reclaiming South Carolina, which after Gates' defeat, and Buford's
annihilation at the Waxhaws, lay bleeding at the feet of the British
Lion. It was then that Kate Barry in her voluntary capacity as scout
for General Morgan, of whose command her husband's company of Rangers
was a part, hunted up patriot bands and hurried them forward to Morgan.
In a short time General Morgan found himself with sufficient force
added to his little army of four hundred regulars to give battle to
Tarleton at the Cowpens. To hurry up the South Carolina Rangers she
swam her horse across rivers, evaded the Tories, and encountered a
thousand dangers, but succeeded in recruiting Morgan's little army with
sufficient patriotic force to bring off the best fought battle of the
Revolution, and at a time when all seemed lost to the patriot cause,
and so followed Carolina's redemption.
Who knows but Kate Barry's prayers were answered when Broad River
so suddenly rose from a descending freshet, and cut off Cornwallis'
pursuing army after the Battle of the Cowpens. The same downflowing
freshet happened at Yadkin, Morgan making good his retreat to Grane
near Guilford Court House.
Kate Barry was a daughter of Col. Charles Moore, who was born in
Scotland in 1727, and who went into Ireland from Scotland with the
Duke of Hamilton, his relative, as family tradition says Col. Charles
Moore's mother was a Hamilton.
Charles Moore was a college graduate, and a prominent teacher at the
time he removed to Carolina, and is described as such in a deed for
land now on file of record in North Carolina, but what important part
he took in the War of the Revolution is not positively known; further
than that his son, Captain Thomas Moore, distinguished himself at
Cowpens, and was afterwards a General in the War of 1812. But Col.
Charles Moore's six sons-in-law all acted prominent parts on the side
of the patriots in the War of the Revolution, viz: Captain Andrew
Barry, husband of Margaret Katherine Moore; Col. Jno. Lawson, husband
of Alice Moore; Judge Richard Barry, husband of Rosa Moore; Rev. R.
M. Cunningham, D. D., husband of Elizabeth Moore; Capt. Robt. Hanna,
husband of ---- Moore. He was on the staff of General Sumter at the
Battle of Blackstock; Matthew Patton, husband of the two last sisters
was a noted soldier, but his rank is not known, except that he was a
staff officer.
Written by Mary S. Irwin Wood (Mrs. James S. Wood) Regent of
Savannah Chapter, a descendent of Captain Andrew Barry and Kate
Barry--from records and authenticated family traditions, and read
at June meeting of the Savannah Chapter D. A. R. 1913, by her
daughter Miss Rosalind Lawson Wood, by request sent to Elijah Clark
Chapter D. A. R., Athens, Ga., to be read by Mrs. Augusta Wood
DuBose, also a descendant of Kate Barry and her husband, Captain
Andrew Barry.
ART AND ARTISTS OF THE REVOLUTION.
During the reign of George III, in the town of Boston, with only
eighteen thousand inhabitants, there hung in the library of Harvard
University a copy of "A Cardinal" by Van Dycke. The New England states
were opposed to art as a principle, but showed signs of literary
and artistic activity at this time. Exhibitions were unknown, the
painters were "traveling artists" who went over the country painting
portraits on sign boards, stage coaches, and fire engines, for practice
and also a living. John Singleton Copeley, in Boston, was the only
American artist who did meritorious work. Before he came under foreign
influences, he wielded his brush with great dexterity, "The Death
of the Earl of Chatham" in the National Gallery in London, being
one of his famous pictures. The grouping of the portrait figures is
skillfully arranged. To our art, the portraits he painted in Boston
are of importance. The lesson thus taught led us into the interior of
the royalist era, with carved furniture, showy curtains, peopled with
well-to-do men and women, lavishly robed, that suggests the customs
as well as the people of the Revolutionary period. Benjamin West, a
contemporary of Copely, had nothing in common with the development of
American art. He left at an early age for England, where he climbed the
pinnacle of social, if not artistic success. He was a personal friend
of the king, was employed as his historical painter, succeeding Sir
Joshua Reynolds as president of the royal academy. One of his pictures
quite noted was "Christ Rejected." "Death on the Pale Horse," the size
of the canvas he used was 200 by 264 feet. His daring innovation of
dressing the characters showed the costumes of the time and country in
which they lived. It was his picturesque personality more than his art
that attracts us to-day. In his native town, Philadelphia, it is said
the Cherokee Indians taught him the secret of preparing color. This was
the first city in the Union where opportunities for art growth and a
moderate patronage presented themselves. Charles Wilson Peale, a man
rather versatile, also a painter of some merit, established the first
"Art Gallery," a museum of historical portraits, in his residence in
Philadelphia.
John Trumbull was a different type, was not so richly endowed by
natural gifts. Every accomplishment meant strenuous study, yet he is
dear to us for his glorification of revolutionary history. "The Battle
of Bunker Hill," "The Death of Montgomery" and "the Declaration of
Independence," are familiar. The growth of art was handicapped, more
than benefited--America was now an independent nation. The Royalists
who could afford the luxury of art left this country. Now three men
stepped forth who bore upon their brush tips the honor and progress of
American art, Thomas Sully, John Vanderlyn and Washington Allston. The
first mentioned became rapidly the most fashionable portrait painter
of the day. His sweet faces, with robes draped gracefully, show great
progress and execution. Sully was represented at the Philadelphia
Academy by one hundred and sixteen pictures. It is said he painted a
full length portrait of Queen Victoria.