Chapter VI

As he waved his hand in mocking
Came the whizzing of the ball;
Loudly shouted the Oneidas
As they saw the braggart fall.

Then the white-haired chief who led them
Flung his powder-horn aside,
And his rifle dropped, preparing
For a leap within the tide.

“Skenando!” exclaimed a comrade,
“Stay! the stream runs fierce and wild;
And your age will make you weaker
In its current than a child.

“For the youngest there is danger
Ere he’d reach the farther shore,
From the raging of the waters,
And the rocks o’er which they pour.”

“Stay me not!” he answered, sternly;
“Vengeance to the flood impels;
Hear you not the dying moaning
Of the murdered Jenny Wells?”

Plunging in the yellow torrent
With his tomahawk in hand,
Swam the chief of the Oneidas,
Struggling till he reached the land—

Till upon the green bank’s summit,
Close beside the shaded, wood,
O’er the sorely wounded Butler
With a purpose fierce he stood.

Said the pallid, craven butcher,
“Let my ransom save my head;
I can give you gold if living,
I am profitless if dead!”

Skenando replied, “With fever
I in Cherry Valley lay,
Where a white man nursed and healed me,
Clothed and sent me on my way.

“That same white man had a daughter;
She with you in childhood played;
Yet one day, when leaves had fallen,
By your orders died the maid.

“The Oneida, sworn to vengeance,
Stands prepared to keep his vow;
Think of Jenny Wells and tremble!
Ah! you ask no mercy now.

“Wretch! remember Cherry Valley!”
Sank the Tory with a groan,
And the fierce and vengeful savage
Drove his hatchet through the bone.

* * * * *

Back returned the swart Oneidas
Ere the setting of the sun;
And the scalp of Walter Butler
Dangled from the belt of one.

To the stout, victorious soldiers
Who so well that day had fought,
And were now at ease reposing,
Pleasant was the news they brought.

When was told around the camp-fire
How the hatchet clave the brain,
Oh, how joyous was the shouting—
“Walter Butler has been slain.”

_THE FIGHT OF THE MOUNTAINEERS._

From the narrative of a survivor of the gallant men who
participated in the fight at King’s Mountain I wrote the ballad,
and aimed to give it the simple style of the narrator. But the
old man, perfectly truthful in intent, fell into some errors. He
omits all mention of the M’Dowells. Colonel M’Dowell was not in
the battle. He objected to fighting a battle without a general
officer, and he was despatched in search of one. While gone, the
rest elected Colonel Campbell to command, and got to work. Major
M’Dowell however remained, and commanded the regiments. He calls
Shelby, Evan Shelby. But Evan Shelby, who was Isaac’s father, and
who distinguished himself at Point Pleasant, was not at King’s
Mountain.

The official account of the battle transmitted to Gates, and
probably the correct one, is as follows:

“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, of Washington County, of Virginia,
Colonel Isaac Shelby, with two hundred and forty men from Sullivan
County, of North Carolina, and Lieutenant-colonel 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 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 River, with three hundred men, from
the counties of Wilkes and Surrey. No one officer having properly
the right to the command-in-chief, on the first of October we
despatched 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 sixth of October, who informed us that
the enemy lay encamped somewhere near the Cherokee Ford, off
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 foot men 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 centre 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; and Colonel
Sevier’s 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, when the fire became general
all around. The engagement lasted an hour and five minutes, the
greater part of which a heavy and incessant fire was kept 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. The troops upon
the right having gained the summit of the eminence, obliged the
enemy to retreat along the summit 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 greater part of them charged) and surrendered
themselves prisoners at discretion. 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:

“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
quartermaster, 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.

“BENJA. CLEAVELAND,
ISAAC SHELBY,
WM. CAMPBELL.”

_THE BATTLE OF KING’S MOUNTAIN._