Chapter XXIII: ````"Cornwallis led a country dance; (1)

`````The like was never seen, sir;

````Much retrograde, and much advance,

````And all with General Greene, sir.

````They rambled up and rambled down.

`````Joined bands, and off they ran, sir;

````Our General Greene to old Charlestown,

`````And the earl to Wilmington, sir. * =

```There was Greene in the South; you must know him--

````Whom some called a "Hickory Quaker;"

```But he ne'er turned his back on the foeman,

````Nor ever was known for a Shaker.'--William Elliot.=

LEFT the place of Pyle's defeat toward noon, and, following a sinuous and seldom-traveled road through a forest of wild crab-apple trees and black jacks, crossed the Allamance at the cotton-factory of Holt and Carrigan, two miles distant. ** Around this mill quite a village of neat log-houses, occupied by the operatives, were collected, and every thing had the appearance of thrift. I went in, and was pleased to see the hands of intelligent white females employed in a useful occupation. Manual labor by white people is a rare sight at the South, where an abundance of slave labor appears to render such occupation unnecessary; and it can seldom be said of one of our fair sisters there, "She layeth her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." *** This cotton-mill, like the few others which I saw In the Carolinas, is a real blessing, present and prospective, for it gives employment and comfort to many poor girls who might otherwise be wretched; and it is a seed of industry planted in a generous soil, which may hereafter germinate and bear abundant fruit of its kind in the midst of cotton plantations, thereby augmenting immensely the true wealth of the nation.

At a distance of two miles and a half beyond the Allamance, on the Salisbury road, I reached the Regulator battle-ground; and, in company with a young man residing in the vicinity, visited the points of particular interest, and made the sketch printed on page 577. The rock and the ravine from whence James Pugh and his companions (see page 576) did such execution with their rifles, are now hardly visible. The place is a few rods north of the road. The ravine is almost filled by the washing down of earth from the slopes during eighty years; and the rock projects only a few ells above the surface. The whole of the natural scenery is changed, and nothing but tradition can identify the spot.

While viewing the battle-ground, the wind, which had been a gentle and pleasant breeze from the south all the morning, veered to the northeast, and brought omens of a cold storm. I left the borders of the Allamance, and its associations, at one o'clock, and traversing a very hilly country for eighteen miles, arrived, a little after dark, at Greensborough, a thriving, compact village, situated about five miles southeast from the site of old Guilford Court House. It is the capitol of Guilford county, and successor of old Martinsburg, where the

* These lines form a part of a song which was very popular at the close of the war, and was sung to the air of "Yankee Doodle."

** This factory, in the midst of a cotton-growing eountry, and upon a never-failing stream, can not be otherwise than a source of great profit to the owners. The machinery is chiefly employed in the manufacture of cotton yarn. Thirteen hundred and fifty spindles were in operation. Twelve looms were employed in the manufacture of coarse cotton goods suitable for the use of the negroes.

*** Proverbs, xxxi., 19.

[[[Fire in Greensborough.--The Guilford Battle-ground.--Gates superseded by Greene]]]

{595}court-house was formerly situated. Very few of the villages in the interior of the state appeared to me more like a Northern town than Greensborough. The houses are generally good, and the stores gave evidences of active trade. Within an hour after my arrival, the town was thrown into commotion by the bursting out of flames from a large frame dwelling, a short distance from the court-house. There being no fire-engine in the place, the flames spread rapidly, and at one time menaced the safety of the whole town. A small keg of powder was used, without effect, to demolish a tailor's shop, standing in the path of the conflagration toward a large tavern. The flames passed on, until confronted by one of those broad chimneys, on the outside of the house, so universally prevalent at the South, when it was subdued, after four buildings were destroyed. I never saw a population more thoroughly frightened; and when I returned to my lodgings, far away from the fire, every bed in the house was packed ready for flight.

It was past midnight when the town became quiet, and a consequently late breakfast delayed my departure for the battle-field at Guilford Court House, until nine o'clock the next morning.

A cloudy sky, a biting north wind, and the dropping of a few snow-flakes when I left Greensborough, betokened an unpleasant day for my researches. It was ten o clock when I reached Martinsville, once a pleasant hamlet, now a desolation. There are only a few dilapidated and dispirited dwellings left; and nothing remains of the old Guilford Court House but the ruins of a chimney, depicted on the plan of the battle, printed on page 608. Only one house was inhabited, and that by the tiller of the soil around it. Descending into a narrow, broken valley, from Martinsville, and ascending the opposite slope to still higher ground on the road to Salem, I passed among the fields consecrated by the events of the battle at Guilford, in March,[[March 14]] 1781, to the house of Mr. Hotchkiss, a Quaker, who, I was informed could point out every locality of interest in his neighborhood.

Mr. Hotchkiss was absent, and I was obliged to wait more than an hour for his return. The time passed pleasantly in conversation with his daughter, an intelligent young lady, who kindly ordered my horse to be fed, and regaled me with some fine apples, the first fruit of the kind I had seen since leaving the James River.

While tarrying there, the snow began to fall thickly, and when, about noon, I rambled over the most interesting portion of the battle-ground, and sketched the and directed General Washington to make the selection.

The scene is printed on page 611, the whole country was covered with a white mantle. Here, by this hospitable fireside, let us consider the battle, and those wonderful antecedent events which distinguished General Greene's celebrated _Retreat._

After the unlucky battle near Camden, where General Gates lost the laurels he had obtained at Saratoga, Congress perceived the necessity of appointing a more efficient commander for the army in the Southern Department. The commander-in-chief appointed General Nathaniel Greene,[[Oct 30, 1780]] late the quarter-master general, who immediately proceeded to his field of labor.

Passing through Delaware, Maryland, and Vir-

* Nathaniel Greene was born of Quaker parents, at Warwick, in Rhode Island, in 1746. His father was an anchor smith, and in that business Nathaniel was trained. While yet a boy, he learned the Latin language, and by prudence and perseverance he collected a small library while a minor. The perusal of military history occupied much of his attention. He had just attained his majority, when his abilities were so highly estimated, that he was chosen a representative in the Legislature of Rhode Island.

* Fired with military zeal, and ardent patriotism, young Greene resolved to take up arms for his country, when he heard of the battle at Lexington. He was appointed to the command of three regiments in the Army of Observation, raised by his state, and led them to Roxbury. In consequence of this violation of their discipline, the Quakers disowned him. General Washington soon perceived his worth, and in August the following year, Congress promoted him from the office of brigadier of his state militia to that of major general in the Continental army. He was in the battles at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown. In March, 1778. he was appointed quarter-master general, and in June was engaged in the battle of Monmouth. He resigned his office of quarter-master general in 1780, and was succeeded by Timothy Pickering. He took the command of the Southern Department, December third, 1780, and in February following made his famous retreat. He engaged in the battle of Guilford, in March, 1781, when he was defeated. In April following, he fought with Lord Rawdon, near Camden, where he was again defeated, but retreated in good order, and soon afterward captured several British posts in South Carolina. He besieged Fort Ninety-Six in May, but was unsuccessful. On the eighth of September, he gained a partial victory at Eutaw Springs, for which Congress presented him with a British standard and a gold medal. This engagement closed the war in South Carolina. He returned to Rhode Island at the conclusion of the war. He went to Georgia in 1785 to look after an estate belonging to him near Savannah. While walking one day, in June, without an umbrella, he was "sun struck," and died on the nineteenth of that month, in 1786, at the age of forty-six years. His body was buried in a vault in Savannah, on the same day, but owing to negligence in designating the one, a search for his remains, in 1820, was unsuccessful. No man living can now point out the sepulchre of that ablest of Washington's generals. On the eighth of August following, Congress adopted the following resolution: "That a monument be erected to Nathaniel Greene, Esq., at the seat of the Federal government, with the following inscription: Sacred to the memory of Nathaniel Greene, Esq., a native of the State of Rhode Island, who died on the nineteenth of June, 1786; late major general in the service of the United States, and commander of their army in the Southern Department. The United Slates, in Congress assembled, in honor of his patriotism, valor, and ability, have erected this monument." The Board of Treasury was directed to take action for the due execution of the foregoing resolutions. In person General Greene was rather corpulent, and above the common size. His complexion was fair and florid; his countenance serene and mild. His health was generally delicate, but was preserved by temperance and exercise.

[[[Greene's Arrival in Carolina.--Courtesy of Gates.--Disposition of the belligerent Armies.]]]

{596}ginia, he ascertained what supplies he was likely to obtain from those states; and leaving the Baron Steuben to direct the defense of Virginia, and to raise levies and stores for the Southern army, he proceeded to Hillsborough, the seat of government of North Carolina. Governor Nash received him with joy, for the dangers which menaced the state were imminent. After remaining there a few days, he hastened on to Charlotte, the head-quarters of the army. General Gates received him with great respect, and on the day after his arrival he took formal command of the army.[[Dec 3. 1780]] Gates immediately set out for the head-quarters of Washington (then in New Jersey, near the Hudson), to submit to an inquiry into his conduct, which had been ordered by Congress.[[Oct 5, 1780]] From that time until the commencement of his retreat from the Carolinas, Greene was exceedingly active in the arrangement of the army, and in wisely directing its movements.

His first arrangement was to divide his army into two detachments, the largest of which, under himself, was to be stationed opposite Cheraw Hill, on the east side of the Peedee River, in Chesterfield District, upon a small stream called Hick's Creek, about seventy miles to the right of Cornwallis, who was then at Winnsborough, in Fairfield District. The other, composed of about one thousand troops, under General Morgan, was placed some fifty miles to the left, near the junction of the Broad and Pacolet Rivers, in Union District. Cornwallis sent Colonel Tarleton, with a considerable force, to disperse the little army of Morgan, and soon the memorable battle of the Cowpens occurred,[[Jan 17, 1781]] in which the Americans were victorious. Tarleton, with the remnant of his troops, retreated precipitately to the main army of Cornwallis, who was then at Turkey Creek; and Morgan, in the evening of the same day, crossed the Broad River, and moved, by forced marches, toward the Catawba, to form a junction with the division of General Greene.

"When Cornwallis heard of the defeat of Tarleton and the direction that Morgan had taken, he resolved on pursuit, with the hope of regaining the prisoners taken at the Cowpens, and of demolishing the Americans before they could reach the Catawba. He was joined on the eighteenth by General Leslie and his troops, from Camden. To facilitate his march, he ordered all the superfluous baggage and wagons to be destroyed[[Jan 25]] at Ram-

[[[Greene in Co-operation with Morgan.--Conference of the Commanders.--Battle at Ramsour's Mills.--General Rutherford.]]]

{597}sour's Mills, on the south fork of the Catawba. * In the mean while, General Greene had been apprised of the battle and the result, and on the same day when Cornwallis commenced pursuit, he ordered Brigadier Stevens to march with his Virginia militia (whose term of service was almost expired) by way of Charlotte, to take Morgan's prisoners and conduct them to Charlottesville, in Virginia. Greene, anxious to confer with Morgan personally, left the eamp on the Pedee, under the eommand of General Huger and Colonel Otho H. Williams, and started, with one aid and two or three mounted militia, for the Catawba.[[Jan 28]] On the route he was informed of Cornwallis's pursuit and immediately sent an express to Huger and Williams to break up the camp, and march with all possible dispatch to form a junction with Morgan's light troops at Salisbury or Charlotte. Greene reached Sherrard's Ford, on the Catawba, on the thirty-first, where he had an interview with Morgan, and directed his future movements.

* At this place a severe battle was fought on the twentieth of June, 1780, between a body of North Carolina militia and a large force of Loyalists. Early in June, General Rutherford * was in command of more than five hundred North Carolina militia, and was in the vicinity of Charlotte. Having received intelligence that the Tories were embodying in arms beyond the Catawba, in Tryon county, he issued orders to commanders in the vicinity to arouse the militia for the dispersion of those men. Ramsour's Mills, in the present county of Lincoln, on the south fork of the Catawba, was their place of rendezvous, and toward that point he marched, he having received intelligence that Lord Rawdon had retired to Camden. The Tories were assembled under Colonels John Moore and Major Nicholas Welch, to the number of almost thirteen hundred, on the twentieth of June. On Sunday, the eighteenth, having concentrated the militia of Mecklenburg, Rowan, and neighborhood, Rutherford proceeded to the Catawba, and crossed that river at the Tuckesege Ford, on the evening of the nineteenth. He dispatched a messenger to Colonel Francis Locke, of Rowan, informing him of the state of affairs, and ordering him to form a junction with him between the Forks of the Catawba, sixteen miles from Ramsour's. That officer, with the militia under several other subordinate commanders, in all about four hundred men, encamped on the nineteenth on Mountain Creek, higher up on the Catawba, above Beattie's Ford, and also sixteen miles from Ramsour's. At a council of the officers, junction with Rutherford, who was about thirty-five miles distant, was not deemed prudent, and they resolved to attack the Tories without delay. Colonel Johnson, one of their number, was dispatched to apprise General Rutherford of the situation of affairs. He reached Rutherford's camp at ten o'clock the same night. Late in the evening of the nineteenth, Colonel Locke and his companions commenced their march, and at daylight the following morning they were within a mile of the enemy's eamp. The latter were upon a high hill, three hundred yards east of Ramsour's Mill, and half a mile from the present village of Lincolnton.

* Their position was very advantageous, and as there were but few trees upon the slope, they could fire effectually upon an approaching foe. The companies of Captains Falls, M'Dowell, and Brandon, of the patriot army, were on horseback, and led on to the attack; the footmen were under the immediate command of Colonel Loeke. The Tories were surprised. Their pickets fired when the patriots appeared, and then retreated to the camp. For a moment the Tories were confused, but, recovering, they poured such a deadly fire upon the horsemen, who had pursued the pickets to the lines, that they were compelled to fall back. They rallied, and soon the action became general. Captain Hardin now gained the right flank of the Tories, while the action was warm in the center. In two instances the parties were so close that they beat each other with the buts of their guns. The Whigs soon drove the Tories from the hill, when they discovered them collected in force on the other side of the mill stream. Expecting an immediate attack, messengers were sent to urge Rutherford forward. They met him within six miles of Ramsour's, pushing on with all possible haste. Major Davie, with his cavalry, started off at full gallop, followed by Colonel Davidson's infantry. They were met within two miles of Ramsour's, with the intelligence that the Tories had retreated. Rutherford marched to the scene of action, and there encamped. The conflict was very severe, and seventy men were left dead on the ground. As all were in "citizen's dress," it was difficult to distinguish the Whigs from the Tories among the dead. It is believed that each party had an equal number killed. About one hundred men on each side were wounded. Fifty Tories were taken prisoners. A terrible voice of wail went up from that battle-field the next day, when the relatives of the slain came there in search of them.

* Griffith Rutherford was an Irishman by birth, brave and patriotic, but uncultivated in mind and manners. He resided west of Salisbury, in the Locke settlement, and in 1775 represented Rowan county in the Convention at Newbern. In 1776 he led a large force into the Cherokee country, and assisted the people of South Carolina in destroying their corn-fields and villages. He was appointed a brigadier by the Provincial Congress, in April, 1776. He commanded a brigade in the battle near Camden, in August, 1781, and was taken prisoner by the British. He was exchanged, and was in command at Wilmington when that place was evacuated by the British at the close of the war. He was a state senator in 1784, and soon afterward removed to Tennessee, where he died. A county both in North Carolina and Tennessee bears his name.

[[[Morgan pursued by Cornwallis.--Narrow Escape of the former.--Passage of the Catawba by Cornwallis's Army.]]] === {598}The pursuit by Cornwallis had been keen and untiring. He had kept between the Broad and the Catawba Rivers, and his sole efforts were to reach the fords toward which Morgan was pressing, in time to cut him off. Morgan's march was equally rapid, and he crossed the Catawba at the Island Ford, on the northern border of the present Lincoln county, with his prisoners and baggage, two hours before the arrival of the British van-guard, under Brigadier-general O'Hara.[[Jan 28, 1781]] It was sunset, and the earl, confident of his prey, postponed further pursuit until morning.

This delay was fatal to his success. Rain fell copiously during the night, and in the morning the Catawba was brimful, and entirely unfordable. Thus it remained for forty-eight hours; and in the mean while Morgan's prisoners were sent forward to a place of safety, and measures were adopted to dispute the passage of the river with the British. Had the flood in the river happened a few hours earlier, Morgan's little army must have been lost. The event was properly marked by the friends of liberty as the tangible interposition of Providence. The arrival of Greene, at this juncture, was equally providential; for Morgan had resolved upon a line of retreat which must have proved fatal. Greene interposed counter orders, and the whole army was saved.

When the waters subsided, Cornwallis resumed his pursuit. Lieutenant-colonel Webster, with a small detachment, moved toward Beattie's Ford, to give the impression that the British army would cross there; while Cornwallis, decamping at midnight with the main body, moved rapidly toward Cowan's Ford, six miles below. This was a private crossing-place, and the earl supposed he would thus elude the vigilance of Greene and Morgan. It was a miscalculation, as numerous camp-fires assured him when he approached the ford, a little before dawn.[[Feb 1, 1781]] General Davidson, the commander in Salisbury District, who had arrived the day before with three hundred North Carolina militia, was sent by Greene, who was quartered at Salisbury, * to guard the ford and dispute its passage if attempted. Neglecting to place his main body near the river, so as to make an imposing appearance he did not deter Cornwallis from proceeding to cross. The current was rapid, the stream in many places waist-deep, and almost five hundred yards wide, yet the brave Britons, led on by General O'Hara, plunged into the stream, and in the face of a severe fire from Captain Graham's ** riflemen, who were posted at the ford, pressed forward

* Greene was quartered at Salisbury, in the house of Elizabeth Steele, a patriot of purest mold. She had heard Greene utter words of despondency, and her heart was touched. While he was at table, she brought two bags full of specie, the earnings of years of toil, and presented them to him, saying, "Take these"; for you will want them, and I can do without them." Greene was grateful; and before he left her house he wrote upon the back of a portrait of the king, hanging in the room, "O George, hide thy face and mourn!" and then hung it up, with the face to the wall. That portrait, with the writing, is in the present possession of the Honorable David L. Swain, of Chapel Hill.

** Captain Joseph Graham was an excellent specimen of those young men of Carolina who flocked to the armv fighting for independence. He was born in Pennsylvania, on the thirteenth of October, 1759, and at the age of seven years accompanied his widowed mother to North Carolina. He was educated at Queen's Museum, in Charlotte, and was a spectator at the famous convention, held there in May, 1775. In May, 1778, at the age of nineteen, young Graham enlisted in the fourth regiment of North Carolina regular troops, under Colonel Archibald Lyle. Marching northward, his commander received instructions to return to Carolina, and Graham went home on furlough. He was called into active service in the autumn of that year, and accompanied General Rutherford to the banks of the Savannah, soon after the defeat of General Ashe at Brier Creek. He was with General Lincoln while maneuvering against Prevost, and was in the severe battle at Stono, in June, 1779. A fever prostrated him, and he returned home. While plowing in the field, he heard of the fall of Charleston and defeat of Buford at the Waxhaw, and, like Cincinnatus, he left the furrow to engage in public duties. He was appointed adjutant of the Mecklenburg regiment. He was engaged in active service for some time, and fought the enemy with Major Davie, at Charlotte, in the autumn of 1780. In that engagement he was cut down and severely wounded by a British dragoon. He received six sabre and three bullet wounds. These confined him in the hospital for two months. When recovered, he raised a company of mounted riflemen, and, with his fifty men, disputed the passage of the British army at Cowan's Ford. With his company, and some troops from Rowan, he surprised and captured a British guard at Hart's Mill, only a mile and a half from head-quarters at Hillsborough, and the next day was with Lee when Pyle was defeated. He was engaged in active service all that summer, and in September was appointed a major, and, with a pretty strong force, proceeded toward Wilmington to rescue Governor Burke, who had been abducted from Hillsborough by Fanning, a noted Tory, and his associates. South of Fayetteville he encountered a band of Tories, and, after a severe skirmish, defeated them. His force was only one hundred and thirty-six; that of the Tories was six hundred. It was a brilliant achievement. He was engaged in two or three other military enterprises soon afterward, when the surrender of Cornwallis caused a cessation of hostilities at the South. With this campaign, Major Graham's revolutionary services closed. In the course of four years (at the end of which he was only twenty-three years of age) he had commanded in fifteen engagements, and was greatly beloved by his companions.

* Major Graham was elected the first sheriff of Mecklenburg, alter the close of the war, and, in 1787, married a daughter of John Davidson, one of the members of the famous Mecklenburg Convention. By her he had twelve children, the youngest of whom, the Honorable William A. Graham, is now (1852) Secretary of the Navy of the United States. Soon after his marriage, he erected iron-works, and settled in Lincoln county, eight miles from Beattie's Ford, where he lived forty years, and died. In 1814, one thousand men were raised in North Carolina to assist the Tennessee and Georgia volunteers against the Creek Indians. Graham was urgently solicited to take the command. He consented, and received the commission ol major general. He arrived with his corps just as the Creeks had submitted to Generals Jackson, Coffee, and Carroll, after the battle at the Horse Shoe. For many years after that war, General Graham was the senior officer of the fifth division of the stale militia. Temperate in all things, he enjoyed remarkable health until about the time of his death, which occurred from apoplexy, on the twelfth of November, 1836, at the age of seventy-seven years. His honored remains lie in a secluded spot, near the great road leading from Beattie's Ford to Lincolnton.

[[[Success of the British.--Death old General Davidson.--British Account of the Conflict.--Queen's-Museum.]]]

{599}to the opposite bank. * The British reserved their fire until they had gained the shore, and then, pouring a few volleys into the ranks of Graham, soon dispersed them. While ascending the bank, Colonel Hall, of the British army, was killed. General Davidson was stationed half a mile from the ford, with the main body of the militia. Hearing the firing, he hastened to the spot, with Colonel William Polk and the Reverend Thomas M'Caule. They arrived just as the Americans were about to flee. Davidson was the last upon the ground, and as he turned to follow his troops he was shot dead by a rifle ball. ** The mili-

* Stedman, an eye-witness, from whose work the plan is copied, gives the following account of the passage of the river. This description illustrates the plan. "The light infantry of the guards, led by Colonel Hall, first entered the water. They were followed by the grenadiers, and ihe grenadiers by the battalions, the men marching in platoons, to support one another against the rapidity of the stream. When the light infantry had nearly reached the middle of the river, they were challenged by one of the enemy's sentinels. The sentinel having challenged thrice and received no answer, immediately gave the alarm by discharging his musket; and the enemy's pickets were turned out. No sooner did the guide [a Tory] who attended the light, infantry to show them the ford, hear the report of the sentinel's musket, than he turned round and left them. This, which at first seemed to portend much mischief, in the end proved a fortunate incident. Colonel Hall, being forsaken by his guide, and not knowing the true direction of the ford, led the column directly across the river, to the nearest part of the opposite bank. This direction, as it afterward appeared, carried the British troops considerably above the place where the ford terminated on the other side, and where the enemy's pickets were posted, so that when they delivered their fire the light infantry were already so far advanced as to be out of the line of its direction, and it took place angularly upon the grenadiers, so as to produce no great effect."--History of the American War, ii., 328.

** General William Davidson was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania, in 1746. His family went to North Carolina (Rowan county) when he was four years old. He was educated at Queen's Museum, * an institution at Charlotte, where many of the patriots of Carolina were instructed; and when the war broke ont, he took up arms. He was major of one of the first regiments raised in Carolina, but first saw active service in New Jersey. In November, 1779, he was detached to reenforce Lincoln at the South. In a skirmish, near Carson's Mills, a ball passed through his body, near the kidneys, but the wound was not mortal.

* He was appointed brigadier after the battle of Camden, in the place of Colonel Rutherford, who was made a prisoner there. In the action at Cowan's Ford, on the first of February, 1781, he was shot through the breast, and instantly fell dead. Congress, on the twentieth of September following, ordered a monument to be erected to his memory, at a cost not exceeding $500 dollars. * General Davidson was a man of pleasing address, great activity, and pure devotion.

* This building stood upon the site of the present residence ot W. J. Alexander, Esq., and was better known during the Revolution as Liberty Hall Academy. Previous to the establishment of an institution of learning here, there were but two chartered seminaries in the province; one at Edenton, and the other at Newbern. In those none but members of the Established Church were allowed to hold official station. The Presbyterians, who were very numerous, resolved to have a seminary of their own, and applied for an unrestricted charter for a college. It was granted; but, notwithstanding it was called Queen's College, in compliment to the consort of the king, and was located in a town called by her name, and a county ot the same name as her birth-place, the charter was repealed in 1771 by royal decree. The triple compliment was of no avail. It continued to exist, nevertheless, and the first Legislature under the State Constitution, in 1777, gave it a charter under the title ot Liberty Hall Academy. The people of Mecklenburg would not allow any preference to be given to one religious denomination over another in the management of the affairs of the institution; and with firmness they pressed forward, with a determination to maintain both religious and political freedom. These principles, ever active, made Mecklenburg, the seat of this free institution of learning--"the most rebellious county in the state"--"the Hornet's Nest." No doubt the repealing of the charter by royal authority, of this popular institution, operated powerfully in alienating the affections of the people from the parent government; for there, as in every dissenting community in America, the establishment of "the Church" as a dominant power among them, was regarded with disfavor. Episcopacy and royalty appeared to be inseparable in interest, and concurrent in aristocratic tendencies.

[[[Dispersion of Militia.--Commencement of Greene's Retreat.--His Passage of the Yadkin.--Cornwallis again foiled]]]

{600}tia were entirely routed; and all the fords being abandoned, Cornwallis, with the whole royal army, crossed the Catawba without further molestation. * The militia reassembled at Tarrant's tavern, about ten miles distant. Tarleton, who had been sent with his cavalry in pursuit, hastened to their rendezvous, made a furious charge, broke through their center, killed quite a number, and dispersed the whole. A heavy rain had injured their powder, and they were not prepared to fight. The loss of General Davidson, and the total dispersion of the militia, greatly dispirited the patriots in that region, and Toryism again became bold and active.

Now fairly commenced the great race between Greene and Cornwallis; the goal was the Dan, the prize the possession of the Carolinas.

General Greene had hoped, by guarding the fords on the Catawba with the light troops under Morgan, to prevent the passage of the British army until Huger and Williams should arrive with the other divisions of the American forces. The passage at Cowan's Ford destroyed these hopes, and Morgan and his light troops retreated precipitately toward the Yadkin. The detachment of Lieutenant-colonel Webster crossed at Beattie's Ford, and joined Cornwallis the next day,[[Feb 2]]on the road to Salisbury, five miles from the crossing-place. The royal army rested at Salisbury ** that night, and the next morning started in pursuit of Greene and Morgan. These officers did not await the dawn, but passed the Yadkin at Trading Ford (see cut on opposite page), while Cornwallis was slumbering; and when, on the morning of the third, the earl hastened to strike a fatal blow on the banks of that stream, the Americans were beyond his reach, and Providence had again placed an impassable barrier of water between them. Another copious rain in the mountains had swollen the Yadkin to a mighty river. The horses of Morgan had forded the stream at midnight, and the infantry passed over in bateaux at dawn. These vessels were secured on the east shore of the Yadkin, and Cornwallis was obliged to wait for the waters to subside before he could cross. Again he had the Americans almost within his grasp. A corps of riflemen were yet on the west side when O'Hara, with the van-guard, approached, but these escaped across the river, after a smart skirmish of a few minutes. Nothing was lost but a few wagons belonging to the Whigs who were fleeing with the American army, with their effects.

Greene now pushed on toward Guilford Court House, where he arrived on the sev-

* The loss on this occasion is not certainly known. Colonel Hall and three or four of the light infantry were killed, and between thirty and forty were wounded. The Americans lost Davidson, and about twenty killed and wounded. Cornwallis's horse was shot under him, and fell as soon as he got upon the shore. O'Hara's horse tumbled over with him in the water, and other horses were carried down the stream.--Lee's Memoirs, 137.

** It is related that while at Salisbury, the British officers were hospitably entertained by Dr. Anthony Newman, notwithstanding he was a Whig. There, in presence of Tarleton and others, Dr. Newman's two little sons were engaged in playing the game of the battle of the Cowpens with grains of corn, a red grain representing the British officers, and a white one the Americans. Washington and Tarleton were particularly represented, and as one pursued the other, as in a real battle, the little fellows shouted, "Hurrah for Washington, Tarleton runs! Hurrah for Washington!" Tarleton looked on for a while, but becoming irritated, he exclaimed, "See those cursed little rebels."

* Journals of Congress, vii., 148.

[[[The Trading Ford.--Numbers of Ihe two Armies.--Passage of the Yadkin by Cornwallis.--His March resumed.]]]

{601}enth.[[Feb 1781]] He had dispatched an order to Huger and Williams to march directly t to that point, and join him there.

This order was promptly obeyed, and these officers, with their commands, arrived there on the same day with Greene and Morgan. Lieutenant-colonel Lee and his legion, who had been on an expedition to Georgetown, seventy-five miles below Che-raw, overtook them on their march, and that gallant corps was now added to the concentrated strength of the Americans. The army, lying at rest on the slopes around Martinsville, was mustered on the eighth, and amounted to about two thousand men, including five hundred militia. Of this number nearly two hundred were superior cavalry. The army of Cornwallis in pursuit, was between two thousand five hundred and three thousand strong, of which three hundred were mounted men.

Perceiving no prospect of the falling of the river, for the rain continued, Cornwallis marched as rapidly as possible up the western side of the Yadkin to the shallow ford near the present village of Huntsville, in Surrey county, where he crossed. There he was informed of the junction of the two divisions of the American army, and the hope of keeping them separate was extinguished. An attempt to intercept their march toward Virginia, and compel Greene to fight or surrender, was now the chief object of the earl's solicitude. Upon the success of this undertaking depended not only the maintenance of his power in the Carolinas, but perhaps the actual existence of his army. He knew the inferiority of the American army in numbers, and being assured that the rivers which lay between Greene and Virginia were too much swollen to be forded, and the ferries too wide apart to furnish a sufficient number of boats at one point to transport the retreating army across, he felt confident of success. His lordship was now within twenty-five miles of Greene, at Guilford, and nearer the shallow fords of the Dan than he was; and on the ninth of February[[1781]] he resumed his march with vigor, to gain a position in front of the Americans.

* Both divisions of the army were in want of rest. That of Morgan had been almost constantly in motion since the battle at the Cowpens, and had traveled one hundred and fifty miles; that of Huger had traveled one hundred miles from the camp on the Pedee, with bad wagons and poor teams, over an exceedingly wretched road. Many marched without shoes over the frozen ground, and their footsteps were marked with blood for many miles. No one can form an idea of the character of the roads in winter, at the South, where the red clay abounds, without passing over them. Until I had done so, I could not appreciate the difficulties experienced by the two armies in this race toward Virginia, particularly in the transportation of baggage wagons or of artillery.

** This view of the Trading Ford, where Greene, with Morgan and his light troops, crossed the Yadkin, is from the east side of the river. It is just at the foot of an island, about a mile and a half below the great bridge on the road to Salisbury. The river is usually fordable between the island and the stakes seen in the picture; below that point the water is deep. I made this sketch just at dawn on a cold frosty morning (January 5, 1849), the moon shining brightly in the west, and the nearer stars glittering in profusion in the deep sky above.

[[[Greene's Resolution to continue his Retreat.--Light Army organized.-- Colonel Williams.--Line of March.]]]

{602}Greene, also aware of the inferiority of his forces, called a council of war,[[Feb 9]]when it was resolved to avoid a battle, and retreat as rapidly as possible across the Dan into the friendly districts of Virginia.

A light army, designed to maneuver in the rear of the Americans and in front of the pursuers, was formed out of Lee s legion, the regular battalion of infantry under Colonel Howard, the cavalry under Colonel Washington, and a small corps of Virginia riflemen under Major Campbell, in all about seven hundred men, the flower of the Southern army. General Morgan, who was worn down by fatigue, and tortured by rheumatism, expressed a desire to quit the service. Greene was embarrassed, for he was at a loss how to supply the place of the brave partisan, and wished him to command the light corps just organized. Morgan declined, and Greene bestowed the honor upon his deputy adjutant general, Colonel Otho Holland Williams, a brave young officer of the Maryland line, who proved himself worthy of the confidence of his commander. * Williams entered upon his command on the morning of the tenth, and on that day the whole army moved toward the Dan at a point seventy miles from Guilford Court House.

The two armies moved in lines almost parallel with each other, Greene on the right, and Cornwallis on the left. Colonel Williams, with his light corps, took an intermediate road, to watch the movements of the enemy. Lee's "partisan legion," which maneuvered in the rear, was often in sight of O Hara s van-guard. Great vigilance was necessary at night to prevent a surprise, and so numerous were the patrols, that each man on the march enjoyed only six hours sleep in forty-eight. Williams always moved at three o'clock in the morning, so as to get a sufficient distance in advance to partake of breakfast, the only meal they were allowed each day. Cornwallis was equally active, and both armies made the extraordinary progress of thirty miles a day.

On the morning of the thirteenth, while a portion of the light troops were eating breakfast at a farm-house, they were informed by a friendly countryman, who came from his plow for the purpose, that the British army had left their direct route, and were only four miles in the rear, upon the road they were marching. Lee dispatched Captain Mark Armstrong, one of the most efficient of his cavalry officers, to reconnoiter, and his whole camp

* Otho Holland Williams was born in Prince George county, Maryland, in 1748. His ancestors were Welsh, and came to America soon after Lord Baltimore became proprietor of the province of Maryland. He was left an orphan at twelve years of age. He was a resident of Frederick county when the war of the Revolution began, where he entered the military serviee as lieutenant of a rifle corps under Colonel Michael Cresap, and with that officer he went to Boston. He was afterward promoted to the command of his company. In 1776, he was promoted to major, and fought at Fort Washington with distinction. In that engagement he was wounded and captured, and for some time experienced the horrors of the provost prison of New York. He was afterward exchanged for Major Ackland, captured at Saratoga. During his captivity, he was appointed to the command of a regiment in the Maryland line. He was Gates's adjutant general during the campaign of 1780. When Gates collected the remnant of his army, scattered at Camden, the Marylanders were formed into two battalions, constituting one regiment. To Williams was assigned the command, with John Eager Howard as his lieutenant. When Greene assumed the command of the Southern army, he perceived the value of Williams, and appointed him adjutant general. In Greene's memorable retreat, and the subsequent battle at Guilford, Williams greatly distinguished himself; and at Eutaw Springs he led the celebrated charge which swept the field and gained the bloody victory. Congress promoted him to the rank of brigadier; and at the close of the war he received the appointment of collector of customs at Baltimore, which office he held until his death, which occurred on the sixteenth of July, 1794. while on his way to a watering-place for the benefit of his health.

[[[Death of Lee's Bugler.--A Skirmish and Race.--Efforts of both Parties to reach the Dan.]]]

{603}was soon in commotion. Lee, with a considerable force, concealed himself in a wood to await the approach of the British van.

Soon a sharp firing was heard, and Captain Armstrong came dashing by where Lee was posted, with some of Tarleton's cavalry, under Captain Miller, in hot pursuit. Lee instantly gained the road, and made such a fierce charge upon the pursuers that he completely broke their ranks, killing a large number. Captain Miller was made prisoner, and narrowly escaped hanging, for Lee charged him with the murder of his bugler, a lad of eighteen, who, while hastening to Williams, was overtaken and sabred by the British cavalry. * Lee was about to hang him upon a tree, when the British van appeared, and Miller was sent on to General Greene as a prisoner of war. In this skirmish eighteen of the British dragoons were killed; the Americans lost only the little bugler. The dead were buried by Cornwallis, an hour afterward.

In the course of the day another encounter occurred. Lee's troops had been deprived of their morning meal, which was half cooked when the countryman gave the alarm. By taking a road shorter and more secluded than the one passed by Williams, he hoped to gain time to dine at a well-stocked farm. He did not apprehend a surprise, for the road was only a by-way. He stationed a few videttes, however, to watch, and well he did. Just as the horses were about to partake of their provender, and the soldiers of corn bread and bacon, the videttes fired an alarm and came dashing toward the main body. Battle or flight was the alternative. Before them was a swollen stream spanned by a single bridge; to gain and hold this, was an object of vital importance to Lee. His infantry were ordered to run and take possession of it, while the cavalry prepared to cover a retreat. The van of the British were surprised at this meeting, not being aware of the proximity of their foe, and while halting to receive orders, Lee's troops had an opportunity to pass the bridge. The British soon followed, and across a cultivated plain both parties sped with all their might. The Americans had the strongest and fleetest horses, and, ascending a hill to its summit, they entered upon the great road leading to Irwin's Ferry, on the Dan. All day long O'Hara, with the van of the British army, continued in pursuit, and was frequently in sight of Lee's legion; sometimes within rifle-shot. Thus again escaped this right arm of the Southern army. Vigilance--sleepless vigilance alone, under Providence, preserved it.

The night that succeeded was dark, cold, and drizzly. Cornwallis and his whole army were directly in the rear of the Americans, and now was his only chance for striking an effective blow, for another day, and Greene might be beyond the Dan. The British commander resolved to push forward with the hope of overtaking his prey before morning. Williams and the wearied troops of Lee were compelled to do the same to avoid an encounter. They were ignorant of the position of Greene, and felt great anxiety for his safety. At eight o'clock, they were much alarmed by the apparition of camp fires, a mile in advance, supposing it to be the camp of Greene, and that Cornwallis would inevitably overtake him. Williams prepared to confront and annoy the enemy while Greene should escape. This sacrifice was unnecessary, for the camp fires were those Greene had lighted two nights before, and had been kept burning by friendly people in the neighborhood. With glad hearts the light troops pressed forward, until assured that the enemy had halted for the night, when they lighted fires, laid down, and slumbered for three or four hours.

Only forty miles now intervened between Cornwallis and the Dan. His rest was brief, and before dawn he was again in pursuit. The roads, passing through a red clay region,

* The pony rode by the countryman who gave notice of the approach of the British was much jaded, and when he went back with Armstrong, Lee ordered his young bugler to change horses with the planter. Upon the jaded pony the bugler started for the ranks of Williams in advance. The attacking party, under Captain Miller, soon overtook the bugler, who, too small to carry a sword, was unarmed. The poor boy was cut down, begging for mercy. Lee saw the transaction just as he led his cavalry to the attack. He was greatly exasperated, and held Captain Miller responsible for the deed. That officer charged the cruelly upon the drunkenness of some of his men, but Lee would listen to no excuse. Miller escaped, as we have seen in the text. The bugler was left in the woods by the road side.

[[[Greene's Passage across the Dan.--Passage of the whole Army.--Disappointment of Cornwallis.]]]

{604}were wretched in the extreme, yet the pursued and the pursuers pushed forward rapidly. It was the last stake for the prize, and eagerly both parties contended for it. During the forenoon, only a single hour was allowed by the belligerents for a repast. At noon a loud shout went up from the American host; a courier, covered with mud, his horse reeking with sweat, brought a letter to Colonel Williams from Greene, announcing the joyful tidings that he had _crossed the Dan safely at Irwins Ferry on the preceding day_[[Feb 13, 1781]] That shout was heard by O'Hara, and Cornwallis regarded it as ominous of evil. Still he pressed forward. At three o'clock, when within fourteen miles of the river, Williams filed off toward Boyd's Ferry, leaving Lee to maneuver in front of the enemy. Williams reached the shore before sunset, and at dark was landed upon the north side. Lee sent his infantry on in advance, and at twilight withdrew with his cavalry, and galloped for the river. When he arrived, his infantry had just passed in boats with safety. The horses were turned into the stream, while the dragoons embarked in bateaux. At nine o'clock, Lieutenant-colonels Lee and Carrington (the quarter-master general), embarked in the last boat, and before midnight the wearied troops were in deep slumber in the bosom of Virginia. During the evening Cornwallis heard of the passage of Greene, and the escape of Williams and his light troops. The Dan was too much swollen to be forded; every boat was moored upon the northern shore, and for the third time a barrier of water interposed between the pursuer and pursued. The prize was lost, and with a heavy heart Cornwallis moved slowly back toward Hillsborough, after resting his wearied troops for a day. He had but one hope left, the promised general rising of the Tories in North Carolina, now that the "rebel army" was driven out of the state. Greene encamped in the rich and friendly district of Halifax çounty, in Virginia, and there his wearied troops reposed after one of the most skillfully conducted and remarkable retreats on record. ** Upon this

* Lieutenant-colonel Edward Carrington was an exceedingly active officer. He had been detached with that portion of the Virginia regiment of artillery retained with the main army, when some of his companies had attended the Virginia line to the South, and had been taken at the surrender of Charlestown.

* On reaching North Carolina with De Kalb, Colonel Harrison, commander of the Virginia artillery, unexpectedly arrived and assumed the command. On account of a misunderstanding with Harrison, Carrington retired, and was afterward dispatched by Gates to superintend the examination of the Roanoke, to ascertain the readiest points of communication across it, to be used either in receiving supplies from Virginia or in retreating from North Carolina. Greene found him engaged in this service. Aided by Captain Smith of the Maryland line, he explored the Dan, and made every preparation for Greene to cross it with his army. Having completed his arrangements, he joined the army near the Yadkin, and was one of the most active of Lee's officers in the retreat to the Dan. At this time he held the office of quarter-master general of the Southern army, which office he filled with honor to himself and the service. He was afterward engaged in the siege of Yorktown, where he commanded the artillery on alternate days with Lamb and Stevens of New York. After the war, he was a representative in Congress from his native state (Virginia). When Aaron Burr was tried for treason, Colonel Carrington was the foreman of the jury. He died on the twenty-eighth of October, 1810, at the age of sixty-one years.--See Lee's Memoirs.

** Gordon, Ramsey, Lee, Tarleton, Stedman, &c. The distance traversed by the retreating army was more than two hundred miles. It was in February, when the roads are worse than at any other season of the year, sometimes very muddy, at others frozen hard. On the day after his passage, Greene sent the following dispatch to Governor Jefferson: "On the Dan River, almost fatigued to death, having had a retreat to conduct for upward of two hundred miles, maneuvering constantly in the face of the enemy, to give time for the militia to turn out and get off our stores." Nothing of importance was lost on the way, and baggage and stores were safely crossed to the Virginia side. The condition of the army was wretched respecting clothing. The shoes were generally worn out, the body-clothes much tattered, and no more than a blanket for four men. The light corps were a little better off, yet there was only one blanket for three men. During the retreat from Guilford, the tents were never used; and Greene, in his note to Williams announcing his passage of the Dan, declared that he had not slept more than four hours sinee he left Guilford. The troops were allowed only one meal a day during the retreat. Before crossing, many of the North Carolina militia deserted; only about eighty remained. General Lillington (who was a colonel at the battle on Moore's Creek), was sent with his corps to Cross Creek, to awe the Tories in that quarter.

[[[Preparations to Recross the Dan.--March of the Army toward Guilford.--Maneuvers of the Belligerents.]]]

{605}movement all eyes were turned, and when the result was known the friends of liberty every where chanted a loud alleluiah.