Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1857-04-23

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ferred to, however, should be examined
interesting relics may be discovered, and ii
will certainly add to the interest of the bat.
tie ground to have this tradition verified.
After satisfying our eyes with the monu.
ment, we traversed the battlefield, cudea,
voring, with the aid of the books we had
brought with us, to gather material for cor.
rect conception of the memorable fight. But
returning from our tramp, with little salts,
faction, We were fortunate enough to meet
with Mr.. Robert Scruggs, who lives about
half a. mile distant from the field, and ac-
knowledge ourselves very much indebted to
him, for the kindness and urbanity with
which he impaired to us his large and inter
esting store of traditionary information
He has lived from early childhood in the
vicinity, and has shown commendable and
we'll directed zeal in collecting the traditions
of the neighborhood concerning the battle.
He has visited the field with many Of those
who were engaged in the fight, and listened
to their own accounts. He says (and We
have no doubt of his correctness, since the
accounts given by all who have written on
the subject seem to justify the belief,) that
within his own recollection the ground upon
which the battle was fought has undergone
very great changes; that the branch which
now takes its rise some two hundred yards
to the left of the road as you approach the
field, once ran across, or at least took its rise
Immediately from the left side of the road ;
that the ravine was much deeper than at
present, and when boy he remembers to
have gathered reeds at the head of the
branch. This must have been the branch
and ravine over which the battle was fought,
and the same mentioned in the historical ac-
counts.
The traditional account given US by Mr..
Scruggs, of the approach and position of the
opposing forces, is however, somewhat oppo.
sed to the historical account of Simms and
others; but fortified as it is, by various cir
cumstances and traces of the fight, we think
1t none the less reliable, and to our minds,
even more probable. The account which he
has received from many old soldiers who
were in the engagement, is somewhat as fol-
lows
Morgan being pressed hard by Tarleton
who had much larger number of men, af-
ter crossing at Grindell Shoals, some twenty
miles below Cowpens, was making his way
as fast as possible, along the ridge between
Pacolett and Broad rivers towards Gullford
Court House, where he expected to be re-cn-
forced. When within few miles of Island
Ford upon Broad river, he found that Tar
Teton would certainly ovcrtake him, before
he could reach Guiltord, he determined to
give him battle, and for that purpose march
ed back to Cowpens as the most favorable
spot for such a fight. He encampcd not far
from where the monument now stands, aud
made preparations to receive the enemy
Tarleton's force which, after travelling very
late in pursuit of Morgan, stopped sometime
after midnight, and encampcd to refresh
themselves some two, or two miles and half
below, and in a direction little south Of
east from Morsan's Camp, struck their tents
about daylight next morning, ard came up
on Morgan about sun up, when the fight
commenced. According to Simms accounts.
Tarleton had marched some FIVE miles that
morning, but Mr.. Scrugss says that he re-
members, when boy, to have seen the spot,
and that it was pointed out to him by those
who lived at the time, as the place where
Tarlcton cncamped the night before he
fought Morgan, and that many things, such
as broken ware of various kinds, &c., re-
maiucd to mark it, as, without doubt, the
very spot where he pitched lis tents.
If we understand, too, the historical ac
counts of the direction from which Tarleton
approached the American forces, they are
not sustained either by the Evolutionary ac.
count, or the marks and relicks of the fight.
We have already said the account given by
Mr.. Scruggs fixes Tarlcton's camp solnc two
or two ard half miles in direction some
what south of east from where the monu-
mcut now stands, and from this direction he
must have made the attack. The marks up
on the trees 20 to prove this statement, as
they shew that the balls must have been fired
with the parties thus opposed to each other.
Those balls found in the east side of the trees
have almost all of them ranged higher than
those from the west, corroborating what is
stated in history, AMI what We have always
understood about the battle. that the "Brit-
ith overshot our men," Numerous reliss,
such as guns, pistols, stirups, spurs cartridges,
catridse.boxcs, &C., which have at various
times been picked up, together with the
places which tradition points out as the bu-
rial places of the slain, all go to show this
statement correct.
We have not time nor space to say all We
would like to at present, and must hasten to
put an end to our account. Mr.. Scruggs has
quite an inexhaustible store Of anecdotes and
incidents of the battle, and we hope before
long to give our readers more of them. He
says, when lie was a boy they used to have
chopping frolics in order to get the lead from
the trees on the battle field; that if they
could get powder in those days, when the
demand for it made it so dear, that they
could always supply themselves with lead
from the trees, upon which the British vast
cd 50 much in that memorable battle.
The INFLUENCE OF WoMAN.-It is bet.