Wilmington journal. [volume] (Wilmington, N.C.) 1844-1895, 1870-10-14
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! spark" His work is ! Asnarsel in one par<
I tfcular at least.5 1t iatho Nasreh historical
work L have ever exaninDd. Unlessi the
incidents recorded betrased the rnatienr
/ ality Of the, authogsy 1t would be
honesty, to tell to; saAi4E did he,l5eloneedy
When We remenbenf fl "a xEfecHrAerI was o..
brilliant actor in The stirytpg scenes he
describes SO graphicaiYs and yet could So
! lifthimseif above tlfE dirf md sn1ok 1df
I faction and preiudicaa ahht 90 sssse tho Mbrld !
historical: model ol undeEiatihg fEatts
aud fairness, I know no lMReaa Sc of nra sel
that would appear eEssagSeant oT undo, !
But my object is.nsEeslssssEsal a.r will
only add that the readAE 5fiAk end it. aAretf-a
/ tertaining as a novel ny Ehagies : Dickens
or George Eliot, abQ#md1ahm mH IT docs ir
events of the most 81 irg 0hafA ActeT The
+" Memoirs I" are ias " sense tedioah sUfT
heavy, but aren far sn0Ee pteasineT than1
either Bancroft's or Hillard'as : History Of
the @o.Din United ted States" Or Tye Life iT 81 1
MY main purpose in fjrepafang slSssoAafai
ticies is to collate certain papers W hieR re4,
fer to the conduct Of North Carolinians,
!, during the protracted wax In the Southern
Department.. IL has been long the habit
of our neighbors inst eYef ON SoFFEafn
border TO taunt US with the cowardly be-
havior of our militia at Guilford, Q. FL.
+ From my boybood L have been compelled
to listen to the jibes and snecrs of these
neighbors. l wish to show the reader two
things First, that although our troops did
behave badly on that day, it was the only
/ time but one during Our eight years war !;
and secondly, that Virginians and Mary
! ar nfYlIv on
other battle-felds, Col. Lee being an eye
witness.
81 In regard to the battle of Guilford Court
House, it ought to be borne in mind, in
the first place, that our troops were raw
levies just from the plough and the work
shop, and in the second place, that Gen.
1 Greene placed them far IN advance of the
other troops, just OH the edge of an open
field and behind common rail fence
Says Gen. Greene, the commander in his
= official report Of the battle, who, by the
h way, was the ablest General VIC had save
j Washington /" The first line was COM
! posed of North Carolina militia under
u Generals Butler and Eaton" It was post
4 ed "just on the edge of the woods, and
j the back of fence which ran parallel with
I the line, with an open field directly in their
7 front" Is it any great wonder, then, that
raw militia, utterly undisciplined ard IN
r trained, should be panic stricken when at
&: tackled vigorously by the a0hOle British line,
Y composed of as good veterans as there
a were in the world 4? Gen. Greene says /;
Tile aO75oIe british army moved through
= the Old fields to attack the North Carolina
brigades (two) who waited the attack until
the enemy got within one hundred and
forty yards, when part of them began to
s fire, but considerable part left she ground
without firing gun." That is entirely an
ugly record, there is no denying. The Vir-
ginia militia fought well, but they were
I'm the woods about three hundred yards
in rear of the first line." Col Lee, in
speaking Of the troops from his own State,
says. that Gen. Stevens, who commanded
the Virginians, "stung with the reco!lec-
, ton of their ingLoriouS flight in the battle
! of Camden, had placed q line Of sentineLs IN
his rear, aOiM orders TO shoot eUery man Mat
17inched" If such a course had been pur-
sued towards the North Carolinians, and
if they had been in the second line of bat
tie in the woods, possibly they would have
; done as we'll.
: NUMBER II.
I propose in this closing article to give
some brief extracts from the " Memoirs"
to enable the reader to see how North
Carolinians bore themselves on fields of
carnage other than that of Guilford Court
House, in the "days that tried mems
. souls"
, of North Carolinians, attacked q company
OF British infantry five miles from Hang
ing Rock and overpowered them, destroy
ing wagons and stores, and capturing q
Major and forty mounted infantry. (p 169).
General Caswell, afterwards Governor,)
a had "given unquestionable proofs of his
. decision, zeal and ability. by the gallant
= stand he made in l776, at Morris Bridge,
|, against superior force, which terminated
+ in the complete discontinue of the loyal
!. ists." Up. 17D. Caswell's troops were from
this State.
General Davie attacked "three COM
panies" of loyaiists near Hanging Rock.
6 They were all, except few, killed and
! wounded and the spoils of victory were
a safely brought off, consisting. of sixty
. horses and their trappings, and one hun
7 dred muskets and rifles" (p. III. Gen
7 eral DaVie alwaya commanded North
Carolinians.
3 At the battle of Hanging Rock General
:. Davie drove before him body of loyalists,
6 who were forced to take shelter under the
British infantry. Up. 178).
= 'Dixon's regiment of North Carroll.
. Mans" at the battle of Camden, Z" acted
q with the most determined resolution u
Up. 1874. None, without violence to the
" claims Of honor and Justice, can withhold
\ applause from Col. Dixon and his North
: Carolina regiment of militia. X 4 In
every vicissitude of the battle this regi-
- nent maintained its ground. . x r Ii
: was q splendid instance of seif-possession
- by single regiment, out of two brigades. .
- Up. 1870. The other regiments of militia
q had fed. This regiment stood firm as ''a
= stone WALL" The Virginians ran here.
~ At Wahab's plantation Gen. Davie
4 after some admirable maunmuvering, sur
= prised body of loyalists and some of the
British Legion, driving them into inglori-
:. GUS flight. ''Sixty killed and wounded
a were lett on the ground" Dayie only hat
"a one man wounded. He captured ''ninety
- six horses with their equipments and on
" hundred and twenty stand Of arms" H
q marched, to accomplish this result, ''sixt,
= miles in twelty-four hours" g.. p. 195. 6.
ie -Four days afterwards, ''hoverng arouuc
~ the British army, Gen. Davie took severa
prisoners during the afternoon. The mex
daY. having reached Charlnttn al mid