Whig and tribune. [volume] (Jackson, Tenn.) 1870-1877, 1876-01-29
FERGUSONs AVENGERS.
4 Story ofPartlsan Dars.

lNls Tor the gallant ferguson
The foregoing five words has insti-
tuted a reign of terror in one Of the low
licst districts of the Palmetto State-a
district Watered by the CStaWaba and
Paeolct rivers and their gentle tributa-
rics.
In the month of September, 1880,
Corn wallis detached the notorious Col.
Ferguson 10 the frontiers OF North Caro-
lima, for the Ostensible purpose OF encOur-
a giug the tsries of that region to
take up arms for the king. FurgusOn's
force consisted in part Of the most prof
liSate and abandoned characters OF the
partisan days, and his march was marked
by atrocities of the most shocking de-
scriptiOn. The hardy men Of the Carroll
Las, Kentucky, and Virginia, rose against
the maraudsrs, and, led by Boon and
other buCk-wOOds worthless, gave them a
decisive defeat at Kings Mountain.
Ferguson was slain in the battle, and his
fellow foTragers, numbering about one
thousand, were nearly all captured or
killed.
This conflict revived the hopes of the
Southern patriots, and forced COrnwallis
30 return to Charleston disseminated and
cast down.
eve shall have rest now" the patri-
OTIS said, after the battle. Ferguson,
who escaped with their wretched lives
are not strong enough to do us harm"
Everywhere in the vicinity of the
battlefield the Americans bTeathSd
freer, and lOyalists in whose interests
Ferguson had marched TO his death.
curhed their loyalty, ard IN secrecy
sNOre revenge.
But the settlements were soon to learn
that the victory of Kings Mountain had
ucrved the arm Of a foe more terri
bic thaR any which they bad hitherto
known.
The existence of the new terror was
discovered by boy one morning about
fortnight after the battle. He found
the family Of Archibald AettsOn muir
dercd ia their house, and to the corpse
had been pinned paper bearing these
words:
'This for the gallant Ferguson"'
This terribly atrocity aroused the
country, and the excitement WAS qEick-
" heightened by the finding OF the body
OF another murdered patriot. On the
cold breast, which had been pierced by
pistol balls, waB the palid paper and its
words of terrible import, and the cOuR-
try knew that a fearful vengeance
would be taken for Kings Mountain.
During the week that followed the dis
the Avengers was terrible. They fell
upon patriots houses at the dead of night,
and left on the bosom Of their victims the
five words which had already terrOriZed
the country. 1t was in vain that the
patriots summon cd their cunning and
energy for the capture of the band of
demons, which, as it had been discover
cd, numbered six men, masked and
mounted on black horses. They came
and went like ghosts, but always left
behind the terrible sentence which had
made their existence eXecOrable. At
times they fell upon their hunters, and
left them by the roadside marked with
the sign of vengeance.
Fear began to paralyze the Carolinas;
many abandoned their homes for the sake
of their families; and it is probable that
the entire district would have been
depOpulated in 4 short time, had it not
been for the courage of one woman.
Her name was Alice BeauchamPs.
1t was dark night in the last week of
November. when the heroine of my story
left the house of a friend. Her own
house, which had been deserted for sew
eral days, was not far away, and she had
determined 10 return to it for the purpose
of securing an article of apparel left be-
hind in her recent flight
Before she set out on her journey she
was warned Of the dangers that environ
cd it; but she smiled, and declared that
she did not fear them. She could enter
the old house through the kitchen, in the
rear, tind the garment without 4 light,
and return safely to her friends.
The path she had often traversed was
barely discernable; but she made good
headway, and reached her home without
accident. The silence of the grave hung
about the fOrsaken place, and the lifting
of the latch sent chill of terror TO the
Young girls heart. Through the
kitchen, across the deserted parlOr, ana
up the stairs, she crept to the room where
size had left the object of her nocturnal
quest. The drawer of the old bureau
yielded without noise, and Alice was
drawing forth the garment when the
voices of men fell upon her ears.
She started, dropped her prize, and
with her heart in her throat crept to the
window that overlooked the porch in
front of the house
She could see nothing, for the night
was too dark; but the voices ofmen, min
gled with the champing Of bits, continued
10 salute her ears.
..This is old Beauehampe's house,
said one. ''It has been deserted for sew
eral davs. The daughter, frightened by
the manner in which we treated the
father, has field somewhere for protse-
ton"
These words drove every vestige Of
color from the listeners face; they tOld
her who the men below We're, though
ske could not see even the outlines Of
tLeir Dersons. One week prior to her
visit, her father, one of Kings Mountain
heroes. was found dead in palmetto
grove, and the words Of Ferguson's A
Tengers lay on his breast. Then she hau lil
deserted Ger home, knowing that the
hand that had struck the father Woulu
not spare the daughter.
Wen might the lone girl tremble when
she found herself so near the dreaded
scourges of the country, and she did not
move until she heard the front door open
ed by a kick, and heavily booted feet IN
the room below.
Then a calm thought of her situation
drove fear from her heart, and Aiice
Beauchampe prepared to perform one OF
the most daring deeds of the Revolution
airy War.
The noise in the house increased, and