The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1884-02-21
Two Obscure Heroes.

Two Obscure Heroes.
When the British marched up from
Savannah, and took Charleston, in th.
Spring of 1880, they thought the rsvolu
ton was At IN end in the Southern States
and it really seemed so. Even the pa
triots thought it was useless to resist any
LONGER, and 10 when the British ordered
al The people to come together At differ.
snt places and enroll themselves ~
British subjects most of them were ready
to do it, simply because they thought
they could not help Themselves.
Only Z few daring men, here And
thsre, we're bold enough TO think ol
refusing, and but for them the British
could have net up The royal power again
in South Carolina, and then they would
have been free to take their whole force
against the patriots further north. The
fate of the whole country depended, to
large extent, upon the courage of the
few men who would not give up, even s'
such time, but kept up the fight against
al odds. These brave men forced the
British to keep Al army 10 the South
which they needed further North.
The credit of beginning this kind oil
partisan warfare belongs chiefly to two
or three plain men, who did it simply be-
cause they loved their country more than
their ease.
The man who first began it Was Justin
Gaston-a white.haired patriot, who
lived on little stream called Fishing
Greek, near Rocky Mount. He was
eighty years of age, and might well
have thought himself too old to care
about war matters; but he WAS brave
| man aud patriot, and the people who
lived near him were in the habit of tnk.
ing his advice and doing - he did.
When the news came that Tarleton
had killed band of patriots, under Col.
Buford, In cold blood, Justin Gaston
| called his nine sons and many of his
nspheus round him. Joining hands
these young men promised each other
that they never would take the British
oath, and never would give up the cause.
Soon afterward British force came to
the neighborhood, and al the people
were ordered to meet at Rocky Mount 10
enroll their names and take the oath.
Ono of the British officers went to see
Justin Castor, snd tried to persuade him
that it was folly to refuse. He knew
that if CASTOR advised tho people to give
up there would bs no trouble; but the
whis.hairsd patrlot told him to his face
that he would never take the oath him.
sslf, or advise anybody else to do 20.
As soon as the officer left, the old man
! sent for his friends, and about thirty
brave fellows met at his house that night
with their rifles In their hands. They
knew there would be strong force OF
British and Tories at Rocky Mount the
next day, but in spite of the odds
against them they made up their minds
to attack the place. Creeping through
the woods, they suddenly came upon the
crowd, and after sharp fight sent the
British flying helter-ske!tes in every di.
rection. This stopped the work of
enrolling tho people as British subjects,
and it did more than that. 1t showed
the patriots through the whole country
that they could still give the British ;
great deal Of trouble, and after thi. affair
many of the mon who had thought OF
giving up rubbed up their rifles instead,
and formed little bands of fighting men
| to keep the war going.
Another man who did much to stir up
! partisan warfare Was the Rev. William
Martin, IN old and pious preacher IN
the Scotch-Irish settlements. These
Scotch-Irish were very religious people,
and their preacher WAS their leader IN
all things. One Sunday after the news
had come to the settlement that Buford's
men had been killed by the British in
cold blood, the eloquent old man went
into the pulpit and preached about the
duty of fighting. In the afternoon ne
preached again, and even when the ser
vice was over he went on IN the open
air, still preaching to the people how
they should 6ght for their country, until
all the men in tho settlement were full
of fighting spirit The women told the
men to 20 and do their duty. and that
they would take care of the crops.
These little bands Of patriots were too
small to fight regular battles, or even to
hold strong posts. They had 10 hide in
the woods and svamps, and only came
out when they sav q chance TO strike q
blow. Then the blow fell like lightning,
and the men who dealt it quickly hid
themselves again. :.
They had signs BY which they told
each other what they were going to DO.
A twig bent down, q few stones strung
along path or any other of the hundred
small signs, served to tell every patriot
when and whore 10 meet his friends. A
man riding about, breaking . swig here
and there, Or making some other sign OF
the kind, could call together large
force at chosen spot within few hours.
The men brought out in this way would
| fall suddenly upon some stray British
force that was off its guards, and utterly
destroy it. The British would 1t once
send strong body of troops to punish
the daring patriots, but the redcoat lead
or would look in vain for anybody to
punish. The patriots could scatter and
hide as quickly as they could come
together.
Finding that they could not destroy
these patriot companies, the British and
Tories took their revenge on women and
children. They burned the houses of
the patriots, carried off their crops and
killed their cattle, 30 as to starVe their
families but the women were as brave
az the men, and from first to last not one
OF them ever wished her husband or sou
to give up the fight.
If the patriots could not conquer. the
British, they at least kept them in q
hornets nest. If they could not drive
them out of South Carolina, they could
keep them there, which Was nearly az
good thing to do because every soldier
that CORVALLIS had to keep in the South
would have been sent to some other part
Of the country 20 fight Americans if the
Carolinians hat. left the British alone.
In this way small bands of resolute