The Anderson intelligencer. [volume] (Anderson Court House, S.C.) 1860-1914, 1899-06-28

readers houli file thi, paper away
for future reference. a. it i, full Of
information not easily obtained
Fellow CllIzE>., LADIES Axn
GrNTLEMEN
1t affords me much pleasure to stand
before you on this great occasion. AS
>cWblcd as we are beneath the shades
of peace and prosperity, while above
us are bright and sunny skies radiant
with promise and hope. This is sub
lime; but the most blessed thing Of
All is the super abundance Of pure
fresh and invigorating air that we
breathe, for it is the air of liberty.
Everywhere throughout this great
American commonwealth this adorable
goddess cmits the air Of Freedom free
dom Of thought. freedom Of -pccch
and freedom to worship God, which
are the most priceless boons that were
ever bestowed upon any people. Lib
crty, yes, glorious liberty, But from
whence came it? So far as we are
concerned i: came out Of seven long
years Of suffering from famine naked
nrSs peril and sword endured by our
ancestors about Il century and GUAR
ter ago. l'y their never Tagging de-
voticn and patriotism, by their unprc-
~cJcntcd bravery and hcroism they
succeeded in driving the armies Of
King George from our shores. As a
result the goddess Of American liberty
was crowned and she has rcigncd
from that hour to this, and may her
banner proudly wave until the end of
Zine.
'Tis true that there may have been
IN some respects greater battles, but
all things considered none played
more important part in the great drama
Of the Revolution than that enacted
on the glorious field Of the Cowpcns.
Eor time previous to this action the
cause Of liberty in the Carolinas
seemed almost hopeless. Gates had
been disastrously defeated at Camden
and Sumter cut to pieces on Fishing
Greek. This forced the little bands
Of patriots to flee to the mountains of
North Carolina, Tennessee and Vir-
ginia for safety, thereby leaving the
country to the mercy of the British
and Tories But the spirit of these
fugitive heroes was by no means
crushed
They determined to unite theiE
forces and destroy the proud and de-
fiant Ferguson, who was at that time
master Of the up-country. n plan
was agreed upon, and the final june
ton of these intrepid 1cyotces Of
liberty was formed at the Cowpcns
che very same field on which VIC arc
assembled to-day. The next day, Oc-
tobcr Z, 1880. they overlook Ferguson
at Kings Mountain, where he was
killed and his army totally de-
stroyed. A l..!o more than three
months later came the brilliant action
at the Cowpcns in which the irrepress-
ible and heretofore ever victorious
Tar(eton was put TO fight and his
army cut to pieces. The victory at
Kings Mountain opened up the way
for that at Cowpcns; hence on that
mountain and on this plain arc the
.i,ivots on which tho tide in favor Of
American liberty completely turned.
Yea, these two mighty and successful
blows virtually broke the backbone Of
British supremacy in the South. Then
is it saying too much when we declare
that if there had been no King 8
Mountain and if there had been no
Cowpens there would have never been
any Yorktown?
Fellow citizens, tread softly, for you
stand on sacred ground. The soil be-
Meath your feet drank blood which was
poured out as the price of liberty.
Only few rods away lie the remains
Of twelve martyr heroes, who not only
poured out their blood, but gave up
their lives as we'll
Noble patriots, to-day we would
honor thee, but we would not disturb
thy calm reposc. Sleep on, sleep ON
until the resurrection morn when we
hope to awake with thee to a blessed
immortality.
Soon after Gen. Greene assumed
command Of the Southern army a part
Of it was ordered to march into South
Carolina under MajorG Gencral Daniel
Morgan. This detachment consisted
of 32O NIarylanders, under l.icuten
ant-Colonel Howard, 200 Nirgini,
militia, under Major Triplett, and 81
cavalry, led by lieutenant -Cclonc
VIM. Washington. On December 1G