Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1900-10-06

thousand South CarOl1n1anS. FrOI
these, nine hundred and thirty-three
were selected to join the nine hundred
and ten under Colonel Campbell, in pur'
suit of Colonel Ferguson" Many o.
the officers were without commands
occupying simply the positions of me1
in ranks. 1t was raining and dark, bu
out to find Ferguson, and find him they
would An hour was given the troop:
to rest, during which time two beeve!
were killed; but the. time was so shor
that some of the men did not get 6
mouthful prepared. There were seve'
raj bands Of tories in the neighbor.
hood, whom they could easily have cap
tured, but they were In search Of Fer
guson, and they let the tories alone
although it was known that these
would join Ferguson the next day. By
eight o'clock every man was in the sad
die and on the trail of Ferguson. II
rained all night, and was dark. The
guide got lost for time. The men, II
order to keep their guns dry, wrapped
them up in their overcoats and blank
cts when they had them, and with theil
hunting shirts when they were want
ing. On the morning of the 7th, jus
before sunrise, they reached Broad riv.
er, about mile and a half below Cher.
okee ford, expecting to find Ferguson
river and marched up it's bank, anC
soon came to Ferguson's camp of the
night of the 5th. Here a halt was
made, and those who had anything tc
eat, eat it, and tho ie who had nothing
did without. The delay was only fol
a moment. Although hungry, wet anG
tired, they pushed OIL with as much
zeal as If the search had just com.
menced. Ferguson's trail was fresh
and they knew they would soon SEE
who would do the hanging! For dis.
tance of twelve miles, they saw no one
but their own party and learned moth.
ing of Ferguson's whereabouts. Wher
they had gone about twelve miles, af.
ter crossing Broad river, the advance
party met some persons coming from
Ferguson's camp. At the same time, q
boy about fourteen years old, by the
name Of John Fonderin, was found ir
an old field. The boy said his brother
was in Ferguson's camp. The story OF
the men and the boy agreed. and from
them it was learned that Ferguson's
camp was only three miles distant
The location was accurately described
by these men and young Fonderin, an6
the intentions of Ferguson learned. A
dispatch, which he had sent to Corn.
wallis for aid, was afterward intercept.
ed. From this his force was learned
and also what he thought about being
able to defend himself. In that dis.
patch he boastingly, or rather profane-
ly, we should say, declared that such
was the nature of the place he ha6
chosen for a camp, that all the rebels
out of hell could not drive him from
it." This dispatch, with the exception
of the statement of the number of Fer.
guson's force, was read aloud to the
men. The officers held a consultation
on horseback and concluded upon the
mode of attack.
1t was agreed that since Campbell
had come the greatest distance, and
had brought the largest number OF
men, that he should be the commander
in-chief. It was now past twelve
o'clock. The rain had ceased, the
clouds had passed away, and the sun
was shining brightly. The pursuers OF
Ferguson had followed his trail from
eight o'clock on the previous night
and now they were within four miles
of his camp. The order was given etc
tie up overcoats and blankets, throw
priming out of pans, pick touch-holes
prime anew, examine bullets, and see
that everything is in readines for bat
tle.' They were now within sight of
the object for which some Of them had
been in search for nearly two weeks
They were fully aware Of the kind OF
foe they had to encounter-a brave
man and a cool officer. They had to
face British regulars who would rush
upon them with bayonets; and tories
who knew it was victory or death. On
they went determined still to be free
or die. They ascended an eninence on
the western side Of the mountain, and
Ferguson's camp was in full view.
They dismounted and tied their horses
and prepared for the conflict. The
mode Of attack determined upon was
to surround the mountain and pour In
a deadly fire upon the enemy from all
sides at the same time.
Kings Mountain, upon which Colonel
Ferguson was encamped, Is spur OF
the Blue Ridge. It is a narrow, oval
shaped knoll. having the direction of
the Blue Ridge, and terminates alb
ruptly at it's northern extremity. 1t
is covered with a kind of slate stone.
The ridge, which is about one hundred
and twenty feet above the ravines by
which it is surrounded, and about a
mile long. is not more than thirty yards
wide. and the sides, especially on the
north, are precipitous. 1t is situated
in York county. South Carolina. about
a mile and a half from the North Car
olina line. Many of the men in Colonel
the surrounding country. They had
left their hiding places when, in the
language of an old Revolutionary war
song, "Old Williams came from Hills
borough, they flocked to him amain.
These men understood the nature of
the ground accurately. They had hunt
ed deer on the same place frequently
In view of this fact the guides for the
other troops were chosen from VIII
liam's men.
When the exact location of Fergu-
sons camp was learned, the army of
pursuers marched in four columns
Colonel Campbell's regiment, with
a part of Cleveland's regiment, COM
manded by Major Winston, formed the
right centre; Colonel Shelby's regi-
ment, the left center. Colonel Sewers
regiment composed the right wing; and
the troops under Colonel Williams and
the remainder of Colonel Cleveland's
regiment, commanded by himself,
formed the left wing.
On arriving in full view of the ene-
my, and having tied their horses and
leaving a small guard to watch them
the troops commanded by Shelby, Sc
vier, Mcdowell Campbell and Winston
were ordered to file to the right and
pass round the enemy's camp on the
Those under Cleveland
Chronicle. Hambright and Williams
were to file to the left and pass round
Both parties. were to continue their
march without firing, until they met
Then the enemy's camp would be COM
pletely surrounded. The order was
then to face toward the enemy, raise
the Indian warwhoop and rush for
ward upon the foe.
1t was near three o'clock on the af-
ternoon of the 7th of October, 1880
The destiny of American liberty was in
the hands of few undisciplined mill
tia. 1t was never in better hands than
when it was entrusted to those brave
men who fought and bled and died and