Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1905-09-08
CHAPTER VIII.
Shall we resign
Our hopes, renounce our rights, forget our
Because an impotent lip beneath q crown
Cries, "Be IL so?"
SIR A, HUNTS JULIAN"

Shall we resign
Our hopes, renounce our rights, forget our
Because an impotent lip beneath a crown
Cries, "Be II so"
SIR A. HUNTS JULIAN"
"All that is best springs from the
heart" and this sudden and sponta-
neous gathering on the banks Of the
Watauga sprang from the heart OF
the mountains west Of the Allegha-
nies. 1t was a voluntary act Of pa
triotism, planned by no congress. or
dered by no executive. Human charl-
ty called them together-the need OF
their fellow men. These rude deni-
zens Of the forest, these strange
wild men from unknown mountains,
where mature dwelt In awful soli-
tude," assembled together, not only
from the love of country, but their
love of virtue. Though never witness
ing the horrors Of civil war, their
spirits were fired, their souls indig-
nant at the records Of crime and
slaughter that were daily brought to
their ears. They heard of human
brothers. who for the crime OF low
ing their country, were bound to their
own door posts-their wives and
daughters ravished before their eyes,
and they at last perishing In the
flames Of their dwellings. They heard
of women ripped open by the butcher
knife of the Tory. for the crime OF
refusing to betray their own husbands.
They heard Of sons hung like dogs
or butchered like beasts, because they
were the children of Whig parents.
They heard of American statesmen,
the pure patriots who had sacrificed
their all for freedom, bound with the
British feion, suffering indignities and
distress in common with those who
were accused Of crime. tending to sub
vert the peace and existence Of So
ciety. They heard Of others, tender
ly nurtured, accustomed to the COM
forts and luxuries of life, obliged to
abandon their homes and seek safety
in their native woods and swamps.
Rapine, outrage and murder seemed
to be the pastime Of their enemies.
Civil rights and order were now no
longer objects Of attention, but the
will Of the strongest was law. Reused
to q righteous horror against the
perpetrators of such crimes, they left
their homes, encountering dangers
oh ha hro rrntO ahrtnk
to battle for the sympathies and sweet
charities Of life. And their courage
and fortitude lay not only In attack
ing an enemy superior to themselves
an enemy established in the strongest
military posts Of the state, from Sa-
vannah to North Carolina-at Angus
ia, Ninety Six, CRANKY. Winnsboro,
Camden and Charlotte - but they
knew their departure from their
homes was a signal for British
emissaries to excite herds of savages
to burn their dwellings and murder
their wives and children. Every
breeze echoed. In imagination, the In
dian war whoop with the shrieks Of
their murdered families and the dy-
ing groans Of their loved and dear
ones. But trampling this fear In the
dust, this noble band, in abiding
trust in God and their cause, nerved
their hearts not only In their courage
to meet their foe. but In the faith.
to trust their wives and little ones
to His keeping.
The army had received intelligence
that Major Ferguson had advanced
as high as Gilbert Town, in Ruther-
ford county. North Carolina. and
threatened to cross the mountains
to the western waters to entrap. II
possible, our gallant partisan. Clarke.
who was now retreating from Augusta
toward the mountain districts OF
North Carolina. So intent was Fer
guson upon this pursuit, so satisfied
of the British ascendency In South
Carolina, and so confident Of the pa
triots inability to cover their lost
ground. that he was totally unsus-
picious OF any movement against
him. 1t was a matter of the utmost
Importance to our little army to
preserve and profit by this confidence
| in order to obtain a position from
which Ferguson might more certainly
be cut off from CORVALLIS, now sta
toned at Charlotte, some seventy or
eighty miles distant. Ferguson. With
out being aware, played into the
hands of the patriots. as ne Slowly
and cautiously moved toward Ninety
Six. As warily as the tiger after his
prey, did Campbell and his comrades
steal after him: their anxieties stimu-
lated by their fears for Clarke. and
their apprehensions that Cornwallis
would receive information Of their
movements. From the 26th to the
goth, they pursued their slow and