Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-09-11

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den. in which they captured British
post at Rugeley's MILL making the
commander Colonel Rugeley and one
hundred men prisoners, set out for the
region beyond Broad river. On the
evening Of the twentieth and morning
of the twenty-first Of December, Nor
gan and Washington crossed Catawba
river at Wright's ferry. and Joined
Lacey at his camp on Turkey creek in
! York county. Lacey and his men
broke up camp and accompanied Gem
eral Morgan. The American force now
under the command Of Morgan, con-
sisted of four hundred continental In
fantry and about one hundred cavalry,
together with about five hundred mil
itia Near the last of December, Nor
gan encamped in the neighborhood Of
Pacolet Springs, in Spartanburg coun-
lty. From this point Washington with
his cavalry was frequently sent out to
scatter small parties Of Tories and de-
stroy the military dspots Of the Brit
ish. These excursions of Washington
alarmed Earl CORVALLIS. The coun-
try was full of Tories and British SOL
diers who prowled through the country
under the command Of Bill Cunning
ham or his subalterns. These parties
kept the Whig settlers in continual ter
ror. To break up these gangs Of high
way robbers and bloody scouts was q
part of Colonel Washington's duty. In
some Of his expeditions daring feats Of
individual courage were exhibited. One
will suffice as specimen Of the whole.
On one occasion son Of Greene
Erin" by the name of Sam Clowney
came in contact with eight British sol
diers, all lusty fellows, armed to the
teeth. These Sam managed by adroit-
ness, to capture and march for eight
miles into Morgan's camp. On pre-
senting the result Of his days work.
General Morgan asked with no little
surprise, "How on earth Sam did you
manage to capture eight men?" With
that promptness for which the natives
Of the Emerald Isle are noted, he re-
piled, Faith may It please your hon.
or, surrounded them"
Determined to put a stop to Morgan's
operations, CORVALLIS sent out Tarle-
ton with his famous legion. At this
point commenced a movement thrill
ingly interesting from the beginning
and triumphant in its end-the surren-
der of CORVALLIS at Yorktown, on the
nineteenth Of October, 1881.
The plan of the campaign which was
devised by Lieutenant Colonel Tarle-
ton and submitted to CORVALLIS and
by him approved. was for Tarleton to
push Morgan beyond the Yadkin and
thus leave the country open for an en-
trance into North Carolina So soon as
Tarleton would move toward Morgan,
the main army was to move from
Winnsboro up the ridge which divides
the waters Of Catawba from those OF
Broad river. General Leslie, In order
to deceive General Greene was to move
along the eastern side Of the Catawba,
keeping opposite CORVALLIS. The point
at which the three forces were to unite,
was Kings Mountain.
On Sabbath, the sixth Of January,
Lord CORVALLIS with the main army
set out from Winnsboro for Kings
Mountain. Little did he and his troops
think of what sad misfortunes awaited
them. That he might cooperate with
Tarleton in driving away Morgan, he
commenced his march before that off,
Ger crossed Broad river. The under
standing between Tarleton and Corn
wallis was that the latter with the
main army would be at Bullock's
Creek church, in York county, on Sat-
urday night after he left Winnsboro.
For some reason Cornwallls failed to
meet his engagement and strange to
say gave Tarleton no intimation OF his
delay on the way Cornwallis stopped
at Bull Run in Chester county, to
wait for Leslie.
CORVALLIS approved Of the plan in
all it's details as suggested by Tarleton,
ed to carry 1t out On the eleventh OF
January, Tarleton commenced his
march up Broad river and although the
roads were very bad pressed forward
and crossed the river near the mouth
of Turkey creek on the fourteenth.
The orders which he had received from
Cornwallis were to push Morgan to
the utmost" These orders he deter
mined to carry out to the letter.
On the next day he gained certain
intelligence of the position Of Morgan.
On hearing of Tarleton's approach
and his superior force, Morgan at first
retreated This was what Tarleton ex-
pected. His plan now was either to
destroy Morgan, or drive him across
Broad river, into the hands Of Corn
wallis, who he thought was at Bullocks
Creek church. The plan was good but
failed in its execution. On the even
ing Of the sixteenth, Tarleton reached
Morgan's camp, but found no one
there. Morgan had left it only a few
hours before Tarleton arrived. Leav-
ing his baggage at this point, Tarleton
pushed forward with all possible speed,
taking a circuitous route as II intend
ing to flank Morgan. He marched all
night. About midnight a rumor Of the
advance Of some mountain men" dis
turbed Tarleton's thoughts and he con-
cluded that 1t was safest to push d.
rectly after Morgan and bring on an
action before the junction with Nor
gan of the mountain men" Of whom
he had heard and whom he dreaded.
On he pushed, as IL his very existence
depended upon engaging Morgan at
once. He scarcely expected that Nor
gan would dare to encounter him alone,
hence he thought that all he had to do
in order to capture Morgan and all his
force, was to get up with them.
At eight o'clock on the morning OF
the seventeenth Tarleton and his force
came in sight of the American camp.
Tarleton was disappointed. Instead
of finding Morgan retreatinP in diSOr-