Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1906-07-10
S0VFA CAROLINA M
THk REVOLUTION
How the Spirit of Liberty Was Kept Alive BY an
UncOnQuerabe People.


to defend himself and he did nothing
to injure the enemy. He neither pre-
pared for fight nor flight. He had
more than twice as many men as Tar
Teton, and Tarleton's light infantry
were so far behind and so much ex
hausted by forced marches, that they
could not have reinforced him until
Buford could have reached Charlotte,
North Carolina, where he would have
met Colonel Porterfield and been safe.
No doubt there was a fearful amount
of cruelty i'm Tarleton's nature. but
we must not censure our enemies with
out a cause. After the lapse Of a GEN.
tury, we can look back calmly at men
and events, and We can say that both
Tarleton and CORVALLIS were brave
men and skillful officers. CORVALLIS
was a gentleman, and he lauded and
extoled Tarleton for his management
of the affairs at Waxhaw. 1t reflects
no dishonor upon the patriots to tell
the honest truth about the men with
whom they had to contend. On the
other hand, no higher encomium can
be passed upon the Wings of Amer
lea than to say that they won their
liberty in spite of as brave men and
as skillful officers as England ever sent
to the field of battle.
Both CORVALLIS and Tarleton were
cruel, and the latter was often bar
barous; but as we shall often meet
these officers, we should at least en-
deavor to discover the incentive to
this cruelty. Especially was their cruel
acts, perpetrated in the upper section
of South Carolina and the lower and
Both these regions of country were set
tied by the same kind of people. They
were Wings by every instinct of their
nature. The men were Wings and the
women were Wings. To be free was
a part of their religion. Their history
was known to every well informed
Englishman. They were Scotch-Iris
When Colonel Tarleton entered the
Waxhaw country he saw signs of this
fact. The thrift of the people and the
defiant looks of the mother and chill
dren revealed the facts. The Bibles
in their houses with the Scotch ver-
sions Of the Psalms, excited in his mind
strange and conflicting emotions. He
was afraid and he was enraged. He
felt that he, must massacre or be mas
sacred. He was right. Had his COM
mand fallen into the hands of Colonel
Buford and then into the hands Of the
Scotch h-Irish of WaXhaw, he would new
er have seen the face of King George
again. Even Tarleton's cruelty arous-
ed the spirits of the Scotch-I Irish Of the
up country and made Tarleton's quar-
ters a synonym for no quarters. No
doubt Colonel Tarleton thought by his
cruelty he would crush the spirit Of the
Scotch Irish: but he only aroused them
to vengeance. The surest way to
arouse a Scotch -Irishman, to put forth
all the energies Of his soul, is to con-
trary him. Torture only evolves the
powers of his endurance. Treat him
kindly and he is as gentle as a lamb;
impose upon him and he will nurse his
wrath until it gains a momentum
which bids defiance to all obstacles.
Tarleton's cruelty at Waxhaw was the
beginning of a death struggle for lib
erty. The Scotch-Irish never forgot
the massacre of Buford's command and
their great grandchildren to this day
feel their blood boil when Tarleton and
Waxhaw are mentioned.