The farmer and mechanic. [volume] (Raleigh, N.C.) 18??-19??, 1912-02-06
CONCERNING EVENTS
OF MAY 20, Its
Continued from page fvc.)

lFiN i " '>>A ~
Giving me a look. if not Of APP
proval, certainly of neither d~issatis-
action nor rebuke-
Pray, sir said he, have you lived
long in this part Of the cOuntry?'
Ever since my childhood. sir
You are then, I presume, pretty
.eloll acquainted with it?'
Perfectly, sir; l am familiar with
very hill and stream and celebrated
pot il contains.
During the late war, if my in
formation be correct, the inhabitants
were true to the cause Of their coun-
try and brave in its Defense
"'Your information is correct, sir.
they were, almost to a man, true
hearted Wings and patriots, and as
Gallant soldiers as ever drew swords
or pointed rifles in behalf Of free
dom. In Mccklenburg county, where
Wc now are, and in Rowan, which
lies before as, a Tory did not dare
t. show his face-if he were known
to he a Tory. It was in a small
town, which we shall pass, hat Lord
Cnrnwallis lay encamped, when he
SWorc that he had never before been
III such a d-m-d nest of Whigs-for
that he could not, in the surrounding
country, procure a chicken or a pig
for his table, or a gallon Of oats
for his horse, but by purchasing it
with the blood of his soldiers, who
went in quest of it,
Pray, what is the am Of that
town.
"'Charlottc, sir, the county town Of
Mecklenburg, n the place where in
dependence was declared about a year
before its declaration by Congress-;
ana my father was n of the Wings
Who were concerned in the glorious
transaction. We shall arrive at Char
lottc tomorrow morning. / continued,
where YOU will be enthusiastically re-
rciyed, by FIVE hundred at least
perhaps twice the number, OF the
most respectable inhabitants of the
country; a large portion of whom
served. in some capacity, in the Revo-
l~utIDnary War-SeVeral of them, | be-
lIeNe, as officers and priVates, under
your own command. When l passed
through the town yesterday morning,
= large number Of them had already
iSsembled, and the crowd was rapid
y increasing. And they are exceed
ingly ~provident. Convinced that they
eannot all be supplied in the town,
with either food or lodging, many of
them have brought with them large
and w~ell-cOVered farm-wagOn for
The bed chambers and enough Of
substantial food, already cooked, for
~ Ntth - subsistence. ot1cTS again
have already erected, and are still
erecting, for their temporary resi-
d"hce, III The midst of a beautiful and
celebrated grove (where a victory
Was cameo, by a company of militia
flflcmen, over a party OF Tarleton's
d~ragoons), the very tents under
which they slept rs soldiers, in the
servlre Of their country. And they
arc about as obstinate and noisy a
sci of ppnt1onnn &c T have nCor mat
OF ever wish to meet again-especial-
~ when in q hurry. I was obliged,
much against my will, to hold a long
pariey with them, Yesterday morning,
when ! wished to be in motion to
meet you, lest you might anticipate
me in reaching the boundary line Of
the State
The General vas evidently pleased
with my narrative, and so diverted by
the increased freedom and ease of my
manner (for | was now perfectly my
S'lll that though he did not actually
smile for he very rarely smiled), he
seemed at times, as I fancied. more
inclined to q little merriment than to
MAINTAIN unchanged his habitually
crave and dignified aspect.
lteference was then made to sew
'F"l events Of note, which had oc-
cured in the Southern Revolutionary
-NAN AocpS1NlIS III III llltIII, LII
Particular, Of great brilliancy, and no
nUIe moment, I was astOnished to find
,.at was much better informed than
N~tSflngton himself. To such an
,NItht was this true, that he appeared
~ pe ever more astonished than I
WIS indeed. some of the expressions
used by him, l was at first appre-
H'hSiVe That he was i~ncredulous of my
S'oly. This induced me to speak with
oie energy and pOsitiveness than l
"du previously employed, and to
aPtliiy a few Of the most striking and
tfnorable incidents of the affair. I
Ii!uae TO the battle at Mil
- Whlch about three hundred Wings,
zen fresh from their homes, and who
ndd never before been in a field of
""ult' attacked and defeated, with
rir"t slaughter. in a selected and
r. 1lled position, twelve hundred
iofles, and made six hundred of them
prisoners.