Meade County news., 1917-11-01
as many recruits as he possibly could.
Battle of Kings Mountain.

6attie OF Kings mountain.
The news of his approach reused the
American Spartans to do or die. They
left their farms and ranges, armed and
came out Of the passes of the Appa-
lachians. Sure-footed, quick of eye,
deadly in their aim as marksmen and
accustomed to deal hand-to-hand with
the savages in fights with knife and
tomahawk, they constituted one of the
most effective fighting forces ever as
sembled on this continent. Their garb
was buckslSin. They came like true
frontiersmen in hunting shirts, and on
their caps were sprigs of hemlock, en-
blems Of their rugged land.
They came 1,300 strong, under the
urge Of mighty impulse, and it was
not until they were actually preparing
to engage the enemy at Kings Noun
tain, about forty miles from the pres
ent city of Spartanburg, that they
chose as their leader William Camp
bell. He was one of those patriots
who had commanded troops of the ir-
regular light cavalry and, like Marion,
had suffered much for the cause Of
liberty. The result of the battle Of
Kings Mountain depended almost en-
tlrely on the personal initiative Of the
men of this Sparta of the western
world.
The American Spartans were accus-
toned to climbing mountains, and up
the steep sides of the heights they
went with incredible agility, firing
from under cover of shrubs and trees
when they could. The British charged
down the hillside with bayonets and
pressed back the American line. The
pioneers formed again and went to the
attack with renewed spirit.
The cry was raised that TarletOn
was coming in from the rear to the at
tack. Sewer rode like Sheridan among
the patriots assured them that the re-
port was false and again got them into
line. The mountain was taken by the
Americans in their fourth assault.
The sharpshooting Of the pioneers did
ueduly execution.
Major Ferguson refused to sTren.
der and although one of his men had
raised flag of truce he struck ii
down with his sword He made an at.
tempt to get through the American
lines and was shot five times and fell
dead upon the field. After his death
his command surrendered. There were
456 British dead upon the field and
of the survivors nearly every man
was wounded. Only % of the Ameri-
can fighters were killed.
Back to Their Hills.
The battle over the men went back
into the strongholds in the hills from
which they had so suddenly come. In
the words of Elson "At Kings Noun
tain they turned the tide of the war
and insured the ultimate independence
of America"
The success of the patriots in this
battle embOldened the forces of lib
erty in South Carolina to concerted
action. Gen. Nathaniel Greene, who
had succeeded General Gates, reached
the state In the December of 1880 and
gathered about him an army OF $500
men. His first move was TO send Dan
iel Morgan, one of tho same type as
Francis Marion, to make quick dashes
into the back or up country and to dis
lodge the British. With 900 men Nor.
gan met TarletOn, whose command
consisted Of LOO men, about fifteen
miles from the present city of Spartan
burg. The battle of Cowpens which
followed nearly wiped out the entire
Tarleton force.
Tracing back the chain of circum-
stances which had to do with the final
defeat Of the British arms the finger
Of history fingers upon the land of
the American Spartans. Their action
at Kings Mountain and Cowpens un-
doubtedly contributed greatly to the
final result.
After the war these pioneers turned
their attention to the development of
their fertile lands. The county of
"Spartanburgh" was formed. The final
"h" was dropped early in the nine
teenth century and the present SPELL
ing was adopted.
The development of the city of
Spartanburg was not rapid and even
in 1900 there was only small group
of settlers there. The city had only
1,O5O inhabitants in 1870. three times
as many in 1880 and $3.50 in 1890.
At present 1t has 10000 inhabitants.
It has only been within recent years
that the place has come into prom
inence industrially. Now one of the
largest cotton mills OF the South is
situated in the city, and there has been
great increase in its resources
within the last Ton vaara