Yorkville enquirer. [volume] (Yorkville, S.C.) 1855-2006, 1919-10-28
WON THE GREAT war
Part Played By New Acquisition In
Revolution, il
COLONEL WILLIAM HILL A LEADER
Scholarly Review Of the Campaign OF
1850, Which Resulted in Complete
Overthrow Of Political Domination OF
Arreriea bv the British. s

v
America by the British.
The address of DR.. D. H. Hill. of
the North Carolina Historical Com
mission before the Kings Mountain
Chapter, d. A. r. and the Winnie
Davis Chapter ia p. c., in the court
house at Yorkville. last Friday was
devoted mainly to the part that the
New Aquisition." Including York
county, played in the American Revo-
luton. 1t comprehends mastery. re-
view of the deciding campaign of 1880,
and furnishes a historical chart that
is possessed. of undoubted present In
terest and future value to the peo-
Pile of this whole section. The address
was as follows:
Hiii's Iron works. the site Of which
the patriotic Daughters of the Ameri>
can Revolution mark today, were
burned by the British in 1850. The
year of it's burning was one of the
most noteworthy in South Carolinas .
annals; for In that year Of Revolu-
tionary history her volunteer sons
rose in wrath and in might to rid
their soil of invaders whose bartarous
disregard Of the comities of war
usual among British soldiers had
changed all previous Thought of al
legiance unto king to fierce resent
ment and abiding determination to be
free. Under new leaders, following
new methods, shrinking from no
dangers nor hardships. these deter
mined men in this year turned the
tide of British success in the south
They, aided by troops from North
Carolina, Georgia and Virginia. pre-
pared the way for the SUBSEQUENT
triumphant campaign OF Greene which
redeemed the state from British OPP
precision, and rapine. and contributed
90 much to the surrender of Corn
wallis at Yorktown. Their successes.
too, came after a series of appalling
disasters.
General Situation in 1870.
To understand the significance Of
1850 we shall have to take rapid
glance at the other fields Of Revoln-
fionai struggles. ssG Z g
After Moulffie's glorious defeat of
Ffrt Henry 1&tintS ard isiFaifai Peter
Parker in Charleston harbor in June,
IRIS, and after the destruction of The
Cherokee Indians little later by
combined force from South Carolina,
North Carolina, and Virginia, the
south was almost entirely free from
British invasion until December, ITS.
However, terrible change was then
in store for her people. For three
years the states of South Carolina
and part of North Carolina were in
deed to be desolated, and no form of
suffering was to be strange to them.
Their sons were to fall not only In
hattie, but were to be illegally hanged,
hacked to pieces after surrender and
often assassinated by their own fire.
sides. Marion writes to his COM
mander: "Col. Tarleton has burned
all the houses and destroyed all the
corn from Camden to Nelson's Ferry;
he has behaved to the women with
great barbarity; beat Mrs. William
son, relict of Gen. Williamson, to
make her tell where was. 1t
is distressing to see the women and
children sitting in the open air
around a fire, with not a blanket or
any clothing except what they have
on, for he spares neither Whig or
Tory" Stock was slain in the yards
and fields. Furniture was wantonly
destroyed. Pillage was unconfned.
Wagons loaded with booty, varying
from rings, watches, plate, to barrels
Of indigo and rice, made their way
to British headquarters.
These disasters followed a decision
of the British government to cease
major activities in the north and trans
fer the seat of hostile aggression to
the south. There were two reasons
for this transfer of action: one was
a military reason, the other an eco
nomic one. The military reason grew
out of q belief that the interior sec
tions of the south, OF as these sections
were then called, the black country
were more loyal to the crown than the
coastal plains were. Hence the gov
ernment was convinced that, If its
army could capture coast town in
one or more of the southerly states TO
serve as q base, the British army OF
occupation could then march into the
disaffected back country with cer1
tainty of large accretions to its regi-
ments. The hardy frontiersmen thus
secured could speedily be drilled and
disciplined by such excellent COM
manders of militia as Ferguson and
Hamilton into matchless soldiers.
Thought the Farmers were Traitors.
Georgia, the weakest of the south
ern colonies, was selected for initial
invasion. On it's conquest, the plan
provided for the British armies tc
march into South Carolina, complete
its overthrow, and with battalions
still further augmented, sweep into
North Carolina with its supposedly
large complement of king lovers
After the anticipated subjection Of