The Union daily times. [volume] (Union, S.C.) 1918-current, 1922-08-21

4
nothing, you id i..bA suckling,' :
and. with. his sword hawad him down" /"
The Ramsey recital continues.
"Gunningham taruad upon the others
and continued on than the operations
Of his savage barharity, till the pow.
ers of natur hslng exhausted. and
his weakened limbs refusing to ad-
minister any lonsNr to his insatiate
fury, he called upon his comrades to
complete the dreadful work by. kill
ing whomsoever of the prisoners
they pleased. They instantly put to
death such of them as they personal
ly disliked. Only two fell in action,
but fourteen Were deliberately cut
to pieces after their surrender. Their
names and rank were as follows:
Col. Joseph Hays, Capt. Daniel Viii
liams, Lieut.. Christopher Hardy,
Lieut.. John Nell, Clement Hancock,
Sr., Joseph Irby, Jr., John Milven,
James Ferris, John Cook, Great IrbS,
Benjamin Goodman and Yancy Sax
on"
Another of Cunningham's fiendish
deeds was the Massacre at the
Turner House." as the crime is call
ed in history. Captain Sterling Turn
err was a popular and. intrepid officer.
On one occasion he, with twenty-five
of his heroic patriots and old Captain
James Butler, took refuge in a hous
and bravely defended themselves
against an attack by Cunningham and
MS forces of two hundred and fifty,
When the ammunition, of Captain
Turner's men was about exhausted
and Cunningham set fire to shed
attached to the house, Captain Turner
and his gallant band surrendered, on
receiving solemn promise that they
would be treated as prisoners of war,
and were to be sent to the neares,
British. post.
According to Historian johnson,
and as I found it in Landrum's His.
tory, they were to march out with
dubbed arms, and to ground them in
front of the house. Captain Turner
md Butler came out first. AS soon
as they passed the door of the house
Cunningham drew his sword and said:
These fellows had better be paroled
and l will show you what kind O.
parole they are to have. Do you fol
low my example" With this he
made blow at Butler, but missed
him, and Butler, with his clubbed
rifle, struck one of them to the
Ground, and by blow from another.
re fell. dead on the man he knocked
'own. In a few moments every man
vas thus murdered except one, who
vas saved with difficulty, by the in
'ercession of relative belonging to
Cunningham's command. "Thus fell
he venerable Captain Butler and his
Torthy commanding officer, Captain
Turner, together with twenty-three
OF their brave men. Captain Butler
had been a, very active and useful
patriot in the early part Of the war
and had resigned in favor of Captain
inrner, by reason Of infirmitiea OF
age.1 - - .s-.,t--- -. -.-,.,.
1t will. be recalled that I stated at
The commencement of this article that
Cunningham originally enlisted in the
Revolution on the American side in
the company of Capt. John Caldwell,
IN uncle of John c. Calhoun. His.
torical accounts say that Cunning
ham, at the head of party, rode up
70 the gate of Major Caldwell and
hailed him. The major walked out,
md when within few PAGES of Cum
bingham, "Bloody Bill" drew pistol
and shot him dead in the presence of
his wife, who tainted as she saw him
fall.
Captain 'Steadman was sick in bed
at the home of Mr.. Charles Moore
Cunningham shot and killed him on
his couch. Two other young men
who were in the house tried to escape,
but they were fired upon as they ran
and fell dead in their tracks.
These few instances of long list
Of similar villanous deeds, will serve
10 give the reader an idea of the
atroclous character of "Murdering
Bill" Cunningham. Be it sufficient
to say that on two of these occasions
he and his men murdered thirty-five
persons.
Unceasing efforts were made to
capture Cunningham, but without
success. On one of these pursuits
number of his men were seized, kill
ed and buried in common grave at
the foot of the hickory tree where
they met their death. After the Rev
olution, Bloody Bill" fled from
South Carolina to the Spanish pos
sessions in Florida. His final fate
has never been recorded by historians,
so far as my readings have disclosed
His property in South Carolina was
confiscated.
1lliteracy in Cuba
Said to be Increasing