Griffith Rutherford Griffith Rutherford ( c . 1721 – August 10 , 1805 ) was an officer in the American Revolutionary War , a political leader in North Carolina , and an important figure in the early history of the Southwest Territory and the state of Tennessee . During the French and Indian War , Rutherford became a captain of a local British colonial militia . He continued serving in the militia until the start of the revolution in 1775 , at which time he enlisted in the North Carolina militia as a colonel . He was appointed to the post of brigadier general of the " Salisbury District " in May 1776 , and participated in the initial phases of the Chickamauga Wars against the Cherokee Indians along the frontier . In June 1780 , he was partly responsible for the Loyalist defeat in the Battle of Ramsour ' s Mill . Rutherford was present at the Battle of Camden on August 16 , 1780 , where he was taken prisoner by the British . After being exchanged in 1781 , Rutherford participated in several other campaigns , including further attacks on the Chickamauga faction of the Cherokee . Originally from Ireland , Rutherford immigrated with his parents to Philadelphia , Pennsylvania Colony , at the age of eighteen . In 1753 he moved to Rowan County , in the Province of North Carolina , where he married Elizabeth Graham . An active member of his community , Rutherford served in multiple civil occupations . He was a representative of both houses of the $ 3 , as well as an unsuccessful candidate for governor . Rutherford was an advocate of the anti - federalist movement , and was appointed President of the Legislative Council of the Southwest Territory in 1794 . Rutherford retired to Sumner County , Tennessee , where he died on August 10 , 1805 , at the age of 84 . Early life . Little is known about Griffith Rutherford ' s early life . Born in Ireland in either 1721 or 1731 to John Rutherford , who was of Scots - Irish descent , and Elizabeth ( née Griffin ) , who was of Welsh descent , he appears clearly in records after his immigration to Philadelphia at the age of eighteen . His parents died during the voyage from Ireland , and for a while he worked on a relative ' s farm , where he was taught how to survey land . Around 1753 , he moved to Rowan County , North Carolina Colony , and bought a tract of land about seven miles ( 11 km ) from Salisbury , the first of several land purchases he made during the 1750s . In the following year he married his neighbor ' s sister , Elizabeth Graham , who bore him ten children . One of their sons , James Rutherford , later became a major during the Revolutionary War , dying in the Battle of Eutaw Springs . Rutherford also became friends with Daniel Boone , with whom he often went on hunting and surveying expeditions . After the French and Indian War , Rutherford became increasingly active in the community . He is listed as a member of the North Carolina General Assembly in 1766 , a sheriff and justice of the peace of Rowan County from 1767 to 1769 , and a tax collector . French - Indian War . Rutherford began his long career as a soldier in 1760 during the French and Indian War . He was a participant of several battles and skirmishes during the war , most notably the Battle of Fort Duquesne ( 1758 ) ; the battle at Fort Dobbs ( 1760 ) ; and James Grant ' s campaign against the Cherokee in the southern Appalachians ( 1761 ) . By the end of the war , he had achieved the rank of captain . Between 1769 and 1771 , he embraced the cause against the rebels during the Regulator Movement , eventually commanding a local militia which participated in the Battle of Alamance ( May 16 , 1771 ) . The following month , Rutherford retired to Salem to recover from an acute attack of gout . Revolutionary War . Rutherford entered the war in 1775 as a colonel in the North Carolina militia following his appointment to the Rowan County . Throughout that year , his regiment helped to disarm and disperse Loyalist groups in the South Carolina back country , most notably during the Snow Campaign in Ninety Six , South Carolina . Rutherford represented Rowan County at the Fourth Provincial Congress in Halifax from April 4 to May 14 , 1776 , during which he helped develop and write the North Carolina Constitution and was promoted to brigadier general of the Salisbury District . In the summer following the conference , he raised an army of 2 , 400 men to campaign against local Cherokee Indians , who had been attacking colonists on the western frontier since their alliance with the British . Campaign against the Cherokee . Rutherford ' s regiment rendezvoused at Fort McGahey with the Guilford and Surry regiments under Colonels James Martin and Martin Armstrong on July 23 . From there , the three groups traveled through the Blue Ridge Mountains at the Swannanoa Gap , passed up the valley of Hominy Creek , and crossed the Pigeon River . They then passed through Richland Creek , near the present day town of Waynesville , North Carolina , and crossed the Tuckasegee River near an Indian settlement . They moved further onwards towards the Cowee Gap , where they had a small engagement with a band of Cherokee , in which one of Rutherford ' s men was wounded . After that conflict , they marched to the Overhill Cherokee " Middle Towns " ( on the Tennessee River ) , where he met General Andrew Williamson of South Carolina on September 14 . Williamson was on a similar mission and readily joined forces with the original three regiments . The now four regiments skirmished with hostile Indians at Valley Town , Ellijay , and near the southern Watauga settlements ( present day northeast Tennessee ) . Eventually , the Indian tribes were subdued at the cost of three fatalities to Rutherford ' s regiment . Casualties to the Indians , however , were severe . By the end of the conflict , the four regiments had destroyed 36 Indian towns , decimated acres of corn farms , and chased off most of the Indians ' cattle . Afterward , Rutherford returned home by the same route . He arrived back in Salisbury in October , where he disbanded his troops . Southern theater . British strategists viewed the Southern colonies , especially lightly populated Georgia , as the most vulnerable of all . Despite early victories won by the Patriots at Charleston and other settlements , the South became the focus of English attack starting in 1778 . Governor Richard Caswell of North Carolina identified this threat and immediately ordered militia to regroup . Rutherford , who had been checking on Loyalists since his return to Salisbury in 1776 , received word of this by October . Governor Caswell and Rutherford met in Kinston , North Carolina , on November 25 to discuss the specifics of Rutherford ' s assignment . Apparently a fleet of British ships were en route from New York , heavily endangering key coastal cities . Rutherford was able to amass a force which reached the border of South Carolina by early December . They proceeded to establish headquarters near Savannah in Purrysburg , South Carolina , the following month . With the cities of Savannah and Augusta taken by February , the campaign was severely weakened . Rutherford moved his troops near Augusta , where he supported General John Ashe during the Battle of Brier Creek on March 3 . Soldiers ' enlistments soon began expiring ; by April 10 most of Rutherford ' s forces returned to North Carolina . The loss of Charleston in 1780 was a huge blow to the Patriot cause and posed a significant threat to neighboring North Carolina , which lacked adequate defenses due to expiring enlistments . Rutherford saw this danger , calling back his remaining troops stationed in South Carolina and ordering all soldiers from Salisbury to rally near Charlotte , North Carolina . A force of 900 had accumulated by early June . Battle of Ramsour ' s Mill . After rallying troops at Charlotte , Rutherford received information that Loyalists were gathering at arms at Ramsour ' s Mill — near present day Lincolnton , North Carolina — and issued orders for local officers to disperse the group before they evolved into an even greater threat . After collecting troops from Rowan and Mecklenburg counties , Rutherford moved his men to the Catawba River and crossed it at the Tuckasegee Ford on June 19 . He sent word to Colonel Francis Locke , of Rowan County , to rendezvous with him about from Ramsour ' s Mill , near the forks of the Catawba . Locke accumulated a force of 400 men and encamped at Mountain Creek , which was away from Rutherford ' s position , though still approximately the same distance from Ramsour ' s Mill as Rutherford ' s position was . It was resolved by Locke and his officers that a junction with Rutherford was unrealistic given the distance between the two regiments and the limited amount of time before the Loyalist group grew too large to safely engage . Therefore , it was decided Locke ' s forces would attack the Loyalist ' s position immediately . Colonel Johnson , one of Locke ' s subordinates , informed Rutherford of the new situation by 10 : 00 pm . Locke ' s forces left their encampment late in the evening of June 19 ; arriving at the Loyalist position by early morning , June 20 . The Patriots took the Loyalists by surprise . While at first bewildered and confused , the Loyalists retaliated by firing at Locke ' s cavalry , who were forced to fall back . The Patriots eventually forced the Loyalists to retreat to their camp , though it was discovered that they were regrouping on the other side of the mill stream . At this point , since an immediate attack from the Loyalists was expected , messages were sent to Rutherford , who had advanced to within six miles ( 9 . 6 km ) of Ramsour ' s , to immediately move forward . Rutherford met Locke within of Ramsour ' s , where he was informed that the Loyalists were in full retreat . Battle of Camden . The losses at Savannah , Charleston and the Battle of Waxhaws had practically driven the Continental Army from the South . State defenses had been reduced to a number of partisan militia companies led by local leaders . In response to the loss of military presence , Congress sent Horatio Gates , who had distinguished himself at Saratoga , to reform the Continental Army in Charlotte , North Carolina . Against the advice of his officers and without knowing the capabilities of his troops — some of which were untested in battle — Gates marched toward South Carolina on July 27 with a force of over 4 , 000 men . He aimed at capturing the crossroads town of Camden , North Carolina , which would have provided the Continental Army with a strategic control point for the South Carolina back country . Lord Rawdon , who was stationed there with 1 , 000 men , alerted Lord Cornwallis of Gates ' s movements on August 9 . Cornwallis arrived at Camden by August 13 with reinforcements , increasing the British presence there to over 2 , 000 men . The battle ensued at dawn on August 16 , 1780 . Rutherford was positioned in the center of the Continental formation with other North Carolina militia . During the battle , he was wounded and taken prisoner . He was detained for ten months at Castillo de San Marcos in St . Augustine , Florida , and was later exchanged for another prisoner in 1781 . Later war . Following his release , Rutherford returned to Salisbury in September 1781 to find his home ransacked by British troops . In the summer of 1781 , after a short reunion with his family , Rutherford took command of a North Carolina militia numbering 1 , 400 men . After training his new militia , he allegedly began to brutally attack Tory militias and communities alike — this according to several reports sent to his superior , General Greene . This was much to the dismay of Greene , who told Rutherford that these methods would only bring more people to the Loyalist cause and that he should consider alternative strategies . While these reports were later found to be untrue , Rutherford decided to redirect his forces from small Loyalist militias to the British encampment and surrounding militias at Wilmington , North Carolina , beginning with the Loyalist force at Raft Swamp . During October and November , Rutherford continued to force the Loyalists into Wilmington , and eventually surrounded the city , successfully cutting off British communications and supply lines . The commanding British officer , Major Craig , was soon afterward informed of Cornwallis ' s surrender at Yorktown , and his forces at Wilmington were hastily evacuated . In 1782 , following his success at Wilmington , Rutherford again fought the Chickamauga in the west . He followed the same route he had taken seven years before , which his soldiers had marked . No known accounts were written of the campaign , though in the end it was a success . Later life . Rutherford had been elected to North Carolina ' s senate in 1779 and continued to serve in this position until 1789 . He was opposed to the restoration of Loyalist lands and supported and assisted in their confiscation while serving on the Council of State . Rutherford ran unsuccessfully for governor in 1783 . He was an ardent anti - federalist during the national debate of the recently created United States Constitution . At the Constitutional Convention held at Hillsborough , North Carolina in 1788 , he had reservations about the Constitution — as did other anti - federalists at the meeting . Rutherford asked if he could challenge some of the clauses . While each clause was able to be challenged individually , regardless of opposition from federalist , Samuel Johnston , and others , Rutherford rarely spoke during the meetings . His final decision to vote against the ratification of the Constitution led to the loss of his seat in the state senate . However , his reputation with his colleagues was relatively unaffected , and he was elected Councilor of the State . Rutherford acquired nearly 13 , 000 acres of Washington District land through trading off his 700 acres in Salisbury , government grants and purchasing Continental soldier ' s tracts . With his family and eight slaves Rutherford relocated to this area , in what is today Sumner County , Tennessee , in September 1792 . Two years later , he was appointed President of the Legislative Council of the Southwest Territory . Rutherford died in Sumner County , Tennessee , on August 10 , 1805 . Legacy . These areas are all namesakes of Griffith Rutherford :