Blog

On March 15, 1781 one man, Peter Francisco, was a force of nature on the battlefield at Guilford Courthouse. Despite being wounded in Greensboro, NC he continued fighting all the way to the end of the Revolutionary war.  Standing 6’06” and weighing an estimated 260 lbs., Francisco towered a full foot above his contemporaries.  He

Ten minutes was all it took to hack to death over ninety men on February 24, 1781.  Screams and pleas for mercy went unheeded as broadswords and bayonets cut through flesh, bone and any hope that Lord Cornwallis had of the masses coming to the King’s standard. Just west of the Haw river in Alamance

Revenge could not wait, smallpox or not. Captain Robert Harrison was a dangerous menace to all Patriots. He would be found bedridden by a scouting party on October 14, 1780 near the Antioch community in Kershaw County. Before the fall of Charleston, the Harrison brothers lived in a run-down log cabin near the Lynches River,

William Moore was a bold and fearless fighter during the Revolutionary war.  Taking up his rifle and horse, he would leave his wife at home to confront the British before they came to his doorstep.  On making the long journey from Abingdon, Virginia with Colonel Campbell, he proved himself in the eyes of his leader.  He

Impaled by bayonet and concealed by the powder smoke, Robert Henry, a mere 16 years of age, was forced to lay prostrate and helpless as the battle went back and forth at Kings Mountain on October 7, 1780. The bayonet charges were a mainstay in the British army and Major Patrick Ferguson had taught his

Colonel Benjamin Cleveland was of the same bold character as Daniel Boone and found his most delightful pleasure in hunting rather than plowing. As a young man he was often found in the woods hunting and gathering pelts. Two of his childhood friends were Thomas Sumter and Joseph Martin.  Sumter would later be known as the

Signal Beacons of Gandor used in NC mountains during the revolution? Local folklore in and around Wilkes and Caldwell Counties in NC reveal the story of Martin Gambill. His 100-mile journey to warn the Patriots of the British invasion into the mountains is the stuff of Legends.  The story goes that the watch fires that

“If you want your horses fed, feed them yourself,\” replied ten-year-old William Davenport to Tory leader John McFall in September of 1780. Channeling his father\’s courage he would become a leader in his own right as he grew older.  The Davenport College for Women in Lenoir, NC was formed through his philanthropy. John McFall served in Major

In September of 1780 British Major Patrick Ferguson raised his army of over 1000 men and headed up into the North Carolina Mountains. Going through present day, Chesney, SC and onto Rutherfordton, NC., his army would live off the land as they worked their way from community to hamlet. On the general route laid out

The Twin Poplars of Peace Local legend has it that over 280 years ago the Catawba and the Cherokee Indians were locked in a brutal and savage conflict in the smoky hills around Lenoir, North Carolina.  So many warriors were killed on both sides that the leaders came together to talk peace, not as victor over

Isaac Shelby was definitely not a “fence sitter” during the war with the mother country.  He was, as a son of his father Evan Shelby, a proponent by deed of the Fincastle Resolutions and had resolved to \”live and die\” while never surrendering his \”inestimable privileges\”.(1)  He understood Freedom and slavery.  He understood the Quebec acts as intolerable to

A man and a horse do not a cavalry make!  A lack of swords was a serious problem for Revolutionary war era cavalry, and on June 18, 1781 the Patriots got the worst end of their encounter with 200 British mounted infantry in Gilbert, SC.  After this running battle from Highway 1 down Peach Festival

The Battle of the Great Savannah Perhaps the greatest single order that General Gates gave prior to his ignoble defeat at Camden was to appoint Francis Marion as the Brigadier General of the South Carolina Militia.   Following up on his orders, Marion departed from Gates at Rugeley’s Mill above Camden. He then headed south to

Ferguson was frustrated. At the Battle of Wofford’s Iron Works (Spartanburg) on August 8, 1780 American Col. Isaac Shelby and his frontiersmen played cat and mouse with Cornwallis’ man and eluded his British force with taunts and jeers on a hillside out of musket range.(1)  This came just a little over a week after Loyalists surrendered

Two ladies loyal to the King helped Tarleton put another jewel in his Crown while the “Gamecock” was saved by cattle, sheep and a low hanging branch. On August 15, 1780, the day before Camden fell, Col. Sumter won at Cary’s Fort.  Guarding the Wateree crossing, Cary’s Fort was located on the west side of

Perhaps the story of British occupation is best taught through the perils of the women on the home front, especially those of the frontier settlements.  Forced to reckon with Indian raids and bands of outlaws, these were not the women of the genteel plantations in the parishes outside of Charleston along the Cooper, Ashley, Stono, and