Newspapers / The Kings Mountain Herald … / Oct. 11, 1977, edition 1 / Page 2
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Page a-MIRROR-HERALD-Tuesday, October 11. 1»77 GDITORIW opinon ,/■"'/////// '////' ’ //////■■-''■' Freedom in our hands Dick Leonard Editor, The Milwaukee Journal National President, The Society of Professional Journalists, Sigma Delta Chi You would become furious if a policeman put his hand over your mouth while you were trying to tell people what you thought about^ Jimmy Carter or Gerald Ford. ' “Hey,” you might say, “I’ve got a right to speak freely — the Constitution says so.” You would be right to demand your freedom of speech. But would you stand up and protest when a public official gags a newspaper? Probably not. Few Americans do. They don’t realize that freedom of the press is every bit as important to them as their right to speak out. When the press is gagged or otherwise restricted, there is little or no chance for peo ple to learn what is happening in the world around them; no adequate way to let govern ment know how citizens feel about important issues, and no hope that we can continue to live in the free society we enjoy today. Free press. Free speech. Free society. They go together. You can’t have one without the other. Most Americans don’t appreciate freedom of the press because they have never been without it. They really can’t comprehend that most people in the world don’t have a free press — and don’t have any means of know ing the truth about what is happening in their own country or the world beyond. In China, the editor of the People’s Daily states flatly that his job is to print propaganda for the Communist Pafty. In the Soviet Unipn, editprs.and commen tators with high staiWing in (he Communist Party decide what their comrades should know and think. A little more imagination..,. To the editor, So the coach doean’t know what'a wrong with the Klnga Mountain High foodtall team? Maybe playing two gamea In one week had aomethlng to do with the problem. KM played a rained out Friday game on Monday when all other teama played on Saturday, then turned around four days later and played another game. And maybe the problem Ilea In the fact the playera know they can’t beat an outatandlng football team by averaging three paaaea with one completion. Uaually every paaa thrown by the KM team la on the aame paaa pattern and on third down. Thla certainly doean’t make It too hard for the oppoalng team to defend agalnat It. Check the teama that have beaten KM and see how many paaaea they have thrown. Baat Rutherford contlnuoualy and very aucceaafully uaed the halfback paaa. KM never attempt auch a paaa even though they have had former quarterbacka In the backfleld. A little more Imagination by the coaching atatf would make the game much more enjoyable even If KM did loae. DAVID CLIPPARD Klnga Mountain Thank you... MIBHMHIEillD TUBSOAV ANOTNUfttOAV •AKLANPATKINt TOM MCINTVOI •LIlAttTNtTOWAflT WMiieii'ilMtar •ARY tTIWART CLVOOMILL AAvffOku OlTMtv MIMOOROO NORTH CAROLINA RRRII AIIOCIATION Th* Mirror HorolO It owkllWoO ky Oonorol kiMllthlKk Comptny, P. O Oro«kr ;b, KIi«i Mountoln, N C., MM* kutlnoot OM MDorlol offIcot oro locotok t) IM lowni kiokiiMM Ay# kkono ;it »<t» Soconk Ciott kottoko koM M Khikt Alowntkin. N C. Sinklo copy IS ctntt- Sukkcrlptloii rkttt; W.a yooriy In MMO. tt.u tia moMkti It K yoorly puf-kl' mit. IS iia montnt. Iloaoni rpit Hr nint Aiknllii ’To the editor, ’The aenlor cltlaena and Swinging Mountalneera wlah to thank everyone for their coc^ratlon and help In making our flrat auction and goapel alnglng a huge aucceaa. We are grateful to the fine alnglng groupa who gave their time and talenta to help ua tai our efforta to obtain aome much needed aound equipment. GUSSIE * BUREN BOL’TON Klnga Mountain (EDITOR’S NOTE - The city’a aging program rained |S75 during Depot Center fentlvltlea Sat, Oct 1 for pur- chaae of a aound amplifier.) Who needs H? ’To the editor. Remember the fellow who atudled to be a dentlat, but couldn’t take the grind? Or the guy who became a baker ao he could make a lot of dough? ’That guy fInaUy aald "who kneada It?’’ So ^e queatlon today la who needa the local government one-on-one meetlnga? Surely If the peraon or peraona running for public office today doean’t care enough to get out and work Inatead of ualng a ploy auch aa theae dlatrict meetlnga In order to meet the public, then they don’t deaerve to be elected. ’Ihe only thlnga we votera have aeen acoompllahad In the pant few yearn are a lot of promlaea with too little action and federal funding. EVERETTE PEARSON Klnga Mountain [fKlisOC^ In most nations of Africa and South America, military dictators determine the con tent of the newspapers. In all of these countries, and many more, press has become a bulletin board for the government. The readers know only what their rulers want them to know — and have no chance to talk back. Could it happen here? It’s entirely possible. Frequent efforts are made to restrain the press from reporting events of public interest, to prevent reporters from attending meetings of public officials who are conducting the public’s business, to close records of interest to the public, to jail newsmen for failing to reveal sources of confi dential information that has been printed in the public interest. Most of the efforts to destroy the free press have been defeated by vigilant newspapers and newspaper organizations which have waged campaigns against restrictive legislation and gone to court to fight for their First Amend ment rights. The public remains strangely silent. One public opinion poll indicated that most of the people questioned thought that news about government should be approved by govern ment before it was printed. Can you imagine Woodward and Bernstein of the Washington Post taking their Watergate stories to the White House for approval? We’ve been fortunate in the United States. The Supreme Court has been a First Amend ment court and has supported press freedom in most instances. But courts can change, usually in the direction of prevailing public opinion. , Strong citizen support for a vigorous, free press is necessary to guarantee that our nation . will continue to be the land of the free. Americans are holding freedom in their hands when they read the newspaper. THE MILWAUKEE JOURNAL ^Don’t involve me in your petty bickering!' Donald Patterson Jr. Writes about ancestors (EDITOR’S NOTE - Friday waa . Revolutlooanr War Battle ol Kin^,,., Mountain and the Mirror-Herald reprints a state and national DAR- wlnnlng essay on "The Battle of Kings Mountain’’ by eighth grader Donald Preston Patterson, Jr. whose great-great-great-great • great-great grandfathers Preston Goforth and Arthur Patterson died In the batde. Donald Is son of Mr. and Mrs. Donald Patterson, now of Pompano Beach, Fla., and grandson of Mr. and Mrs. Floyd Patterson of Kings Mountain.) By DONALD PATTERSON, JR. My lather’s ancestors settled In western North Carolina In the early 1700’s, and many relatives still live In Kings Mountain. When I was little, my father took me to the National Park to show me the names of Arthur Patterson and Preston Goforth (my grand mother’s ancestor) on the monument there. ’Ihomas Jefferson said the Battle of Kings Mountain was "the turn of the Ode” of the Revolutionary War In the South. Because of a personal Interest In this battle, I have greaUy enjoyed thla assignment -oOo- In the American Revolution, the final weu* years In the Southern colonies are often dismissed In favor of earlier, better-known battles. But In truth, the American Revolution was won In the South. Sir Henry CJUnton, British Army Commander, left Cornwallis to lead the BriOsh forces In the South. Clinton lKg>ed to send an army north to trap General Washington In a plncer movement. In May, 1780, Comwallla ordered Major Patrick Ferguson to make newly avowed Loyalists Into a strong royal mlhtla. Ferguson, a Scotch three-year veteran cf thla war, commanded all the Loyalist mUltla raised In the CaroUnas. Invading South Carolina, Ferguson began to hunt down and punish "rebels” who resisted Royal authority. ’This remlted In guerrilla warfare between (Mrollnlan Patriot and Tory sym pathisers. ’Ihero were more skirmishes here (187) than In any other of the thirteen orlglnsd colonies. Here the mountaineers made themselves known and became aware of Feiguson, who called them "backwater men ... a set of mcngrels.” ’True, they were dressed In homespun or buckskin, and were of Scotch-Irlsh, English, ^ Flinch md I|oimtoln. one and ‘ tors. Almost flws years-pawd .before _ border., and, camped .await. .&e they were directly affected by British Patriots. forces In the South. Stories of British atrocities fired their determination to defeat Ferguson and give the British a taste of their own medicine. Summer, 1780, found Ferguson marching through the Carollnas, met by mountaineer militia regiments who engaged him In fierce actions. August, 1780, Cornwallis defeated Gates’ American forces at Camden, a great British victory. ’Ihe only real American Army In the South had been shattered. The mountaineers returned home to rest and strengthen their for ces, resolving to meet Ferguson agsdn. Meanwhile, Cornwallis marched toward Charlotte, Intending to Invade North (Carolina. To protect his left flank, he ordered Ferguson northward Into western North Carolina. In September, 1780, FergusOT camped at GUbert Town (Rutherford todsiy). He commanded eleven hundred four trained soldiers and loyalists. A British prisoner, Samuel Phillips, went to Col. Isaac Shelby, the Patriot militia commsuider In Sullivan County, North Carolina, and recognized leader of the mountaineers. Ferguson warned Shelby that he would "march his army over the mountains hang their leaders and lay their country waste with fire and sword. If they did not destat” from opposing the British. ’The challenge couldn’t be Ignored. On Sept. 26, 1780, over one thousand mountaineers gathered at Sycamore Shoals near EUzabethton, ’Tennessee. Shelby led 240 North Carolinians, Cliarles McDoweU, 160, John Sevier, 240; William Campbell brought 400 VlrglnUns, and James Williams led a South Carolina force. Shelby and Sevier would later become the first governors of Kentucky and Tennessee, respecUvely, whUe Camp bell’s relative by marriage was Patrick Henry. Each mountaineer carried a knap sack, com bag, and Kentucky rifle. ’These rifles were extremely accurate at more than two hundred yards. Only at Lexington and Kings Mountain did the outcome hinge on the accuracy and range oi these rifles. A five-day march began Sept. 26,1780. Benjamin Cleveland and three hundred fifty Virginians joined It. Campbell was chosen as commander of the Patriot forces. Ferguson’s spies Informed him of the mountaineers’ approach. On October 2, Feiguaon sent word to Comwallla that he would stand and fight If he weren’t outnumbered. Oct. 6, 1780, Farguaon Kings Mountain is a rocky, wooded. Blue Ridge spur, rising sixty feet above the surrounding plain. A barren plateau, six hundred yards long and seventh feet wide on one end and one hundred twenty feet at the other, lies at Its crest. Learning of Ferguson’s position, some nine hundred of the best frontiersmen moved through the rainy night October 6th, stopitog at noon, Oct. .6,1780, about one mile from the mountain, ’Ihey formed a horseshoe suound Its base, surrounding the British. Loyalist Alexander Cheaney was about to tell Ferguson all was quiet when the surprising attack came. Sevier and McDowell formed the right flank, with Campbell and Shelby at center, and the Cleveland-WUllams forces to the left. Campbell’s men opened fire and the battle was on. ’Ihe British rained down a volley fire but the woods protected the Patriots. The Patriots’ center force charged uphlU, but British bayonets caused retreat. The barren crest made the British easy targets for the moun- talneere to kill; the British overshot the enemy. When British soldiers chased the Patriots downhill, ttiey were killed attempting to get back to the crest Twice the Patriots were forced retreat. Ferguson, bedecked In hunting skirt and sliver whistle, charged on hor seback downhill, urging the British forward. ’The Patriots shot him down with seven balls penetrating his body. His second In command, Capt De Peyster, surrendered, but many Patriots continued firing, remembering British atrocities. Col. Campbell managed to stop his men after the second truce flag was sent down. ’The Battle of Kings Mountain was ended. The Patriots killed two hundred twenty-five Loyalists, wounded one hundred stxty-three, and took seven hundred sixteen prisoners. Only twenty- eight Patriots were killed and slxty-two wounded - all this In UtUs mors than one hour’s time. Conclusion. The Battle of Kings Mountain Is significant because It caused disen chantment with the Loyalist cause and resulted In many Southsmers’ joining the American forces. AQ of the fighters had been Americans except Ferguson. OomwalUs lost Ms foothold In North Carolina. In Clinton’s own words, the Battle of Kings Mountain was the "first link In a chain of events .,. ending tai the total loss of America." to ’\ , I
The Kings Mountain Herald (Kings Mountain, N.C.)
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Oct. 11, 1977, edition 1
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