if Scrap-of Revolutionary History !
jjASUSCRiPT OF AN OLD SOL-DIER-THINGS
HE SAW.
P plam Truth From Robert Hen
rv and David Vance.
This is a copy of a narrative
of revolutionary incidents, writ
n hv Robert Henry, and - fur
: l.v his son, Mr. W. L.
unrv. Mr. W. L. Henry says
tattier.
i
'Robert Henrv. was
ll. rn in Tryon (now Lincoln)
I'OUiH . j
nil pen. on the 10th of February,
., V
t uj in waiuuiia, ill it
Was a lawyer and sur
.. -,,r hv profession. Was onp
of 'the iirst settlers in Buncome
.niirit'v. Taught school-on the
w.i-i nnaiioa
river the: first
:,0jl. taught in Buncombe
county, X. C Oth February,
1
Mj, nmety-eignt years ot age,
wanting tour clays. lliomas
Henry, his father, died soon
after the Revolution, of rheuma
tism contracted during that war.
Thomas Henry was from the
north of eland."
Koh,ert Henry in his narrative
says : ,
I will procceedto point out and
correct some of the errors in
Wheeler's, history of North
Carolina, So far as respects the
transaction of Cornwallis cross
ing C ovvan's Ford on the Cataw
ba river the 1st February, 1781.
Then I will,givemy own version
of the transaction; and then I
Kill give the common report of
the transaction shortly after it
happened. ,
"ieeier"s history, page 232-3
V I re i meaning Cowan's
v,,r,-l about six hundred millitia
under 0 en: Davidson wasp'osted,
an l a -light skirmish occurred.
A I'litMi colonel (Hall) and
thre.i- .privates' --were killed, and
thirty-six mounded.";
It vf take this account to be
tm y must conclude that
thee millitia were ! very bad
inark'snieii, for they had time to
fire live -'rounds each, which
would have been three thousand
single shots as distances varying
fn-in fifty yards to less than
twenty yards," over a naked
stretch of., water; that their
enemy was not obscured by
smoke, being in water above the
waistband and hanging together
by their muskets; that not a
single shot was fired by them
while in the water. This story,
if it will bear tellincannot be
accredited to be true, that in
fctv&fc three thousand single
shots the millitia only killed
four, including Col. Hall, and
wounding thirty-six. ! The story
appears further incredible from
this: That in common battles on
land there are as many and often
more men killed than wounded
when. the. whole person from
ead to foot is exposed to the
nre of the opposite party. In
the present case the body from
above the waistband to the top
w the head was exposed, for all
below was under water and
secure from lead; wounds in
the upper part of the body are
doubly as apt to kill as those in
extremities from the waistband
aownwards. hencei we would
pect double as many killed
n this occasion as wounded,
W the reverse is told that
only fol;r were killed including
U'l. Hall-and thirty-six wound-
l ; ,A Jpther mistake may be
noted: The account states that
'avidson had GOO millitia when
only had 300. i The whole of
quotation should pass for
nothnpr
r rJ error that I will notice is on
'.f,vf "f heeler's History, which I
llT' ,..""N)on after . 'the action com
,.;';U'T1 J "filing . at Cowan's Ford)
..'''!;;' Wilint'.n Davidson waa killed,
ir'iU,iy. 1:uu'-'ntul h? all who knew him,
.t;t;';nu,b brave and generous offi
v.'; l!' true' statement is this: Da-
U-'t' hnU" kilk'cl hy the first'ffun ni"ed
,;, r.rnish on that occasion, for they
Zm t;r? a "gle gun while in the
;;r ana the gun that killed' him was
v'"r'r a!,lla" water edge on the Mecklen
- - Mue. ana if Davidson's clothes had
hi ":tn,ill,-d it is probable they would
Ti', "?vn lhe mark of the powder.
f the Amerfcans had left
ist't,,u"'l;.or Posts and judiciously fled,
aj(' nrnisli miirht heni thm in lw
tat '" r,a!ul an intense silence prevailed
!'red on either side? the silence
l)'vi"i!M 1'!oken hY the gun that killed
' "inia-r quotation from the, samfc-
l'" Company commanded by
l" ta tIie tirst to commence the
t!.r'o ;AP."U lhe IJ.ritiih as they advanced
it,.',;'' tlie rivt'r which was resolutely
, ;.W tal they reached the bank, loaded
iiv,,.. wiuinencea a Heavy tire
li ,u . , J
iwootjwhom were killed."
in,..-. .
tills is a ffl'fttllit'niia' ctoto.
O
tsr,, , " ""mam was not there,
k-M t ''e either cer or private
sn, nlortlult I,ae, except Gen. David-
e'H P VaS Uiere anyne wounded
of ,l J 1 IJeaty who afterwards
u"-' wound. Gen. Graham and
his comnanv t;v4. . t - .
.on s camp, three-f -urths of a mile from
the ford, and two of h?a JrVe from
making their
-j lou larnv in
escape, before the British
o-forn,
oftheC-r
rams at Cowan's FordJ The morninl
ys dark and rainy. The light infantry
unde. Col. Halt entered firfi, followed
by the grenadiers and Aattallions. The
picket of Gen, Davidson challenged the
enemy; receiving no: reply the guard
fired, whicu turned out the whole force
of Davidson, who kept up a galling fire
from the bank.V Observe, the mornin
was dark, but not rainy. Davidson
army was strtidned three-quarters of a
mile from the ford, and did not fire a
?UR at the British while they were
in the river, nor after they came across,
all the firing was done by the guard.
! Xow I will give my own version of the
transaction of Cornwallis' crossing the
Catawba at Cowan's Ford, 1st February,
1781. Robert Beaty, a lame man, had
taken up a school near to the Tucka
seegee Ford, and had taught two days
and was teaching the third when news
came to the school house that Cornwallis
was camped at Forney's, about seven
miles from the school house; that Tarle
tpn was ranging through the country,
catching whig , boys , to, make musicians
of them in the British army. The mas
ter instantly dismissed the scholars, di
recting them to go home and sp ;ead the
news, and retired himself. I went home
and that night Moses;Starret,! Alexander
Starr3t, George Gillespie, Robert Gilles
pie and Charles Rutlege came to my
father's. We lay out that night, and
shortly hefore daylight rav brother, Jo
seph Henrv, left the army to give the
news, and had? crossed the Catawba at
John Beaty's iii a canoe. When he left
the army, it was expected that Corn
wallis -would cross tho rver at Tucka
seege ford. Early in the morning this
company crossed the river at Beaty's
about two milts below the Tuckaseege
ford, where we hid our canoe Stayed
some time at Beaty's; then went up to
the Tuckaseege ford, and the army was
at Cowan's ford; we went up the river to
John Xighers,; who treated us well, by
giving us potatoes to roast, and some
whisky to drink; we became noisy and
mischievous. Xighers said we should
hot have any more whisky: I proposed
to go to the camp at the for, if any one
would let me have a gun and ammuni
tion. My brother said he would give me
his. Charles Rutledge, proposed also to
accompany me, if he had a gun and am
munition. Moses Starret gave him his
gun. When about to start I gave Night
ers a hundred dollar continental bill, for
half a pint of whisky, my brother gave
another bill of the same size for half a
bushel of potatoes. We dispatched the
whiskey; being thus equipped, we went
to the ford, which was about a mile and a
half. When we arrived the guard that
was there, thirty (30) in number, made us
welcome. The officer of the guard told
us that Cornwallis would certainly at
tempt to cross that night or early in the
morning; that each of the guard had
picked his stand to annoy the British as
they crossed so that when the alarm was
given would not be crowded nor in each
Other's way, and said we must choose
our stand. He accompanied us. Chas.
Rutleage chose the uppermost stand and
t chose the lowermost next " the getting
Out place at the V ford. The officer ob
served that he considered that Davidson
had done wrong, for that; the army
should have been stationed at the ford,
instead of that' it was camped three
fourths of a mile off, and that some
person acquainted in the neighborhood
of Forney's should watch the movements
of Cornwallis' ' army and immediately
when they would attempt to march to
hasten to the, river and give the alarm,
then that Davidson's arpy might be in
ireadiness to receive! them; the river being
in the situation it was then in, and the
j !
jarmy thus prepared to receive them, that
Cornwallis and a million of men could
inot cross without cannon as long as. our
amunition would last. ! This I thought
'was large a expression, hut since, I think
he was correct. He mentioned to the
jguard for each man to go to his stand
jagain and examine it, so that when the
jalarm was given there should no mistakes
he made. I went to mine and was well
pleased with it, for in shooting if I should
jmiss my first aim my lead would range
jalong the British army obliquely and
jstill do damage, and that I could stand
lit until the British would come to a place
where the water was riffling over a
rock, then it wrould be time to run away.
I remember I looked over the guard to
see if there was any person with whom
I was acquainted, and found none but
Joel Jetterp and my lame schoolmaster,
Robert Beaty. Gen. Joseph Graham's
jname is mentioned by Wheeler. I was
'acquainted with him, but he was not
;there. Shortly afterward a man across
the river hooted like an owl and was
answered. A man went to a canoe some
distance off and brought back word from
him that all was silent ii the British
'camp. The guard all lay down with
itheir guns in. their arms, Tand at dajbreak
all were sound asleep except Joel Jetterp,
Iwho discovered the noise of horses in
deep water. ; The British pilot, Dick
iBeal, being deceived by our fires, had
led them into swimming water. Jettup
ran to the ford, the sentry being fast
asleep, kicked him into the river; he
j , .
DiCk Beal had fired at me. That moment
Polk wheeled his horse and cried, "Fire
away, boys, there is help at hand."
Turning my eye around designing to
run away, I saw my lame schoolmaster,
Beaty, loading his gun by a tree. I
thought I could stand it as long as he
could, and commenced loading. Beaty
fired; then I fired, the heads and should
of the British being just above the bank
They made no return fire:
silence still
prevailed. I observed Beatv loading
agajn. I rammed down another load!
When he fired he said, "It is' time to run.
Bob." I looked D.ist in 7 trpt. on3 o n
i i j i.v-v, ttuu anvv
their guns lowered. I sheUered mvself
behind my tree; they fired and knocked
some bark off my tree. In the mean
time Beaty had turned from his tree
and a bullet struck him in the hip, break
ing the1 upper part of his thih bonp
He fell, still hollering for me to run I
then ran at the top of my speed about a.
hundred yards, and a thought struck me
that the British had no horsemen, and I
thought no footman could overhaul me
md that Davidson's army would be
down at the riyer and a battle would
take place, whereupon I loaded my gun
and went down opposite to the ford and
chose me a large tree, sat down by it and
fired about fifty yards at the British.
They fired several guns toward the place
where I was, but their lead did not come
nearer to me than two rods.
I -will now account for the difference
between the number of British killed and
those wounded,; as slated by Wheeler.
The water in the ford was fully waist
band deep, and in many places much
deeper, with a very heavy, pressing cur
rent, and when a man was killed or
badly wounded the current immediately
floated him away; so that none of those
that were killed or badly wounded were
ever brought to shore, and none but
those slightly wounded reached the bank.
Col. Hall fell at the bank. I account for
the three British privates that were killed,
as stated by Wheeler, in this way: Beaty,
the lame schoolmaster, an expert marks
man, fired twice at the British a
distance of not mpre than 20 yards after
they had ascended bank, as before stated,
and I fired twice about the same distance.
I therefore think that Beaty, being the
best marksman, killed two. I killed one.
Wheeler states that on the American 6ide
there were two killed. I observe, if there
were, it was not at the river, for
the British did not fire a gun while
in the river, and when they
arose the high bank all were gone
but Beaty aud myself; that if they killed
any it was at Davidson's camp, three-
quarters of a mile from the ford. But I
never heard of anyone either killed or
wounded except Beaty on that occasion.
I will give an account of the balance
of my route after firing my last time as
heretofore stated. I went down the river
to John Beaty's, where we had left our
canoe, there I found my company, the
Starrats, two Gillespies, my brother
Joseph, and my comrade Chas. Rutledge.
I returned the gun to my brother. After
counting the cartridges found seven
missing. I therefore had fired seven
times as I had supposed. The company
remained at Beaty's till next morning.
When we took our canoe to cross the
river it was proposed that we should go to
James Cunningham's fish trap and see if
there was any fish in it. When we ar
rived at the trap there were fourteen
men lodged in it, several of whom ap.
peared to have no wound but had
drowned. We pushed them into the
water and they floated off. We then
went each to his own home. This is my
version of that transaction.
Now I will give the common report of
it. I will begin with the report of Nich
olas Goswell, one of our neighbors, a
Tory, who was in Cornwallis' army when
they crossed the Catawba at, Cowan's
Ford. It was frequently repeated, and
the extraordinary language he used; and
from the manner of expression it is
therefore better impressed on my mem
ory. I will endeavor to give it in his
own language: "His Lordship chose
Dick Beal to be his pilot, as he knowed
the ford, and a durned pretty pilot he
was, for he suffered himself co be led
astray by the Rebel fires and then had to
go down to the ford afterwards; but if
he did bad one way he did good another,
for he killed theirdamned Rebel General.
The Rebels were posted at the water's
edge. There wasn't many of em, but I'll
be darned if they didn t slap the wad to
His Majesty's men savagely for awhile,
for I saw 'em hollerin', and a snortin',
cuueavorea to fire his gun but it was
wet. Having discovered the British he
ran to our fires, and having a fine voice
cried, The British! The British!! and
fired a gun; then each man ran to his
stand. When I got to mine I saw them,
but thought from loss of sleep my eyes
might be mistaken; threw water into
them; by the time I was ready to fire the
re-t of tiie guard had fired. I then heard
the British splashing and making a noise
as if drowning. I fired and continued
firing until I saw one on horseback had
passed my rock and another was at it,
on korsebick. I fired at him and turned
my eye to the one who had passed the
rock and saw that it was Dick Beal
raising his gun from his shoulder. I ex
pected him to shoot me. I ran with all
speed up the bank, and when at the top
of it William Polk's horse breasted me,
and Gen. Davidson's horse was about
20 or 30 feet before Polk's and near to
the water's edge. Ail beinjr silent on
both stdes I heard the report of a gun at
the water's edge, being the first gun fired
on the British side, and which T timo-fct
and a drownin The river was full
un em a snortin', a drownin' and hollerin
until His Lordship reached the bank;
then the Rebels made straight shirt tails
and all wa silent. His Lordship when
he rose the bank was cock of the walk
and the best dog in the hunt, and not a
Rebel to be seen."
The following is the report of every
person living at or near the river between
Cowan's and the Tuckasiegee Ford:
That a great number of British dead
were found in Thompson's fish dam and
in his trap, and numbers lodged on
brush and drifted to the bank; that the
river stank with dead carcasses; that the
British could not have lost less than 100
men on that occasion.
Report of solders who were in David
son's army when Wm. Polk returned
from the river after Gen. Davidson was
killed at Cowan's Ford, three-quarters ot
a mile 'rom the ford: They stated that
when Wm. Polk returned from the ford
and reported the death of Davidson that
some of the army had left and the rest
were in confusion; that Polk prudently
marched them off, not being able to fight
Cornwallis on equal terms.
to be continued next week.
Not the Right Word.
"No," said Bertha sadly, "pain doesn't
express what I suffer at these time it
is simply anguish! I know I ought to
consult a physician, but I dread it so! I
can t bring myself to do it. Then, too,
female diseases always seemed so indeli
cate to me, I can't bear to have any one
know or speak of mine."
4 Yes, dear," answered Edith, "but
don t you know you can be cured with
out going to a physician? Send to any
druggist for a bottle of Dr. Pierce's Fa
vorite Prescription, and take it, and I
warrant you'll feel better in a very few
divs. J
the manufacturers warrant the medi
cine, too. They guarantee it to do ex
actly what it claims, viz: to cure leucor
rhea, painful irregularities, excessive
flowing, prolapsus, inflammation or ul
ceration of the uterus, and the innumer
able other "female weaknesses." It o
strengthens and l.nii.U 11T1 flio ..tori
nW..meXr7--.
after takiny it nml, ti
painful embarrassment and expense of a
surgical examination and a tedious, tire
some treatment.
A New Road to Bliss.
If you are wise and wish to become
healthy and wealthy also, vou will use
Roller King or Electric Lieht Flour; be
cause the Aheville MiUnL' Company's
Flour is not oniv the best but the cheao
st. "
Notice Commissioner's Sale!
Hy virtue of a decree f the Sui-rior Court
of Buncomle county in a special proceeding
on Monday, the 7th day of September.
public auction to the highest bidder
ai exparie. J
public auction to the highest bidder
at
at
the residence of the late Mn. Orra Wild.
widow of Fredric Wild, deceased, in Bun-
wviumi cuuuij , ixoitq i;aronna, a certain tract
of land in said county and State, described as
follows: "Beginning at a black oak etump in
a hollow, R. Patterson's extreme S, W. corner,
and runs with his line N. 40 poles to a pine
stump: then with his other line N. 40 "W. 8 pole
to aeiake; then with said line N. 70 W. 34 polea
to a small black gum; then S. 37 W. 40 poles
to a white aok at spring: then N. 82 W. 18 poles
to a stake in a branch; tnen 8. 12 ple up the
branch to a stace; then S. 60 E. 11 poles to a
chinquapin in the lane; then 8. 15 E. 20 poles
to a post oak; then N. 42 E. 20 poles toata&sa
fras at a pine; then N. 12 E. 12 poles to a stake
near the branch; then 8. 70 E. 40 poles to the
beginning; containing 20 acrss more or less,
being the land covered by dower of said Mrs.
Wild, now deceased. Terms of sale: 10 per
cent, cash, balance In two equal instalments of
six and twelve months, with interest at 6 per
cent., evidenced by notes with approved
security. Title reserved until purchase
money is paid in full. Time of sale, 12
o'clock, m. Ji B. WILD,
August 4, 1891. Commissioner.
H. B. Carter and ,
Giidger & Martin, Attorneys.
aug-4t
Ifce Kezt Term Sepiealer 3rd.
Entrance Ezaainatioas Sept. 2d,
TUITION $30 PER TERM.
Needy young men of talent and char
acter will be aided with scholarships and
loans. Besides the general courses of
study, which offers a large range of
elective studies, there are cources in law,
medicine and engineering. For catalogue,
&c, address the president,
GEO. T. WINSTON, -
jul30-lmo Chapel Hill, N. C.
Health is Wealth !
Dr. E. C. West's Nerve axd Brain Treat
mext, a guaranteed specific for Hysteria, Diz
TinPSS. Con Y-ll5innB Kite Varvnm Vann.lHi
Headache, Nervous' Prostration, caused bv the
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and death. Premature Old Age. Barrenness.
T.TSS Ctf VU'Pr In oitVior ca-r Tnrnlnnlon.
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Each box contains one month's
treatment. $1.00 a twx.or six boxes for $5.00,
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WE GUARANTEE SIX BOTTLES
To cure any case. With each order received
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will send the purchaser our written guarantee
tn refund thp mnnpv it tho tiwatm.n Ha
not effect a cure. Guarantees issued only by
T. C bmitb & Co., Druggists, Sole Agents.
Public Square, Asheville, N. C.
$500 Reward !
We Will MV thft abrT-A rp-anl fr,y ,nv
cae
or i-ner complaint, urspepsia.
ache, Indigestion, Constiiationo'r Costiveness
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The genuine manufactured only by The John
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T. C. SMITH Sc CO.
mhl2-ly
wm dp mn culm
' s
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Men, Boys and Children !
We offer the largest variety in our lines to be
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