He Came Of A Valiant Race

Source

...leaving Fort Peyton on the 7th inst., and proceeding south....

Fort Peyton (Florida) LOC 1839 Map

...a large Seminole villae, near Mosquito Inlet, was reached, and, after surrounding it, at dawn of day on the 10th the dragoons, under McNeil and May, charged the enemy... .  Our loss was the gallant McNeil, who received a mortal wound while leading his men.  This officer--one of the youngest in service--was deeply regretted, both on account of personal and professional worth; he came of a valiant race--son of General John McNeil, late of the army, and grandson of General Benjamin Pierce,* of New Hampshire, a hero of the Revolution.

*Father of McNeil's mother, Elizabeth Andrews Pierce McNeil, and President Franklin Pierce

 

Plan Of Battle Of Kings Mountain

Commanded by Colonel Ferguson:

Source

'The cleared area or bare summit of the King's Mountain range,' a narrow, stony ridge; on which Ferguson pitched his camp, has an outline not unlike that of an Indian paddle...".

King's Mountain

King's Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King's Mountain ..., By Lyman Copeland Draper, Anthony Allaire, Isaac Shelby (1881).

Map cross-posted at In Deeds

Sarah B. Campbell's Parents

Campbell etc families:

William Roark And A Jersey Boy In The Revolution

The fictional story of A Jersey Boy in the Revolution:

Captain Joshua Huddy, whom Tom had now recognized as his captor, spoke sternly, and the lad could see that he was regarded with suspicion by the doughty leader in the Monmouth militia. In the advance which Washington had made in the preceding summer into the county, Captain Huddy had been of great assistance in the troops of General Maxfield; but after the battle he had left the army and remained to aid the scattered people in their defense against the marauding bands of Tories and refugees. Tom Coward knew him well, and the rugged zeal of the famous Jerseyman had strongly impressed him, as it had all the people of Old Monmouth.


The authentic affidavit of William Roark, soldier in the American Revolutionary War:

That he was drafted into service in the county of Sussex, state of New Jersey first under Captain John Fleet and served a tour under him during which time we were marched to Amboy in said state.

The next tour of a similar service was under Capt. Mark Thompson, during which time we were marched to a place called Bound Brook.  The next tour was under Capt. John Maxfield [Maxwell?].  These several tours comprised a time of...

I do not recollect many of the United States officers excepting those mentioned and General Washington who was about this time in New Jersey and General William Maxfield [Maxwell?] the brother of my captain.  Some where during this time Capt. John Maxfield [Maxwell?] received a commission of captain in the regulars, and enlisted a company at the Grand Camps and I enlisted in it under him.  I was at the battle of Millstone and took a prisoner at or near the settlement of Monmouth.  I had lived with an uncle who was acquainted with the General and he came down and got me off from further service at this time.  

Scotland's Influence on Civilization

Scotland's Influence on Civilization, By Leroy Jones Halsey:

North Carolina To Tennessee

FLOWERING of the CUMBERLAND by Harriette Simpson Arnow...:

North Carolina had used land (she had no cash) to pay her officers and soldiers for their services in the Revolution... .

Mansker's Station (North of Nashville, Tennessee)

Yet, none of the men out of the Revolution, no matter how great their sufferings during the rebellion or from Indians after settlement, had known the losses in blood, money, and time, or endured the hardships of the first settlers on the Cumberland. These had come away back in the winter of 1779-1780.... .

....[Mr. Buchanan, one of the founders of Nashville, Tennessee]...had been born in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania, but his father, John, Sr., like so many Pennsylvania borderers, had migrated to North Carolina, settling in the neighborhood of Guilford Courthouse, now surrounded by the town of Greensboro.

Annals Of Tazewell County

Annals Of Tazewell County:

Source

Page 204 and Page 206

Acklin, Cr.

Revolutionary Soldiers

Page 213
William Hinds

2nd Regiment Artillery

Reverend Samuel Doak

 

Always an eager and skillful questioner, Mrs. McCormick undoubtedly brought out the highlights of Tusculum's history: how the Rev. Samuel Doak, a Presbyterian clergyman and a Princeton scholar, had penetrated into this lovely valley in the last quarter of the eighteenth century, built a log cabin to house the modest beginnings of Martin Academy, which by 1795 had become Washington College; how after preaching and teaching the classics there for twenty-three years, he had come fourteen miles farther along the valley to set up another academy, which in time became Tusculum College. Again the combination church and school was a log cabin. 

The buildings stood on a hill commanding a beautiful mountain view and overlooking town, valley, two rivers — the Watauga and the Doe. 

Whoever wrote to Mrs. McCormick of this fair region always mentioned the historic sycamore near the fords of the Watauga, where the Reverend Samuel Doak had prayed for the doughty mountaineers who were to turn the tide of the Revolution at King's Mountain. [Source]

The Loyalists In The American Revolution

The Loyalists in the American Revolution,  By Claude Halstead Van Tyne:

Israel Williams though old  and infirm was taken from his home at night a mob placed in a house with the doors and closed and smoked for several hours poet Trumbull has chronicled the result in the of M'Fingal which tells us that they smoked old Williams to a Whig. When the mob let him out he signed a paper promising not to serve on the Mandamus Council.

 At Taunton some five hundred inhabitants assembled at the court house in which was the office of Daniel Leonard to express their sentiments against his acceptance of a place on the Mandamus Council Mr. Leonard disappeared and the crowd dispersed without disorder or violence but on the following evening certain Sons of Belial fired several balls into one of Leonard's chamber windows.

William Alexander, Lord Stirling

Lord Stirling (William Alexander)

It had been family tradition that his father was next of kin to the Earl of Stirling, who had died without issue in 1739. This Earldom included grants to vast tracts of land in America, as well as in Scotland. 

A jury of Service of the leading men of Edinburgh declared upon the evidence presented to them that he was Earl of Stirling. Under Scottish law this was considered sufficient warrant to assume the title. 

 It was while his headquarters were at Elizabethtown that Lord Stirling made a daring exploit in capturing the British armed transport, Blue Mountain Valley, of 300 tons burden, mounting six guns and loaded with stores for the British army at Boston. Congress commended him by resolution for this exploit.

General Washington, having witnessed the remarkable bravery and ability of Lord Stirling, immediately endeavored to make an exchange of prisoners so as to regain his services. He succeeded in exchanging 

Governor Mortfort Brown, of Florida, for him, and shortly after the evacuation of New York Lord Stirling was enabled to rejoin the army. 

The Case Of The Inhabitants Of E. Florida

Source

Page 6

Lieutenant-Colonel Brown was mentioned on Page 4.

The Affair At King's Mountain

Source

Cabin Of Nancy Hart

Also see Thomas Brown In The Hornet's Nest.

The Hornet's Nest, A novel of the Revolutionary War by Jimmy Carter, is concerned with the war "as it was fought in Georgia and the Carolinas...".

Unfortunately for them, they chose the cabin of Nancy Hart and demanded that she prepare food for them (after Thomas Brown's Tories killed John Dooly at his home).  Nancy and her husband, Benjamin, had moved from Carolina to Georgia with the Clarkes (Elijah), and she had proven to be quite self-sufficient after her husband was killed on one of the militia raids into Indian territory.

Legacy Of The American Revolution

The Legacy of the American Revolution to the British ...:

Also see: Thomas Brown in a Hornet's Nest and The King's Rangers Colonel Brown.

Veteran Of Point Pleasant Battle Marched To The Aid Of General Washington

One of the first companies that marched to the aid of Washington when he was at Cambridge in 1775 was that of Captain Michael Cresap, which was raised partly in Maryland and partly in the western part of Virginia. ...his company may be taken as a fair sample of what the riflemen of the frontiers of our country were, and of what they could do. We will therefore give the words of an eyewitness of their performances. This account is taken from the Pennsylvania Journal of August 23rd, 1775.

Battle In Lord Dunmore's War

"On Friday evening last arrived at Lancaster, Pa., on their way to the American camp, Captain Cresap's Company of Riflemen, consisting of one hundred and thirty active, brave young fellows, many of whom have been in the late expedition under Lord Dunmore against the Indians. They bear in their bodies visible marks of their prowess, and show scars and wounds which would do honour to Homer's Iliad.

"At night a great fire was kindled around a pole planted in the Court House Square, where the company with the Captain at their head, all naked to the waist and painted like savages (except the Captain, who was in an Indian shirt), indulged a vast concourse of people with a perfect exhibition of a war-dance and all the manoeuvres of Indians; holding council, going to war; circumventing their enemies by defiles; ambuscades; attacking; scalping, etc. It is said by those who are judges that no representation could possibly come nearer the original. The Captain's expertness and agility, in particular, in these experiments, astonished every beholder. This morning they will set out on their march for Cambridge." [Source]

Directly From Savannah

The Hornet's Nest, A novel of the Revolutionary War by Jimmy Carter, is concerned with the war "as it was fought in Georgia and the Carolinas...".

When William Few assembled Ethan Pratt and other platoon members near Wrightsborough late in June 1779, he gave them some bad news, directly from Savannah.  Indian Superintendent John Stuart had died earlier that year, and Governor Wright and leaders in London had decided to appoint Thomas Brown as superintendent of the Creeks, Cherokees, Catawbas, and a few smaller tribes along the Atlantic Coast.

Also see Thomas Brown In The Hornet's Nest.

Remains Of John Lewis

Source

John Lewis is buried at Bellefonte, Augusta, Virginia

Resources Explaining Sullivan's Expedition

Sullivan's expedition against the Indians of New York : a letter from Andrew McFarland Davis to Justin Winsor, corresponding secretary Massachusetts Historical Society : with the Journal of William McKendry byMcKendry, William, d. 1798; Massachusetts Historical Society; Davis, Andrew McFarland, 1833-1920; Winsor, Justin, 1831-1897

A compilation of journals/diaries regarding the Expedition:

Excerpts from McKendry's Journal:

Ditto 11 th 1778. Moderate Snow storm.

Ditto 12* T. Taylor Rec d 400 Lashes for striking Cap* Too Good
with his Gun ; he belongs to Col Putmans Reg*

Ditto 28* Majr Whitting left Albany on furlow for New England.

Ditto 29 th Nothing new.

Ditto 30* Cap* Day & Cap* Warren Arriv d in Camp in Albany
with y? Clothing for y e officers ; Sarj* Dickerman and Corp 1 Pettingill
arriv d ditto.

February 1 st 1778. Ensign Parker arrived from furlow at Albany.

Ditto 2 d Nothing new.

Ditto 6* A Brittish Soldier Rec d 30 Lashes at y e City Hall in Al
bany Put on by an Indian.

Daniel Bedinger, Revolutionary War POW

Project Gutenberg's American Prisoners of the Revolution, by Danske Dandridge:

To The Memory of my Grandfather, Lieutenant Daniel Bedinger, of Bedford, Virginia

 Daniel's father was born in Alsace, and he himself had been brought up in a family where German was the familiar language of the household. It seems that, in some way, probably by using his mother tongue, he had touched the heart of one of the Hessian guards.

In some way Daniel was conveyed to Philadelphia, where he completely collapsed, and was taken to one of the military hospitals.

Here, about the first of January, 1777, his devoted brother, George Michael Bedinger, found him. Major Bedinger's son, Dr. B. F. Bedinger, wrote an account of the meeting of these two brothers for Mrs. H. B. Lee, one of Daniel's daughters, which tells the rest of the story. He said:

"My father went to the hospital in search of his brother, but did not recognize him. On inquiry if there were any (that had been) prisoners there a feeble voice responded, from a little pile of straw and rags in a corner, 'Yes, Michael, there is one.'

"He placed his suffering and beloved charge in the chair...and carried him some miles into the country, where he found a friendly asylum for him in the house of some good Quakers. There he nursed him, and by the aid of the kind owners, who were farmers, gave him nourishing food, until he partially recovered strength.

After Daniel Bedinger returned home he had a relapse...however, recovered, and re-entered the service, where the first duty assigned him was that of acting as one of the guards over the prisoners near Winchester. He afterwards fought with Morgan in the southern campaigns, was in the battle of the Cowpens, and several other engagements, serving until the army was disbanded. He was a Knight of the Order of the Cincinnati.

Lieutenant Bedinger...died in 1818 at his home near Shepherdstown, of a malady which troubled him ever after his confinement as a prisoner in New York. He hated the British with a bitter hatred, which is not to be wondered at.

Daniel Bedinger's entry at Wikitree.

See a YouTube video of Bedinger's experiences by one of his descendants.