Desolation of the Cherokee Country.—Expeditions under Rutherford and Pickens.—Present Condition of the Cherokees
ron were thrown into disorder; and but for the skill and coolness of Colonel Hammond in rallying them, they would have been routed, and many slain. They were victorious, and shortly after this event, Williamson marched, with two thousand men, to lay waste the Cherokee country. Again he fell into an ambuscade, in a narrow defile among the rugged mountains, near the present town of Franklin. From the rocky heights, and from behind the huge trees of the forest, twelve hundred warriors, with some Tories, poured a destructive fire upon the Whigs. But again the Indians were repulsed, and Williamson pressed forward cautiously but efficiently in the work of conquest and desolation. The valleys were smiling with crops of corn, and numerous villages dotted the water-courses. Towns were laid in ashes; the standing corn was trampled down and destroyed; and over all the Indian settlements eastward of the Apalachian Mountains, the broom of desolation swept with terrible effect. The destruction of food invited famine to a revel, and, to avoid starvation, five hundred warriors crossed the Savannah and fled to the Loyalists in Florida.
In the mean while, General Rutherford, of North Carolina, with a force fully equal to Williamson's, crossed the Blue Ridge at Swannanoa Gap, and proceeded to the valley of the Tennessee River, laying waste the Indian country on the line of his march. There he joined Williamson on the fourteenth of September. The work of destruction being completed, Rutherford returned to Salisbury in October, where he disbanded his troops. The conquest was consummate. The Cherokees sued for peace, but they had no Attakullakulla to intercede for them, for he had gone down into silence. They were compelled to submit to the most abject humiliation, and to cede to South Carolina all their lands beyond the mountains of Unacaya, now comprised within the fertile districts of Greenville, Anderson, and Pickens, watered by the tributaries of the Savannah, the Saluda, and the Ennoree. *
Only once again did the Cherokees lift the hatchet, during the war. In 1781, British emissaries induced them to go upon the war-path. With a large number of disguised white men, they fell upon the inhabitants in Ninety-Six, massacred some families, and burned their houses. General Pickens, with a party of militia, penetrated the Cherokee country, and in the space of fourteen days he burned thirteen of their villages, killed more than forty of the Indians, and took nearly seventy of them prisoners. They sued for peace, promised never to listen to the British again, and from that time they remained quiet. **
The spirit of the North Carolina Regulators was infused into the back settlers of South Carolina, beyond the Broad River, and about 1769, the leading men of that region took the law into their own hands. To suppress their rising power and importance, the governor employed a man of low habits, but of haughty demeanor, named Scovill, to go thither and enforce the laws of the province. He gave him the commission of colonel, and, with the mistaken policy of a narrow mind, he used rigorous measures, instead of evincing forbearance and a spirit of conciliation. The sufferings which they endured made them reprobate all government, and when asked to espouse the cause of Congress, they refused, on the ground that all congresses or instruments of government are arbitrary and tyrannical. These formed the basis of the Tory ascendency in that section of the state at the beginning of the war; and before the names of Whig and Tory became distinctive appellations, the name of Scovillites was applied to those who opposed the Republicans. There were also many Dutch settlers between the Broad and Saluda Rivers, who had received bounty lands from the king.
* Moultrie, Ramsay, Simms, Johnson.
** A greater portion of the Cherokee Nation, now in existence, occupy territory west of the Mississippi. A remnant of them remain in North Carolina, at a place ealled Qualla Town, in Haywood county. They were allowed to remain when the general emigration of their nation took place. They have a tract of seventy-two thousand acres of land. Almost every adult can read in the Cherokee language, and most of them understand English. They manufacture all their necessaries; have courts, lawyers, and judges of their own, and have all the political rights of free citizens of the state. They are sober, industrious, and religious. Their present business chief (1851) is William H. Thomas, Esq., senator from that district (50th). The Qualla Town Cherokees exhibit some remarkable cases of longevity. In 1850, Messrs. Mitchell and Smoot, while on an official visit there, saw Kalostch, who was then one hundred and twenty years old. His wife "went out like a candle," as Kalosteh said, the year before, at the age of one hundred and twenty-five years. It is said that people one hundred years old are not uncommon there.
The Western Settlers.—Growth of Party Spirit.—The Cunninghams.—Seizure of Powder.
Government emissaries persuaded these settlers to believe that an espousal of the rebel cause would be the sure precursor of the loss of their lands. These augmented the loyal population when the inhabitants were called upon to make a political decision. Still another class, the Scotch-Irish Protestants, had experienced the bounty of the king, and these, with a feeling of gratitude, adhered to the royal government. Over all these, Lord William Campbell, the royal governor when the war broke out, had unbounded influence, and probably in not one of the thirteen colonies was loyalty more rampant and uncompromising than in South Carolina. Many, whose feelings were all in harmony with the opposers of royal rule, were urged by self-interest to remain quiet; for they felt secure in person and property under present circumstances, and feared the result of commotion. Thus active and passive loyalty sat like an incubus upon the real patriotism of South Carolina; and yet, in every portion of the state, the Tories were outnumbered by the Whigs, except in the section we are now considering, between the Broad and Saluda Puvers. The inhabitants there could not be persuaded to furnish men and arms for the army of Congress, nor to sign the American Association.
Early in 1776, William Henry Drayton, Colonel William Thomson, Colonel Joseph Kershaw, and Reverend William Tennent, were sent by the Council of Safety at Charleston into that district, to explain to the people the nature of the dispute. Emissaries of government counteracted their influence by persuading the people that the inhabitants of the seaboard desired to get their tea free of duty, while those in the interior would be obliged to pay a high rate for salt, osnaburgs, and other imported necessaries. The baneful seeds of suspicion and mutual distrust were sown broad-cast among the settlers. The men of each party banded together in fear of the violence of the other, and soon opposing camps were formed. Moderate men endeavored to prevent bloodshed, and a conference of their respective leaders was finally effected. A treaty of mutual forbearance was agreed to, and for a while agitation almost ceased. But restless spirits were busy. Among these, Robert and Patrick Cunningham, ** Tory leaders, were the most active, and they soon disturbed the repose of party suspicion and animosity. By their machinations, it was aroused to wakefulness. The Whigs, fearful of Robert Cunningham's influence, seized and conveyed him to Charleston, where he was imprisoned. His brother Patrick raised a force to attempt a rescue.
At about this time, a thousand pounds of powder, on its way as a present to the Cherokees, was seized by these Loyalists. This excited the already vigorous efforts of the Council of Safety to more efficient measures. Colonel Williamson (the same officer who chastised the Cherokees), with a party of patriots, was sent to regain the powder. They seized Patrick Cunningham, the leader, when the Tories gathered in strength, and drove Williamson into a stockade fort at Ninety-Six. Alter remaining there some days, an agreement for a cessation of hostilities was concluded, and both parties dispersed to their homes.
* Mr. Drayton was, at this time, quite a young man, a descendant of one of the leading families of South Carolina. He was a nephew of Governor Bull. When Republican principles began to work up to the surface, and become visible at the South, in 1771, his pen was employed on the side of government, in opposition to Christopher Gadsden and others. 'These essays brought him into notice. He was introduced at court, and was appointed one of Governor Bull's council. As the Revolution advanced to a crisis, Drayton saw the injustice of Great Britain, and espoused the Republican cause. He became a favorite of the people, and, while a delegate in the Continental Congress, he died in their service in 1779.
** Robert Cunningham was an Irish settler in the District of Ninety-Six, now Abbeville, where he was commissioned a judge in 1770. After his release, in 1776, he removed to Charleston. In 1780, he was appointed a brigadier general to command the Loyalists of that province. His estate was confiscated in 1782, and not being allowed to remain in the province at the close of the war, he went to Nassau, New Providence, where he died in 1813, at the age of seventy-four years. The British government indemnified him for his losses, and gave him a pension. His brother Patrick was deputy surveyor of the colony in 1769. He received the commission of colonel, under Robert, in 1780. His property, also, was confiscated in 1782, and at the close of the war he went to Florida. The South Carolina Legislature afterward treated him leniently, and restored a part of his property. He was elected a member of the Legislature by his Tory friends. He died in 1794.
Tory Faithlessness.—Expedition against them—Battle at Musgrove's Mill.
The treaty at Ninety-Six was soon violated by the Tories, when the Provincial Congress, resolving no longer to rely upon words, sent a large body of militia and newly-raised regulars, under Colonels Richardson * and Thomson, ** to apprehend the leaders of the party which seized the powder, and to do all other things necessary to suppress the present and future insurrections. *** They were joined by seven hundred militia from North Carolina, under Colonels Thomas Polk and Griffith Rutherford, and two hundred and twenty regulars, commanded by Colonel James Martin. This was a wise step. It gave the Tories an exalted idea of the strength of the friends of government, and entirely destroyed their organization. Colonel Richardson used his discretionary powers with mildness. The most obstinate leaders were seized and carried to Charleston. Quiet was restored, and the Loyalists made no demonstration of moment until after the reduction of Savannah, when a considerable party arose in favor of the royal government, having for their leader Colonel Boyd, who had been secretly employed by the British government to head the Tories. These were routed and dispersed at Kettle Creek, while on their way to the British posts in Georgia. This event will be noticed in detail hereafter. From that time until the British took possession of Charleston, in 1780, the Tories remained rather quiet upon their plantations. On the eighteenth of August, 1780, Colonel Williams (who was killed at King's Mountain a few weeks afterward), with Colonels Shelby and Clarke, attacked quite a large body of British under Colonel Innis and Major Fraser, near Musgrove's Mill, upon the Ennoree River, in the northeast corner of Laurens's District. Many Tories were collected there, and were joined on the seventeenth by Innis and Fraser. The whole force was about three hundred strong, and were encamped upon the south side of the river, where they commanded a bad, rocky ford. The Americans, whose force was much less, took post upon the north side, upon a small creek which empties into the Ennoree just below the Spartanburg line, about two miles above Musgrove's Mill. It was agreed that Williams should have the chief command. He drew up his little army in ambush, in a semicircle within a wood, and then proceeded to entice his enemy across the river. For this purpose he took a few picked men, appeared at the ford, and fired upon the enemy. The stratagem was successful. Innis immediately crossed the ford to dislodge the "rebels." Williams and his party retreated, hotly pursued by Innis until within the area of the patriot ambuscade, when a single shot by Colonel Shelby gave the signal for attack. With a loud shout, the concealed Americans arose, and within two minutes the Tories were completely surrounded. Colonel Innis was slightly wounded, but with the larger part of his regulars he escaped. Major Fraser was killed, with eighty-five others. Colonel Clary, the commander of the militia, escaped, but
* Richard Richardson was a native of Virginia, where he was employed as a land-surveyor at the time when Washington was engaged in the same pursuit. He afterward settled in old Craven county, in South Carolina; and during the Indian border wars, he commanded a regiment. As a representative in the Provincial Congress of South Carolina, Colonel Richardson assisted in forming the first Republican Constitution for that state. He was with General Lincoln in his Southern campaigns, and with that officer became a prisoner at Charleston, at which time he was a brigadier. With others, he was sent to St. Augustine, from whence he returned in September with a broken constitution, and soon died at his residence, near Salisbury, in Sumter District, at the age of about seventy-six years. Soon after his death, Tarleton occupied his house, and, believing the family plate was buried with him, had his body disinterred. When he was about leaving, that cruel man applied the torch to the house with his own hand, avowing his determination to make it the "funeral pile of the widow and her three young rebels." His son, James B., was afterward governor of South Carolina.—See Johnson's Traditions, page 158.
** William Thomson was a native of Pennsylvania, and a relative of Charles Thomson, the secretary of the Continental Congress. He was born about the year 1727, and, while a child, was taken to Orangeburg District, in South Carolina. He was a patriot, and was placed in command of the 3d regiment, called the Rangers. With his regiment, he fought in the battle on Sullivan's Island in 1776. He was with General Howe in Georgia, and served under the command of D'Estaing at Savannah. He behaved gallantly, and suffered much during the greater part of the war. At its close, he returned to his estate at Belleville, near Fort Motte, mentioned on page 687, with shattered health and fortune. There he continued in the pursuit of an indigo planter, which he began before the war, until 1796, when declining health induced him to go to medicinal springs in Virginia. He died there on the twenty-second of November of that year, at the age of sixty-nine years.
*** Instructions of the Provincial Congress to Colonel Richardson.
Gathering of Troops by Sumter.—His partisan Compatriots.—Attack upon Wemyss at Fish Dam Ford.
most of his men were made prisoners. The Americans lost four men killed and eleven wounded.
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After this victory, Williams, with the prisoners, encamped at the Cedar Spring, in Spartanburg District, and from thence proceeded to Charlotte. Williams and Clarke returned to the western frontier, and the prisoners, under Major Hammond, marched to Hillsborough.
General Sumter, * after his defeat at the mouth of the Fishing Creek, on the Catawba, in August, 1780,Aug. 18collected a small volunteer force at Sugar Creek. Although, when the defeat of Gates at Camden was effected, there was no regular army in the field in South Carolina for three months, Sumter with his volunteers, maintained a warfare, and kept up the spirit of liberty upon the waters of the Broad River and vicinity for a long time. He crossed that stream, and by rapid marches ranged the country watered by the Ennoree and Tyger Rivers, in the neighborhood of the Broad His men were all mounted. They would strike a blow in one place to-day; to-morrow, their power would be felt far distant. Marion was engaged, at the same time, in similar service in the lower country; while Clarke and Twiggs of Georgia, and Williams, Pickens, and others of Ninety-Six, were equally active. The utmost vigilance of Cornwallis, then at Winnsborough, was necessary to maintain a communication between his various posts. While Tarleton was engaged in endeavors to find, fight, and subdue Marion, the "Swamp Fox," then making his valor felt on and near the banks of the Santee, Cornwallis perceived the operations of Sumter with alarm. He surmised (what was really the fact) that Sumter designed to attack his fort at Ninety-Six; he accordingly detached Major Wemyss, a bold and active officer, to surprise the partisan, then on the east side of the Broad River, at Fish Dam Ford, in Chester District, fifty-three miles from Camden. Wemyss, with a considerable force of well-mounted men, reached the vicinity on the evening of the eighth of November.1780Fearing Sumter might be apprised of his proximity before morning, and cross the river, Wemyss resolved to attack him at midnight, and immediately formed his corps for battle. At about one o'clock in the morning, he rushed upon Sumter's camp. That vigilant officer was prepared to receive him. Colonel Taylor, who commanded Sumter's advanced guard, had taken particular precautions. The horses were all saddled and bridled, ready to retreat or pursue, as circumstances might require. This preparation astonished the British, for they believed their approach was unknown. As soon as they were
* Thomas Sumter was one of the South Carolina patriots earliest in the field. Of his early life and habits very little is known. In March, 1776, he was a lieutenant colonel of a regiment of riflemen. After the fall of Charleston, in 1780, when a partisan warfare was carried on in the Carolines, Sumter began to display those powers which made him so renowned. Governor Rutledge, perceiving his merits, promoted him to brigadier of militia. His battles at Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock gave him great eclat. He was defeated by Tarleton at Fishing Creek, on the Catawba, just after the unfortunate battle near Camden. With a few survivors, and other volunteers, he crossed the Broad River, ranged the districts upon its western banks, and on the eighth of November, 1780, defeated Colonel Wemyss who had attacked his camp. He afterward defeated Tarleton at Blackstocks. Sumter was wounded, but was able to take the field early in February, 1781. While Greene was retreating before Cornwallis, Sumter, with Marion, was humbling British garrisons in the lower country. He continued in active service during the whole campaign of 1781. Ill health caused him to leave the army before the close of the war. He served a long time in the Congress of the United States He died at his residence at Statesburg, near Bradford Springs, in Sumter District, on the first of June, 1832, at the remarkable age of ninety-eight years.
Defeat of Wemyss.—Sumter pursued by Tarleton.—Halt and Battle at Blackstocks's.
within rifle shot, Sumter gave a signal; a deadly volley ensued, and twenty-three of the enemy were laid dead upon the field. The British recoiled, but rallying in a moment, they renewed the attack. A hot skirmish ensued, when the British gave way and retreated precipitately, leaving their commander (who was wounded at the first attack), with many slain and wounded comrades, upon the field. Major Wemyss was found the next morning, bleeding profusely. The blood was stanched, and, notwithstanding he had been guilty of various cruelties toward the Whigs, and in his pocket was a list of houses he had burned, Sumter treated him kindly, and allowed him to go to Charleston on parole.
Sumter now prepared to cross the Broad River, for the purpose of effecting his design upon Ninety-Six. He had agreed with Colonels Clarke, Twiggs, and others, from Georgia, to join them on the west side of the Broad River, and proceed to invest that post. For the purpose of covering this expedition, and deceiving the British, he first approached and menaced Camden, and then wheeling, by forced marches he crossed the Broad River and joined Clarke and his associates between the Tyger and Ennoree. Sumter took the command of the whole, and had crossed the Ennoree, when he was intercepted by Tarleton. Cornwallis, alarmed for the safety of Ninety-Six, had recalled that officer from the expedition against Marion, and ordered him to proceed immediately in pursuit of Sumter. With his usual celerity, Tarleton soon crossed the Broad River, and, pushing up the southern side of the Ennoree, attempted to gain Sumter's rear. A deserter from the British infantry informed that officer of the approach and design of Tarleton, and he immediately ordered a retreat. Backward they turned, but so near was the enemy, that, while crossing the Ennoree, the rear guard of the Americans were handled roughly by Tarleton's van. They escaped, however, with a trifling loss. Sumter continued his retreat until he reached the plantation of Blackstocks, on the southwest side of the Tyger River (in the extreme western part of Union District), still closely pursued by Tarleton. That place appeared favorable for a small force to do battle, and Sumter resolved there to face his pursuers, maintain his ground during the day, if possible, and, if compelled to retreat, to cross the river at night. Tarleton did not approach as early as was apprehended, and it was near the close of the afternoon,Nov. 20, 1780when, with about four hundred of his command, he appeared near Blackstocks's. He was in such haste to overtake Sumter before he should cross the Tyger, that he pressed forward without waiting for the remainder of his force. He found the Americans upon a hill near Blackstocks's house, ready for battle and determined to fight. Major Jackson, of Georgia, who acted as Sumter's volunteer aid on that occasion, assisted him essentially in the proper formation of his troops, and in directing their movements.
In Sumter's front was a very steep bank, with a small rivulet at its base, a fence, and some brushwood. His rear, and part of his right flank, was upon Tyger River; his left was covered by a large log-barn. Tarleton took position upon an eminence near by, and, believing the victory for himself quite sure, he leisurely prepared to attack the Americans, as soon as the remainder of his command should arrive. When Sumter perceived that the whole of Tarleton's force was not with him, he determined not to wait to be attacked, but to act on the offensive. He issued his orders hastily, and in a few minutes his troops descended suddenly from the hill, and poured a well-directed fire upon the British. The latter met the unexpected shock with great valor, and then rushed upon the American riflemen with bayonets. These fell back in good order, when a reserve of riflemen, with a second volley, slew many of the British, and repulsed the remainder. Tarleton, now observing the peril of his little army, charged directly up the hill with his cavalry. The Americans stood firm, and, making sure aim with their rifles, drove the cavalry back beyond the rivulet. Tarleton, amazed at the result, drew off his whole force, then, wheeling his cavalry, made a furious charge upon Sumter's left flank, where the hill was less precipitous. Here he was met by a little band of one hundred and fifty Georgia militia, under Twiggs and Jackson, who, like veterans of many wars, stood firm, and made a noble resistance for a long time, * until
* Colonel (afterward General) James Jackson, in a letter to the late Mathew Carey, of Philadelphia, written many years subsequent to the war (the original of which is in possession of H. C. Baird, Esq., of Philadelphia), says, "General Sumter was wounded early in the action, and retired. Colonel (now General) Twiggs and myself fought the enemy three hours after this, and defeated them totally, bringing off upward of thirty dragoon horses."
Flight of Tarleton.—Sumter Wounded.—His Retreat.—Thanks of Congress.—Patriotic Women.
hoof, and saber, and pistol, bore too hard upon them, and they gave way. At that moment, tiie rifles of a reserve, under Colonel Winn, and a sharp fire from the log-barn, decided the day. Tarleton fled, leaving nearly two hundred upon the field. Of these, more than ninety were killed, and nearly one hundred wounded. The Americans lost only three killed and five wounded. Among the latter was General Sumter, who received a ball in his breast early in the action, and was taken to the rear, when Colonel Twiggs assumed the command. Though Sumter's wound was severe, and kept him from the field for several months afterward, it did not completely disable him at the time. Without waiting for the remainder of Tarleton's force to come up, Sumter, as soon as he had buried the dead, and made the wounded of the enemy as comfortable as possible, forded the swift-flowing Tyger, bearing his wounded on litters, and continued his retreat to the eastern side of the Broad River, where a large portion of his followers separated, some to go home, others to join new commanders. He proceeded into North Carolina, and remained there until his wounds were healed. The Georgians turned westward, and marched along the base of the mountains toward Ninety-Six. The valorous achievements of Sumter (several more of which will be noticed in detail hereafter) during the campaign of 1780 acquired for him the title of theCarolina Gamecock. Cornwallis was obliged to speak of him as the most troublesome of his enemies. On the thirteenth of January, 1781, Congress passed a very complimentary resolution of thanks to him and his men, in the preamble of which, his victory at Hanging Rock, and his defeat of Wemyss and Tarleton, are particularly mentioned. * With these latter events ended all the important military operations westward of the Broad River, and north of the Saluda. **
The day is waning; let us cross the Eswawpuddenah, and resume our journey.
* Journals of Congress, vii., 14.
** Tradition has preserved many thrilling accounts of the sufferings, self-sacrifice, and great courage of the women westward of the Broad River. The gentle maiden and the rough woodsman were, taught in the same school of rude experience, and imbibed from the events of daily life a spirit of self-reliance seldom seen in more refined society. Among the heroines of this region, Sarah Dillard, of Spartanburg District, mentioned on page 630, and Dicey Langston, of Laurens District, were among the most conspicuous. Of the latter, Mrs. Ellet, in her admirable sketches of Women of the Revolution, has recorded many interesting anecdotes. One of these will suffice to illustrate the courage of this young girl—a noble type of her class. Her father was infirm; her brothers were abroad; and Dicey, then only sixteen, was her father's chief companion and solace. A Tory band, called the Bloody Scout, under the notorious Bill Cunningham, spread terror over that lonely region; and the known patriotism of Dicey often jeopardized the life and property of her father. On one occasion, she learned that the Scout were about to fall upon a settlement beyond the Tyger, where her brothers dwelt. She resolved to save them. At night and alone, she crossed the Ennoree and hastened to the banks of the Tyger. It was swollen, yet she did not recoil from the danger. The blackness of midnight was upon the land, yet she went boldly into the stream. Neck deep in the channel, she became confused, and did not know which way to go. God led her to the northern bank; and, like an angel of mercy, she sped to the settlement. When the Bloody Scout reached there the next day, no man was to be found.
Miss Langston married Thomas Springfield, of Greenville, South Carolina, where many of her descendants are still living. She died only a few years ago. Mrs. Thomas, Mrs. Simms, Mrs. Otterson, Miss Jackson, Mrs. Potter, and other less conspicuous of the women west of the Broad River, were co-patriots with Dicey Langston. Of these, Mrs. Ellet has made many interesting records.
Cherokee Ford.—Romantic Mountain Gorge.—Passage of King's Creek.
"Ours are no hirelings train'd to the fight,
With cymbal and clarion, all glittering and bright;
No prancing of chargers, no martial display;
No war-trump is heard from our silent array.
O'er the proud heads of freemen our star-banner waves;
Men, firm as their mountains, and still as their graves,
To-morrow shall pour out them life-blood like rain:
We come back in triumph, or come not again!"
—T. Gray.
9664
T noon I crossed the Broad River at the Cherokee Ford, and turning to the southeast, pressed on toward Yorkville and the interesting fields of conflict beyond, near the waters of the Catawba and its surname, the Wateree, where the chivalrous partisans of the South, scorning the Delilah lap of ease, retained their strength and battled manfully with the Philistines of the crown.
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The river at the ford is about eight hundred yards wide, and upon the firm pathway, which has been constructed at considerable expense, in this vicinity, that it is quite unnavigable, except in a few places.
Soon after leaving the ford, I passed through a gorge of a spur of King's Mountain, which here comes down in a precipitous ridge to the Broad River. The scenery within this gorge was the most romantic I had observed in the Southern country.
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From a ravine, just wide enough for the passage of a small stream and the high-way, the hills rise almost perpendicularly to a considerable altitude. They were covered with the various evergreens which give beauty to Southern forests in winter; and from the fissures of the rocks, where the water-fountains were bursting forth, hundreds of icicles were glittering in prismatic beauty wherever the sun shed its rays upon them. It was truly a gorgeous scene. Along this sinuous mountain stream, rock-bound on either side, the road continued to an iron establishment, where it ascends the steep margins of the hills, presenting a surface of deep adhesive red earth. Descending the eastern side of the eminence, I crossed King's Creek, a dozen miles below the place where I passed it two days before when on my way to the Cowpens. Soon again I was among the rough hills, and so bad was the road, that at sunset I had traveled only ten miles from the Cherokee Ford.
The average depth of water did not exceed one foot. Unless the river is much swollen, the ford is perfectly safe. A strong dam, owned by the proprietors of the iron-works, crosses the river an eighth of a mile above; and so shallow and rapid is the current, and so rocky the bed of the river, for many miles
* This view is from the east bank of the river. Toward the extreme right is seen the dam, made to supply water-power for the iron-works delineated toward the left of the picture. The fording-place, which crosses a small island in the middle of the stream, is indicated by the slight fall toward the left.
A Night on the Mountains.—Contentment.—Mule Driving.—Yorkville.—Catawba Indians.
I discovered that the temporary repairs of my wagon had not been sufficient to withstand the rough usage of the way, and that more thorough work was necessary before I could pursue my journey with safety. Yorkville, the nearest place In advance where a smith could be found, was fourteen miles distant, so I was compelled to halt for the night at a small log-house, of forbidding aspect, among the mountains. The food and shelter was of the plainest kind imaginable. There was no "light in the dwelling," except the blaze of pine wood upon the hearth, and I wrote a letter by the glare of a resinous knot, brought from the "wood pile" for the purpose. Lying in bed, I could count the stars at the zenith; while the open floor below afforded such ample ventilation, that my buffalo robe, wrapped around me, was not uncomfortable on that keen frosty night. But generous, open-handed hospitality was in that humble cabin, which made amends for trifling discomforts, and I felt satisfied.
"Out upon the calf, I say,
Who turns his grumbling head away,
And quarrels with his feed of hay,
Because it is not clover.
Give to me the happy mind,
That will ever seek and find
Something fair and something kind,
All the wide world over."
Unwilling to risk a journey to Yorkville in my broken buggy, I hired a team of mules and a lumber-wagon from my host, to convey myself and baggage thither; and placing Charley and the vehicle in charge of his son, a lad of fourteen years, we started for the distant village at daybreak the next morning. All the way over that rough road I had practical evidence that mules are, like facts, "stubborn things." I was furnished with a hickory goad as long as an angler's rod, and with this I labored faithfully, full half of the way, to whip the animals into a trot where a level space occurred. But I made no visible impression; walk they would, until they reached the brow of a hill, when they would descend with the vehemence of the swine of old, who, filled with devils, ran down into the sea. Down three long hills, rocky and gullied, they ran, while my energies were fully occupied in pulling at the reins with one hand, and securing my seat upon a loose board, covered with a sheepskin, with the other. I reached Yorkville in safety at a little past meridian, resolved never again to play postillion with mules or donkeys, whether biped or quadruped.
Yorkville, the capital of York District, in South Carolina, almost two hundred miles from Charleston, is a very pleasant village of about eight hundred inhabitants, situated in the midst of a high plain, on the dividing-ridge between the waters of the Broad and Catawba Rivers. Sheltered from the northwest winds by the mountains, the climate is mild in winter; elevated far above the low country of the Carolinas, it is salubrious in summer. The streets of the village are regularly laid out, and adorned with beautiful Pride of India trees, filled, when I was there, with clusters of fruit. I saw some elegant mansions; and in the gardens, fine palmettoes, the first I had seen, were growing. I passed the Sabbath pleasantly in Yorkville, and left it early on Monday morning, with the impression that not a lovelier village flourishes in the "upper eountry" of the South. Leaving the great highway to Columbia on the right, I traversed the more private roads in the direction of the Catawba, to visit the scenes of valor and suffering in the vicinity of that stream. The weather was fine, and the roads generally good. Soon after leaving Yorkville, I passed through a part of the Catawba reservation, a narrow tract of land on the Catawba River, near the southeast corner of Yorkville District. The Catawba tribe, once so powerful, have dwindled down to the merest remnant. For their general adherence to the patriots during the Revolution, they have always received the fostering care of the state. Their number now does not exceed one hundred, and in a few years that once great rival tribe of the Five Nations will be extinct. * So the aborigines pass away, and the few survivors in our land may chant in sorrow,
* The Catawbas spoke a language different from any of the surrounding tribes. They inhabited the country south of the Tuscaroras, and adjoining the Cherokees. In 1672, the Shawnees made settlements in their country, but were speedily driven away. In 1712, they were the allies of the white people against the Corees and Tuscaroras; but in 1715, they joined the other tribes in a confederacy against the Southern colonies. In 1760, they were auxiliaries of the Carolinians against the Cherokees, and ever afterward were the friends of the white people. Their chief village was on the Catawba, twenty-four miles from Yorkville. The following eloquent petition of Peter Harris, a Catawba warrior during the Revolution, is preserved among the colonial records at Columbia, in South Carolina. The petition is dated 1822: "I am one of the lingering survivors of an almost extinguished race. Our graves will soon be our only habitations. I am one of the few stalks that still remain in the field where the tempest of the Revolution has passed. I fought against the British for your sake. The British have disappeared, and you are free; yet from me have the British took nothing; nor have I gained any thing by their defeat. I pursued the deer for subsistence; the deer are disappearing, and I must starve. God ordained me for the forest, and my ambition is the shade. But the strength of my arm decays, and my feet fail me in the chase. The hand which fought for your liberties is now open for your relief. In my youth I bled in battle, that you might be independent; let not my heart in my old age bleed for the want of your commiseration."
This petition was not unheeded; the Legislature of South Carolina granted the old warrior an annuity of Sixty dollars.
"Our hungry eyes may fondly wish
To revel amid flesh and fish,
And gloat upon the silver dish
That holds a golden plover
Yet if our table be but spread
With bacon and with hot corn-bread,
Be thankful if we're always fed
As well, the wide world over."
Fishing Creek and its Associations.—Generous Hospitality.—Petition of a Catawba Indian.
"We, the rightful lords of yore,
Are the rightful lords no more;
Like the silver mist, we fail,
Like the red leaves in the gale—
Fail, like shadows, when the dawning
Waves the bright flag of the morning.''
J. M'Lellan, Junior.
"I will go to my tent and lie down in despair;
I will paint me with black, and will sever my hair;
I will sit on the shore when the hurricane blows,
And reveal to the God of the tempest my woes;
I will weep for a season, on bitterness fed.
For my kindred are gone to the hills of the dead;
But they died not of hunger, or lingering decay—
The hand of the white man hath swept them away!''
Henry Rowe Schoolcraft.
I crossed the Fishing Creek at sunset; and at the house of a young planter, a mile beyond, passed the night. There I experienced hospitality in its fullest degree. The young husbandman had just begun business life for himself, and, with his wife and "wee bairn," occupied a modest house, with only one room. I was not aware of the extent of their accommodations when I asked for a night's entertainment, and the request was promptly complied with. It made no difference to them, for they had two beds in the room, and needed but one for themselves; the other was at my service. The young man was very intelligent and inquiring, and midnight found us in pleasant conversation. He would accept no compensation in the morning; and I left his humble dwelling full of reverence for that generous and unsuspecting hospitality of Carolina, where the people will give a stranger lodgingseven in their own bedrooms, rather than turn him from their doors.
"Plain and artless her sons; but whose doors open faster
At the knock of the stranger or the tale of disaster?
How like to the rudeness of their dear native mountains,
With rich ore in their bosoms, and life in their fountains.''
Gaston.
My journey of a day from Fishing Creek to Rocky Mount, on the Catawba, was delightful.
The winter airJan. 15, 1849was like the breath of late April in New England; and the roads, passing through a picturesque country, were generally good. Almost every plantation, too, is clustered with Revolutionary associations; for this region, like Westchester county, in New York, was the scene of continual partisan movements, skirmishes, and cruelties, during the last three years of the war. Near the month of the Fishing Creek (which empties into the Catawba two miles above the Great Falls), Sumter suffered defeat, after partial success at Rocky Mount below; and down through Chester, Fairfield, and Richland, too, Whigs and Tories battled fearfully for territorial possession, plunder, and personal re-
Great Falls of the Catawba.—Mount Dearborn.—Cotton Factory.—Rocky Mount and its Associations.
venge. Some of these scenes will be noticed presently. Turning to the left at Beckhamville, * I traversed a rough and sinuous road down to the banks of the Catawba, just below the Great Falls.