Part 11 (1/2)
That a British detachment of four hundred and fifty infantry and sixty cavalry should be compelled to desist from a foraging expedition and return to Charlotte with only a small amount of provisions and a considerable loss of their number by a handful of patriots, well exemplifies the vigilance, pertinacity and courage of the ”hornets” of Mecklenburg in endeavoring to protect their homes, and repel the invaders of their soil.
The country people, early advised of the advance of the foraging party, mounted their horses, rifle in hand, from every direction; and, occupying well protected positions along the main road, also faithfully endeavored to diminish the number of his Majesty's forces, and hastened the retreat of the British into Charlotte, the survivors swearing after their arrival that ”every bush along the road concealed a rebel.”
The names of this gallant band of patriots, of ”Hornets' Nest”
notoriety, were: 1. James Thompson, captain; 2. Francis Bradley; 3.
George Graham; 4. James Henry; 5. Thomas d.i.c.kson; 6. John d.i.c.kson; 7.
George Houston; 8. Hugh Houston; 9. Thomas McLure; 10. John Long; 11.
John Robinson; 12. George s.h.i.+pley; 13. Edward s.h.i.+pley.
REMARKS.--Tradition says Francis Bradley was a large and very strong man, and a ”terror” to the British as well as the Tories. The British officers were extremely anxious to take him as a prisoner, for his activity in hara.s.sing their scouts and foraging parties, and more particularly for the fatal aim of his rifle in _picking off_ their sentries while their army was encamped at Charlotte. The rifle he carried for six years during the Revolution, and which did such _telling_ execution, was the property of Major John Davidson (now in possession of one of his grandsons,) who, being a staff officer, could not make it perform, as it should, its death-dealing mission upon the enemies of his country. About three weeks after the gallant affair at McIntyre's Branch, Bradley was attacked, overpowered and killed by four lurking and base-hearted Tories (said not to be natives of the county). His mortal remains now repose in the graveyard at Hopewell Church, where also sleep many of his ill.u.s.trious compatriots in arms.
On his gravestone are sculptured two drawn and crossed swords, and beneath them the motto, _Arma Libertatis_. The inscription reads thus:
”In memory of FRANCIS BRADLEY, A friend of his country, and privately slain by the enemie of his country, November 14th, 1780, aged 37 years.”
The two d.i.c.ksons moved to Tennessee; the two Houstons and McLure moved to Kentucky; Robinson settled on Crowder's Creek, Gaston county.
Doyle, the British commander, before the close of the war was made a Colonel, and afterward a Brigadier-General. In 1816 he was styled Sir John Doyle, and Governor of the Islands of Guernsey, Jersey, Alderney and Sark, on the coast of France. Surely, it could not have been for his gallant behavior at McIntyre's he acquired such honor and promotion!
JUDGE SAMUEL LOWRIE.
Judge Lowrie was born in New Castle county, Del., on the 12th of May, 1756. His parents moved, when he was a child, to North Carolina, and settled in Rowan county. He was educated at Clio Academy (now in Iredell county) under the Rev. James Hall, an eminent Presbyterian minister of the gospel, and Captain of a company during the Revolutionary War. He studied law in Camden, S.C., and, soon gaining eminence in his profession, was elected to the House of Commons from Mecklenburg county in 1804,-'5 and '6. In the last named year he was elected a Judge of the Superior Court, which position he held until his death on the 22d of December, 1818, in the sixty-third year of his age.
In 1788, he married Margaret, eldest daughter of Captain Robert Alexander, of Lincoln county. His wife died, leaving him with several children. In 1811, he again married, Mary, daughter of Marmaduke Norfleet, of Bertie county, N.C. He was a man of fine talents, and dignified the responsible position he held. He resided in Mecklenburg county, about three miles north from the Tuckasege Ford, on the Salisbury road, (now owned by Robert S. McGee, Esq.)
His mortal remains, with those of his first wife and three infant children, and other relatives, repose in the graveyard of Goshen Church, Gaston county, N.C.
THE LADIES OF THE REVOLUTIONARY PERIOD.
It has been well said that ”patriotic mothers nursed the infancy of the Republic.” During the progress of British encroachment and arbitrary power, producing great colonial discontent, every sagacious politician could discern in the distant future the portentous shadow of the approaching conflict. In the domestic circle was then nurtured and imparted that love of civil liberty which afterwards kindled into a flame, and shed its genial and transforming light upon the world.
The conversation of matrons in their homes, or among their neighbors, was of the people's wrongs and of the tyranny that oppressed them.
Under such early training their sons, when grown to manhood, deeply imbued with proper notions of their just rights, stood up in the hour of trial prepared to defend them to the last. The counsels and the prayers of mothers mingled with their deliberations, and added sanct.i.ty to all their patriotic efforts for American independence.
They animated the courage, confirmed the self-devotion, and shared in the sacrifices of those who, in the common defence, ”pledged their lives, their fortunes and their sacred honor.”
Among the widowed mothers who early instilled into their rising generation a deep love of their country, and a manful determination to defend their firesides and their homes, might be named Mrs. Steele, Mrs. Flinn, Mrs. Sharpe, Mrs. Graham, Mrs. Hunter, Mrs. Jackson and many others, as bright examples in Mecklenburg, Rowan and adjoining counties. In the hour of deepest gloom they frowned upon apathy in the common cause, materially a.s.sisted by their benefactions, and urged on the desponding in the path of patriotic duty.
General Moultrie, in his ”Memoirs of the American Revolution,” pays a handsome compliment to the ladies of that section of country in which his military services were performed. He says:
”Before I conclude my memoirs I must make my last tribute of thanks to the patriotic fair of South Carolina and Georgia for their heroism and virtue in those dreadful and dangerous times whilst we were struggling for our liberties. Their conduct deserves the highest applause, and a pillar ought to be raised to their memory. Their conduct was such as gave examples even to the men to stand firm; and they despised those who were not enthusiasts in their country's cause. The hards.h.i.+ps and difficulties they experienced were too much for their delicate frames to bear; yet they submitted to them with a heroism and virtue that has never been excelled by the ladies of any country; and I can with safety say that their conduct during the war contributed much to the independence of America.”
Nor were the young ladies of that period less patriotic than their venerable mothers. Their kind sympathies and voluntary contributions were exhibited on every occasion, calling for prompt and beneficent action for the gallant soldier. With fair and willing hands they embroidered colors for military companies, and presented them with the animating charge, _never to desert them_. They formed themselves into a.s.sociations throughout the colonies, renouncing the use of teas and other imported luxuries, and engaged to card, spin and weave their own clothing. And still further, to arouse a patriotic spirit in every hesitating or laggard bosom, we find in the ”South Carolina and American General Gazette,” of February 9th, 1776, the following paragraph, ill.u.s.trative of female patriotism under a manly and _singular_ incentive:
”The young ladies of the best families of Mecklenburg county, North Carolina, have entered into a voluntary a.s.sociation that they will not receive the addresses of any young gentlemen of that place, except the brave volunteers who served in the expedition to South Carolina, and a.s.sisted in subduing the Scovillite insurgents. The ladies being of opinion that such persons as stay loitering at home, when the important calls of their country demand their military services abroad, must certainly be dest.i.tute of that n.o.bleness of sentiment, that brave, manly spirit, which would qualify them to be the defenders and guardians of the fair s.e.x. The ladies of the adjoining county of Rowan have desired the plan of a similar a.s.sociation to be drawn up and prepared for signature.”
Accordingly, at a meeting of the Committee of Safety, held in Salisbury, May 8th, 1776, we find the following entry in their minutes:
”A letter from a number of young ladies in the county, directed to the chairman, requesting the approbation of the committee to a number of resolutions enclosed, entered into, and signed by the same young ladies being read,
”_Resolved_, That this committee present their cordial thanks to the said young ladies for so spirited a performance; look upon these resolutions to be sensible and polite; that they merit the honor, and are worthy the imitation of every young lady in America.”