220 “Forward, my brave fellows, forward!” Ibid.
220 “For God’s sake . . . the water?” John Roberts, deposition, court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, PRO.
221 “The Enemy were . . . the Barrier.” Ibid.
221 “told us we . . . upper works.” Deposition of Simon Davies, ibid.
221 “He ordered two . . . in front.” Ibid.
221 “offered if we . . . the shipping.” Ibid.
221 “Throw down your . . . our rear.” Ibid.
221–22 “[I] forded a . . . I swam.” Testimony of Lt. John Roberts of the Royal Artillery, ibid.
222 “The fort’s our own!” Johnston, The Storming of Stony Point, 191.
222 “blares of Cannon . . . my thigh.” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA, Fold3.
222 “My messmate Samuel . . . took place.” Ibid.
222 “endured all the . . . was wounded.” Pension application of Peter H. Triplett, NARA.
222 “Colonel Flury [de Fleury] struck the colors with his hands.” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.
222 Detail about de Fleury not accepting the bounty is from pension application of Thomas Craig, NARA.
222 Detail on bounty recipients from Ward, Delaware Continentals, 300.
223 “Quarters, quarters brave . . . quarter, quarter!” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.
223 “I was far . . . ten yards.” Julia Isabel Jarvis, Three Centuries of Robinsons: The Story of a Family (Toronto: J. Jarvis, 1967), 78–79.
223 Thirty-three minutes. A British soldier recalled that an American officer looked at his watch just before the assault. Court-martial of Lt. Col. Henry Johnson, PRO.
223 Additional detail on losses: The light infantry lost 15 men killed and 84 wounded, while the British lost 20 killed, 74 wounded, and 472 captured.
223 “Dear General,—The . . . be free.” General Anthony Wayne’s First Dispatch to General George Washington, in Henry B. Dawson, Battles of the United States (New York: Johnson, Fry, 1858), 524.
224 “were tried, Deserting . . . suffer Death.” Edward Boynton, The History of West Point (Bedford, MA: Applewod Books, 1864), 83.
224 “At daylight the . . . the dead.” Pension application of George Hood, April 23, 1829, NARA.
224 “It was a great . . . the Carolinas.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 537; Alexander Garden, Anecdotes of the American Revolution (Charleston, SC: A. E. Miller, 1828), 2:382.
Chapter 25: Interlude
226 “The situation of . . . a fortnight.” George Washington to Caesar Rodney, in H. Niles, Principles and Acts of the Revolution (Baltimore, MD: 1822), 332.
226 “almost perishing.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 316
226–27 “They have borne . . . necessary subsistence.” George Washington to John Trumbull, January 1780, in Fitzpatrick, The Writings of George Washington, 366.
227 “The winter of . . . regiments mutinied.” Pension application of John Boudy (Bondy, Bodray), NARA.
227 “the handkerchiefs covering . . . and brains.” Gaines, For Liberty and Glory, 150.
228 Information on Henry Carbery from William Thompson, Report of the Adjutant General of the State of Maryland (New York: New York Public Library, 1912), 285–86.
228 “northern army was . . . military name.” Otho Holland Williams to Forrest, letter, April 28, 1784, Otho Holland Williams Papers, MHS.
228 “A liberal dose . . . the trick.” Stephenson, Patriot Battles, 99.
229 Information about Freemason members from William R. Denslow, 10,000 Famous Freemasons (Richmond, VA: Macoy Publishing & Masonic Supply Co., 1957) and Freemasons Grand Lodge of Maryland, Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Maryland (Baltimore: Griffin, Curley, 1887), 8.
229 “What we have . . . is immortal.” Quote comes from noted Freemason Albert Pike, who was the only Confederate officer honored with an outdoor statue in Washington, DC
229–30 “Unhappily, the distinctions . . . in America.” National Freemason 9, no. 9 (August 31, 1867):130.
230 “save us from . . . other Lodges.” Ibid.
230 “When we contemplate . . . ancient fraternity.” Ibid.
230 Details about Freemasons from Freemasons Grand Lodge of Maryland, Proceedings of the Grand Lodge of Maryland, 8.
Chapter 26: The March South
235 Mileage marched from Kirkwood, Journal and Order Book, Delaware Historical Society. Three hundred fifty miles were deducted from the total for when the men sailed from Head of Elk to Petersburg, VA.
238 “a perfect Ariovistus, more than six feet tall.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 289.
238 “temperance, sobriety, and . . . in lodging.” Ibid., 289–90.
238 “inquire into the intentions of the inhabitants.” Kapp. The Life of John Kalb, 47.
239 “as a provision in case of my being taken prisoner.” John Eager Howard to Sheldenmire Estate, May 26, 1809, Bayard Papers, MHS.
241 “The officers, however . . . them example.” Otho Holland Williams, “A Narrative of the Campaign of 1780” (hereafter cited as Williams, “Narrative”), in William Johnson, Sketches of the Life and Correspondence of Nathanael Greene (Charleston, SC: A. E. Miller, 1822; reprint, New York: Da Capo Press, 1973), 488–99. (Hereafter cited as Johnson, Sketches.)
241 “The tick, a . . . these stings.” Kapp, The Life of John Kalb, 200, 201.
242 “a vast number . . . the enemy.” William Seymour, A Journal of the Southern Expedition, 1780–1783 (Wilmington: Historical Society of Delaware, 1896).
242 “rum and rations.” Williams, “Narrative,” 486.
243 “As for this . . . catch him.” George F. Scheer, The Elusive Swamp Fox (New York: American Heritage, 1958).
243–44 “Fearless and inexorable . . . British regulars.” Robert D. Bass, Gamecock: The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter (Orangeburg, SC: Sandlapper, 1961; reprinted 2000).
Chapter 27: A “Jalap” and a Night March
245 “Instead of rum . . . to evacuate.” Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition.
245 “I will breakfast . . . my table.” This quotation was passed down by legend, but may have been false. It was quoted in William Gilmore Simms, The Life of Nathanael Greene, Major General in the Army of the Revolution (New York: Houghton Mifflin Company, 1884).
246 “fit for duty.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 352.
246 “Sir, it will be enough for our purpose.” Johnson, Sketches, 485–500.
246 “overheard Gates and . . . battle plan.” Pension application of Michael Awald, North Carolina Militia, 1832, NARA.
246 “Others could not . . . the enemy.” Williams, “Narrative,” in Johnson, Sketches, 493.
246–47 “Now, my brave . . . turn out.” John Robert Shaw, A Narrative of the Life and Travels of John Robert Shaw, the Well-Digger, Now Resident in Lexington, Kentucky (Lexington, KY: Daniel Bradford, 1807).
247 “except a few . . . military stores.” Ibid.
247 “executed their orders gallantly.” Otho Holland Williams to his sister, letter, November 24, 1780, MHS.
247 “The enemy, no . . . of hostilities.” Ibid.
247 “astonishment could not be concealed.” Ibid.
248 “Well, And has . . . the Army?” Ibid.
248 “the unwelcome news” Ibid.
248 “Gentlemen, what is best to be done?” Ibid.
248 “remained mute for a few moments.” Ibid.
248 “Gentlemen, is it . . . but fight?” Ibid.
Chapter 28: Camden
249 “Don’t shoot until . . . their eyes.” Pension application of Vincent Vass, NARA.
249 “We see them . . . as ours.” Ibid.
249 “seemed disposed to . . . as possible!” Otho Holland Williams to his sister, letter, November 24, 178
0, MHS.
250 “[We] formed the . . . of Day.” Journal of Captain Robert Kirkwood, August 16, 1780, Delaware Historical Society.
250 “I believe my . . . killing me.” Pension application of William Gipson, NARA.
250 “almost instantly collapsed . . . utmost consternation.” Lt. Col. H. L. Landers, F.A., The Battle of Camden South Carolina August 16, 1780 (Washington, DC: United States Government Printing Office, 1929), 46.
250 “like electricity, it . . . it touches.” Simms, The Life of Nathaniel Greene, 373.
250 “the action became . . . half an hour,” Kirkwood, Journal.
251 “General Gist preserved . . . left division.” Banastre Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America (London: T. Cadell, 1787).
251 “the ugliest officer” in the British Army. John S. Pancake, This Destructive War: The British Campaign in the Carolinas, 1780–1782 (Tuscaloosa: University of Alabama Press, 1985), 193.
251 “The enemy threw . . . was [in] doubt.” Matthew H. Spring, With Zeal and with Bayonets Only: The British Army on the Campaign in North America, 1775–1783 (Norman: University of Oklahoma Press, 2010), 113–14.
251 “who had the . . . little emotion.” Johnson, Sketches, 485–95.
251 “A dead calm . . . both sides.” Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns, 128.
251 “with great coolness . . . soldier remembers.” Spring, With Zeal, 114.
252 “Volunteers of Ireland, you are fine fellows! Charge the rascals—By heaven, you behave nobly!” Ibid., 114; The London Chronicle 48, no. 3729 (October 26, 1780):398; extract from letter by officer in the Volunteers of Ireland to his friend in Glasgow, 25 August 1780.
252 “[De Kalb] fell into . . . and hands.” Jim Piecuch, The Battle of Camden: A Documentary History (Charleston, SC: History Press, 2006), 45–46.
252 “[I] called upon . . . with bayonets.” Williams, “Narrative,” 496.
252 “who, however, was not to be found.” Johnson, Sketches, 496.
252–53 “The men, to . . . with them.” Major Charles Magil to his father, letter, in Piecuch, Battle of Camden, 44.
253 “Rout and slaughter ensued in every quarter.” Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns.
253 “Brigadier General Gist . . . of battle.” Ibid.
254 “I am sorry . . . of man.” Rufus Wilmot Griswold, William Gilmore Simms, and Edward Duncan Ingraham, Washington and the Generals of the American Revolution (Philadelphia: J. B. Lippincott, 1856), 271.
254 “I saw in . . . British troops.” John J. Jacob, A Biographical Sketch in the Life of the Late Captain Michael Cresap (Cincinnati: J. F. Uhlhorn, 1866), 54. On John Eager Howard, see 42.
254 “who bore his part under Howard.” William Calderhead, “Thomas Carney: Unsung Soldier of the American Revolution,” Maryland Historical Magazine (1989): 119–26.
254 “I retreated with . . . a stand.” Johnson, Sketches, 496–503.
254 “The cries of . . . [fled the battlefield].” Ibid.
255 Two hundred wagons and account of American plundering. Ibid.
255 “The road for . . . the Americans.” Ibid.
255 “every day picking . . . of value.” Seymour, Journal of the Southern Expedition, 7.
256 “capturing some, plundering . . . they met.” Johnson, Sketches, 496–503.
256 “[I] was wounded . . . three months.” Pension application of James Gooding, NARA.
256 “Our Regiment was . . . bad company.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 538.
256 “a great number . . . mortifying picture.” Williams, “Narrative,” in Johnson, Sketches, 1:501.
257 “was pursued by . . . the woods.” Pension application of Gassaway Watkins, NARA; J. D. Warfield, The Founders of Anne Arundel and Howard Counties, Maryland: A Genealogical and Biographical Review from Wills, Deeds, and Church Records (Baltimore: Kohn and Pollock, 1905), 413–15.
257 “I can give . . . the 21st.” Kirkwood, Journal and Order Book.
257 “The fugitives from . . . and blankets.” David Schenck, North Carolina 1780–1781: Being a History of the Invasion of the Carolinas (Raleigh, NC: Edwards and Broughton, 1889), 100.
257 “Attacked a Guard . . . Maryland line.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 591.
258 “His army is . . . before him.” Spring, With Zeal, 73.
Chapter 29: “Lay Their Country Waste
with Fire and Sword”
259 “very much shattered . . . blood vessel.” Anthony Allaire, “Diary of Lieut. Anthony Allaire,” in Lyman Copeland Draper, King’s Mountain and Its Heroes (Cincinnati: Peter G. Thomson, 1881), 506. Lyman Draper interviewed scores of veterans from the battle of King’s Mountain and wrote the indispensable account of that battle.
259 Troop numbers from John Ferling, Almost a Miracle: The American Victory in the War of Independence (New York: Oxford University Press, 2007), 416.
260 “whole country . . . of rebellion.” Charles, Earl Cornwallis to Henry Clinton, letter, August 6, 1780, in Charles Ross, ed., Correspondence of Charles, First Marquis Cornwallis (London: J. Murray, 1859), 54.
261 “Major Ferguson joined . . . the militia.” Allaire, “Diary,” 505.
261 “If they do . . . and sword.” Draper, King’s Mountain, 169.
261–62 “Gentlemen: unless you . . . protect them.” Virginia Gazette, November 11, 1780.
262 “dangerous example.” Mark Mayo Boatner, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (Harrisburg, PA: Stackpole Books, 1973), 523.
262 “[They] appeared . . . the Carolinas.” Draper, King’s Mountain, 313.
262 “We were formidable. . . . to find.” “Vance’s Narrative of the Battle of King’s Mountain,” in David Schenck, ed., Narrative of the Battle of Cowan’s Ford . . . and Narrative of the Battle of King’s Mountain (Greensboro, NC: Reece and Elam, 1891), 28; John Buchanan, The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas (New York: John Wiley, 1997), 232.
263 Information about rifles from http://www.customflintlock.com/dickert_history.php.
263 “I will not . . . Cornwallis’s lines.” Draper, King’s Mountain, 229.
263 “How many are there of you?” Ibid., 230.
263 “Enough to whip . . . that mountain.” Ibid., 230.
264 “Dismount and tie . . . your saddles.” Ibid., 235.
264 “We got swords . . . the blacksmiths.” Pension application of James P. Collins, NARA.
264 “We were paraded . . . escape suffering.” Ibid.
264 “could not well . . . of ‘coward.’” James P. Collins, Autobiography of a Revolutionary Soldier (Clinton, LA: Feliciana Democrat, 1859). Reprinted as A Revolutionary Soldier, John M. Roberts, ed. (New York: Arno Press, 1979), 259.
264 “Fresh prime your . . . he dies.” Ibid.
264 “The orders were . . . “reload quick.” Ibid., 260–61.
265 “Their great elevation . . . desired effect.” Ibid.
265 “The fight seemed . . . his men.” Ibid.
265 “Hurrah, my brave fellows! Advance!” Ibid.
265 “Give them Buford’s play!” Ibid.
265 “[We] continued to . . . bad example.” Scheer and Rankin, Rebels and Redcoats, 419.
265 “Don’t shoot! It . . . cease firing!” Draper, King’s Mountain, 283.
265 “The poor Tories . . . every direction.” Collins, Autobiography, 22.
266 “It appeared that . . . to pieces.” Ibid., 261.
266 “The next morning . . . or dying.” Ibid.
266 “The hogs in . . . every direction.” Ibid.
266 “Several of the . . . the mire.” Allaire, “Diary,” 518.
267 “State legislatures, especially . . . Continental Regiments.” Lawrence E. Babits, Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle
of Guilford Courthouse (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2013), 8.
267 “Just as such . . . hated Monster.” General Gist to Colonel Mumford, October 24, 1780, Maryland Historical Magazine 4 (1909): 369–70.
267 “[King’s Mountain] unhappily . . . of America.” Clinton, The American Rebellion, 226.
Chapter 30: Washington’s Best General
268 “intimated the . . . Gates’s army.” Johnson, Sketches, 1:502.
269 “six feet in . . . and corpulent.” Buchanan, Road to Guilford Courthouse, 298.
269 “military exploits announce . . . of preparation.” Henry Lee, The Revolutionary War Memoirs of General Henry Lee, Robert E. Lee, ed. (New York: 1869; reprint, Da Capo Press, 1998), 588.
269 “War was his . . . at it.” Daniel Morgan to William Snickers, letter, January 26, 1781, New-York Historical Society (NYHS).
269–70 “in March 1778 . . . your Country.” George Washington to Nathanael Greene, letter, August 15, 1780, Papers of Nathanael Greene, 6:217.
270 “I’m well satisfied . . . of conduct.” Buchanan, Road to Guilford Courthouse, 219.
Chapter 31: The Ragtag Army
273 “The officers have . . . military complexion.” Nathanael Greene to Alexander Hamilton, letter, 10 January, 1781, The Papers of Alexander Hamilton, Harold C. Syrett and Jacob Cooke, ed. (New York: Columbia University Press, 1961–79), 2:532.
273 “new lords, new laws.” William Gordon, The History of the Rise, Progress, and Establishment of the United States (London, 1788), 4:28.
273 “camp of repose.” Nathanael Greene to Thomas Jefferson, letter, December 6, 1780, Papers of Nathanael Greene, 6:530–31.
274 Troop numbers. Ibid.
276 “either offensively or . . . possible precaution.” Ward, Delaware Continentals, 369.
276 Information about Cornwallis’s intelligence from Roderick MacKenzie, Strictures on Lt.-Col. Tarleton’s History (London, 1787).
276 Information about Tarleton’s strike from Tarleton, A History of the Campaigns, 220–23.
277 “Dear Tarleton, If . . . be lost.” Robert D. Bass, The Green Dragoon: The Lives of Banastre Tarleton and Mary Robinson (New York: Holt, 1957), 142–43.
277 “My Lord . . . King’s Mountain.” Ibid.
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