Part 3

_Col. Benjamin Cleveland_ was born May 26, 1738, near Bull Run (later of Civil War fame), in Prince William County, Va. As he grew to manhood, he received little if any education beyond the lessons that a hazardous life on the frontier could teach. Later, when he settled in Wilkes County, N. C., he is reputed to have been the equal, if not the superior, of Davy Crockett and Daniel Boone as both hunter and Indian fighter.

His life was filled with adventures all of which added to the respect and admiration in which he was held by his friends. He despised the Tories and often showed his ruthlessness toward them. At Bickerstaff’s plantation, he is believed to have been most responsible for the hanging of 9 Tories after the Battle of Kings Mountain, and on other occasions he also displayed his familiarity with the use of the rope.

In later life, he served as a justice of Pendleton County Court, in the region of the Tugaloo River, near the western border of South Carolina. It has been reported by his associates, among them Gen. Andrew Pickens, that he frequently dozed on the bench and it often was necessary to awaken him when his snoring interfered with the court proceedings.

With the passage of years, Cleveland is said to have attained the impressive weight of 450 pounds. It was always a question, when he came as an overnight guest, whether this would prove too much for any bed in the house. His excessive weight became a source of considerable embarrassment and was partly the cause of his developing a case of dropsy, with which he suffered for a number of years before his death.

In October 1806, when he was in his 69th year, Cleveland died at the breakfast table. He was outlived by his wife, son, and two daughters. They buried him in the family burial ground on his old plantation, in the forks of the Tugaloo and Chauga Rivers.

_Lt. Col. Frederick Hambright_, who came with his parents from Germany to America at the age of 11, lived from 1727 to 1817. He is believed to have received a sound education that fitted him well for his activities in later life. About 1755 he moved from Lancaster County, Pa., to Virginia where he married Sarah Hardin. In 1760, he settled near the South Fork of the Catawba River in North Carolina.

As Hambright became immersed in the “American melting pot,” he took part in battles against the Indians and the British. He served also in the provincial congress of the State of North Carolina. The value of his services was recognized by promotion to the rank of lieutenant colonel of militia.

This was the rank he held in 1780 when he received such a severe thigh wound in the action at Kings Mountain that he was forced to resign his commission. Finally, on March 9, 1817, at the age of 90, Hambright died on property he had purchased in later life in the vicinity of Kings Mountain. He is buried in the old Shiloh Presbyterian Church cemetery, not far from the present park boundary.

_Col. James Williams_ was born in the late 1730’s at the family home in Hanover County, Va. Upon the death of both his parents, when he was still quite young, he moved to Granville County, N. C., to live with his brother John. The latter was an able jurist and helped James to gain a little education.

In his thirties, James Williams moved to Laurens County, S. C., where he worked as a farmer, miller, and merchant. Here he was chosen a delegate to the provincial congress of South Carolina and later made a member of the local Committee of Safety just before the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. As he pursued his several vocations, he made a good living for his wife and eight children.

After the outbreak of war with England, Williams served ably in many actions, including Brier Creek, Stone Ferry, Savannah, and Musgrove’s Mill. Williams has been compared, in soldierly qualities, to “Stonewall” Jackson. He was the only one of the colonels in the Battle of Kings Mountain who died from a wound received in that action. He was in his early forties. An eminent American historian paid him this tribute: “A man of exalted character, of a career brief but glorious.”

_The McDowell brothers_, Charles and Joseph, were representative of the landed gentry of the piedmont section of North Carolina. Maj. Joseph McDowell (February 15, 1756, to August 11, 1801) commanded the troops of his brother at Kings Mountain. Joseph McDowell had the further distinction of being among the men of Kings Mountain who later helped win the brilliant American victory at the Cowpens.

Joseph McDowell’s home was at the family plantation known as “Quaker Meadows.” He grew up there and later served in many Revolutionary War battles under the watchful eye of his older brother Charles. After peace was made, he engaged actively in politics on local and national levels.

While serving as a member of the North Carolina Conventions of 1788 and 1789, he opposed ratification of the proposed State constitution, because it did not include a bill of rights. A few years later (1797-99), as a member of Congress, he opposed passage of the Alien and Sedition Acts. Because of his stand on these issues and others he came to be recognized as one of the leaders of the Democratic Republican Party in western North Carolina. “Throughout his life,” according to a local historian, “he was the idol of the western people of North Carolina.”

_Maj. Joseph Winston_ was from a distinguished family of Yorkshire, England, a branch of which settled first in Wales. Later, this family group migrated to Virginia. Joseph was born on June 17, 1746, one of seven sons, all of whom served in the Revolutionary War. He received a fair education for that day, which prepared him not only for years of successful military service, but also for a postwar career in the State Legislature and in Congress.

At the age of 17, he joined a company of rangers and took part in an expedition against the Indians on the frontier. This was the beginning of his military service which ended after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. In that engagement he answered Gen. Nathanael Greene’s call for troops by coming to his assistance with 100 riflemen.

Winston represented his district, first Surry County and then Stokes County which was formed from it, in the State Senate for eight different terms. On the national scene, he served in Congress from 1792 to 1793 and 1803 to 1807. As a presidential elector, he voted for Thomas Jefferson in 1800 and James Madison in 1812.

Joseph Winston died on April 21, 1815. He was survived by his wife and a number of children. Among them were triplet boys who lived to become a major general, a judge, and a lieutenant governor.

_Col. Isaac Shelby_ was born December 11, 1750, near North Mountain, Md. He was the son of Evan Shelby, who emigrated from Wales to America in 1735. In 1771 the Shelby family moved to the Holston country in Virginia. Here young Shelby acquired the elements of a plain English education and spent much of his time fighting the Indians and the British. Between 1775 and 1780, with rank first of captain and then of major, he explored the wilds of Kentucky.

Shelby is said to have had a sturdy, well-proportioned build with strongly-marked features, and to have been of florid complexion. He had a good constitution that withstood the rigors of frontier life where fatigue and privation were every-day occurrences. His bearing was impressive, and, although he maintained a dignified reserve, he was affable and possessed of a pleasing personality.

He married Susannah Hart on April 19, 1783, at Boonesborough, Ky. The young couple settled on land Shelby had staked out for himself in 1782, when he was a commissioner to adjust pre-emption claims on the Cumberland River. Eleven children were born of their marriage.

Shelby devoted tireless energy to the creation of the New State of Kentucky. With the adoption in 1792 of a State constitution by the convention of which he was a member, his efforts were rewarded. Shortly after, he became the first governor of Kentucky.

After Shelby left the governor’s mansion, he performed several other public services. Among the most important of these was his command of 4,000 Kentucky volunteers in the American army of Gen. William Henry Harrison, during the Canadian campaign in 1813. He was stricken with paralysis in 1820 and died of apoplexy 6 years later.

Shelby’s friend and associate _John Sevier_ (whose name was anglicized from Xavier), likewise was well suited to frontier life. Sevier, born to Valentine and Joana Goode Sevier on September 23, 1745, was of Huguenot ancestry. The Sevier family lived in the Shenandoah Valley of Virginia where they farmed and traded with the Indians.

Sevier received a haphazard education, but this was in keeping with the times. It included schooling at Fredericksburg Academy and the Staunton School. At 16 he left school to marry Sarah Hawkins. About 7 months after her death in 1780, he married Catherine Sherrill, the “Bonny Kate” in song and story of the Tennessee frontier.

Wherever this leader of varied training, great courage, and personal magnetism went, he brought change. Moreover, from the day he founded the town of New Market, Va., where he engaged in trade as a merchant, innkeeper, and farmer, until his death September 24, 1815, his actions stirred controversy.

In December 1773, he moved with his family to the Holston River settlements. Here he helped to create the short-lived “State of Franklin” of which he became governor. After the “state” was dissolved and the area fully reincorporated into North Carolina, his enemies circulated an unfounded report that he had used it to further his own fortunes. The report gained such wide acceptance that he felt impelled to move far out on the frontier. His was a reputation that was made and then damaged, but his fall from grace was only temporary. He later took advantage of the movement to form the State of Tennessee and, regaining his political influence, became its first governor in 1796.

Among the more unhappy experiences of Sevier’s later life was a feud that developed between him and an ambitious young judge, Andrew Jackson. Although Jackson brought charges of land frauds against Sevier, the political career of the Kings Mountain hero, which included three more terms as governor between 1803 and 1807, was not damaged. These two strong men with conflicting ambitions never reconciled their grievances. In the eyes of the electorate, Sevier’s record of 33 victories in 35 battles was deserving of high regard and he was duly rewarded at the polls.

Sevier lived to be 70 years old and came to be known as “Nolichucky Jack.” His adventurous spirit characterized him to the end. Even as late as 1812, following the outbreak of America’s second war with England, he advocated bringing “fire and sword” to the Creek Indian Country.

Colorful as were the other patriot leaders, _William Campbell_ of Virginia, who has been described as a man of commanding appearance, was an equally imposing figure. He was born in 1745 in Augusta County, Va., to Charles Campbell and the daughter of John Buchanan, Sr., who fought in the Wars of Scotland. As William Campbell reached maturity, he stood 6½ feet tall, was amiable when not enraged, and devoted to the cause of liberty.

William was an only son and received a good education from competent teachers. When 22 years old, he moved with his mother and four younger sisters to Fincastle County, Va. The family settled on the fringe of the Holston country on land that had been purchased before the death of his father. This family plantation came to be known as “Aspenvale” and was near the present town of Abingdon, Va.

Like Shelby and Sevier, Campbell was interested in both the military and civil affairs of his community. Upon the outbreak of the War for American Independence, he raised the first militia company in southwestern Virginia to support this cause. In September 1775, Capt. William Campbell and his company of frontiersmen marched to Williamsburg and joined the Virginia regiment commanded by Patrick Henry.

When Campbell realized the British were trying to persuade the Cherokee Indians to attack the frontier settlements, he feared for the safety of his mother and sisters. Disappointed in his hope of resigning his commission and returning home for their protection, he did find happiness at the time by winning Elizabeth Henry, a sister of Patrick Henry, for his wife.

In 1777, Washington County was formed from Fincastle and Campbell made lieutenant colonel of militia. He was promoted to the full rank of colonel in April 1780; this was the rank he held at the Battle of Kings Mountain. For his services there he received praise from Gates, Washington, the Virginia Legislature, and the Continental Congress. Virginia presented him with a horse, saddle, and sword at public expense. Lord Cornwallis, with oblique recognition of Campbell’s prowess as a foe, threatened him with instant death should he be captured by the British.

Before Campbell finally resigned his commission, on March 20, 1781, he and his command, a small force of riflemen, fought well at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. He then enjoyed a brief term of office as a member of the House of Delegates from Washington County. Within a short time, however, he was recalled to duty, this time to serve under General Lafayette in Virginia. His military services were considered indispensable and the war was not yet won.

William Campbell’s final service to his country was brief for, on August 22, 1781, while on active duty, he died after a short illness. He was buried at Rocky Mills, Hanover County, Va. There his body remained until 1823, when it was removed to “Aspenvale” for interment in the family burial ground. He was survived by a daughter and his wife, who remarried and lived until 1825.

Such were some of the leaders in the drama—successful and honored in peace as in war. It is doubtful that any of them, however, reached greater heights than during that action, one October day, on the slopes of Kings Mountain.

_Maj. Patrick Ferguson_

On June 4, 1744, Patrick Ferguson was born to Judge and Ann E. Murray Ferguson at Pitfour, the family estate in Aberdeenshire, Scotland. Patrick was one of a family of six children in which he had an older and younger brother and three sisters. Ferguson’s father, Lord Pitfour, the Second Laird, had restored the family fortune lost by the First Laird of Pitfour as a result of unfortunate speculation in the South Sea Company. His children did not lack for the comforts normally enjoyed by the offspring of gentry. They were fortunately endowed also with a family background of learning and culture.

With this background, it is not surprising that young Patrick’s education was started at an early age. Any hopes or expectations that his parents may have had, however, of developing him as a scholar were short lived. After finishing the little schooling he received at a military academy in London, Ferguson decided to use his ability as a horseman and hunter and to become a soldier.

At the age of 15 a commission was purchased for him, and he entered upon active service on July 12, 1759, as a cornet in the Royal North British Dragoons. With a slight frame, Ferguson was not an individual of commanding appearance, and it might have been thought that he was poorly suited to military service. This shortcoming was made up in soldierly determination, and he was also blessed by inheritance with a serious disposition, unusual ability, sound judgment, and energy in ample measure.

From the plains of Flanders and Germany to the spur of the Kings Mountain range, where he was killed, Ferguson demonstrated his soldierly qualities. For example, on June 30, 1760, he displayed his characteristic contempt for danger at the Battle of Minden. In this action he returned in the face of enemy hussars to retrieve a pistol which dropped from his holster as his horse jumped a ditch. Such an action was to be expected of him, if he was to be worthy of his name, which was derived from the Gaelic “Feargachus,” meaning one of a bold, haughty, and fiery disposition.

It was difficult for his mother to watch Ferguson embark on a military career at such an early age. On August 14, 1762, her brother, Maj. Gen. James Murray, wrote her from Quebec: “You must no longer look upon him as your son. He is the son of Mars and will be unworthy of his father if he does not give proofs of contempt of pain and danger.”

Sickness interrupted Ferguson’s service in the field from 1762 to 1768. He was not idle during the period of his recovery in Scotland and entered actively into public discussion of the extension of the militia laws of England to Scotland. This activity gave him some early insight into the problem and prepared him for the role he later played in the Carolinas as Inspector of Militia. He enjoyed a second leave of absence from military service just prior to the outbreak of the Revolutionary War. In this period he pursued an intensive study of military science and tactics and developed the Ferguson rifle.

In 1777 Ferguson was sent to America with the reputation of being one of the best, if not the best, marksmen in the British army. At the time he held a captaincy, which was attained on September 1, 1768. He was in command of a corps of at least 100 riflemen, whom he had personally trained in the use of his new breechloading rifle. During the earlier years of his service in America, Ferguson participated in numerous actions in the North. Among these was the Battle of Brandywine on September 11, 1777, in which he was so severely wounded in the right arm that its usefulness was impaired during the remainder of his life.

Ferguson was inured by years of service to such hardships. His loyalty was rewarded on October 25, 1779, when he was promoted to the rank of major. A few months later, at the start of the British expedition against Charleston, he was given the temporary rank of lieutenant colonel. His ability and personal magnetism enabled him to win the respect of all his associates, and his success as an officer was as notable in the South as it had previously been in the North.

This was his last campaign, and, in its course, he demonstrated a sense of fairness and a degree of humanity that earned him the respect of many of the people of the South. As the opportunity permitted, he attempted to persuade many of these Americans to renew their oath of allegiance to the King of England. His success won the admiration of his associates, among whom was General Stuart of Garth, who wrote upon the demise of this soldier: “By zeal, animation, and a liberal spirit, he gained the confidence of the mass of people....”

Even more revealing of his character are the following lines written from America by Ferguson to his mother to calm her fears for his safety: “The length of our lives is not at our command, however much the manner of them may be. If our Creator enable us to act the part of honour, and to conduct ourselves with spirit, probity, and humanity, the change to another world whether now or fifty years hence, will not be for the worse.”

_The Ferguson Rifle_

Great as Maj. Patrick Ferguson’s success was as a soldier, probably his most outstanding achievement was the development of the first breech-loading rifle to be used by troops in battle. This arm, which is known as the Ferguson rifle, was expected by its inventor to bring revolutionary changes to gunnery practices. In the patent, which was granted by the British Patent Office on December 2, 1776, Ferguson describes it as “... an arm which unites expedition, safety, and facility in using with the greatest certainty in execution, the two great dessiderata [sic] of gunnery never before united.”

This rifle corrected many inadequacies of earlier breechloaders. Its center of interest was the screw-plug attached to the trigger guard which passed directly through the breech of the barrel from the bottom to the top. This plug had from 12 to 14 rapid twist threads so that with one turn of the trigger guard the loading aperture in the top of the barrel could be opened or closed. The single-screw thread on breech plugs of earlier breechloaders made it necessary to rotate the trigger guard three or four times to open or close the breech. The Ferguson screw-plug had the further advantage of being so designed that it never came completely out of its socket.

For years prior to its invention, gunsmiths had given thought to the development of a rapid-firing rifle. Patrick Ferguson believed he had invented such an arm; he hoped it would prove its effectiveness when tried under battle conditions in the War for American Independence.

Firing tests of the new weapon were conducted in the summer of 1776 at the Blackheath and Woolwich Arsenals, in England. Because of its remarkable performance, it was also demonstrated before the King at Windsor. In the course of a series of tests, and with a high degree of accuracy, Ferguson fired 6 shots per minute at a target 200 yards distant from a stationary position and 4 shots when advancing at a 4-mile-an-hour pace. He then wet the inside of the barrel, and fired effectively after a minute to prove the worthiness of this weapon in inclement weather.

Ferguson missed the target only three times during these tests, which impressed most favorably the high army officers who witnessed them. The tests proved that the Ferguson rifle was a weapon of infinitely greater accuracy and rapidity of fire than the “Brown Bess,” the regulation musket of the British army.

After Ferguson was granted the patent on his rifle, arrangements were made for the manufacture of a limited number, probably 200 in all. The names of all the gunsmiths who produced this arm in the last years of Ferguson’s lifetime and for a short time thereafter are not known with certainty. They were made, however, by Durs Egg, Barbar of Newark, Barker of Birmingham, Innes of Edinburgh, Newton, and Wilson of the Minories. In all likelihood, Durs Egg completed the greater part of Ferguson’s order for the new military weapon with which to arm his rifle corps.

Three distinct types of rifle, depending upon the use intended for the weapon, were made—those with the proportions of a musket for the foot soldier, lighter models for the officers, and sporting arms. There was a variation of 48 to 60 inches in the length of these weapons; and a corresponding variation in the length of the barrels, which were either octagonal or round in shape. Their bores ranged in size from five-eights to three-quarters of an inch and were slightly larger than the usual bore of the long American rifle. Their rifling consisted of 6 or 8 grooves. These were equally spaced and completed at least three-quarters of a turn in the length of the barrel.