King's Mountain (Messick, 1976)
(C. Avis Catalog entry #1473)
King's Mountain
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The Epic of the Blue Ridge "Mountain Men" in the American Revolution
by
Hank Messick
Little, Brown and Company/Boston/Toronto
p. 37
...
Robertson, who had found an ally in John Sevier, put forth a new proposal to buy the Watauga land previously leased. The Indians agreed to sell for two thousand pounds' worth of goods. Henderson and Sevier supplied it.
Already a legend along the frontier, Sevier was of French Huguenot descent. Relatively well educated and a captain in the Virginia line, the tall, fair-skinned, blue-eyed pioneer would one day be called the "most handsome man in Tennessee." He had married at seventeen and now, at thirty, was several times a father. Isaac Shelby had taken him to Sycamore Shoals in 1772, and he had vowed to return. The conclave with the Indians was the opportunity he had wanted. Eventually he would make his home on the Nolichucky and become "Chucky Jack" to the men of the western waters. Something of what today might be termed an "operator," he was just what the frontier needed.
A month after the bargaining session on the River of Broken Waters, the battle of Lexington was fought. On June 15, 1775, George Washington was named commander in chief and the Revolutionary War was a reality. Sevier, who knew Washington, was quick to take advantage of the developing situation. The Watauga Settlement was renamed the "Washington District of North Carolina." A year later when word of the Declaration of Independence reached the mountains, Sevier drew up an elaborate petition to the North Carolina legislature. It traced the history of the settlement and formally requested that Washington District be annexed. In return, the petition promised that "we shall adhere strictly to your determinations, and that nothing will be lacking or any thing neglected that may add weight in the civil or military establishments to the glorious cause in which we are now struggling . . ."
p.44
...
The Raven led one war party against Carter Valley, a new settlement between the Clinch and Holston rivers. He met no organized resistance, the settlers having fled to less exposed communities, and he swept on into southwestern Virginia, burning and scalping.
A chief named Old Abram arrived sooner than expected at Fort Caswell, as the stockade at Sycamore Shoals was called. Some of the women were outside the walls doing the morning milking. All escaped easily except Catherine Sherill, who had wandered some distance in search of a stray cow. “Bonnie Kate,” as she was called, was fast on her feet, however, and she ran for the gate with an Indian in grim pursuit. The gate was closed before she got there but John Sevier—the “Beau Sabreur” of the border—shot the Indian and reached over the stockade with arms outstretched.
“Jump for me, Kate,” he yelled.
The girl gave a mighty leap into Sevier’s arms. Four years later on the eve of King’s Mountain she married him, his first wife having died shortly before.
The siege lasted two weeks before Old Abram gave it up as a bad job and went home.
...
p. 103-104
...
Robertson’s action bought some time for the Watauga settlers. Working also in their favor was Dragging Canoe’s realization that he had acted prematurely in 1776. This time, he decided, he would wait until the British were close at hand before ordering out his braves. Sevier’s spies told him of this decision and the information confirmed his opinion that the attack on Ferguson would have to be lightning fast. He arranged for scouts to keep watch on the Cherokees and for couriers to bring him word wherever he might be of an impending assault. With this out of the way, he felt better about leaving his bride behind.
By her marriage, Bonnie Kate had become the stepmother of ten children. Over the years she would give birth to eight of her own, but in 1780 she was trying to accept the responsibility for those on hand. Joseph, the oldest son at eighteen, was to accompany his father. James, who was almost sixteen, thought he was man enough to carry a rifle too. He appealed to his new mother.
"Here, Mr. Sevier," said Mrs. Sevier, "is another of your boys who wants to go with his father and brother to the war—but we have no horse for him, and, poor fellow, it is a great distance to walk."
A horse was found for James, and he rode proudly as a private with his brother. Two of Sevier's brothers also made the trip as captains, Valentine and Robert. Shelby, unmarried, had no sons, but his brothers went along: Major Evan Shelby, Jr., and Captain Moses Shelby
...
p. 150-151
Shelby didn't exaggerate. Despite the white flags, men kept shooting. The shout, "Tarleton's quarter" was heard repeatedly, and a kind of vicarious revenge was obtained on the hapless Tories. Among those who kept firing was Joseph Sevier, eighteen-year-old son of John Sevier, who had heard that his father was dead.
"The damned rascals have killed my father," said the youth, "and I'll keep shooting till I kill every son of a bitch of them."
Only when his father rode up to him with word it was the boy's uncle, Captain Robert Sevier, who was wounded, did Joseph's private battle end. Robert Sevier lived to reach the top of the Blue Ridge once more, but died before reaching home.
...