Читать онлайн «Sarah Dillard's Ride: A Story of the Carolinas in 1780»

James Otis

Sarah Dillard's Ride: A Story of the Carolinas in 1780

NOTE

"They were men admirably fitted by their daily pursuits for the privations they were called upon to endure. They had neither tents, baggage, bread, nor salt, and no commissary department to furnish regular supplies. Potatoes, pumpkins, roasted corn, and occasionally a bit of venison supplied by their own rifles, composed their daily food. Such were the men who were gathering among the mountains and valleys of the Upper Carolinas to beat back the invaders. " —Lossing's "Field-Book of the Revolution. "

CHAPTER I.

A BRITISHER'S THREAT

In the year 1780 there was in North Carolina, west of Broad River, and near the site of what is now known as Rutherfordton, a settlement called Gilbert Town.

Within five or six miles of this village on a certain September day in the year above mentioned, two lads, equipped for a hunting trip, had halted in the woods.

One was Nathan Shelby, a boy sixteen years of age, and nephew of that Isaac Shelby whose name is so prominent in the early history of North Carolina; the other, Evan McDowells, son of Colonel Charles McDowells, was one year younger than Nathan.

But for the fact that these two lads were sorely needed at their homes, both would have been enrolled either among the American forces, or with those hardy pioneers who were then known as Mountain Men, for the time was come when the struggling colonists required every arm that could raise a musket.

On the previous month the American forces under General Gates had been defeated by Cornwallis at Camden. Tarleton had dispersed Sumter's forces at Rocky Mount, and the southern colonists appeared to have been entirely subdued by the royal troops.

General Cornwallis, now at Camden, was bending his efforts to establish the king's government in South Carolina, and in punishing those "rebels" who, despite their many reverses, were yet among the mountains awaiting a favorable opportunity to strike another blow in behalf of freedom.

It was at this time, and especially in the Carolinas, as if the attempt to free the colonists from the oppressive yoke of the British had utterly failed, and even the most sanguine despaired of being able to accomplish anything in that section until General Washington should lend them some assistance.

Nathan and Evan, lads though they were, understood full well the situation of affairs, and as they sat upon the trunk of a fallen tree, resting from the labor of seeking food – for this hunting trip had been made for serious purposes, rather than in pursuit of sport – the two spoke concerning the reverses which had been visited upon the patriots.

"It is as if we were already whipped into submission," Evan said sadly, "for how is it possible our people shall gather in such force as to be able to offer successful resistance?"

"That seems indeed true," Nathan replied, "and yet will Colonel William Campbell of Virginia remain idle? Do you believe my uncle, Colonel Shelby, or Lieutenant-Colonel John Sevier, have laid down their arms? Or even if those three are subdued, is it likely, think you, that your father will rest content while the king's forces overrun the country at their pleasure?"