The May 23, 2024,
meeting was held in the Westhampton Room, Heilman Dining Center, at the
University of Richmond.
John
Beakes, author of William Campbell in the American Revolution Commander of
Riflemen at Kings Mountain and Guilford Courthouse, published by Heritage
Books, was the evening’s speaker. He is the author of five books on the
Revolutionary War that focus on little-known combat leaders in America's fight
for independence.
William Campbell in the American
Revolution: Commander of Riflemen at Kings Mountain and Guilford Courthouse is a biography of a lesser-known
figure who played a significant role in securing American independence. Campbell was born in Augusta County,
Virginia of Scots Irish descent, and migrated to Fincastle County to farm on
newly opened frontier land. Campbell became a
significant figure in the American Revolution as a militia leader in far
western Virginia, especially in the Southern Theater. The book covers the Battle of Kings Mountain in
detail. Campbell's strategic leadership was instrumental in the American
victory. Beakes covers a wide
range of American and Virginia historical events leading up to open revolution.
Campbell's life as a militia leader in shaping the success of the Battle of
Kings Mountain makes for prime reading, where his riflemen, and eight other
militia detachments surprised, outmaneuvered, and defeated Loyalist forces.
Campbell grew up on
the harsh Virginia frontier, that shaped him into a tough and resourceful regional
leader. He participated in Dunmore's War, was committed to the Patriot cause,
and became a de facto leader of his neighboring frontiersmen when the British were agitating native tribes to
prevent the French from expanding their influence eastward towards the Appalachians. Campbell
served at the Battle of Point Pleasant (where the Kanawha River joins the Ohio
River on the western boundary of today’s West Virginia) in 1774 that ended Lord
Dunmore's War reducing the threat of Native
American attacks on settlers inhabiting the area. In 1775, he was appointed captain in the First Virginia militia
regiment. At that time, Virginia militias had become organizations
independent of the Crown's militia. Campbell was an aggressive opponent of Loyalists
who wished to remain under British control and Campbell used ruthless tactics
against Loyalists on the Virginia frontier during a period marked by brutal
violence on both sides. He earned the nickname "the bloody tyrant of
Washington County" due to his tactics combating Loyalists, which included
property destruction, hangings, and a disregard for legal proceedings. As a friend of Patrick Henry, he heard Henry’s ideas on political
and military strategies for Virginia’s future.
Virginia’s boundaries
and political jurisdictions were ever changing. Fincastle County was created in
1772 from Botetourt County and had a western limit of the Mississippi River. Fincastle
men spent most of 1774 engaged in frontier Native American warfare orchestrated
by British agents who intended to stifle further westward expansion into
contested Native American lands. Early settlers extended the foothold on the
frontier and helped open the door to mass westward migration.
The British oppression was not felt as
heavily in Virginia as it was felt in Massachusetts. In 1774, Bostonians
resolved to boycott all British goods and called on the other colonies for
support and assistance. In statements of unity, Virginia jurisdictions began
writing and publishing resolutions and instructions, during the summer of 1774,
that clearly revealed the hardening of Virginians’ opinions against British
rule in the colony. Acts of Parliament were condemned by the various county
organizing committees as they were considered "violating the most sacred
and important rights of Americans" (Caroline County),
"repugnant" (Dunmore County, now Shenandoah
County), "unjust, arbitrary, and unconstitutional"
(Chesterfield County), "tyrannical" (Essex County), etc. The objection
to taxation without representation was a common theme (and was explicitly expressed
in Fairfax County’s sixth resolve). Many jurisdictions resolved not to import
commodities (the non-importation policy) from Britain, with tea prominent among
such items specifically mentioned. Almost all the jurisdictions concluded by
electing delegates to the upcoming Virginia Convention and ordering that their
resolves or actions be published.
At a meeting in distant Southwest Virginia,
Fincastle freeholders on January 20. 1775, adopted its resolutions which
included a bold declaration of armed resistance against the British Crown – one
of the earliest such statements in the Thirteen Colonies. Fincastle Resolutions
signers had developed their military skills fighting Native Americans and for
many it provided an intensely personal experience with the loss of family
members and the destruction of property. Campbell was one of thirteen men to
sign the Fincastle Resolutions. Colonel William Christian, Patrick Henry's
brother-in-law, was elected chairman of the committee to see that the boycott
of British goods was properly executed. By March 27, 1775, a total of
fifty-nine of the colony's sixty-five jurisdictions had acted. Campbell's
spirit landed him a captaincy in the Virginia militia, and he was not afraid to
take a stand against those who remained loyal to the British rule.
Patrick Henry was able
to influence the Fincastle signers because he had significant connections with
four of the signers, then present and future: William Campbell, William
Christian, Thomas Madison, and William Russell. Campbell was a regular traveler
to Williamsburg to represent his territory and it was there he was introduced
to Elizabeth Henry, a sister of Patrick Henry, who he would marry in April
1776. Campbell returned to the frontier later in 1776 to fight Native Americans
and Tories.
In 1780, the situation to the south of
Virginia was under danger of British military control. The British had captured
Charleston, along with General Lincoln and his entire army. The war was
transferred to the Carolinas and Georgia. General Gates, who had captured the
British army at Saratoga and was in command of the Southern army during this
year, was disastrously defeated at Camden. Colonel Sumpter and his body of Patriots
had been overwhelmed by Colonel Tarleton at Fishing Creek. Detachments from the
British army were scattered throughout South Carolina and Georgia. Colonel
Buford and his Virginia forces had been defeated by Tarleton's cavalry at the
Waxhaw's, and every preparation was being made by Lord Cornwallis to overrun
North Carolina and Virginia. Lord Cornwallis had placed the command of the
western borders of North Carolina and South Carolina under Colonel Patrick
Ferguson. Ferguson had overrun and destroyed the Patriot forces in his territory to such an
extent that the officers and men of the Patriot
forces were driven across the mountains to the Holston settlements of southwest Virginia. The British were
raising Loyalist units from the Tory population of the Carolina backcountry to
protect the left flank of Lord Cornwallis' main body at Charlotte, North
Carolina. Patriot leaders sent word to Virginia militia leader, William
Campbell, asking him to join them at Sycamore Shoals. Campbell called on
Benjamin Cleveland to bring his Wilkes County, North Carolina militia to the
rendezvous. The detachments of Shelby, Sevier and Campbell were met by North
Carolina militiamen led by Charles McDowell and his brother Joseph. Campbell's
cousin, Arthur Campbell, brought 200 more Virginians. About 1,100 volunteers
from southwest Virginia and today's northeast Tennessee (known as the
"Overmountain Men" because they had settled into the wilderness west
of the Appalachian Mountains’ ridgeline) mustered at the rendezvous on
September 25, 1780, at Sycamore Shoals near the modern city of Elizabethton,
Tennessee.
The five colonels leading the Patriot force
(Shelby, Sevier, William Campbell, Joseph McDowell, and Cleveland) chose
William Campbell as the nominal commander, and agreed all five would act in
council to command their combined army of 1,400. The British left-flank detachment
camped on Kings Mountain awaiting reinforcements. The Patriot force, after an all-night
forced march in pouring rains, arrived at Kings Mountain on the afternoon of
October 7, 1780, where they formed into eight detachments and immediately
surrounded the encampment ridge and attacked.
The Patriots caught the Loyalists by surprise.
In approximately one hour of back and forth skirmishing the British leader and
scores of his troops were dead, and the remainder, many wounded, were taken
prisoner by the Patriot army. Campbell became known for his rallying cry
"Here they are, my brave boys; shout like hell and fight like
devils!" as they made their charge to the peak.
The victory
at Kings Mountain set the scene for an American military resurgence with
Cornwallis falling back into South Carolina and delaying his planned invasion
into North Carolina and into Virginia. William Campbell's military role at the
Battle of Kings Mountain immortalized him. Some believe that without that
victory the Revolution would have been lost. His bravery and successful
rallying of his men at Kings Mountain contributed greatly to the final American
victory at Yorktown.
William
Campbell's Virginia riflemen were present and fought alongside the Continental
Army at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. The battle of Guilford Court House
was fought March 15, 1781. The British army was damaged considerably, and Lord
Cornwallis decided to leave the Carolinas for good. Hard feelings developed by
Campbell towards General Henry Lee when Lee failed to support Campbell's
riflemen during Tarleton's charge and Campbell’s men left for home and on March
20, the Campbell resigned and left the American camp for home.
Campbell was
elected two times to the Virginia House of Delegates. He was commissioned a
brigadier general by the Virginia Assembly on June 15, 1781, when Cornwallis
entered Virginia and more troops were needed, Campbell
recruited 600 riflemen and started towards Lafayette's army. But Campbell
stayed behind at Rocky Mills Plantation, in western Hanover County on the South
Anna River, due to illness. Campbell’s men skirmished at Three Burnt Chimneys
with Simcoe's horsemen and moved further down the Middle Neck with Anthony
Wayne. His rifle corps moved down the James to join the rest of the American
army at West Point. On August 22, 1781, General William Campbell died at Rocky
Mills. He was thirty-six years of age.
Lord
Cornwallis surrendered his forces to American forces at Yorktown, Virginia on
October 19, 1781 - a little more than one year after the Battle of Kings
Mountain.
Fred Sorrell
Secretary
