Lenoir County NcArchives Court.....Militia, Memorial For 1813 ************************************************ Copyright. All rights reserved. http://www.usgwarchives.net/copyright.htm http://www.usgwarchives.net/nc/ncfiles.htm ************************************************ File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by: Paula Baker paulabaker69@hotmail.com January 10, 2010, 8:49 am Source: Nc Archives Written: 1813 The Hon. General Assembly of North Carolina A Memorial We your Memorialists seeing with pain the unprotected and defenceless situation of this State, and that altho the Country has been more than a year in a State of actual warfare, which other causes of dread and alarm, peculiar to this and the other Southern States are known to exist, we are constrained to express our supprise that neither the State Legislature nor Congress hath thought proper to make what we conceive to be an ample or appropriate provision for the protection of this our beloved State & Country, or to ward off the consequences that might result from this our deplorable situation. Whither from the too much mistaken notion that the irksomeniss and difficulty of our Navigation they have conceived us secure against the depredatory or attachs of a wanton and relentless Enemy, or from a want of example, they have thought that there did not exist sufficient cause to fear or apprehend insurrection or internal commotion, we will not pretend to judge, yet surely the examples of the one, and the threats and attempts at the other, are too recent and of too serious a nature to any longer admit of a doubt, that there does exist sufficient cause to apprehend danger. Wherefore it is that we your Memorialists feeling that interest and duty in common with the rest of our beloved country man (Which we confidently hope will never be entirely disregarded by those whom our choice may have put into authority). Beg leave, respectfully, to submit to your consideration our ideas on this all important subject, and to recommend such measures as we humbly concieve best calculated to secure the peace and safety of the State. From the detached manner and thinness of the settlements of the inhabitants generally in this state, but particularly on the eastern and western frontiers, together with the difficulty of collecting, the tediousness of march, ever attendant our infantry, and the great distance that might intervine to prevent this kind of force from being timely brought to any given point, and particularly to either of the frontiers, would give in our opinions, a decided preference to a mounted force or cavalry, which we conceive might be organized with convenience to the amount of at least one good company in each county, which we suppose would be amply sufficient to keep in check any attempt at invasion, untill the more formidable force of Infantry could be brought up--and at all times sufficient to deter from or suppress Insurrection--which we by leave to recommend in the following manner. The Cavalry of each County to compose the one eight or one length (as your body may judge best) of the whole, by law, bound to muster to be designated by eloping the Citizens. That is to Say, By setting apart all mail whites bound to bear arms of the commissioned officers of the infantry excepted, who shall be the rightfull owners of two Slaves, one hundred acres of land, and two using Horses, and all mail whites who though they may not have all the requisite interest in right of themselves having a Father or mother living (or an estate descendent of which he is intitled to an interest) who or which have three slaves two hundred acres of land and two using Horses who shall form the aggregate from which the quota of Cavalry shall be taken by ballot unless a sufficient number choose to volunteer, the commissioned officers to be appointed by the Governor for the time being but to be taken from this number. Whereas the last provision, or respects the requisite qualification of interest, there are more than one son, the one bound in the aggregate shall be designated by the nearest requisite qualification of interest, making slaves first in the principle and Land next, but where they shall be alike circumstances, then to be designated by balot and that no such family or state shall qualify more than one person who thus qualified, if he should become of the Cavalry, having two using horses, then he shall furnish by his own horses, but in case of not having two such horses, the Father, mother or estate as the case might be shall furnish a sufficient horse for training or in actual Service, each person shall be bound to become a part of this force unless he possesses the above requisite qualifications, but nothing herein shall be so construed as to prevent any person from joining the Cavalry under the now existing laws. Believing that in all well regulated Governments the arms of the Militia should belong to the State, we therefore recommend as a part of the plan that the State furnish to each individual thus composing the Cavalry one broad sword and one pair of suitable pistols, to be furnished and preserved in a manner herein after provided, and that it is upon the provision of the States furnishing the arms that each individual shall be bound on his part only. To enable the State to procure the army as soon as may be we beg leave to recommend the imposing a tax of twenty five cents on each taxable slave, to continue annualy until a sum shall be raised sufficient to arm the whole cavalry of the State and no longer and that the monies thus arising, shall be appropriated solely to this purpose and none other, and that the public Treasurer of the State be charged with the disposal of the fund for the object in view unless your body should think proper to appoint an agent expressly to that duty - and that when the arms shall have been procurred they shall be delivered to the Captains of the Cavalry for each County who shall deliver to each subaltern and private their quota, and take a receipt which shall be recorded by the clerk of the county in a Book to be kept for that purpose, a transcript of which record the said Captain shall return to the Col's of the Regiment by him to be returned to the Secretary of State, there to be preserved. To guard the state against the improper cost or disposal of said arms, we recommend the enacting of a law binding as an indemnity, all the property that any person thus receiving arms, shall be in right possessed of at the time of the receipt, so as not to admit of a conveyance or disposal of any of the said property against the rightfull claim of the State for the full amount of the cost of said arms with the transportation which shall be recorded in the receipts save unavoidable accidents, but that any person so bound being about to remove from the County or State, so as to entitle him to a discharge or being no longer bound to muster, may return all such arms, to his Captain and obtain a receipt (which the said Captain shall be bound to give) and having the said receipt recorded with the Clerk of the County for the time being, as a check upon the original delivery a transcript of which record shall be held as an intire discharge from all such obligation and that it shall be the duty of such Captain to return a transcript of said record to the Col. of the Regiment and him to the Secretary of State who shall make a record as well of the transcript of return, as of the original delivery. And that your Honorable Body make such further improvements as respects the provisions and disposal of the force as your better judgement may dictate. As in duty your Memorialists are ever bound to pray. Lenoir County August 13th 1813. Bryan Whitfield Wm Croom Thos Campbell Thos C Gray Thomas A Phillips Jer'h Loftin Spencer Phillips --- Harper Harman Cox Joseph Bruton Wm Hayne Wm Hade Readen Jones John Herring R W Goodman Tho Uzzell jr Jas Dawson Wm Snipes Willis Smith Joshua Kenedy John Wooten Simon Skipper Leonard Loftin Will Witherington Peter Phillips John Gray Jas Davis Dennis Williams Caleb Hootin John Nunn John Grady Ezekiel Creech Jas Jackson Benja Hawkins Joseph McPherson Isaac Taylor Junr Willis Witherington Abner Witherington William Herring Jesse Hutchins B Bruton John Wiggans Thos Jones Michael Pickle Benja Allen Burwell Moore Abram Parker James Smyth James Wilson Senr Caleb Wiggins William Miller Joseph Hooten Ephraim Saunderson Moses Westbrook Lew's C Bryan J H Croom Additional Comments: Source: General Assembly Nov-Dec 1813 Box 3 - Petitions Miscellaneous This file has been created by a form at http://www.poppet.org/ncfiles/ File size: 8.8 Kb