Mecklenburg County, NC - William Armstrong Record

Colonial Records
Declaration by William Armstrong concerning his military service in the 
Revolutionary War [Extract] 
Armstrong, William 
May 20, 1833 
Volume 22, Pages 107-110
 
WILLIAM ARMSTRONG.

(Extract from the declaration for pension of William Armstrong made in 
Caldwell Co., Ky., May 20, 1833.)

That he entered the service of the United States and served as herein 
stated; to-wit:

During the Revolutionary War I lived in Lincoln County, State of North 
Carolina, and was a militia Captain of a company in said County when I 
first entered the service of the United States, which was in the month 
of July in the year 1780, and the following are the circumstances:
Just after the appointment of Gates to the command of the Southern 
army, orders were received by the militia officers to hold a draft for 
men to serve in that army for three months. Accordingly the draft was 
made and six were drafted out of my own company, as well as I remember. 
I was commissioned the Captain of the Company from Lincoln and 
commanded as such during the expedition. We rendezvoused near Charlotte 
and my company was placed in Col. Alexander's regiment, and in the 
Brigade commanded by Gen'l Griffith Rutherford; one Wm. Rankin was 
Lieutenant in my company. From Charlotte we marched down the Yadkin 
river and thence across Black River to Ridgeley's Mills and there 
encamped for the night. But at about 12 at night we received orders to 
hasten our march and join the main army as soon as possible. The line 
of march was immediately formed and we proceeded towards Camden. During 
the night our advance guards had some skirmishing with the enemy's 
guards, and sometime in the night we joined the main army. 

About the dawn of day the battle of Camden commenced and soon ended in 
the defeat of our army. Having joined the main army so short a time 
before the battle commenced I am not able to describe the order in 
which Gates formed his men, but in regard to Rutherford's Brigade, I 
distinctly remember it was divided into platoons and on that day I had 
the command of a platoon instead of my company. By whose fault this 
battle was lost I know not, but one thing I do know, it was not mine, 
for I know I done my duty. The blame was attributed to Gates, but 
whether he was obnoxious to the charge I will not venture to say. At 
any rate the loss was great and the fall of DeKalb at the head of the 
Continentals was an irreparable loss.

The bravery of this officer and those under him, and the undaunted 
courage shown by them when there was none to support them, created a 
universal sympathy for their sufferings and no doubt served to increase 
the blame against Gates. As soon as our terms of service were out we 
were discharged, which I think was in the month of October following, 
having fully served out the three months for which we were drafted. The 
success of the enemy at Camden gave the Tories more confidence and they 
became more bold, more daring, and more numerous. Assisted by detached 
parties of the British they marched through the country almost with 
impunity, committing every sort of crime. They established posts in 
various places and for a while seemed to have subjugated the country. 

Yet there was a few who kept the field, and if it is not boasting to 
say so, I was one. About this time I was re-commissioned by the 
Governor of N. Carolina and appointed again a Captain in the militia of 
the State. Under this commission I returned to Lincoln county to raise 
a volunteer company and to join Col. Dixon who had the command of a 
regiment of volunteer militia. But on my return to my old company I 
found but eight men who were good and true, the rest had joined the 
Tories. Such was the disaffection in that country at that time. With 
this eight I took the field about the first of November, 1780, and 
immediately joined Col. Dixon as a Captain of a volunteer company of 
militia. After joining him my company was augmented and increased by 
adding to it such as were from Lincoln County and who had volunteered 
and joined Col. Dixon. This made my company more respectable. Col. 
Dixon was stationed in Lincoln at the time I joined him where we 
remained for some time for the purpose of restraining detached parties 
of the British and protecting the inhabitants from them, for at this 
time Cornwallis was marching his army through Lincoln County, 
Northward. We were all mounted men and for a while our duties were very 
severe. Cornwallis lay at Ramsour's and then crossed the Catawba at 
Beaty's ford and at Cowan's where Gen. Davidson was killed in defending 
the pass. Our regiment kept on the flanks of the enemy as much as 
possible and obstructed their march. We pursued them in this manner as 
far as Salisbury. Near this place I was detached at the head of eight 
men to Sarvis' Mill (Rowan County), for the purpose of discovery, and 
on arriving there we came suddenly on 42 footmen and 15 dragoons of the 
enemy. They had reached there before us and discovering our approach 
lay in ambush and fired on us as we entered the Creek, but luckily 
killed none. We turned to fire but at the moment discovered the 
dragoons advancing on us from their ambuscade. We retreated across a 
contiguous old field with considerable haste. On arriving on the 
opposite side we halted and, strange as it may seem, we were not only 
not pursued, but the enemy were retreating themselves in haste, having 
thrown out their forage (for they were foraging party). I ordered a 
pursuit in turn and dispatched a messenger to Col. Dixon for aid, but 
none came in time to do any good and they escapedwe were too few in 
number to effect anything ourselves. On the next day we returned. This 
was sometime about the 1st February, 1781. Cornwallis was at this time 
in the pursuit of Gen. Morgan and Green. Morgan having defeated Tarlton 
at the Cowpens in January previous and taken a good many prisoners, was 
endeavoring to escape Northward with his prisoners, and Green, being at 
the head of the other Division of his army, endeavored to form a 
junction with Morgan, as Cornwallis was endeavoring to intercept 
Morgan. However, by good fortune and great exertion, both escaped, and 
Green proceeded on to Guilford where he made a stand and determined to 
fight. Dixon's regiment stopped at Salisbury and returned again to 
Lincoln to oppose the Tories who had embodied in considerable numbers 
while the British army was marching through the country. On our return 
into that section of the State we found the Tories in such numbers that 
we were obliged to cross over the Catawba into Mecklenburg County, for 
we were too weak to oppose them. However, we again returned in a short 
time and moved from place to place as most needed our protection. Thus 
matters continued until the Fall of that year (1781). For after the 
capture of Cornwallis at York in October of that year, the Tories in 
that quarter seemed disheartened and it was not longer necessary for us 
to keep constantly in the field. Consequently Col. Dixon came to the 
conclusion to disband his forces, at any rate for the present and until 
they were wanted, and according discharged his troops sometime in the 
latter part of October, 1781, (I do not now remember the precise dayit 
is impossible). 

During my service under Col. Dixon, we were engaged in many enterprises 
and many circumstances took place which I have not related, and indeed 
my memory does not enable me to describe particularly all the 
circumstances that happened. On my return from Camden I found Col. 
Dixon engaged in raising a Regiment of volunteers for the defence of 
the country and I immediately joined him as before stated and went into 
my old company to raise my quota of menindeed get all I possibly 
could, and having been commissioned by the Governor of North Carolina 
Captain of the company from Lincoln in the expedition to Camden, and 
having been previously commissioned Captain of a company in Lincoln, as 
such officer I used every exertion to raise men for the defence of the 
country. I entered into this last service under Col. Dixon sometime in 
the month of November, 1780, about the first of that month, and 
continued in that service without a days intermission until about the 
last day of October following. I remember distinctly we were not 
discharged until a short time after the battle at Yorktown and 
surrender of Cornwallis. I will mention that during the year 1781, 
while I was out on service, the Tories came upon my plantation in 
Lincoln County and destroyed nearly all my property and among the rest 
they took five horses from me.

WILLIAM ARMSTRONG.

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