Mecklenburg-Lincoln County NcArchives Military Records.....Graham, Joseph 
Revwar - Enlistment 
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Colonial Records
Declaration by Joseph Graham concerning his military service in the 
Revolutionary War 
Graham, Joseph, 1759-1836 
Volume 22, Pages 121-126

JOSEPH GRAHAM.

In October, 1832, he was residing in Lincoln County, N. C., aged 73 years and 
stated that he enlisted in May, 1778, under Capt. Gooden in the Fourth North 
Carolina Regiment commanded by Col. Archibald Lyttle, a part of the time was 
orderly sergeant and the balance Quarter Master Sergeant, the term of his 
service to be 9 months after arriving at the place of rendezvous at 
Bladensburg in Maryland. They assembled at Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, N. 
C., where he then lived, from thence marched to near Virginia, receiving 
recruits from the other Counties. The field officers on this march were 
Colonel Wm. L. Davidson, Major William Polk and Henry Dickson. Capt. Smith 
Harris and others were all assembled in Caswell County at a place called 
Moore's Creek. At this place received the news of the battle at Monmouth, N. 
J., (June 28th, 1778) and that the British had gone to New York City, and as 
their services were not wanted at the North, the men became uneasy that the 
time of their service had not commenced and it was uncertain when it would. A 
meeting took place which with some difficulty was suppressed. Some officers 
broke their swords and some soldiers were crippled. "It was afterwards 
proposed to such of the soldiers as would accept, to take furloughs of which 
Graham was one," and he went home to Mecklenburg some time in August. On the 
5th November following he was called into the service under General Rutherford 
(Brigade of Militia) for 5 months, in Col. Lyttle's Regiment. At the "10-mile 
house" they received their arms and camp equipage, from thence to Purysburg on 
Savannah River where General Lincoln commanded, and N. C. Regulars were 
organized in two regiments, under Colonels Lytle and Armstrong, and the 
Brigade under Brigadier General Sumner. Graham was in the Company of Capt. 
Gooden, who with Capt. W. Goodman were shortly after transferred to a regiment 
of Light Infantry that was increased by some Companies of Militia after Gen. 
Ashe's defeat at Brier Creek (March 3rd, 1779,) and placed under the command 
of Colonel Malmedy, a Frenchman, and Major John Nelson of the N. C. Line. From 
the time the regiment was formed Graham acted as Quarter Master Sergeant to 
the end of the campaign. Lt. Witton (of the Regulars) who was appointed 
Quarter Master, being in bad health, died about the last of the year, Graham 
discharged the whole duty the most of the time. During this service he was in 
a skirmish with McGist (or McGirt) who commanded the British Cavalry before 
Tarleton arrived. The regiment of Light Infantry was twice detached under 
Count Pulaski, in one of which a Lieutenant, Chevalier DeVallier, (a 
Frenchman) in a rencountre with a British piquet, received a mortal wound. 
Graham was in the battle of Stono, June 20th, 1779, and discharged in August, 
1779, at which time he was ill with bilious fever, from which he had not fully 
recovered at the end of two months. 

The fever together with the recollection of the hardships in a southern 
campaign along the sea coast, had so depressed his spirits that Graham did not 
re-enter the service until May, when the defeat of Colonel Buford (of Virginia 
by Col. Tarleton May 29, 1760) was announced, with a report that the enemy 
were advancing. The militia were ordered out en masseand he joined them. From 
his experience in military duties, he was appointed Adjutant of the 
Mecklenburg County Militia. The County being on the frontier, with no other 
force to protect it, a part of that regiment, and sometimes the whole, was 
retained most of the summer. The foot under General Wm. L. Davidson south-east 
of Charlotte, the Horse under Colonel Davie, in detachments, patrolled the 
country as far as Waco and adjoining Counties in the west that were 
disaffected. On the 25th of September it was reported that the British Army 
were on the March from Camden, which caused General Davidson to immediately 
march with his command towards Salisbury and ordering Graham to join Colonel 
Davie at Charlotte, where he should take command of such inhabitants as the 
alarm should bring together, which were over 50. In the arrangements by 
Colonel Davie to oppose the entrance of the enemy into the village, Graham was 
placed in command of the reserve, which covered the retreat of the Americans 
by molesting the advance of the British for four miles. This advance consisted 
of all their cavalry and a battalion of infantry, and when Colonel Davie was 
put in a supporting distance, a charge was made in which Graham received nine 
wounds and was taken from the field to the hospital, remaining two months 
before his injuries were healed, but the "term" of service of the militia had 
expired and the enemy reported to be in Winnsborough, S. C. 

As General Greene was soon expecting the British to advance in force, 
arrangements were adopted to raise men to oppose them, and Graham engaged 
upwards of 50 in two or three weeks, but the principal difficulty was to 
procure arms, though generally they had rifles and nearly half the swords for 
the cavalry were made by Blacksmiths and suspended higher up on the body than 
the later practice, in order to avoid entangling with the limbs when acting as 
foot soldiers.

After Tarleton's defeat January 17th, 1781, (At Cowpens, S. C.) the enemy in 
pursuit of General Morgan came to Cowan's Ford on the Catawba River, February 
1st, 1781, and in the conflict there two of Graham's Company were killed (As 
well as General Davidson) and it was the only Company that left the battle 
ground in order and covered the retreat at the same time. On the 7th of 
February his Company while hanging on the rear of the British, had a conflict 
with them, on their march from Shallow Ford, on the Yadkin to Salem, in which 
they were routed. His Company lost one killed and took five prisoners. After 
this the N. C. Militia were placed under the command of General Andrew 
Pickenns of S. C., and Graham's Company, with others, under Colonel Joseph 
Dickson, crossed Haw River, were detached by General Pickens in the evening 
with part of his Company and forty-five riflemen from Rowan and marched in the 
night of the 17th and at light the next morning, surprised, killed and took 
prisoners, a guard of an officer, with his 26 men, at Hart's Mill 1 and 1-2 
miles from Hillsboro, where the British army was in camp. The evening of the 
same day formed a junction with Col. Lee's Legion and a day or two after this 
Tarleton with his legion set out over Haw River to join Colonel or Dr. Piles 
with Pickens and Lee after him, including Graham's Company, and all the 
militia, equipped as dragoons, were placed under Lee in rear of his dragoons. 

On falling in with Piles and the Tories, instead of Tarleton passing along in 
front of their line drawn up, none of Lee's men knew their character, but Lee, 
as his men having so recently come to the south, did not know the 
distinguished mark of the Tories, but when the militia came near and 
discovered the red strip of cloth in their hats, they made the first attack on 
them. Some of the blacksmith swords broke, others bent, &c. Tarleton, who was 
in the vicinity, as soon as informed of the result started for Hillsboro, the 
Americans pursued about half way and without overtaking him turned to the left 
up the country. The next day, with reinforcements, he attacked our piquet 
guard in the night in which engagement Major Micajah Lewis, a Continental 
officer, was killed, and the Americans compelled to retire; this was followed 
by various movements, which brought both armies to the south of Haw River near 
Alamance Creek. On the 2nd of March a detachment of 800 men, all militia, 
except Lee's Legion, advanced in three columns, under his command, Graham and 
Company in front of the left with orders to support the left flank. After 
passing through a farm near Clapp's Mills entering a coppice of woods 
encountered a large party of the enemy drawn up in position, a smart firing 
commenced, and after three or four rounds our line gave way, the ground was so 
hampered with thick underbrush, and the course of the Tories on the left 
flank, it was done with difficulty, retreated about one mile to the ford on 
big Alamance, where Col. Otho Williams with the regulars under his command and 
Washington's Cavalry, were drawn up to support; the enemy did not pursue more 
than 500 yards. In the affair two were killed, 3 wounded and 2 taken prisoners 
of Graham's Company, in all 7. On the first of March the time and service for 
which the men had engaged was up and about one-third of them would go home, 
the others were persuaded to stay longer, being daily in expectation of a 
general action. 

The day after the battle Graham was directed by Lee to take 25 men to 
ascertain if the enemy were occupying the field and, if they had left, to 
follow the trail until he actually saw them which he did, on the Salisbury 
road within half a mile of their headquarters. He dispatched a sergeant with 
six men to inform Lee, and Graham with the rest of his party moved after dark 
through the woods in an unsuccessful effort to capture two sentinels who fired 
at them, but as Graham and his party proceeded a 1-2 mile up the main road met 
a patrol of cavalry, whom they hailed, then discharged a volley in their 
faces, causing them to retreat, leaving their officer a prisoner. Upwards of 
100 cavalry were, as was afterwards learned from a deserter, hastily 
dispatched from the British camp in pursuit of Graham the same night, who met 
a company of Tories on the march to join them and were mistaken for Graham's 
party. A charge was made with considerable slaughter before discovering they 
were friends. This small affair greatly discouraged the Tories in the South. A 
few days before they had been severely cut up by Lee's men and the militia 
whom, at the time, they had supposed was their friend Tarleton. It is not 
known that the Tories attempted to join the British afterwards. Subsequently 
Graham with his Company was in the action at Whitsell's Mills on Reedy Fork 
under Colonel Washington, when Col. Webster with the elite of the British army 
for 12 miles passed so closely as to compel Colonel Otho Williams, the 
commander, to fight long in expectation of a general action. Being 
disappointed with only heavy skirmishing, in which they had acted a prominent 
part, his men determined to return home. General Greene directed Graham to go 
with them in order to keep them in a compact body until they got through the 
disaffected settlement on the east side of the Yadkin River, which they passed 
on the 14th of March, 1781, and on the 17th most of the company arrived home. 
Owing to the early death of General Davidson under whose orders he acted, he 
received no written commission, but Colonel Dickson gave him a written 
discharge. During this service he was in 8 battles or skirmishes and lost four 
men killed, three wounded and two prisoners. 

After the battle at Guilford (March 15th, 1781) the enemy having marched to 
Wilmington and left a garrison there, no militia service was called for in the 
west until the month of August, 1781, although the Tories under the protection 
of the British, had possession of the country south of the Cape Fear, until 
above Fayetteville, Colonel Fanning of the Tories, surprised Hillsboro, taking 
Governor Burke prisoner. General Rutherford, who was captured at Gates' 
defeat, having been exchanged, returned about this time, sent Graham orders to 
raise a troop of Dragoons in Mecklenburgh and many of those who served the 
winter before joined the troop. There were but four married men in the troop 
and he was commissioned as Major in the command of Colonel Robert Smith, who 
had been a Captain in the N. C. line. The organization consisted of three 
troops of Dragoons, about 96 men and 200 mounted infantry. Two days thereafter 
the General having received information of the embodying of Tories on Raft 
Swamp, who were about to retreat to Wilmington, detached Graham with the 
Dragoons and forty mounted infantry with orders to hold them at bay or impede 
their march so that he might follow and overtake them. When he did overtake 
them, charged with Dragoons, entirely defeating them, 20 or 30 being killed 
and wounded, entirely with the sabre. 

Graham who was detached by Colonel Smith with one troop of Dragoons and two 
companies of mounted men, surprised at Alfred Moore's plantation, a mile below 
the ferry at Wilmington, and defeated 100 Tories, killed and wounded 12. The 
next day was in an unsuccessful attack on a British garrison in a brick house 
that covered the Ferry opposite Wilmington, with one killed.

Graham was afterwards detached by General Rutherford with three Companies, one 
of which was Dragoons, by Brunswick, over Lockwood's Folly and Wacamo Rivers, 
to a place called Seven Oaks, near S. C. line, and was attacked about midnight 
by the noted Gainey of S. C., who was then under a truce with General Marion, 
but appears he did not consider it binding in North Carolina. The Cavalry 
charged defeating them and killed one. Graham had one killed, 2 wounded and 
four horses killed. This service lasted over three months and was in four 
battles. He recapitulated his service as follows:

From May, 1776, to August when Furloughed-3 months.
From November 5th, 1778 to August, 1779-9 months.
From about June 1st, 1780, to March 17th, 1781-9 1-2 months.
From about August 20th, 1781, to 1st December-to Wilmington-3 1-4 months.

He was born in Chester County, Penn., October 13th, 1759. Removed to 
Mecklenburg County, N. C., when about ten years old and was present in 
Charlotte on the 20th of May, 1775, when the Committee of the County of 
Mecklenburg made the celebrated Declaration of Independence of the British 
Crown. Since 1792 he has resided in Lincoln County, N. C. He died November 
12th, 1836.




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