When it was understood that the British were marching to Charlotte he was ordered by General Davidson to repair to that place, and take command of such a force as he could readily collect, and join Col.  Davie. About midnight of the 25th of September, 1780, Col.  Davie reached Charlotte.  On the next day the British army entered Charlotte, and received such a stinging reception as to cause Lord Cornwallis to designate the place as the “Hornets’ Nest of America.”  After a well-directed fire upon the British from the Court House to the gum tree, Gen. Graham, with the troops assigned to his command, retreated, opposing Tarleton’s cavalry and a regiment of infantry for four miles on the Salisbury road.  On the plantation formerly owned by Joseph McConnaughey, he again formed his men, and attacked the advancing British infantry.  After again retreating, he formed on the hill above where Sugar Creek Church now stands.  There, owing to the imprudent but honest zeal of Major White, they were detained too long, for by the time they had reached the crossroads a party of British dragoons were in sight, and, after close pursuit for nearly two miles, overtook them.  It was at this time that Lieut.  George Locke, a brother of Col.  Francis Locke, of Rowan county, was killed at the margin of a small pond, now to be seen at the end of Alexander Kennedy’s lane.  Between that spot and where James A. Houston now lives, Gen. Graham was cut down and severely wounded.  He received nine wounds, six with the saber and three from musket balls.  His life was narrowly and mercifully preserved by a large stock buckle which broke the violence of the stroke.  He received four deep gashes of the saber over his head and one in his side; and three balls were afterward removed from his body.  After being much exhausted by loss of blood, he reached the house of the late Mrs. Susannah Alexander, where he was kindly nursed and watched during the night, and his wounds dressed as well as circumstances would permit.  On the next day he reached his mother’s residence, where the late Major Bostwick resided, and from that place transferred to the hospital in Charlotte.

Thus, at the tender age of twenty-one years, we see this gallant young officer leading a band of as brave men as ever faced a foe, to guard the ground first consecrated by the Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence, leaving his blood as the best memorial of a righteous cause, and of true heroism in its defence.

As soon as he recovered from his wounds, he again entered the service of his country.  Gen. Davidson, who had command of all the militia in the western counties of the State, applied to him to raise one or more companies, promising him such rank as the number of men raised would justify.  Through his great energy, perseverance and influence he succeeded in raising a company of fifty-five men in two weeks.  These were mounted riflemen, armed also with swords, and some with pistols.