At the commencement of the Revolutionary war the territory now lying on and near the eastern base of the “Blue Ridge,” or Alleghany chain of mountains, constituted the borders of civilization, and suffered frequently from marauding bands of Cherokee Indians, the great scourge of Western North Carolina.  The whole country west of Tryon county (afterward Lincoln) was sparsely settled with the families of adventurous individuals, who, confronting all dangers, had carved out homes in the mountains and raised up hardy sons, deeply imbued with the spirit of liberty, prepared to go forth, at a moment’s warning, to fight the battles of their country.

BATTLE OF THE COWPENS.

     “There was Greene in the South; you must know him,—­
       Whom some called a ‘Hickory Quaker;’
     But he ne’er turned his back on the foemen,
       Nor ever was known for a shaker.”

After the unfortunate battle of Camden, on the 16th of August, 1780, where Gen. Gates lost the laurels he had obtained at Saratoga, Congress perceived the necessity of appointing a more efficient commander for the Southern army.  Accordingly Gen. Washington was directed to make the selection from his well-tried and experienced officers.  Whereupon the commander-in-chief appointed General Nathaniel Greene, late the Quartermaster General, on the 30th of October, 1780, who, in a few days afterward, set out for his field of labor.  As he passed through Delaware, Maryland and Virginia, he ascertained what supplies it was likely could be obtained from those States; and leaving the Baron Steuben to take charge of the defence of Virginia he proceeded to Hillsboro, then the temporary seat of government for North Carolina.  Gov.  Nash received him with much joy, as the safety of the State was in imminent danger.  After a short stay in that place he hastened on to Charlotte, the headquarters of the Southern army.  Gen. Gates there met him with marked respect, without displaying any of those feelings which sometimes arise from disappointed ambition, and immediately set out for the headquarters of Washington, then in New Jersey, to submit to an inquiry into his conduct, which had been ordered by Congress.

Gen. Green took charge of the Southern army in the town of Charlotte on the 3rd day of December, 1780.  After surveying his troops and supplies he found himself at the head of about two thousand men, one half of whom were militia, with only a sufficiency of provisions for three days, in an exhausted country, and with a scanty supply of ammunition.  With the quick eye of military genius, he determined at once to divide his army, small as it was, and provide the needful supplies in different localities.  Relying upon Gen. Davidson’s militia, as a central force and protection, to be called out upon emergencies from the surrounding counties, he led the largest portion of his army under himself, and encamped on Hick’s Creek, opposite Cheraw, and about seventy miles to