Gen. William Campbell

Campbell Military Information Militia Regiment Commanding Officer Number of Men Washington County Virginia Colonel William Campbell 400 Sullivan County NCColonel Isaac Shelby 240 Washington County NCLieutenant Colonel John Sevier 240 Burke & Rutherford Counties NCColonel Charles McDowell 160 Wilkes & Surrey Counties NCColonel Benjamin Cleveland 350 South CarolinaColonel James Williams 400

TOTAL 1790 Out of the above forces of almost 1800 men, a picked force of about 900 horsemen were selected to march ahead of the rest of the army. It was this group of 900 who actually engaged in the battle. No official militia rosters identifying the American troops who took part in the battle have survived, if indeed, any official rosters ever existed. However, several men with the Campbell surname took part in that battle on the Whig/Patriot side, including the overall commander of the American forces, Colonel William Campbell (1745-1781). The Tory/Loyalist forces, commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson, were largely composed of loyal Scots Highlanders who had settled in the Carolinas after their defeat in the Battle of Culloden (1746). Accordingly, there were probably soldiers with the Campbell surname who fought under Ferguson, but none of their names have come down to us. On the American side, eight Campbells from either the White David or Black David Campbell families are either known to have or are believed to have participated in the battle.

Table - Campbell Participants in the Battle of King’s Mountain Name and Campbell Relationship Rank in the Battle Washington County Virginia Militia:

Brigadier General William Campbell (1745-1781) – Grandnephew of White David Colonel, Battlefield Commander John Campbell (1741-1825) – Son of White David Captain Robert Campbell (1755-1832) - Son of White David) Ensign Colonel David Campbell (1753-1832) – Son of Black David Private

Washington County North Carolina Militia:

Captain William Campbell (1748-1800)-Son of Black David Private Captain Alexander Campbell (1760-1816) - Nephew of Black David Private James (Big Jimmie) Campbell (1759-1844) - Nephew of Black David Private David (Elder David) Campbell (1762-1813) – Nephew of Black David Private Official Account of the Battle It is beyond the scope of this book to discuss the Battle of Kings Mountain in any great detail. The noted military historian, Henry Lumpkin, gives a very good and objective account of the battle in his book From Savannah to Yorktown, at pages 91-104. The official report of the engagement, signed by Colonels Campbell, Shelby and Cleveland, was published in the Virginia Gazette on 18 November 1780 and was included in Lyman C. Draper’s book Kings Mountain and Its Heroes, at pages 522-524. Prior to issuance of this official report, a shorter account had already been made in a letter written by the American commander, Colonel William Campbell, a few days after the battle. A transcript of Colonel Campbell’s letter is as follows: "October 25th, 1780 Dear Sir, Ferguson and his party are no more in circumstances to require the citizens of America. We came up with him in Craven County, South Carolina posted on a height called Kings Mountain, about 12 miles north of the Cherokee ford of broad River, about two o’clock in the evening of the seventh instant, we having marched the whole night before. Col. Shelby’s regiment and mine began the attack, & sustained the whole fire of the enemy for about ten minutes while the other troops were forming around the height, upon which the enemy was posted. The firing then became general, & as heavy as you can conceive for the number of men. The advantageous situation of the enemy, being on the top of a steep ridge, obliged us to expose ourselves exceedingly, and the dislodging of them was equal to driving men from strong breastworks; though in the end we gained the point of the ridge where my regiment fought, and drove them along the summit of it nearly to the other end, where Col. Cleveland and his country men were. Then they were drove into a huddle, and the greatest confusion; the flag for a surrender was immediately hoisted, and as soon as our troops could be notified of it, the firing ceased, and the survivors surrendered. The estimated prisoners at discretion. The victory was complete to a wish. My regiment has suffered more than any other in the action. I must proceed with the prisoners until I can in some way dispose of them, probably I may go on to Richmond in Virginia. I am etc. /S/ Wm Campbell, Col. Cdr." [12] Largely as the result of the Kings Mountain victory, Colonel William Campbell was made a Brigadier General by the Virginia Legislature in December 1780. Campbell was subsequently appointed to the Marquis de LaFayette’s staff and was present at the beginning of the siege of Cornwallis’s forces at Yorktown. Unfortunately, while at Yorktown, Campbell became ill with what was then called "camp fever" and died on 22 August 1781. The Shelby – Campbell Controversy Colonel Isaac Shelby had commanded the militia regiment from Sullivan County, North Carolina during the Battle of Kings Mountain, serving under the overall command of William Campbell. In July 1822, two private letters written by Isaac Shelby to Colonel John Sevier in 1810 were published by Sevier’s son, Colonel G. W. Sevier. In these letters, Shelby strongly implied that Colonel Campbell had displayed a less than appropriate degree of courage during the fighting. The publication of these letters generated a firestorm of criticism of Colonel Shelby for this apparent attempt to damage the reputation of a long dead hero who was no longer able to defend himself. The Campbells were, of course, incensed by Shelby’s remarks and immediately rallied to the defense of their kinsman. John Campbell of Richmond, a grandson of White David, sent a letter to Thomas Jefferson, who at the time of the battle had been the Governor of Virginia, requesting his recollection of the battle and Campbell’s role in the American victory. In April 1823, Shelby issued a pamphlet that further detailed his criticisms of William Campbell. In reply, the supporters of General Campbell obtained a number of letters from participants in the battle that refuted Shelby’s accusations. One of these letters was from Colonel David Campbell (1753-1832) of Campbells Station. The complete account of the Shelby-Campbell affair is contained in Lyman Draper’s book King’s Mountain and Its Heroes, at pages 558-590. Footnotes 1. John Mack Faragher, Editor, The Encyclopedia of Colonial and Revolutionary America (1990), page 367. 2. Page Smith, A New Age Begins (1976), pages 166-167. 3. This province encompassed all of the modern State of Florida, as far west as the Apalachicola River. 4. This province included the region between the Apalachicola and Mississippi Rivers, from the Gulf of Mexico to 31 degrees North Latitude. 5. Bernard Knollenberg, Origin of the American Revolution 1759-1766 (1960), page 105. 6. R. C. Simmons, The American Colonies from Settlement to Independence (1976), page 323. 7. Bernard Knollenberg, George Washington The Virginia period, 1732-1775 (1964), page 95. 8. Sanford Wexler, Westward Expansion: An Eyewitness History (1991), page 5. 9. Arthur M. Schlesinger, The Colonial Merchants and the American Revolution 1763-1776 (1957), pages 35-36. 10. Ibid., page 39. 11. This John Campbell was a grandson of White David, a brother of Governor David Campbell of Virginia, and subsequently was appointed as Treasurer of the United States by President Andrew Jackson in 1829. 12. From the Campbell Papers Collection located at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Microfilm copies of the papers are available at several major libraries, including the Tennessee State Library, Nashville.

http://trees.ancestry.com/tree/53773760/person/13590261494/media/2?...