Your post has been deleted: Catawba -- Saponi -- Melungeon; Ch. 10: The Revolutionary War

CHAPTER X; THE REVOLUTIONARY WAR

Lord Dunsmore's War

Lord Dunsmore’s War broke out shortly after the New River Indians were said to be living on “Indian Lands”. Carlson says (p. 135-136), “A list from the Draper Manuscripts, thought to reflect Captain Herbert’s Company, reveals one of the militia units comprised of the New River Indians, their mixed blood relations, and numerous Virginia backwoodsmen mustered into duty that summer [the summer of 1774]”. These people Carlson calls “The New River Indians” are the parents and grandparents of the people called “Melungeons” in the minutes of the Stoney Creek Primitive Baptist Church early in the first and second decades 19^th century (203). Carlson usually calls them “Christian Band of the Saponi”. On this occasion, calling them “New River Indians” might be appropriate. (204)

The Catawba During the American Revolutionary War, 1775-1783

The Revolutionary war puzzled the Catawba. They did not understand the settlers fighting one another. The Catawba by this time were ruled by King Frow. Preparations for war by neighboring South Carolinians worried King Frow. He sent two runners to Charleston to find out what was going on. South Carolina let them know that they expected the Catawba to side with the state, and they were also expected to send a delegation to secure the allegiance of the Cherokee.

Some say King Frow died, others that he abdicated. Whichever was the case, he was replaced by General New River. General New River was said to have been a “war hero of great merit.” (205)

About this time the Catawba sent a delegation to Charlotte, North Carolina, and were present at the Declaration of Charlotte. At this moment, there was no turning back. Another warrior is mentioned – Pine Tree George, as a war captain. As in days and years gone by, the men danced and fasted, and the women combed the men’s hair in bear grease. The men decorated their heads with deer tails, which identified them as loyal to the Revolutionaries. The deer tails also helped South Carolinian Revolutionaries to distinguish the Catawba from the Cherokee, who wore no deer tails. In October 1775, 25 Catawba enlisted under Samuel Boykin. In February 1776 Boykin commanded 34 Catawbas. In August 1776, 20 Catawba fought beside Colonel Andrew Williamson’s men against the Cherokee. Per Blumer, many Revolutionary War records are sketchy and are probably incomplete. (206)

GENERAL NEW RIVER

There is another great Catawban warrior who was mentioned. The stories I got ahold of were contradictory and confusing. One record while saying he was born about 1740 also says he earned his name of “General New River” because he killed a famous Shawnee Chief during a battle in 1732 on New River in southwestern Virginia. Since he wasn't born until 1740 that would have been quite an achievement. Piecing bits and pieces together I suspect it went more like the following scenario. The Catawba WERE FIGHTING the Shawnee, but it was during the French and Indian War between 1756-1763, and not in 1732. I found concerning American Indians that both Cherokee and Catawba, would have been fighting the Shawnee during the French and Indian War. It was said they were stationed at three points. One up around Winchester, in today’s West Virginia. The location of the second was not mentioned, and a third group it said was to be stationed to the west of Roanoke. I looked for Roanoke on a map, and to its west there was a town of Catawba. That Virginia map I was using was over 50 years old, and it said the population of the small town of Catawba was only 25 in the 1960s. The town might have grown, or it maybe it is a ghost town, today – I don't know. According to the key to the map and eye-balling it, it appears the small town of Catawba is about 35 miles from the New River. Did General New River and his warriors surprise a band of Shawnee trying to sneak up on them from this location? A friend said of General New River that his English name was William Scott. Another source said William Scott was General New River’s step-father. I don’t know which to believe. His wife Sally was a granddaughter of King Haigler. Within twenty years several of the Saponi-Melungeon families would be living along the New River, at the same stretch of river bank. (207) With General New River having been born @ 1740 that would have made him sixteen years old in 1756 when the Catawba entered the war and twenty-three years of age in 1763 when the war came to an end. Those are the years when a young man is in his fighting prime. He very well could have made his name as a formidable warrior during the French and Indian War. His principle foe would have been the Shawnee, and it was said he killed Shawnee chief. His status as a warrior made him an ideal choice as war chief, as well as his wife’s blood line.

I found the following at the same website (208):

“King Haigler was murdered by the Shawnee near Waxhaw in 1763. His successors, King Frow and later Gen. New River, perpetuated the close bond with the South Carolina government and the settlers on the frontier in the generations after his passing. When the winds of revolution began to blow in the back country of South Carolina, the Catawba were at first understandably confused. They had aligned with South Carolina’s British government for years. When they saw the settlers readying for trouble by “cleaning their guns and putting on their shot pouches,” they sent Young Warrior and another Catawba to Col. William Moultrie in Charles Town for answers on July 4, 1775. They brought a letter from King Frow asking the South Carolina Council for an explanation in the form of “a letter to carry back to their nation, to let them know everything.”

“Councilman William Henty Drayton wrote that letter in terms they could relate to. In it he stated that the King wanted the colonists to pay four deerskins for trade goods which had always cost two deerskins, thereby stealing the colonists’ money. Drayton asked for their help against “the Redcoats” should there be war. By July 26, the Catawba visited Joseph Kershaw in Camden to declare their support in the colonists’ cause. Kershaw thought that 40 or 50 warriors would enlist. That was a significant percentage of their men at that time since the Catawba Nation numbers had been decimated by small pox, wars and assimilation over the years.”
Remember it was the Shawnee who killed King Haigler in 1763. You can understand why, if you realize the Shawnee and the Catawba were at war during that time, at the end of the French and Indian War. Continuing;

“Council instructed Kershaw to let them know when the Catawba were ready to march, as they would join the Rangers at that time. Samuel Boykin of Camden was chosen to be their commander. After a delay while the Catawba were weathering another outbreak of small pox, they regrouped and reported to service in 1775. Twenty-five Catawba were in Boykin’s initial company. The numbers in the Catawba troops fluctuated from year to year, but they were a constant presence in the war. Later, from 1780 until 1783, Capt. Thomas Drennan led the Catawba troops. The Catawba helped fight a two-edged sword during their service in the Revolution. They faced British troops in the settled areas of South Carolina as well as Cherokee warriors fighting for the British on the sparsely settled frontier. They were known as excellent scouts, but they were also renowned as fierce warriors, even among other Indian nations.”

The following Revolutionary War soldiers were of the Catawba Nation:

Billy Ayers, Jacob Ayers, James Ayers, John Ayers, Indian Bob, John Brown, Patrick Brown, George Cantor, John Connar, Tom Cook, Tom Cross, Indian George, Peter George, Pine Tree George, Indian Gilbert, George Harris, Peter Harris, Big James, Suggar Jamey, Chuckeface Jemmey, Doctor John, Young John, Indian John, Billy Kegg, John Kegg, John Kelliah, Alack Little, Charley Little, Stephen Little, John Nettles, General New River, Billey Otter, Cpt. Indian Petter, Chunckey Pipe, Indian Quash, Billy Readhead, Billey Scott, Jacob Scott, John Scott, John Tompson, Jack Simmons, George White, Henry White, Billey Williams. (209)

It is difficult to discover where the Catawba Warriors served. But there is a little information that can be gleaned here and there. From the website below we have;
“General Thomas Sumter actively recruited Catawbas to join his army. He specifically used them to find Loyalist hideouts in the South Carolina backcountry. Some Catawbas served under Sumter throughout his southern campaign. Others led by Catawba General New River, joined Colonel William Richardson Davie and [Andrew] Jackson’s cousin, Major Robert Crawford. It was nothing new for Jackson’s family to interact with the Catawbas as his older brother, Hugh, had “fought Cherokees in the Waxhaws and hunted with the docile Catawba” (210) while Andrew was a young boy. The Catawbas during the Revolution normally fought under White leadership, but had a separate company of forty-one men under Captain Thomas Drennan from 1780 to 1782. (211)

During the summer of 1780 Davie, led South Carolina Continental Army troops under Jackson’s cousin Robert Crawford, volunteers, and militia from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina, where many residents of the Waxhaws had sought refuge during the British invasion. A band of Catawbas under General New River fought to “prevent the enemy from foraging on the borders of [North Carolina]” and “check the depredations of the Loyalists who infested that part of the country.” Throughout the summer of 1780, the Americans found whatever food they could as British soldiers foraged the crops of the Waxhaws, depleting Jackson’s community of provisions and turning his community into a ghost town, with residents scattered into North Carolina. (212)

At this time, the English took the city of Charleston from the Colonists. They were aware of the sentiment of the rebel's in the area of Charlotte, North Carolina. On May 29th, the English massacred a group of American soldiers at the Waxhaws, very close to where the Catawba lived. Later, Camden fell to the British on August 16, 1780. By now the English were aware of the Catawba participation in the war. With the fall of Camden nothing stood between the Catawba towns and the British Army. Having seen them massacre American troops who had surrendered, the Catawba decided to evacuate their homes. (213)

The entire Catawba Nation fled to the north in August, 1780. Dr. Blumer provides a map of their route. They fled north, through Charlottte and Salisbury, North Carolina. Dr. Blumer thinks they then headed for Danville, Virginia. He says “The land around Danville was still occupied by Catawban speakers, and was once claimed by Cofitachique when the Catawban realm consisted of 55,000 square miles through the Carolinas and the mountains of Southern Virginia. Today we know the Indians who inhabit this area as the Monacans.” We also know that there were others in the area, people known as “Melungeons”. From Danville their route is unknown. It is thought their final destination was somewhere between Danville and Roanoke, Virginia. Some think they went to live near the Pamunkey as a Pamunkey family is later found living with the Catawba. Blumer also says “In any case the Catawba women and children were far from harm, perhaps in some unsettled hamlet such as the modern Catawba, Virginia, which is only five miles west of Roanoke.” I must concur that if the small town of Catawba was the location of the base where a band of Catawba were stationed during the French and Indian War, and a hero of that war was General New River, since he was a war chief during the Revolutionary War, he would have remembered its location, and that there might still be habitable shelters there for his people. Dr. Blumer goes on to tell us at that time, 1780, Roanoke had not been settled yet. Blumer says they returned home in 1781 with the Army of General Greene. He quotes David Hutchinson: “When General Greene turned south, the Indians brought their women and children from Virginia and dispatched some of their numbers to bring word as to the situation of the property they had left. They received word from Charlotte about thirty miles from their towns, that all was gone; cattle, hogs, fowl, etc., all gone . . .

See Gordon's History. “I must here Mention the Catawba Ind[ian]s. At the Commencement of the Revolutionary War the Catawbas . . . Appointed a Native Indian by the Name of New River to be their General. When we took the field after the fall of Charleston we often Encamped on their land for days together those friendly Indians drove to us Beef from their Own Stocks, and Several times brought Out their whole force and Encamped near us & After the Def[ea]ts of Genls. Gates and Sumter those Indians was so [a]fraid of the British that they Deserted their Nation, Men Women & Children with a few Exceptions & Moved on towards Virginia, and as we begun to make heat ag[ains]t the Enemy they Returned with Joy to their own land.

I am reminded of my own ancestor who was a veteran of the Revolutionary War. It was written of him that “he was a driver of horses and cattle to the troops on the Indian line.” He was also said to have been at Charleston and saw it burn to the ground. I wonder if he knew any of the Catawba warriors. Maybe.

“The Catawba met much action during the Revolutionary War. Because of incomplete records, we will never know all of the battles and skirmishes they were involved in. But we can ascertain they fought/scouted in the following events: In 1776, they fought at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island; they supplied provisions for Col. Thomas Sumter while he enlisted recruits in the Upcountry; and battled with the Cherokee at Coweecho River (N.C.) and Keowee (S.C.) during the Cherokee Expedition.

During 1779, they were involved in the defense of Charlestown. From 1780 until 1783, they fought at the Battle of Hanging Rock, the Battle of Rocky Mount, the Battle of Fishing Creek, and the Battle of Kings Mountain. In 1781, they were involved in the Battle of Haw River. They were with Greene’s army at the Battle of Guilford’s Courthouse. In September of that year, they fought at the Battle of Eutaw Springs.

After the Revolutionary War, the Catawba population was a small portion of what it had been before small pox epidemics and the fighting during the war. They returned to live on their ancestral lands but struggled for survival until well into the 20th century. That struggle is another story. Peter Harris was one of the few Catawba who were included in the enlisted men eligible for a government pension after the war. He wrote in 1822 at the age of 69:

“I am one of the few stalks that still remain in the field; where the tempest of the revolution passed, I fought against the British for your sake, The British have Disappeared, and you are free, Yet from me the British took nothing, nor have I gained anything by their defeat … the hand which fought for your liberties is now open for your relief. In my Youth I bled in battle, that you might be independent, let not my heart in my old age, bleed, for the want of your Commiseration.

The Catawba Nation helped establish our American nation. We need to remember their sacrifices just as we remember our other patriots.” (214)

I found this curious comment online. “In 1738, the Pee Dee moved from “Pee Dee Indian Old Town” in Marion County, SC to a reservation set up for them by the colonial government on the lands of James Coachman in Indian Field Swamp on the Edisto River in what is now Dorchester County. They soon began moving upriver, to the forks of the Edisto, to better serve as trading liaisons between the colonists and neighboring tribes. Many members of the tribe received land grants in that area for service in Capt. John Alston's "Raccoon Company," a company of 50 Pee Dee Indian riflemen, during the Revolutionary War. In 1813, Chief Lewis Jones moved from the Pee Dee River and received grants totaling 2,000 acres. Many of our people still reside on those original grants. '' (215)

That is interesting information, but there is no mention of the Pedee Indians in the earlier colonial record. There is a lot of mention, however, of Indian peoples who are called “Settlement Indians”, Indian peoples who descend from members of “Wasted” tribes, tribes almost extinct, just a few survivors. This Raccoon Company is also interesting. These land grants tell us a lot. Many members of the Melungeon families also received land grants in that same area, including my Gibson's. I know I have more about this “Raccoon Company”, but I need to find it again. “I think” it's in the middle of 1,000 pages of paperwork, if it's where I think it is. It'll take a while. Remember the Virginia Governor and his company of Tuscarora, Sapony, Nottaway's and Meherins who served in the French and Indian War? It looks like they raised a small unit made up as similar nationalities for the Revolutionary War as well. It isn't easy to track these units down. A lot of people are looking for this material. If it's there, I might not find it – but I have confidence someone will.

On another document William Guy and Simon Jeffries are listed as “Catawba Indians,” and both are recorded as veterans of the Revolutionary War. I have that entire document transcribed later in this book. Remember the families who will give birth to the Melungeons live along the Virginia/North Carolina border, and in a few specific communities – only locations where American Indians lived. Please remember the Small Pox epidemic again. During the Revolutionary War, there was another vast Spall Pox epidemic, and many more died. There were such a pitiful few Catawba left alive in the two Catawba towns by this point, that travelers might pass through and not know there was an entire Indian tribe nearby.

References:

204. 'Who's your people?': Cumulative identity among the Salyersville Indian population of Kentucky's Appalachia and the Midwest muck fields, 1677--2000. by Dr. Richard Allen Carlson Jr.; Michigan State University

205. Ditto

207. http://www.revwartalk.com/Native-Americans-Individuals/general-new-river.html

208. Ditto

209. www.revwarapps.org/b205.pdf

210. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Thomas_Sumter

211. www.revwarapps.org/b205.pdf

212. http://www.carolana.com/SC/Revolution/revolution_battle_of_hanging_rock.html

214. Ditto

215. http://www.chronicle-independent.com/archives/40087/