Charlotte was the point to which Gates retreated, with a few followers, after the disastrous battle near Camden, in August, 1780, and soon afterward it became the scene of act-
Movements of Cornwallis and his Subordinates.—Colonel Polk suspected.—General William R. Davie.
ual hostilities. After refreshing his army at Camden, and adopting further measures for keeping down the spirit of rising rebellion in South Carolina, Cornwallis moved, with his a Sept 8 forces, toward Charlotte,Sept. 8, 1780 for the purpose of giving encouragement to the timid Loyalists between the Yadkin and the Catawba; to assist Major Ferguson, who was then across the Broad River attempting to embody the militia in the service of the king; to awe the Republicans, who were in the ascendant in Mecklenburg, Rowan, and vicinity; in fact, to conquer North Carolina before Congress could organize another army at the South.
Cornwallis reached Charlotte toward the close of the month, where he expected to be joined by Ferguson and his Loyalists. But he was doomed to disappointment; that officer was soon afterward killed, and his whole force was broken up in a severe battle on King's Mountain.Oct. 7 Cornwallis was diligent in issuing his proclamations, in which he denounced "the rebels offered pardon to those who should seek it, and protection to persons and property to those who would accept it. Gates, in the mean while, had retired, with the remnant of his army, to Salisbury, and soon proceeded to Hillsborough. Hundreds, who were stanch patriots, came forward and accepted protection from Cornwallis, for they saw no alternative but that and the ruin of their families and estates. Among them was Colonel Thomas Polk, who thereby incurred the suspicions of his countrymen; but when the danger was over, he renounced the forced allegiance. Non-conformity would have insured the destruction of all his property; he wisely accepted a protection, saved his estate, and was under a cloud of distrust only for a short season. *
When Cornwallis marched from Camden, on the east side of the Wateree, Tarleton traversed the country, with his legion, on the west side of that river. At the Waxhaws, Cornwallis halted, and there Tarleton united with the main body.
