When General Greene took command of the Southern Army in December, 1780, he and Colonel Davie met for the first time. The Commissary Department having become vacant by the resignation of Colonel Thomas Polk, General Greene prevailed upon Colonel Davie to accept this troublesome and important office. Although the duties of the office would prevent him from displaying that dashing patriotism so congenial to his chivalric spirit, yet he agreed to enter upon its arduous and unthankful responsibilities.
Colonel Davie accompanied General Greene in his rapid retreat from the
Catawba to the Dan River. He was present at the battle of Guilford, in
March, 1781; at Hobkirk's Hill, in April; at the evacuation of Camden,
in May; and at the siege of Ninety-six, in June.
The war, having ended, Colonel Davie retired to private life and his professional pursuits. He took his first circuit in February, 1783, and near this time he married Sarah, eldest daughter of General Allen Jones, of Northampton county, and located himself at Halifax Courthouse, where he soon rose to the highest eminence in his profession.
Colonel Davie was a member of the Convention which met at
Philadelphia, in May, 1787, to form the Federal Constitution. The late
Judge Murphy, in speaking of Colonel Davie, bears this honorable
testimony to his abilities:
"I was present in the House of Commons, when Davie addressed that body (in 1789,) for a loan of money to erect the buildings of the University, and, although more than thirty years have elapsed, I have the most vivid recollections of the greatness of his manner and the power of his eloquence upon that occasion. In the House of Commons he had no rival, and on all questions before that body his eloquence was irresistible."
In December, 1798, he was elected Governor of the State. After fulfilling other important National and State trusts, and losing his estimable wife in 1803, Colonel Davie, under the increasing infirmities of old age, sought retirement. In 1805 he removed to Tivoli, his country seat, near Land's Ford, in South Carolina, where he died, in 1820, in the sixty-fourth year of his age. He had six children: 1. Hyder Ali, who married Elizabeth Jones, of Northampton county, N.C.; 2. Sarah Jones, who married William F. Desaussure, of Columbia, S.C.; 3. Mary Haynes; 4. Martha; 5. Rebecca; 6. Frederick William.
GENERAL MICHAEL MCLEARY.
General Michael McLeary was born in 1762. He first entered the service as a private in Captain William Alexander's company, in the regiment commanded by Colonel Robert Irwin, William Hagins, Lieutenant Colonel, and James Harris, Major. The regiment was encamped on Coddle Creek, near which time Colonel William Davidson, a Continental officer, was appointed to the command of a battalion. In a short time afterward, his command marched to Ramsour's Mill, to disperse a large body of Tories, under Colonel John Moore, but failed to reach that place before they had been subdued and routed by Colonel Locke and his brave associates.
General McLeary was in the fight against a considerable body of Tories assembled at Coulson's Mill, at which place General Davidson was severely wounded.
After this service he again volunteered in Captain William Alexander's company, Colonel Irwin's regiment, watching the movements of the enemy. About two miles south of Charlotte, Lieutenant James Taggart captured two wagons loaded with valuable supplies from Camden for the British army, then encamped near the former place. In this dashing exploit, two of the British guard were killed, and the remainder made prisoners, who were afterward turned over to Colonel Davidson. At the same time, an express was captured from Lord Cornwallis to Colonel Turnbull, in command of the forces at Camden. Here, as elsewhere in the surrounding country, it will be seen the vigilant "hornets" of Mecklenburg were engaged in their accustomed work.