Lives of Distinguished North Carolinians, with Illustrations and Speeches

by Unknown

On Davie's return from Charlotte he hastened to the general rendezvous of Gates' army at Rugely's Mills. On August 16th, while proceeding to join General Gates at Camden, and ten miles from the battle-field, Major Davie met the defeated army with the General leading the retreat. He ordered Davie to fall back on Charlotte, but he replied that his men had formed the acquaintance of Tarleton's Legion and did not fear to meet them again. He continued his course towards the battle-ground, meeting the flying fragments of the routed army. He secured several wagons loaded with clothing and medicine, which had been abandoned. With characteristic thoughtfulness he immediately sent an officer to notify Colonel Sumter of the great disaster which had befallen our arms. He reached Sumter that evening, who at once began his retreat along the west bank of the Catawba, towards the up-country. Not taking sufficient precaution, however, Sumter was surprised on the 18th by Tarleton at Fishing Creek, and his entire command of eight hundred men was captured or put to flight with the loss of all his artillery, arms, and baggage. Colonel Sumter himself, who was asleep under a wagon when the attack was made, barely escaped, and the next day reached Davie's camp at Charlotte alone, riding on horseback, without saddle or bridle. The tidings carried consternation into the fragments of Gates' army which had rallied there, and in a few moments Davie and his command were the only force left in front of the enemy. Instead of retiring, he boldly advanced to the Waxhaws, and found that the enemy had fallen back to Camden.

On the 5th of September, 1780, Davie was appointed by Governor Nash Colonel Commandant of Cavalry in the Western District of North Carolina, with instructions to raise a regiment. When he had collected only about seventy men, with that force and two small companies of riflemen, commanded by Major George Davidson, he took post at Providence, twenty-five miles from the British camp. Cornwallis, after resting at Camden till the first week in September, had advanced to the Waxhaws, forty miles below Charlotte, while the fragments of the American army were slowly gathering at Hillsborough, two hundred miles distant. South Carolina was wholly subjugated, and North Carolina had not recovered from the shock of Gates' defeat. Under these circumstances, Colonel Davie, with unprecedented boldness, with a command not exceeding one hundred and fifty men all told, on the 20th of September, turning the right flank of the British army by a circuitous march, fell upon three or four hundred of the enemy at Wahab's plantation. The attack was made at daylight. The surprise was complete.

The enemy left fifteen or twenty dead on the field and had some forty wounded. Davie got off safely with the captured horses and had only one man wounded. The enemy at once caused the farm buildings which belonged to Captain Wahab, then a volunteer with Davie, to be laid in ashes. Davie brought off ninety-six horses and their furniture and one hundred and twenty stand of arms, and arrived in camp the same afternoon, having marched sixty miles in less than twenty-four hours, including the time employed in seeking and beating the enemy. That evening Generals Sumner and Davidson arrived at his camp with their force of one thousand badly equipped militia.

On the 24th of September the American patrols gave notice that the force of the enemy was in motion on the Steele Creek road, leading to Charlotte. Generals Sumner and Davidson retreated by Phifer's on the nearest road to Salisbury. Colonel Davie, with one hundred and fifty mounted men and some volunteers under Major Joseph Graham, was left alone in front of the British army, and he was ordered to observe the enemy and skirmish with his advance. On the afternoon and night of the 25th he took a number of prisoners, and at midnight took up his position at Charlotte, seven miles from the spot where Earl Cornwallis had encamped. Early on the 26th his patrols were driven in by the enemy's light troops, and in a few moments the Legion and light infantry were seen advancing, followed by the whole army. Charlotte was then a village of about twenty houses, built on two streets which crossed each other at right angles. At their intersection stood the court-house. Colonel Davie dismounted one company and stationed it under the court-house, where they were protected by a stone wall. The other two companies were advanced about eighty yards and posted behind some houses and gardens. The Legion formed at a distance of three hundred yards with a front to fill the street. On sounding the charge the enemy's cavalry advanced at full gallop, but at sixty yards from the court-house the Americans opened fire and drove them back with great precipitation. A second and third charge had the same result, but being outflanked by the Legion infantry, Davie withdrew his companies in good order, they successively covering each other, and retreated on the Salisbury road. The enemy followed with great caution and respect for some distance, when they at length ventured to charge the small rear guard. In this charge Lieutenant Locks and four privates were killed and Major Graham and five privates wounded. The coolness and skill of Davie in this ever-memorable combat, in which, with a mere handful of men, he held the whole British army for hours at bay and drove back repeatedly its best troops and finally brought off his command unbroken and in good order, stamp him as a soldier of no ordinary capacity. He was at this time twenty-four years of age. Governor Graham says of him: "He was prudent, vigilant, intrepid, and skillful in his movements against the enemy, and with a charming presence, a ready eloquence, and an undaunted spirit, he was among the young men of the day as was Harry Percy to the chivalry of England." He also terms him "one of the most accomplished and elegant gentlemen of the Revolutionary race." Besides his abilities as a leader he was an expert swordsman. It is said in Garden's Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War, that he had slain more men in personal encounters in battle than any man in the army.

The next day, after the brilliant affair at Charlotte, Colonel Davie joined the army at Salisbury, where, recruits having come in and Colonel Taylor from Granville having joined him, his force consisted of three hundred mounted infantry and a few dragoons. Generals Sumner and Davidson continued their retreat across the Yadkin, while Davie returned towards Charlotte, where he so vexed the British by cutting off the foraging parties and beating up their advanced posts that Cornwallis began to feel great distress for want of forage and supplies. (Tarleton's Campaigns, p. 184). The British officer declared he had "found a rebel in every bush outside his encampment." On October 7th occurred the disastrous defeat of Ferguson at King's Mountain, and on the night of October 14th, Cornwallis began his retreat to South Carolina, followed by Davie, who harassed his rear and captured part of his baggage. On the 19th the British crossed the Catawba at Land's Ford and completely evacuated the State of North Carolina. When General Greene took command of the Southern Army in December, 1780, he and Colonel Davie met for the first time. The commissary department became vacant by the resignation of Colonel Thomas Polk. The subsistence of the army had become very difficult, and Colonel Polk declared that it had become impossible. General Greene having formed a high estimate of Colonel Davie's abilities, earnestly, and in most flattering terms, solicited him to relinquish his hopes of brilliant service in the field and accept the vacant office. At the call of patriotism he abandoned the tempting career which lay before him and assumed the not less important but more unpleasant and arduous duties of a station which offered no distinctions. General Greene had himself set the example, having relinquished a brilliant career in the field to assume for years the duties of Quartermaster-General of the army. Colonel Davie assumed the duties of his new post in January, 1781, and continued with the army for the next five months. Hardly any combination of circumstances could exist presenting greater difficulties to the commissary of an army than those under which he began. With a depreciated, almost worthless, currency and an exhausted country, his only resource was to receive from the willing and extort from the reluctant such means of subsistence as they possessed, a service requiring promptness and vigor among the disaffected and skill and discretion among the friendly. These duties were well performed, and, while they make no display on the page of history, their efficient discharge was more really useful to the cause and contributed more to the success of the army than the most brilliant services of the most brilliant officer in the field. In that capacity he was present in the memorable battle at Guilford Court House. Though he had, of course, no command, he was a watchful observer of all the movements of the fight and distinguished himself by his efforts to rally the broken ranks and bring them again into the field. After Judge Schenck's vivid description of this battle it would be a twice-told tale to recount its incidents. It may be well to recall, however, that Eaton's Brigade was composed of men from Warren, Franklin, Nash, Halifax, and Northampton counties, while Butler's men were from the present counties of Wake, Durham, Orange, Alamance, Vance, Granville, Person, and Caswell. No race of people has changed less by infiltration of foreign immigration. It is in warp and woof the same it was a hundred years ago. Those who know them well, know that they are "the blue hen's own chickens," and it is not to be believed (if all other proof was wanting) that men of that stock ever left any fair field of fight in a body save in honor.

It was here that Colonel Davie, seeing the veteran First Maryland permit the enemy to approach to close quarters while it remained apparently inert and impassive, exclaimed with great emotion, "Great God! is it possible Colonel Gunby will surrender himself and his whole regiment to the British?" He had scarce spoken when, the command having been given, their fire, like a sheet of flame, swept off the enemy's first line. This was followed up by a bayonet charge from Gunby. The hostile lines became so intermingled and the moment so critical that Cornwallis, to save himself, caused his cannon to open upon the mass of struggling men and swept off friend and foe alike. This he did against the remonstrance of General O'Hara, who was lying wounded on the ground, and whose men were thus being destroyed at short range by the cannon of their own army.

Colonel Davie continued with the army and was present at Hobkirk's Hill on April 25th, and also at the evacuation of Camden and the siege of Ninety-Six. While the army lay before Ninety-Six, General Greene found it necessary to send him as a confidential messenger to the Legislature of North Carolina to represent to that body the wants of his army, and that his almost sole reliance for assistance was on them. Colonel Davie's knowledge of the members and his tact were such that he procured a most generous contribution from the General Assembly of men and supplies. The exigencies of the service and the equipment of the new levies required him to remain in North Carolina, and in July, 1781, he entered on his duties as Commissary-General of this State, which post he filled till the end of the war. The finances of the State were in a desperate condition, and the country was well-nigh exhausted by the requisitions of both hostile and friendly armies, and, besides, supplies had to be dispatched to our troops operating in South Carolina. No duties could be more arduous or more admirably performed than those which fell to Colonel Davie's lot at this stage of the war. Transportation was lacking even for the supplies which could be obtained. The future seemed uncertain as to everything. No post could more sorely have tried the patience of any man. It argues great versatility of talents that the brilliant cavalry officer should execute with patience the duties of such a station, and it required a rare self-denial to lay aside the opportunities of distinction for the humdrum exactions of his wearying post. To add to other troubles, he had to deal, during the year 1781, with three different Governors of entirely different views and dispositions. Governor Nash had resigned in disgust at the proceedings of the Legislature; Governor Burke had been taken prisoner, and Governor Martin completed the year. So feeble at times was the support of the government that some of the most pressing supplies were procured by Davie on his own credit. Complex and numerous as were his accounts, when he laid down his office he invited the severest legislative scrutiny, but no objection to them could be found.

The war being over, Colonel Davie resumed the practice of his profession in February, 1783. About the same time he married Miss Sarah Jones, the daughter of General Allen Jones, of Northampton, a niece of Willie Jones, and settled in the town of Halifax, which place he made his future residence. It was at that time practically the capital of the State. The sessions of the General Assembly had been frequently held at that place, and it was there that most of the executive business of the State was transacted. He was a brilliant advocate and possessed a natural aptitude for the practice of law. The State at that time was divided into seven judicial districts: Halifax, New Bern, Wilmington, Edenton, Hillsboro, Salisbury, and Morganton. To these, in 1787, Fayetteville was added. The Superior Courts were held only at these places, and not as now at a court-house in each county. Colonel Davie took the circuit and attended in turn all the Superior Courts of the State, except that held at Morganton. He soon commanded a leading practice in all these courts. At some places and at some terms the dockets show that he appeared without exception on one side or the other of every civil case. His practice was very lucrative and he quickly accumulated a large estate. An examination of our published Reports shows numerous cases of importance in which he was counsel. Probably the most important were Hamilton vs. Eaton, 1 N. C., 84, which held the State Confiscation Act repealed by the United States treaty of peace with England, and Bayard vs. Singleton, 1 N. C., 42, the first case in America which asserted the power and duty of the courts to declare an act of the Legislature unconstitutional. It also held the confiscation acts against the late Tories invalid. Iredell, Johnston, and Davie appeared for the successful plaintiff and Moore and Nash for the defendant.

With the chivalry of his nature, it was most natural that when the Tory, Colonel Bryan, with whom he had so often crossed swords, was arraigned and tried at Salisbury, in 1782, for treason, Colonel Davie was one of the counsel who conducted his defense. In this he displayed a courage of the forum no less brilliant and commendable than his conduct in the field. Indeed Davie, though the youngest, became in fact the principal counsel. Excitement ran so high that no lesser favorite than "the hero of Charlotte" could command attention. Bryan was convicted with several others, and was sentenced to be hanged the 14th of April, 1782, but was pardoned and exchanged. Judge Murphy, who had the opportunity of judging, and whose opinion is of high value, says: "Davie took Lord Bolingbroke for his model, and applied himself with so much diligence to the study of his master that literary men could easily recognize his lofty and flowing style. He was a tall, elegant man in his person; graceful and commanding in his manners. His voice was mellow and adapted to the expression of every passion. His style was magnificent and flowing. He had a greatness of manner in public speaking which suited his style and gave his speeches an imposing effect. He was a laborious student and arranged his discourses with care, and, when the subject suited his genius, poured forth a torrent of eloquence that astonished and delighted his audience. They looked upon him with delight, listened to his long, harmonious periods, caught his emotions, and indulged that ecstasy of feeling which fine speaking and powerful eloquence can alone produce. He is certainly to be ranked among the first orators whom the American nation has produced." It is said of him, with probably small exaggeration, that during fifteen years while he was at the bar there was not a capital trial in North Carolina in which he was not retained for the defense. Eminent as he was, it was not for the lack of worthy competitors. James Iredell and Alfred Moore, successively Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, François Xavier Martin, afterwards Chief Justice of Louisiana, and Judge John Haywood, afterwards of Tennessee, were his contemporaries. His brief-books, some of which are still in existence, are models of neatness and show a most careful summary of the evidence and citation of authority in each case. Among his law students were Governor and United Stales Senator David Stone, Mr. Justice Daniel, of our Supreme Court, and many others who became distinguished men. Judge Daniel said that he was the best lawyer and most accomplished man he had ever known. It is stated of him, in comparison with his great legal rival, John Haywood, that while the latter carefully prepared every point, Davie would seize the strong points of the case and throw his whole strength upon them. In this he seems to have retained the experience and instincts of his soldier-life. As a characteristic of his elegant tastes and attention to details it is said that an examination of his correspondence shows that his letters were invariably written upon gilt-edge paper.

When the Convention which formed our present Federal Constitution was called to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787, he was elected one of the delegates. The delegates were the then Governor, Richard Caswell, ex-Governor Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, who, like Davie, was subsequently Governor, William Blount, afterwards United States Senator, and Hugh Williamson, afterwards a member of Congress and an historian. Governor Caswell did not attend. Colonel Davie was the junior member of the delegation, being then, notwithstanding his distinguished career as a soldier and his high standing at the bar, not yet thirty-one years of age. Still his eloquence and influence made a decided impression upon the Convention. The Constitution all through is the result of compromise; but the critical question was the equal representation of each State in the Senate. Upon this it seemed likely the Convention would be dissolved. The large States were firm for proportional representation. With the smaller States an equal voice in the Senate was a sine qua non. On that question North Carolina voted with the other large States against the demands of the smaller States, and this made the vote a tie, as Georgia, on purpose, evenly divided her vote. The friends of the Constitution, fearing a disruption, referred the question to a committee composed of one from each State. Davie was the member of the committee from North Carolina. When the committee made its report, Davie, acting for North Carolina, gave her vote with the smaller States, and thus, by one majority, was equal representation in the Senate secured. Without it the Convention would doubtless have adjourned after a useless session. The Constitution, without that wise concession, could not have been adopted, and if adopted by the Convention, its ratification by the smaller States could not have been expected. This act was certainly against the wishes of his own State, then the third, in point of population, in the Confederation, ranking next after Virginia and Massachusetts and ahead of New York. It was also apparently against the interests of his State, but the act was that of a statesman, and should be recalled to his lasting honor. It was a critical moment, for a narrow-minded man in his place, timid of responsibility and fearful of his own popularity at home, would have prevented or postponed for many years the American Union. He remained in Philadelphia till the deliberations of the Convention were virtually over and the adoption of the Constitution had become certain. Then, in obedience to his duty to his clients, as the fall circuit was about to begin, he left for home. Hence it is that his name does not appear among those appended to that instrument. The Constitution being the work of many hands and containing so many alterations and amendments, would naturally have been rough and ill-joined, containing a variety of styles. It is worthy of note that the Convention considerately referred it to a committee of one—Gouverneur Morris—an accomplished scholar, to make changes "of form, not of substance." Under his hand it was polished and put in shape, and hence the uniform flow and regularity of its language.