The Over-Mountain Men: Some Passages From a Page of Neglected History (Classic Reprint)

The Over-Mountain Men: Some Passages From a Page of Neglected History (Classic Reprint)
ISBN-10
1332529836
ISBN-13
9781332529834
Category
Self-Help
Pages
30
Language
English
Published
2015-08-09
Author
Swan Moses Burnett

Description

Excerpt from The Over-Mountain Men: Some Passages From a Page of Neglected History To judge of what a people are of their possibilities and potentialities, we must take account not only of their past history, but also of the ethnic constituents that has gone into their composition. The enduringness and strength, alike of a building and a people, depend upon the quality of its separate materials and the firmness and harmony of its construction. Estimated in this way the people of East Tennessee, and their antecedents in western North Carolina, are entitled to a high consideration and a front rank in the esteem of the patriotic American. No section of this country can of right lay a better claim to the title of pure American than that secluded region, and to none is the debt of gratitude of the nation greater. The one fierce blow they struck for American Independence was sharp and swift, but it was decisive. Cornwallis having carried all before him in South Carolina was bent on making a junction with Howe in Virginia, and, by their conjoined forces, they hoped to bear down the army of Washington, then weakened and dispirited with defeat. The intrepid Ferguson was sent forward to open up the way by enlisting all the Tories in the king's army, capturing or putting to death all the Whigs, and laying waste the country. We all know now, from a few pages of history, how well he was performing his mission when it was suddenly and effectually brought to an end at Kings Mountain. The men that met him there were mostly the mountain men from what was then West Carolina and Southwest Virginia, who were hastily assembled at the call of those who had led them in their warrings against the Aborigines. It was no organized army; it was simply a band of freemen whom duty called together for the accomplishment of a certain work which it seemed to them was necessary to be done. In all the wars on our continent this episode has no parallel. Of the 700 men who marched on foot and horseback across the smoky mountains to meet the advancing enemy, every man was an army within himself, and on many a trying time before had been his own high private, captain and general. Danger had been his constant companion; to live meant to fight, and to shoot his Dechard rifle with an unerring certainty was the one fine art he had assiduously cultivated. It is this individuality I wish to emphasize. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.

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