Danville, June 16th, 1823.
My Dear Sir,—You
have no doubt before this seen the replies of both General Preston and his son
to my publication. Colonel Preston proposes to establish for his own father the
merit of planning the expedition which led to Ferguson's defeat .
I have examined the subject in my own mind in every point of
view, and cannot, in the remotest manner, discover wherein General Preston
could have had any agency in this exploit. I lived nearly one hundred and
twenty miles from him, in a different State, and had no kind of communication
with him on the subject, and from every recollection, I am convinced that the
statement I gave you is indisputably true. I recollect, however, that Major
Cloyd, with three hundred men from the county of Montgomery, commanded by
Colonel Preston, fought an action with the Tories at the shallow ford of the
Yadkin River, nearly one hundred miles north of King's Mountain, about two
weeks after the defeat of Ferguson. It has always been a mystery to me as to
Cloyd's destination, or that of the enemy whom he encountered. I have only
understood that they met accidentally in the road, and that the enemy was composed
of the Tories in the neighborhood, and of the Bryants, of Kentucky, some of
whom were killed in the fight.
If Ferguson was Cloyd's object, he was too weak to effect
anything, and besides, Lord Cornwallis, with the British army, lay directly in
the route between them. My convictions are so clear on this point I have no
fear that General Preston can render my statement doubtful. He proposes, too,
to invalidate the testimony of Moses Shelby. I will, for your own satisfaction,
give you a short sketch of his history. Moses was in his nineteenth year when
he left his father's house to join the expedition against Ferguson, and had
never before, to my knowledge, been more than forty miles from home. It is well
known that our march was too rapid for a youth of that age to trespass in any
manner, the army having marched two or three hundred miles, and fought the
battle in twelve days, three of which we were detained on the road from
different causes. Moses was severely wounded at the Mountain, and the bone of one
thigh being fractured, he could be carried but a short distance from the
battle-ground, where he lay on his back nearly three months, and was only able
to ride out a few days before General Morgan came up into the district of
Ninety-Six. He joined Morgan but a day or two before the battle of the Cowpens,
on the 17th of January, 1781. Here he was wounded more severely than at the
Mountain, and lay, until March or April, under the hands of a surgeon. When
Colonel Clarke, of Georgia, came on with his followers to commence the siege of
Augusta, his wounds were still sore and open, but at the warm solicitations of
Clarke, Moses joined the expedition, and was appointed captain of horse. It is
well known that the siege lasted until May or June following, in which Moses
was actively engaged, and Clarke asserted to many that he made several charges
on the enemy, who sallied during the siege, which would have done honor to
Count Pulaski. Moses returned home shortly after the siege, and never crossed
the mountains again during the war. The next year, 1782, he, with other
adventurers, went to the new settlements, then forming where Nashville now
stands, where he continued off and on until he married, two or three years afterwards.
As the settlements progressed down the Cumberland, he was always among the
foremost of the pioneers. He finally settled in what is now called Livingston
County, Kentucky, where, at the unanimous solicitation of the inhabitants, he
was appointed colonel of the new county, about the year 1793. He had the
command for a number of years. And after the acquisition of Louisiana, he
removed to that territory, and now resides on the west side of the Mississippi,
two miles below New Madrid, covered with the scars of thirteen deep wounds,
received in defense of his country, from which he is too proud to receive a
pension, always disdaining to apply for one. In his youth he was of a warm and
ardent disposition, always ready to risk his life for a friend, and profuse of
his property (of which he had a considerable inheritance), even to a fault. It
would exceed the bounds of a letter to give you a statement of the many
hair-breadth escapes and imminent dangers through which he passed. Soon after
his marriage he became impressed with religious sentiments, joined the
Methodist Church, liberated his slaves, and, so far as I know and believe, has
always supported a good character in that county.
It is possible, while at the South, in 1780-81, from his
ardent disposition and the prevailing excitement of the times, that he may in
some cases have acted imprudently. The war between the Whigs and Tories was
carried on with the utmost rancor and malice, each endeavoring to do the
greatest injury to the other.
Colonel Willoughby, whose affidavit has been published,
swears to no point. He lived three hundred miles from the scene of action, and
his information may have been very erroneous.
If, however, General Preston proves apparently anything
more, he shall be answered.
I have made this hasty sketch for your own satisfaction.
I remain, dear sir, very respectfully, your friend,
Isaac Shelby.
John J. Crittenden.
SOURCE: Mrs. Chapman Coleman, The Life of John J.
Crittenden, Volume 1, p. 56-8
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