Page:Southern Historical Society Papers volume 01.djvu/400

 valley of Wyoming, 1776, George Rogers Clark, of Virginia, with a brigade of his countrymen, penetrated to the upper Mississippi, chastised the savage butchers, captured the British Governor of Detroit and seized £10,000 sterling, a most seasonable addition to our scanty currency. The Virginia troops bore the brunt of the battle of Brandywine, and stood, while others ran. At Monmouth and on the plains of Saratoga, Southern blood mingled with Northern in the battles of freedom. Morgan's Virginia riflemen greatly distinguished themselves, and their deadly rifles slew the British General Fraser, the inspiring spirit of Burgoyne's army.

On our own soil we find the same heroism. When South Carolina was over-run, the guerrillas, under Sumter, Marion, Pickens, &c., drove the British back, step by step, to Charleston, where they were held in a state of siege until the end came. It is our deliberate opinion that no battles of the Revolution will compare in brilliancy with the defence of Fort Moultrie and the defeat of Ferguson at King's Mountain, fought solely by untrained Southern troops. Our own State had the honor of shedding the first blood in the sacred cause of freedom, of first proclaiming the great principles of independence, and of having on its soil that battle-ground where Cornwallis received from Southern troops the first check in his career of victory—a check which ultimately led to his surrender.

If we come to the war of 1812, Harrison and Jackson, beyond all question, gained the most laurels, as shown by the elevation of both of them to the Presidency for their military prowess. All concede that the brilliant land-fights of that war were in the defences of New Orleans, Mobile, Craney Island and Baltimore, and in these, on the American side, none but Southern troops were engaged. This war was unpopular at the North, and the defection of New England amounted almost to overt treason. Hence, the South furnished again more than her proportion of troops. Again, the Southern volunteers flocked North, while no Northern troops came South. If we read of the bloody battles in Canada, we are struck with the number of Southern officers there engaged, mostly general officers—Wilkinson, Izzard, Winder, Drayton, Hampton, Scott, Towson, Brooke, Gaines, &c. Kentucky, I believe, furnished more troops than any State for the invasion of Canada. On the authority of the Southern Review, I state, without investigating the truth of it, that Maryland furnished more of the naval heroes of the war of 1812 than did any other State in the Union. It is very