The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 11-8-2017

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The Patriot Post - Alexander's Column 11-8-2017
From The Federalist Patriot
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The Patriot Post® · Patriot Veterans, Then and Now

By Mark Alexander · Nov. 8, 2017 · https://patriotpost.us/alexander/52321

“Those who expect to reap the blessings of freedom, must, like men, undergo the fatigues of supporting it.” —Thomas Paine (1777)

From the first shots of the American Revolution1 until this day, what has distinguished American Patriots2 then and now is their willingness to sacrifice all in defense of Liberty3 — for themselves and their posterity. It’s an unfortunate truth today, however, that too many Americans know too little of such devotion and sacrifice.

This week, we observe Veterans Day4, first designated Armistice Day marking the end of World War I at the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month of 1918. In 1954 President Dwight D. Eisenhower, former Supreme Allied Commander of World War II, signed legislation formally changing Armistice Day to Veterans Day.

The highest percentage of constitutionally conservative Americans is found among our veterans, active duty military and their families. Uniformed service personnel are required by law to honor their oaths “to Support and Defend5” our Constitution, but there is no such legal mandate for elected officials, too many of whom disregard their oaths6 their first day in office.

Rarely has the contrast between those who support Liberty with blood and life and those who want to destroy it7 been so striking. For eight long years, the Left and its MSM propaganda machine8 assailed our Patriots in uniform9, and the cost as measured by military morale10 has been heavy.

But a year ago this week11, there was a new dawn for Patriots in uniform, as a Commander in Chief12 — one who honors their service and sacrifice — was elected.

If I might digress, antithetically, this week also marks the centennial of the rise of socialism/communism13 and what would become a reign of murderous terror over hundreds of millions of civilians. Despite the historical record, there are still plenty of socialism deniers14 in Congress. Untangling eight years of the most invasive socialist policies15 in our nation’s history will take more than one election cycle, but our course has been temporarily reset.

Two years ago this week, I wrote about the life and death of the most influential veteran in my life — my father16. He was an exceptional example of his “Greatest Generation,” having served in WWII as a Naval Aviator, and he was always vigilant in his commitment “to Support and Defend17” Liberty to the day he departed. It was with his encouragement more than 20 years ago18 that we launched The Patriot Post.

Of the many interests we shared in his later years, one was our family’s history, particularly those frontier men and women who settled in the mountains of what is now East Tennessee prior to the Revolutionary War.

Allow me to relate a short story about one of many 18th century grassroots American veterans…

Among our long line of hardheaded Appalachian ancestors is an early Patriot militia colonel, George Gillespie (1730-1794). In 1772, he arrived in the wild and largely uninhabited area of what was then Western North Carolina, and over the next four years constructed Fort Gillespie at the mouth of Big Limestone River on the Nolichucky River. In October of 1780, during the Revolutionary War, he and his brother and sons, joined others to form a gauntlet against British tyranny19 at the Battle of Kings Mountain on the North and South Carolina border.

Early in 1780, the British shifted their war strategy to the south in an effort to retain the Carolina and Virginia colonies — the breadbasket for the other colonies. General Lord Charles Cornwallis sent British regulars to invade South and North Carolina, and his officers were instructed to force pledges of Tory support from settlers.

In early September of 1780, Cornwallis’s campaign henchman, the infamously brutal Scotsman, Major Patrick Ferguson, sent word to Appalachian settlers along the border of western North Carolina that he would “lay waste to their country with fire and sword” if they did not pledge their loyalty to the British. He grossly underestimated the courage and resolve of these fiercely independent mountain folks.

After receiving Ferguson’s “fire and sword” message, Patriot militia leaders Isaac Shelby and John Sevier met and determined they would not wait on Ferguson and his legions to arrive and execute his threat. On September 25th, more than 600 volunteers, the “Overmountain Men,” mustered at Sycamore Shoals near present-day Elizabethton, Tennessee — Col. Gillespie a leader among them. They set out east across the mountains intent on taking the battle to the the British. As they marched toward Ferguson’s position, they were joined by 360 additional mountain militiamen.

On October 1st, Ferguson was in North Carolina’s Broad River area, where he issued another warning to local militia that they best join him or they would be “gotcha8ed upon by a set of mongrels.”

On October 6th, Patriot militia determined that Ferguson and his 1,100 men of the 71st Foot, were just east of them, making camp at Kings Pinnacle. To catch up with Ferguson, the Patriot militia put 900 men on horseback. By sunrise on October 7th, they were just 15 miles from Kings Mountain. By mid-afternoon, they confronted Ferguson’s Loyalists. As the Patriots began their attack, British Captain Abraham de Peyster exclaimed to Ferguson, “These things are ominous — these are the damned yelling boys!”

The Loyalist forces suffered heavy casualties in the first hour of battle. Soon thereafter the invincible Ferguson, noted for wearing a brightly colored red shirt, which made him a distinct target on horseback even at some distance, was wounded as he rode along his lines. Falling from his mount, his foot lodged in the stirrup, and he was dragged by his horse into the militia lines, where he received seven additional musket rounds.