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Title: Colonel Edward Buncombe, Fifth North Carolina Continental Regiment
His Life, Military Careeer, and Death while a Wounded
Prisoner in Philadelphia during the War of the Revolution
Author: Marshall DeLancey Haywood
Release Date: June 14, 2020 [EBook #62397]
Language: English
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COLONEL
_EDWARD BUNCOMBE_,
FIFTH NORTH CAROLINA
CONTINENTAL REGIMENT.
[Illustration]
HIS LIFE, MILITARY CAREER, AND DEATH WHILE A
WOUNDED PRISONER IN PHILADELPHIA DURING
THE WAR OF THE REVOLUTION.
[Illustration]
ADDRESS DELIVERED BEFORE THE NORTH CAROLINA SOCIETY OF
THE CINCINNATI AT ITS MEETING HELD IN HILLSBOROUGH,
JULY 4, 1901.
BY
MARSHALL DELANCEY HAYWOOD.
[Illustration]
PUBLISHED BY THE SOCIETY.
RALEIGH:
ALFORD, BYNUM & CHRISTOPHERS, PRINTERS,
1901.
[Illustration]
Author
ADDRESS.
MR. PRESIDENT AND GENTLEMEN OF THE SOCIETY:
It is no small privilege which the North Carolina Society of the
Cincinnati enjoys when it meets in this ancient Revolutionary capital,
for here our organization was first brought into being. The year of
grace 1783, which is the date of its birth, was one of mingled joy
and depression to the people of America. The war, it is true, had
been fought to a successful close; and, by a treaty wherein they
were separately specified, King George had acknowledged the thirteen
colonies to be “free, sovereign, and independent States.” But how
changed was the order of things! The desolation following in the wake
of war was scarcely less terrible than war itself, and no State had
made greater sacrifices for the cause of liberty than North Carolina.
Under daring partisan leaders at home, under Washington in the north,
and Greene in the south, her sons had in countless fights lengthened
the list of killed and wounded, while those who were spared came home
to prove that--
“Peace hath her victories
No less renown’d than war.”
Yet many, so many, there were of the brave defenders of America who did
not return, and their mortal remains still rest on and about the old
battlefields made memorable by their valor. To this class belonged the
good and gallant officer of whom I shall speak today.
COLONEL EDWARD BUNCOMBE, of Buncombe Hall, in the Colony of North
Carolina, was born in the year 1742, on the Island of St. Christopher,
sometimes called St. Kitt’s, which is one of the Leeward group in the
West Indies. The register of St. Ann’s Parish, in the above island,
shows that: “Edward, son of Thomas and Esther Buncombe,” was baptized
on the 23d of September in the above year.
Thomas Buncombe, the father of Edward, was a gentleman of English birth
and ancestry, and died in the Fall of 1747. He had four children: John,
Edward (of whom this sketch treats), Sarah, who married first a Mr.
Beach and then a Mr. Humbergen, and Ann, who married a Mr. Caines.
Joseph Buncombe, a brother of Thomas, and hence an uncle of Edward,
lived for a time in North Carolina and married Ann, a daughter of
George Durant; but he is said to have died while absent from the colony
on a visit to relatives. When in North Carolina, his home was in what
is now the county of Washington (then a part of Tyrrell), where he
owned a valuable estate. He probably died childless, for his property
was bequeathed by him to his nephew. The latter, upon viewing the lands
in Tyrrell, was so well pleased with them that he disposed of his West
Indian possessions and settled permanently in North Carolina about the
year 1768. Shortly after this, the mansion known as Buncombe Hall was
erected on the site of his uncle’s former residence.
Buncombe Hall lay about twelve miles south of Edenton, across Albemarle
Sound. At present a small hamlet called Chesson, in Washington County,
marks the place where it stood. It was famed throughout the colony as
a seat of boundless hospitality. Over an arched gateway, through which
the grounds were entered, was inscribed the couplet--
“Welcome all,
To Buncombe Hall.”
Not only North Carolinians, but travellers in general, frequently
sought shelter there (for it was on a road largely used), and a warm
reception awaited each visitor. In 1773, when Josiah Quincey, of
Massachusetts, was returning from a southern tour, he made this entry
in his Diary,[A] while at New Bern, on the 2d of April: “Judge Howard
waited upon me in the evening with recommendatory letters to Colonel
Palmer of Bath, and Colonel Buncombe of Tyrrell County.” Referring to
April 5, he says: “Breakfasted with Colonel Buncombe who waited upon
me to Edenton Sound, and gave me letters to his friends there. Spent
this and the next day in crossing Albemarle Sound and in dining and
conversing in company with the most celebrated lawyers of Edenton.”
Not long after his arrival in North Carolina, Colonel Buncombe was made
a magistrate, and served as one of the Justices of the Inferior Court
of Tyrrell County. He seems to have been very punctual in the discharge
of his official duties; for, in a letter written on November 29, 1771,
by Thomas Jones to Sir Nathaniel Dukinfield, a member of the Governor’s
Council, the former says that at a recent court Colonel Buncombe and
John McKildoe were the only members present.[B] Mr. Jones adds: “The
people attended with becoming decency and patience but at length grew
clamorous, damn’d the absent Justices (I think with propriety), and
then prevailed upon McKildoe to adjourn court.”
In August, 1892, the centennial of Buncombe County, North Carolina,
was celebrated at Asheville, the county-seat. At that time a sketch
of Colonel Buncombe, written by one of his descendants, Mrs. Walter
H. Rogers (born Goelet), of New Orleans, appeared in the _Asheville
Citizen_, and from it we extract the following concerning his
residence: “Buncombe Hall, like its founder, has passed away. It
remained in the family till after the last war. Ere we quit the
subject, let me describe this historic spot. The main building, L
shape, contained eight large rooms, and a four-room basement under
the whole, which served as store-rooms and a kitchen. The brick used
in the building was brought from England. All necessary out-houses,
including offices, were upon the premises. The yard was filled on one
side with the most beautiful flowers and evergreens; on the other, with
fine trees and velvety grass. To the south, stretched away a large
peach and apple orchard--the whole surrounded by broad fields under
cultivation, set in a back-ground of forests. Here the contemplative
mind might revel in historic thought. The old hall, with its lofty
ceilings, high oak panels, and chimney casings, seemed to whisper
secrets of revolutionary times. Over the door of the dining-room hung
the coat-of-arms of the Goelet family (a rising swan on a helmet); and,
on the walls, were family portraits of Colonel Buncombe, his sister
Mrs. Caines and her little daughter.[C] On a closet door still remained
traces of sealing wax, used by the Colonel in sealing up his silver
plate and valuables when he went to the war--vain precaution! His
agent, left in charge, turned Tory, robbed him of not only the contents
of this closet, but sold off his slaves and valuable timber and then
decamped.
“Soon after the fall of Roanoke Island, the Federal soldiers took
possession of Plymouth. Then Buncombe Hall fell a prey to them,
as Dr. Edward Buncombe Haughton, its owner, was fighting on the
Confederate side. He returned after the war, bankrupt in purse, as
all good Southerners were, and the old hall was sold to a Connecticut
carpet-bagger. It could even then have been restored to its former
greatness, but he razed it to the ground and did not leave a brick
standing. It passed, again, out of his possession. The Southern
Goelets, all descendants of Colonel Buncombe, were left too poor by the
war to rescue his home from annihilation; and so passed away, and was
wantonly destroyed, Buncombe Hall.”
Before proceeding with my narrative, justice requires that
acknowledgement be made to Mrs. Rogers, not only for the above quoted
passages, but also for the letters hereinafter given, and other items
relative to the family connection of her distinguished ancestor.
There are now nine localities in the United States called Buncombe,
most (if not all) of which derive the name either directly or
indirectly from Colonel Buncombe. They are: Buncombe County, North
Carolina; Buncombe, in Johnson County, Illinois; Buncombe, in Dubuque
County, Iowa--and Buncombe Township, in Sioux County, in the same
State; Buncombe, in Union County, Mississippi; Buncombe, in Lafayette
County, Wisconsin; Buncombe Ridge, in Lawrence County, Arkansas;
Buncombe, in Knott County, Kentucky; and Buncombe, in Jackson County,
Oregon.
The word “buncombe”--which dictionaries give as signifying a bombastic
utterance, usually employed in windy harangues to gain popular
favor--had its origin through the following circumstance: In the
Congress of the United States, between the years 1817 and 1823, the
mountain district of North Carolina was represented by the Honorable
Felix Walker many of whose constituents were denizens of the now
famous county of Buncombe. One day, as Mr. Walker sat pondering over
his past political career, he remembered that during that session he
had made very few speeches--and this, by the way, was almost as rare
a fault with Congressmen in those days as it is now. So he decided to
speak; he did speak; he spoke at considerable length; and he didn’t
have anything particular to say, but he kept on talking, nevertheless.
And when, at last, patience had ceased to be a virtue, and some of his
long-suffering colleagues were beginning to leave the hall, he told
the more polite members who remained that they might go, too, if they
wished, for he intended to have his remarks published and sent to the
home people, as the speech was not intended for the House, but _only
for Buncombe_!
But to return to Colonel Edward Buncombe. He received his education
in Great Britain; and, while living in St. Christopher, was united
in marriage (April 10, 1766,) with Elizabeth Dawson Taylor, who
accompanied him to North Carolina, but died just prior to the outbreak
of the Revolution. She and her son Thomas are buried under St. Paul’s
Church, at Edenton. The children of Colonel Buncombe by his marriage
with Miss Taylor were:
I. Elizabeth Taylor Buncombe, born on the Island of St. Christopher,
March 11, 1767, who was brought when an infant to North Carolina. Her
education was received in New York and New Jersey, under the direction
of Abraham Lott. She married John Goelet, of New York (afterwards of
North Carolina), and left numerous descendants.
II. Thomas Buncombe, born in North Carolina, February 3, 1769, who died
young.
III. Hester Ann Buncombe, born April 25, 1771, who married John Clark,
of Bertie County, North Carolina, and had two children: Thomas Clark,
and Ann Booth Pollock Clark (wife of John Cox).[D] Both Thomas Clark
and his sister Mrs. Cox died without issue.
From the above it will be seen that the only descendants now living
of Colonel Buncombe are through his eldest daughter who married John
Goelet, of New York. Mr. Goelet was of Huguenot descent, born in 1759,
on the date of the fall of Quebec, and himself saw service in the
Revolution. After the war was over and he had married Miss Buncombe, he
removed with his wife (about 1791) to Buncombe Hall, and died there in
the ninety-fifth year of his age, October, 1853.
In the sketch by Mrs. Rogers, heretofore quoted, she says: “With the
death of Colonel Buncombe, the name died in this country, though
his patriotic spirit survived, he having eight great-grandsons who
volunteered in the Confederate army, one of whom, John Buncombe
Goelet, died on Malvern Hill in defence of Richmond, Virginia. He was
color-bearer of the Third Alabama Regiment, and belonged to Company A,
Mobile Cadets.”
Prior to the Revolution, Colonel Buncombe held a commission in the
military establishment of the colony. He commanded a regiment of the
provincial troops of North Carolina, in the county of Tyrrell.[E]
Like nearly all of the better element of North Carolinians--such men
as Robert Howe, Richard Caswell, Francis Nash, Thomas Polk, Alexander
Lillington, Griffith Rutherford, and others who afterwards won fame
in the Revolution--he used every effort to aid Governor Tryon in
suppressing the excesses and riots of the Regulators, and received
the official thanks of His Excellency for the “truly public spirit”
displayed by him in the prosecution of this work. He did not, however
personally participate in the Alamance campaign, as the regiments of
his section of the colony were not called into active service.
In religion, Colonel Buncombe was a member of the Church of England,
and, when he left the West Indies, a chaplain is said to have
accompanied his household to North Carolina.
In the several years preceding the outbreak of the Revolution, the
patriots of North Carolina were boldly preparing for any emergency
which might arise. As early as April 26, 1774, William Hooper had
asserted in a letter addressed to Judge Iredell, that the colonies were
“striding fast to independence, and ere long would build an empire
upon the ruins of Great Britain; would adopt its constitution purged
of its impurities, and from an experience of its defects guard against
those evils which had wasted its vigor and brought it to an untimely
end.”[F] These were troublous times--times calling for men of high
purpose and courageous bearing, who, in the face of King, Parliament
and Royal Governor, would boldly contend for the rights which were
as dear to them as to the people of England. Nor was courage alone
sufficient to cope with King George’s representatives in Carolina.
Political dexterity played no small part in the controversies of that
day. Some years prior to the time of which we treat, when the British
Parliament passed the Stamp Act, more resistance, and armed resistance,
too, was encountered in North Carolina than anywhere else. But no
resistance came from the Assembly, for Governor Tryon prorogued that
body to prevent official action. This prorogation also prevented the
Assembly from later electing delegates to what is known as the Stamp
Act Congress. Tryon’s trickery worked so well that his successor,
Governor Josiah Martin, decided to play a similar game in 1774. A
controversy arising over the laws establishing courts in the colony,
and the King’s instructions being at variance with the ideas of the
Assembly, that body refused to yield; and Governor Martin thereupon
put a stop to proceedings by proroguing it. He also determined not to
re-convene it until the members were more inclined to obey the royal
will. This latter purpose being divulged by the governor’s private
secretary to John Harvey, that bold statesman determined that an
independent assembly, or convention, should be called. He left New
Bern, the seat of government, and, on the third of April, discussed the
matter with Willie Jones. The night following found him at Buncombe
Hall, in the county of Tyrrell. At this place Mr. Harvey confided
his plan to Samuel Johnston and Colonel Buncombe.[G] These notables
were impressed with the gravity of the situation, and the night was
far spent ere their consultation came to an end. Referring to this
conference, in his History of North Carolina,[H] Moore says: “Buncombe
was impulsive and impressionable, but Johnston was the embodiment of
caution and deliberation. He was full of determination to resist Lord
North’s measures, but he feared the effects of too much popular power.
These eminent men, with Hooper, John Ashe, Caswell, Person, and others,
at once acceded to Harvey’s proposition, and the ball of the Revolution
was put in motion.”
Despite Governor Martin’s frantic proclamation forbidding its meeting,
the independent convention gathered in New Bern on the 25th of
August, 1774.[I] No assembly of its kind had ever before convened in
America. It was followed by others of like character. Delegates to the
Continental Congress were elected. The breach with Great Britain became
wider, and finally, as a last resort, independence was declared. And it
may be well just here to observe that North Carolina was the very first
colony to authorize a national declaration of independence, when in the
Provincial or State Congress at Halifax on April 12, 1776, Cornelius
Harnett submitted a committee report (which was unanimously adopted),
setting forth a resolution: “that the delegates for this colony in
the Continental Congress be impowered to concur with the delegates of
the other colonies in _declaring independency_.” This was more than a
month before the passage of the famous Virginia resolutions; and even
those who question the genuineness of the Mecklenburg Declaration of
Independence have never attempted to disprove the authenticity of this
resolution adopted by the Provincial Congress at Halifax. So North
Carolina will ever claim the proud distinction of having been first to
move for independence, as she was also first to offer resistance to the
Stamp Act. The preamble to the above resolve in favor of independence
is a masterly vindication of the course pursued by the colonies, and
should be read of all men.[J]
As well may be supposed, a man of Colonel Buncombe’s spirit and
patriotism was not the person to hold back from participation in a
war, however perilous, which he himself had been instrumental in
bringing about. On September 9, 1775, he was elected Colonel of the
militia forces of Tyrrell County[K] by the Provincial Congress of
North Carolina, then in session at Halifax. He fulfilled the duties
of this position for about seven months, and, on the 17th of April,
1776, was transferred to the regular service, being made Colonel of the
Fifth Regiment of North Carolina troops in the Continental Line.[L]
During the period intervening between its organization and the time
when ordered to the field, the Fifth Regiment was maintained at his
private expense. On May 7, 1776, the appointment of Colonel Buncombe
was confirmed by the Continental Congress,[M] and his regiment was
assigned to General Francis Nash’s brigade. This brigade was made up
at Wilmington, North Carolina, in the Summer of 1776, and remained
in that vicinity till November of the same year. Having been ordered
to join Washington’s army, then operating in the north, General Nash
and his troops set out from Wilmington about the 15th of November,
and, on reaching the town of Halifax, were ordered back south, the
object being to keep the British from entering Georgia by way of St.
Augustine. No sooner, however, had Charleston been reached, than orders
were again countermanded. Thereupon the brigade marched to Haddrell’s
Point, opposite Fort Sullivan, South Carolina, at which place it
remained in the forces which were there opposing the operations of
Sir Henry Clinton. In March, 1777, orders were again given the North
Carolina brigade to join Washington. Moving up through North Carolina
and Virginia, and crossing the Potomac near Alexandria, the main
army was finally reached on the Jersey side of the Delaware River,
at Middlebrook. The accession of these brave North Carolinians was
gladly hailed by Washington, and they were given a thundering welcome
in the shape of “a salutation of thirteen cannon, each fired thirteen
times.”[N]
At Alexandria, in the latter part of May, the march of Nash’s brigade
had been delayed to inoculate the troops against small-pox.
Early in July, the North Carolinians, together with the other troops
around Philadelphia, were detailed to complete the fortifications on
the Delaware River.[O]
On the 14th of August, 1777, while the Continental forces were in camp
at Trenton, we find Colonel Buncombe and the other field-officers of
Nash’s brigade uniting in a protest against a Pennsylvanian, Colonel
Edward Hand, being made a brigadier-general to command North Carolina
troops, _vice_ General James Moore, who had recently died.[P] While not
questioning Colonel Hand’s merit, they declared that the appointment
of any outsider would be a “reflection on North Carolina and a stab
at military honour throughout the continent in general.” The memorial
also contained some rather unpleasant references to Thomas Burke (then
a delegate from North Carolina in the Continental Congress), and
charged him with neglecting the interests of the State he represented
to advance one of his own countrymen--he and Hand both being natives
of Ireland. Burke was so enraged thereby that he declared, referring
to the signers of the protest: “Their behaviour in this instance has
determined me to forego all particular attention to them. I hope
they will so distinguish themselves that their merit alone will be
sufficient for their promotion, without standing in need of any
assistance which I could give.” Whether Doctor Burke did forego all
particular attention to the North Carolinians does not appear, but he
certainly succeeded in his efforts to secure the promotion of Hand,
who, it is a pleasure to add, rendered long and honorable service
during the war, and held a major-general’s commission in the regular
army after the return of peace.
On the 11th day of September, 1777, was fought the battle of
Brandywine, and here Colonel Buncombe’s regiment was actively engaged.
In this conflict, the North Carolina brigade and Greene’s division were
ranged in the centre of the American Army.[Q] Being ordered to support
the right wing (then sorely pressed), their absence left the troops
under General Wayne to cope alone with a vastly superior force of the
enemy. After a brave and bloody resistance, Wayne was forced to retire,
and the day was lost.
After his reverses at Brandywine, the never-despairing Washington drew
together his forces and prepared again to attack. He was, in truth, a
leader whom no disaster could appall.
The next scene of action was at Germantown, Pennsylvania. This
fight occurred on the 4th of October, and was destined to be
Colonel Buncombe’s last battle, for there he received the wound
which ultimately caused his death while a prisoner in the hands of
the British. The brigade of North Carolinians was selected by the
commander-in-chief to act as a part of the reserve corps at Germantown,
but it may be questioned if it would have suffered more terribly if
placed in the van. The brave General Nash, with his thigh shattered by
a solid shot,[R] and fainting from the loss of blood, was borne to a
near-by house and lingered only three days. Lieutenant-Colonel Henry
Irwin of Buncombe’s regiment (the Fifth), Captain Jacob Turner of the
Third, and Lieutenant John McCann of the Sixth North Carolina, lay dead
on the field. Major William Polk of the Ninth, received a shot in the
face, which, for a time, deprived him of the power of speech. Captain
John Armstrong of the Second, Lieutenant Joshua Hadley of the Sixth,
and Ensign John Daves of the Second, were also among the wounded, as
were doubtless many others, of whom, unfortunately, we have now no
record.
And the privates! How many of those forgotten heroes shed their blood
and gave up their lives, as freely as did the officers, will never be
known. May their devotion be rewarded in a better world.
“’Tis to the virtue of such men, man owes
His portion in the good that heaven bestows;
And when recording history displays
Feats of renown, though wrought in ancient days--
Tells of a few stout hearts that fought, and died,
Where duty placed them, at their country’s side--
The man that is not moved with what he reads,
That takes not fire at their heroic deeds,
Unworthy of the blessings of the brave,
Is base in kind, and born to be a slave.”
When struck down on the field of Germantown, Colonel Buncombe was left
for dead by the retreating Americans and lay where he fell until the
next day, when a British officer recognized him as an old schoolmate
and had him removed to Philadelphia. There he was paroled within the
city limits. His wound at first yielded to treatment, and it was
thought he would recover. But as life dragged on, he realized that the
weakened state of his constitution could not longer withstand continued
privation. Being in great financial straits, and his physical condition
growing worse day by day, he at last applied to Sir William Howe,
the British commandant of Philadelphia, for leave to go as a paroled
prisoner either to England or to North Carolina; but, if this request
was ever granted, he did not avail himself of the privilege. Fearing
that the motives which prompted his application had been misconstrued,
he addressed to General Washington a letter, the original of which is
now in possession of the Goelet family, Washington having returned it
to one of that connection, after the Revolution, as a memorial of its
brave author. Following is the communication in full:
_Sir_,
As I deem myself accountable to you, as my General, for every part
of my conduct, permit this letter to speak what in person I cannot
deliver.
Distressed I have been, repeatedly soliciting a supply of money from
camp, yet hitherto I have not been obliged. I never was accustomed to
adversity. Let the feelings of Your Excellency’s heart speak for me.
It is true I have my failings. Human nature will operate no
perfection. But, as an officer, have I in any shape or respect
disgraced my regiment? Have I not been anxious to fight for America?
Can one of Your Excellency’s officers accuse me of cowardice?
Prompted by my distress, I was inevitably compelled to apply to
His Excellency General Sir William Howe either for a parole to the
southward or to Britain. Here I cannot command hard money; there I
can.
The exigency of my case, I am persuaded, will point out the
expediency of my adopted measure. I request that you will not think
my departure from America a desertion of it. Always amenable to my
General’s call, in six months I shall be ready to obey your orders if
you think proper to have me exchanged.
I have the honor to be, with sincerity, Your Excellency’s
Very respectful and obed’t serv’t,
E. BUNCOMBE.
To
His Excellency
General Washington,
Commander-in-Chief
of the Forces of the United Colonies.
The unfortunate captive, by whom this letter was written, never lived
to enjoy the freedom he so much loved. He was, at times, addicted to
somnambulism; and about the middle of May, 1778, while walking in his
sleep, fell down a flight of stairs. This accident caused his wound to
open afresh; and, before assistance could avail, he bled to death.
Thus passed the spirit of Edward Buncombe, soldier and gentleman--
“Than whom, knight
Was never dubbed, more bold in fight;
Nor, when from war and armor free,
More famed for stately courtesy.”
And when they buried him, an entry was made on the parish-register
of Christ Church, Philadelphia, noting the interment of _Cornelius_
Buncombe; while many North Carolina historians, in later years, have
given his first name as Richard! This consideration for his memory
brings to mind Byron’s remark on reading of the death, at Waterloo,
of an old college-mate: “There is fame! A man is killed. His name is
Grose, and they print it Grove.”
The death of Colonel Buncombe occurred at the house of a Mrs. Kendall.
This we learn from a letter written on July 22, 1778, by Thomas
Franklin, a Philadelphia Quaker, to General Benedict Arnold (then in
the American service), giving a list of Buncombe’s effects, “left in ye
hands of ye widow Edy Kendall, where he lodged last and died.”
During Colonel Buncombe’s service in the army, he was accompanied by
a faithful slave, Charles, and to this negro he bequeathed freedom.
The following reference to him is found in a letter from the Reverend
Adam Boyd, Brigade-Chaplain in the North Carolina Line, dated in camp,
at White Plains, New York, August 24, 1778: “Charles, I believe is
entitled to his freedom. The Colonel has often been heard to say he
should not serve anyone after his death; and some of his officers have
heard him say he had, in his will, ordered him his freedom. A law of
our State forbids such emancipation without the consent of the court of
that county in which the master usually resides. But an appeal to that
law in this case I do not think would be right, because it would defeat
the testator’s intention, which I think should be held sacred. Though
I think it would be easy for his heirs, should they avail themselves
of the law, to enslave Charles for life, I hope such a thing will not
be attempted. The principal object of this law was to prevent the
discharge of slaves that were not able to earn their living--a cruel
practice which had scandalously prevailed to avoid paying taxes, from
which old age or other infirmities do not exempt slaves.” The will, by
which Charles was supposed to be emancipated, could not be found among
Colonel Buncombe’s papers, but the negro was allowed to go free in
deference to his late owner’s expressed wish. The only will found was
one which had been made before the war.
The spot where Colonel Buncombe lies buried is not marked, but it is
somewhere within the “additional church-yard” of the parish of Christ
Church, on the corner of Arch and Fifth Streets, Philadelphia. In this
enclosure are also deposited the remains of Benjamin Franklin, and
other patriots; while not many miles off sleep Nash, Irwin, Turner,
McCann, and their brave comrades, who counted not life above liberty.
And North Carolina should little grieve that her sons are left on the
soil of Pennsylvania. There they fell, fighting for the common cause of
America; there let them rest.
“The neighing troop, the flashing blade,
The bugle’s stirring blast,
The charge, the dreadful cannonade,
The din and shout are past;
Nor war’s wild note nor glory’s peal
Shall thrill with fierce delight
Those breasts that nevermore may feel
The rapture of the fight.”
As a grateful tribute to the memory of Colonel Buncombe, the General
Assembly of North Carolina, at its session of 1791, created a new
county just westward of the Blue Ridge Mountains, and called it in his
honor. This is a monument which will stand when the proudest memorials
of our day have become misshapen masses of stone. For ages it will
tell of the brave soldier who fought for his country’s freedom and now
sleeps in a forgotten grave, awaiting the last summons when the earth
and the sea shall give up their dead. Peaceful be his rest!--and may
generations yet to come draw inspiration from the life he led.
FOOTNOTES:
[A] Memoir of the Life of Josiah Quincey, Jun., by his son Josiah
Quincey, pp. 120, 121.
[B] Colonial Records of North Carolina, Vol. IX., p. 60.
[C] These portraits were afterwards destroyed in a fire when the
residence of Dr. Edward H. Goelet, of Goldsborough, N. C. was
burned--M. DeL. H.
[D] Mrs. Ann Booth Pollock Cox is interred in the old burial ground
of St. Paul’s Church, Edenton, N. C. On her monument is an elaborate
inscription relative to the military record of her grandfather Colonel
Buncombe.
[E] Colonial Records of N. C., Vol. VIII, pp. 705, 707.
[F] Defence of North Carolina, by Jo. Seawell Jones, p. 314.
[G] Defence of North Carolina, by Jo. Seawell Jones, p. 124.
[H] Vol. I., p. 163.
[I] Colonial Records of N. C., Vol. IX., p. 1041.
[J] For full text of preamble and resolutions, see Colonial Records
of N. C., Vol. X., p. 512; Defence of North Carolina, by Jo. Seawell
Jones, p. 251.
[K] Colonial Records of N. C., Vol. X., p. 205.
[L] Colonial Records of N. C., Vol. X., p. 520.
[M] American Archives (4th Series), Vol. V., p. 1698.
[N] This account of the movements of Nash’s brigade is partly from
narrative of Hugh McDonald in old series of North Carolina University
Magazine (1853-’56, II., 466-470; IV., 158-162; V., 28-31, 208-211,
360-363), and partly from State Records.
[O] State Records of N. C., Vol. XI., p. 733.
[P] State Records of N. C., Vol. XI., pp. 562, 750.
[Q] State Records of N. C., Vol. XI. page 621.
[R] Moore’s History (I., 248, NOTE) states upon the authority of my
father, the late Dr. Richard B. Haywood, that Col. William Polk said
that Gen. Nash received his mortal wound from a shot through the
eyes. That Col. Polk also made this statement to persons other than
Dr. Haywood appears in Dr. W. M. Polk’s biography of Bishop Polk (I.
27), which quotes Col. Polk as saying Nash “was blind,” and almost
in syncope from loss of blood. Yet, strange as it may seem, though
official records show he was himself present and severely wounded at
Germantown, Col. Polk was mistaken in this, as will now be shown. John
Penn, writing from near the battlefield (on Oct. 10th) only three days
after Nash’s death, says: “Poor General Nash was killed by a cannon
ball, with his horse.” An obituary published in the NORTH CAROLINA
GAZETTE, less than a month later (Oct. 31st), states: “The winged
Messenger of Death, a cannon ball, * * * * struck him on the thigh,
tore his body in a most dreadful manner, and killed his horse under
him.” In the legislative proceedings in honor of Gen. Nash (Nov. 19th),
less than six weeks after his death, it appears that he “received a
wound from a cannon ball; and, after languishing some days * * * *
closed his useful life.” See State Records of North Carolina, Vol. XI.,
pp. 649, 789; Ibid., Vol. XII., p. 279. Pennsylvania accounts also
say Nash was killed by a cannon ball which struck him on the thigh.
The statement by Col. Polk was made when he was a very old man, fifty
years or more after the battle; hence his mistake may have been caused
by confusing Gen. Nash with some other wounded officer at Germantown
who may have been shot through the eyes. Col. Polk’s second wife was a
sister of Dr. Haywood’s mother.
TRANSCRIBER’S NOTES:
Italicized or underlined text is surrounded by underscores: _italics_.
Obvious typographical errors have been corrected.
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