Pension Application of Joseph Dobson, Jr.

W19187 
State of North Carolina, Burke County
On this 22nd day of October 1832 Personally appeared in Open Court before the Justices of the Court of Pleas and Quarter Sessions now sitting Joseph Dobson, Esq. a resident of said State and County aged 76 years. his age was recorded in a large Family Bible by his Father which Bible the said Joseph now has and which states that he the said Joseph “was born on the 4th day of June 1756” who being first duly sworn according to law doth on his oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefits of the Act of Congress passed the 7th June 1832.
That he entered the service of the United States under the following named officers and served as herein stated. — He first Volunteered in the month of March 1776 for __ months under Capt. John Hardin, Lt. James Brittain; our Regt. was commanded by Colonels Beakman & Charles McDowell afterwards Gen. McDowell. Gen. Alexander Martin commanded the expedition. I volunteered in this County. We were marched down to Cross Creek now Fayetteville against the Scotch Tories. The foot troops under Gen. Martin did not get on in time to aid Gen. Caswell in whipping and taking the Tories. He, Caswell, had a battle with them on Black River our Horse got on and was in the battle. We were then marched down to Wilmington where we remained some time. We were then marched back to Lincoln County N. C. & discharged by Col. Beakman as well as I can recollect we were discharged in July or August. I was between 4 & 5 months in the service. I next volunteered under Capt. Joseph McDowell in the fall of the year 1776. He believes Frank Lock* was the Colonel. The whole commanded by Genl. Rutherford. We marched to the Valley Towns in the Nation. There was no general battle fought and scouting parties & spies a number of skirmishes. We destroyed their Towns, crops &c & took a considerable quantity of plunder. We returned & our company was discharged near the head of the Catawba River in Burke County N.C. During the campaign I was transferred from Capt. McDowell's Company to Capt. Thomas Lytle's company of spies and served under him for some time. He believes there was no written discharge given to the any of his company but they were just dismissed by the officers & directed to return home.
He next volunteered at Sherill's Ford in Lincoln then Rowan County N.C. and was placed under the command of Capt. Thomas Donoho, Col. Archibald Lytle & Genl. James Thaxton. I volunteered for nine months & was marched through N.C. across Dan River into the edge of Virginia. Our officers then received orders to return to this State which they done & took up quarters at Moon's Creek & remained there till the Legislature which was then sitting at Hillsborough broke up. This he thinks was in the month of November. The men were then furloughed till next March. We rendezvoused at the expiration of our furloughs at Charles Ward's in Lincoln County N.C. and were marched to South Carolina. We crossed Savannah River & were put under Genl. Ashe. We were attacked at Briar Creek & defeated by the British. We retreated as fast as we could. The attack was before day & some of our troops were thrown into such confusion that every man had to fight for himself. There was a number of us that got to a Flat on the Savannah River & commenced crossing but before we could cross the British got to the bank & fired upon & killed six or seven men & wounded some others. We collected together on the South Carolina side and were then marched to George Town. We were shortly after marched back towards Charleston & to the Stono Battle which battle I was in under my same Capt. Donoho & Col. Lytle. From thence we marched up to Puriesburg & discharged. This I think was in 1779. — This service including my furlough was over Eighteen months.
He next volunteered under Capt. Joseph McDowell, afterwards Genl. Jo. McDowell, who commanded a company of horse. We started in February or March 1780—& were kept ranging the Country after Tories till the 20th day of June 1780—when we attacked the Tories at Ramsour's Mills. This was where Lincoln Town now stands. We commenced the action between daybreak & sunrise. We defeated the Tories & took a number of prisoners. He was wounded slightly in the hip & his right knee cap slightly cut with a bullet which passed through his horse & killed him. He is enabled to fix the precise date of the battle from a record made of his Brother John Dobson's death who was killed in the battle. John Dobson was a Captain at said Battle He continued under Capt. McDowell and was with him at the Skirmish with Ferguson's men on the head of Cane Creek. We formed after that skirmish and another one at Allen's place on Muddy Creek both of which were in August 1780. That we were not able for Ferguson & we retreated across the mountains to Watauga River now Carter County Tennessee. We then joined Sevier & Shelby and afterwards fell in with Col. Campbell after recrossing the mountains. We then persued on after Ferguson till we overtook him at King's Mountain where we had a great engagement & gave him a total defeat. This battle was in October 1780. He was wounded by a ball passing through his right arm near the elbow joint and also by another which struck him on the left side & ranged round his back & lodged in his right shoulder & was cut out by a British Doctor who was taken prisoner at the battle. He was hauled in a wagon by Col. Johnson up into Lincoln County to the house of George Wilfong & there left where I remained for some days till I was well able to ride a horse. Mr. Wilfong then sent his son with me & loaned me a horse to ride home. I got no written discharge after that battle but was sent home as a wounded man. I was nine or ten months in service during this tour.
I was afterwards elected a Captain of a Light horse Company & went out a short expedition against the Cherokees. Maj. Joseph McDowell commanded us. There was only 98 men went out. We took some prisoners & plunder & returned home after being a few weeks absent. I remained a Captain till the close of the War. I was then under the orders of Gen. Charles McDowell and kept in service off & on as necessity required. At one time I commanded at Waford's Fort against the Indians & also at Cathy's Fort & was kept shifting about as the exigencies of the company required, some time on scouting parties & some time in the Forts. He had no regular commission as a Captain; was elected by his men and recognized as a Captain.
He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to a pension or annuity except the present one and declares that his name is not on the pension Roll of the agency of any State. Sworn and subscribed day and year aforesaid.
S/ Joseph Dobson

*Note: This was Colonel Francis Locke, under whom Joseph McDowell of Pleasant Gardens was commissioned a Major during General Griffith Rutherford's Cherokee campaign in 1776.
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Dr Joseph Dobson, born 1720 in England, was a friend of the McDowell family. Dobson had located to the Carolina frontier from Lunenburg County, Virginia, in 1764, and numerous documents associate him with the McDowell families of both Quaker Meadows and Pleasant Gardens. He was a contemporary of Captain Joseph J. McDowell, and even a witness to the Captain’s 1770 will. Joseph of Pleasant Gardens apprenticed under Dr Dobson after the Revolutionary War to earn his accreditation as a physician. Dr Dobson’s son, yet another Joseph, born 4 June 1756 in Virginia, and served in the North Carolina militia under both Colonel Charles McDowell and Captain Joseph “P.G.’’ McDowell. This pension application is his.

Col. Joseph "P.G." McDowell, per Wheeler

From Reminiscences and Memoirs of North Carolina and Eminent North Carolinians, by John H. Wheeler, Columbus Printing Works, Columbus, Ohio, 1884, pp.84-85:

...Colonel Joseph McDowell was born on 25th February, 1758, at Pleasant Gardens, in Burke County. He was always called "Colonel Joe of the Pleasant Gardens," to distinguish him from "General Joe of Quaker Meadows."
He was a soldier and a statesman, and the most distinguished of the name.
He early entered the profession of arms. At the age of 18 he joined General Rutherford in an expedition, in 1776, against the Cherokee Indians, in which he displayed much gallantry and desperate courage. It is known that in a hand-to-hand fight he killed an Indian chief with his sword.
He was active in repressing the Tories, and took part in the battle at Ramsour's Mills, on 20th June, 1780, near Lincolnton, as mentioned by General Graham in eulogistic terms, for his conduct on that occasion, and materially aided in achieving a complete victory over a superior force.
At Cane Creek, in Rutherford County, with General Charles McDowell, he led the militia, chiefly of Burke County, and had a severe skirmish with a strong detachment of Ferguson's army, then stationed at Gilbert Town, and drove them back.
Immediately afterward he aided in measures which culminated in the glorious victory of King's Mountain.
This was the darkest period of the dubious conflict. Gates was defeated at Camden; Savannah and Charleston surrendered to the British; Sumter, at Fishing Creek, (18th August, 1780;) Cornwallis, in "all the pride and circumstance" of a conqueror, held the undisputed possession of Charlotte and its vicinity.
Ferguson, with strong force, was winning the attachment of the people from liberty to loyalty; while the Tories ravaged the whole country with vindictive fury.
There was not a regular soldier south of Virginia, and every organized force was scattered or disbanded. The time had come, and these brave men felt that they must "do or die."
Amid all these disastrous circumstances, the patriotic spirits of Cleaveland, Campbell, Sevier, and McDowell did not despair. They determined to attack the forces of Ferguson. They were all of equal rank, and as the troops were in the district of Charles McDowell, he was entitled to the command.
From a manuscript letter of Shelby, in my possession, he says:
"Colonel [Charles] McDowell was the commanding officer of the district we were in, and had commanded the armies of the militia all the summer before, against the same enemy. He was brave and patriotic, but we considered him too far advanced in life and too inactive to command the enterprise.
"It was decided to send to headquarters for some general officer to command the expedition.
"Colonel McDowell, who had the good of his country more at heart than any title of command, submitted, and stated that he would be the messenger to go to headquarters. He accordingly started immediately, leaving his men under his brother, Major Joseph McDowell."
The next day Shelby urged that time was precious and delays dangerous. The advance was made. Colonel Joseph McDowell, the subject of our present sketch, led the boys of Burke and Rutherford Counties to battle and to victory, (7th October, 1780,) and his command was on the right wing of the attacking forces, and aided greatly in insuring victory. Ferguson fell bravely fighting and his army completely routed.
The next important battle in which Colonel Joseph McDowell was engaged was the Cowpens, fought by Morgan and Tarleton on 17th January, 1781, in which he led the North Carolina militia, which terminated in a glorious victory of Morgan, whose name is preserved in gratitude for his services by the county town of Burke.
This ended the military career of our patriotic soldier.

His civil services were equally brilliant; from his elevated character, his acknowledged abilities, and popular address, he was always a favorite with the people. His name is preserved by calling a county for him erected in 1842. He was a member of the House of Commons in 1787 and 1788; also a member of the Convention that met at Hillsboro, 1788, to consider the Constitution of the United States, of which he was the decided opponent, and which was rejected by a majority of 100 votes. He was again elected to the Legislature in 1791 and 1792; in 1793 he was elected to represent this district in the Congress of of the United States.
Of the influence and the popularity of the McDowells there can be no more ample proof than that in 1787, 1788 and 1792 the Senator and both of the members of the House were of this family.
His presence was tall and commanding, of great dignity of demeanor, and of impressive eloquence. Scrupulous in his statements and faithful in all business transactions.
He married Mary, the daughter of George Moffett of Augusta County, Virginia. He died in April, 1795, leaving two sons, John and James, and one daughter, Annie, who married Captain Charles McDowell, of "Quaker Meadows."
His widow became the second wife of Colonel John Carson, whose first wife was Rachel, daughter of "Hunting John," of Pleasant Gardens, a sketch of whom we shall present when the McDowells are finished.

Isaac Shelby, re: Charles McDowell, per Draper

From King's Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King's Mountain, by Lyman Copeland Draper, pub. 1881, P.G. Thomson, pp. 188-190:

[Isaac] Shelby's object in suggesting Colonel [William] Campbell's appointment [to command at Kings Mountain], is best explained by himself. "I made the proposition," says Shelby in his pamphlet, in 1823, "to silence the expectations of Colonel [Charles] McDowell to command us—he being the commanding officer of the district we were then in, and had commanded the armies of militia assembled in that quarter all the summer before against the same enemy. He was a brave and patriotic man, but we considered him too far advanced in life, and too inactive for the command of such an enterprise as we were engaged in. I was sure he would not serve under a younger officer from his own State, and hoped that his feelings would, in some degree, be saved by the appointment of Colonel Campbell." In his narrative, in the American Review, December, 1848, Governor Shelby makes no reference to McDowell's age, but simply states, that he "was too slow an officer" for the enterprise. 
Though Colonel Shelby speaks of McDowell's age as objectionable for such a service, it really deserved little, if any, consideration. He was then only some thirty-seven years of age—Colonel Cleveland was some years older, and Shelby himself, the youngest of the Colonels, was only seven years his junior. It may be curious to note, that "Old Put," then in active service, was twenty-five years older than McDowell, General Evan Shelby, the Colonel's father, who, the year before, commanded an important expedition against the Chicamauga Indian towns, was twenty-three years older, General Stark fifteen, Washington eleven, Marion ten, Sumter at least four, and General Greene one. The real objection to Colonel McDowell was not so much his age, as his lack of tact and efficiency for such a command; and, it has been hinted, moreover, that his conduct at the Cane creek affair was not without its influence in producing the general distrust entertained of his fitness to lead the mountain men on this important service. The expression was quite general, that General Morgan or General Davidson should be sent to take the command; the former, especially, who had gained such renown at Saratoga, and had recently joined General Gates, was highly esteemed by the mountaineers.

Colonel McDowell, who had the good of his country at heart more than any title to command, submitted gracefully to what was done; but observed, that as he could not be permitted to command, he would, if agreeable, convey to head-quarters the request for a general officer. This was warmly approved, as it was justly declared that he was well acquainted with the situation of the country, and could, better than any other, concert with General Gates a plan of future operations, and they would await his return. The manner in which this was presented gratified McDowell, who at once set off on his mission, leaving his men under the command of his brother, Major Joseph McDowell. Passing through Burke county, McDowell's command, particularly, was considerably increased by relatives, friends and neighbors; and there John Spelts, or Continental Jack, as he was familiarly called by his associates, first joined Shelby's regiment, but fought under McDowell. Colonel Campbell now assumed the chief command; in which, however, he was to be directed and regulated by the determination of the Colonels, who were to meet every day for consultation.
Everything was now arranged quite satisfactorily to the Whig chiefs; and their men were full of martial ardor, anxious to meet the foe, confident of their ability, with their unerring rifles, to overthrow Ferguson and his Loyalist followers, even were their numbers far greater than they 
were represented.

"... the transmontane men..."

From History of the McDowells and Connections, by John Hugh McDowell, pub. 1918, C. B. Johnston, pp. 234-235:

On the 29th of August, 1780, Colonel Ferguson moved into Troy (now Rutherford County) and camped, first at Gilberttown, three miles north of Rutherfordton, with the purpose of capturing Charles McDowell and destroying his command, and ultimately crossing into Washington and Sullivan counties (now Tennessee) and dealing with Shelby and Sevier of the Watauga settlement. Ferguson left Gilberttown with a detachment in search of Charles McDowell, but McDowell laid in ambush at Bedford Hill, on Crane [sic, Cane] Creek, and fired upon his forces while crossing the creek at Cowan's Ford. Major Dunlap was wounded and Ferguson was forced to retire to Gilberttown.
After this affair, Charles McDowell retreated across the mountains to warn Shelby and Sevier of the threatened desolation of their country, and to invite their co-operation in an attack on Ferguson. It was agreed that the transmontane men should be gathered as expeditiously as possible, while McDowell should send messengers to Colonels Cleveland and Hernando, of Wilkes County, and Major Joseph Winston, of Surrey. The energies of Shelby, of Sullivan and Sevier, of Washington County, N. C., then embracing the present State of Tennessee, were quickened by the message which Ferguson had released a prisoner to convey, to the effect that he would soon cross the mountains, hang the leaders and lay that country waste with fire and sword.
The clans were summoned to meet at Quaker Meadows on the 30th of September, 1780. Meantime Charles McDowell returned to watch Ferguson, protect cattle by assailing foraging parties, and give information to Shelby and Sevier of Ferguson's movements.
Rev. Samuel Doak invoked the blessings of God upon the Watauga men, as they left for King's Mountain to meet Ferguson, whose blasphemous boast had been that God Almighty could not drive him from his position. Those trustful old Scotchmen afterwards believed in their hearts that the hand of God was in the movement which cost him his life and destroyed his force.