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.

Uncle Samuel McDowell

Patrick Henry was one of the most influential (and radical) advocates of the American Revolution. He is perhaps best known for the speech he made in the Virginia House of Burgesses on 23 March 1775, urging the legislature to take military action against the encroaching British military force. The House was deeply divided, but was very much leaning toward not committing troops. As Henry stood in Saint John's Church in Richmond, he ended his speech with his most famous words: "Is life so dear, or peace so sweet, as to be purchased at the price of chains and slavery? Forbid it, Almighty God! I know not what course others may take; but as for me, give me liberty or give me death!" This speech is credited, by some, with single-handedly delivering the Virginia troops to the Revolutionary War.
My 5x great-uncle Samuel McDowell (1735-1817) was one of two delegates from Augusta County to the Virginia Conventions of 1775, and was present that day in the House of Burgesses. His life remains a lesson in citizenship and patriotism. Samuel McDowell had been a Captain in the French and Indian War, commissioned 16 August 1759. On 21 November 1759, he was installed as County Commissioner and Justice in Augusta County, Virginia. He was a Captain of the Rangers Company at the Battle of Point Pleasant in 1774. At the Battle of Point Pleasant, he served as Aide-de-Camp to General Isaac Shelby, who later became the first Governor of Kentucky. Samuel was commissioned a Colonel in the Revolutionary War, serving in General Nathanael Greene's campaign in North Carolina, and was with the army that drove General Cornwallis to Wilmington. In 1775, in conjunction with his kinsman Thomas Lewis, son of Augusta County settler John Lewis and brother of General Andrew Lewis, hero of Point Pleasant, Samuel was chosen to represent the freeholders of Augusta County in the convention which met at Richmond, Virginia. He was also a member of the second convention that met at Williamsburg in 1776. As an officer, Colonel Samuel McDowell distinguished himself in the Battle of Guilford Court House. In addition, he raised a battalion at his own expense to aid in repelling the invasion of Virginia by Benedict Arnold.
In 1783, uncle Samuel McDowell moved his family to what became Fayette County, Kentucky (but was then still part of Virginia), where he was a surveyor. He was appointed to the first District Court ever held in Kentucky, 3 March 1783, and was President of the convention which was called to frame the constitution for the state of Kentucky on 19 April 1792.
All this, and 13 children, too.

(source: "Rockbridge County, Virginia Notebook," The News-Gazette, Lexington, Virginia)

"The Mountain Men," per Teddy Roosevelt

From The Winning of the West, Vol. 3, by Theodore Roosevelt, published 1900, G.P. Putnam's Sons:

"Having reduced South Carolina to submission, the British commander [Major Patrick Ferguson] then threatened North Carolina; and Col. [Charles] McDowell, the commander of the whig militia in that district, sent across the mountains to the Holston men praying that they would come to his help. Though suffering continually from Indian ravages, and momentarily expecting a formidable inroad, they responded nobly to the call. Sevier remained to patrol the border and watch the Cherokees, while Isaac Shelby crossed the mountains with a couple of hundred mounted riflemen, early in July. The mountain men were joined by McDowell, with whom they found also a handful of Georgians and some South Carolinans; who when their States were subdued had fled northward, resolute to fight their oppressors to the last. The arrival of the mountain men put new life into the dispirited whigs." 

McDowells at Kings Mountain

From History of the McDowells and Connections, by John Hugh McDowell, pub. 1918, C. B. Johnston, pp. 235-237:

Charles McDowell had organized the clan into a compact, formidable force. The proposed scene of conflict was in his district, and, under military rules then in force, he was entitled to command. When, however, it became apparent that jealousy might impair the efficiency of the little army, he cheerfully agreed to go to Mecklenburg 
or Rowan and invite General Davidson to take charge. After he had left on this mission it was deemed by the council of war best to attack Ferguson before his forces could be strengthened by Cornwallis, and the result indicated the wisdom of this conclusion. Governor Shelby published an account in 1823, in which, after lauding General Charles McDowell as a patriot and a brave and able officer, he said that after it was decided by the council to send to headquarters for a general officer to take command, Charles McDowell requested, as he could not command, to be allowed to take 
the message, and added that "He accordingly started immediately, leaving his men under his brother, Major Joseph McDowell." (Wheeler's History, Part 2, page 59.) It was Shelby who next day made the generous move to place Campbell in command to obviate the danger of delay. Within the next twenty years some of the lineal descendants of Joseph McDowell, of Pleasant Gardens, have insisted that the command of the Burke men at King's Mountain devolved on their ancestor, not on his cousin Joseph, of Quaker Meadows. The writer would be rejoiced to be convinced that this contention is well founded, but is constrained to conclude that it is not. Shelby had come over with Sevier, at the instance of Charles McDowell, under whose command he had previously fought, with all three of the McDowells, at Musgrove's Mill, and other places. He must have known whether the brother or the cousin of Colonel Charles McDowell was next in rank to him, and he said it was the brother.
“Poor's Sketches of Congressmen” state that Joseph McDowell who was born at Winchester, Va., in 1756, and died in 1801, was elected a member of the third and also of the fifth Congress, and commanded a portion of the right wing of the army that stormed King's Mountain. In a subsequent sketch of Joseph J. McDowell, he says he was born in Burke County, N. C., Nov. 13, 1800, was a son of Joseph McDowell, member from North Carolina, and was himself a member from 1843 to 1847. The widow of Joseph McDowell, of Quaker Meadows, left North Carolina with her little children and went to Kentucky soon after her husband’s death. His home was on the banks of the Johns River, near where Bishop Spangenburg must have encamped when he declared that the land was the most fertile he had seen in Carolina. These sketches have always been prepared after consultation with the member as to his previous history, and we must conclude that both father and son bore testimony to the truth of history—the father that he was in command, the son that such was the family history derived from his mother. Dr. Hervey McDowell, of Cynthiana. Ky., who presided over the first Scotch-Irish Convention, at Nashville, Tenn., and who died at the ripe age of four score, a year or two since, had devoted much of his life to the study of family history, and had conversed with members of the family who knew Joseph of Quaker Meadows, and Joseph of Pleasant Gardens, and were familiar with their history.
Speaking of the agreement of Colonel Charles McDowell to go to headquarters, Dr. Hervey McDowell says:
"He thereupon turned over the command of his regiment to his brother, Joseph, of Quaker Meadows, who was thus promoted from the position of Major, which he had held in his regiment, to that of acting Colonel, and in the regular order of promotion Captain Joe, of Pleasant Gardens (the cousin and brother-in-law of the other Joe) became Major Joe, he having been senior captain of the regiment." 

With the rank, one of Colonel and the other of Major, these cousins of the same name led the brave sharpshooters who fought so heroically at Cow-Pens and in the many fights of less consequence. Sarah McDowell, a daughter of Captain John, who was killed by the Shawnees, married Colonel George Moffitt, a wealthy and distinguished officer in the war for independence. His accomplished daughter, Margaret, married Joseph McDowell, of Quaker Meadows, and her youngest sister became the wife of Joseph of Pleasant Gardens. The cousins served Burke County acceptably in the House of Commons and Senate of the State Legislature and in the Convention at Hillsboro, as they had both won distinction while fighting side by side on a number of battlefields. The writer has inclined to the opinion that both served in Congress, Joseph McDowell, Jr., of Pleasant Gardens, from 1793 to 1795, when he died, and Joseph, Sr., of Quaker Meadows, from 1797 to 1799. But this is still a debated question.

Gen. Joseph Graham, re: Kings Mountain

"Colonel Charles McDowell, of Burke county, on the approach of Ferguson with so large a force, had gone over the mountains to obtain assistance, and was in consultation with Colonel John Sevier and Colonel Isaac Shelby what plan should be pursued, when the two paroled men spoken of arrived and delivered their message from Colonel Ferguson. It was decided that each of them should use his best efforts to raise all the men that could be enlisted, and that this force, when collected, should meet on the Wataga, on the 25th of September. It was also agreed that Colonel Shelby should give intelligence of their movements to Colonel William Campbell, of the adjoining county of Washington, in Virginia, with the hope that he would raise what force he could and co-operate with them. They met on the Wataga the day appointed, and passed the mountains on the 30th of September, where they were joined by Colonel Benjamin Cleaveland, and Major Joseph Winston, from Wilks and Surry counties, North Carolina. On examining their force, it was found to number as follows, viz:

"From Washington county, Virginia, under Col. Wm. Campbell 400
"From Sullivan county, North Carolina, under Col. Isaac Shelby 240
"From Washington county, North Carolina, under Col. John Sevier 240
"From Burke and Rutherford counties, North Carolina, under Col. Charles McDowell 160
"From Wilks and Surry counties, North Carolina, under Col. Cleaveland and Major James Winston 350
Total 1390

"Col. Ferguson having accurate intelligence of the force collecting against him, early on the 4th of October, ordered his men to march, and remained half an hour after they had started writing a despatch to Lord Cornwallis, no doubt informing him of his situation and soliciting aid. The letter was committed to the care of the noted Abraham Collins (him of counterfeit memory) and another person by the name of Quinn, with injunctions to deliver it as soon as possible. They set out and attempted to pass the direct road to Charlotte, but having to pass through some whig settlements, they were surprised and pursued, and being compelled to secrete themselves by day and travel by night, they did not reach Charlotte until the morning of the 7th of October, the day of the battle. Colonel Ferguson encamped the first night at the noted place called the Cowpens, about twenty miles from Gilbertstown. On the 5th of October he crossed the Broad River, at what is now called Dear's Ferry, sixteen miles. On the 6th, he marched up the Ridge Road, between the waters of King's and Buffalo creeks, until he came to the fork, turning to the right across King's Creek, and through a gap in the mountain towards Yorkville, about fourteen miles. There he encamped on the summit of that part of the mountain to the right of the road, where he remained till he was attacked on the 7th.
"When the troops from the different counties met at the head of the Catawba river, the commanding officers met, and finding that they were all of equal grade, and no general officer to command, it was decided that Col. Charles McDowell should go to headquarters, supposed to be between Charlotte and Salisbury, to obtain Gen. Sumner or Gen. Davidson to take the command. In the meantime, it was agreed that Col. William Campbell, who had the largest regiment, should take the command until the arrival of a general officer, who was to act according to the advice of the colonels commanding, and that Major McDowell should take the command of the Burke and Rutherford regiment until the return of Col. McDowell."

(Source: Sketches of North Carolina, Historical and Biographical, Illustrative of the Principles of a Portion of Her Early Settlers, by Rev. William Henry Foote, New York, Robert Carter, 58 Canal Street, 1846)

The Call for the Overmountain Men

From King's Mountain and Its Heroes, by Lyman Copeland Draper, published 1881, P.G. Thomson, page 84:

When Colonel [Charles] McDowell became convinced that Ferguson's movement to the north-western portion of South Carolina, threatened the invasion of the North Province also, he not only promptly raised what force he could from the sparsely populated settlements, on the heads of Catawba, Broad and Pacolet rivers, to take post in the enemy's front and watch his operations; but dispatched a messenger with this alarming intelligence to Colonels John Sevier and Isaac Shelby, on Watauga and Holston, those over-mountain regions, then a portion of North Carolina, but now of East Tennessee; urging those noted border leaders to bring to his aid all the riflemen they could, and as soon as possible.
Sevier, unable to leave his frontier exposed to the inroads of the Cherokees, responded at once to the appeal, by sending a part of his regiment under Major Charles Robertson; and Shelby, being more remote, and having been absent on a surveying tour, was a few days later, but joined McDowell, at the head of two hundred mounted riflemen, about the twenty-fifth of July, at his camp near the Cherokee Ford of Broad river.

Gen. Charles McDowell (1743-1815)

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

On the commencement of our Revolutionary troubles, he [Charles McDowell] was the commander of an extensive district in his section of country, and was a brave and daring officer.
It was not until the year 1780 that western North Carolina became the field of military operations in the Revolutionary war. After subduing the States of Georgia and South Carolina, the British forces advanced to this State and commenced making demonstrations. McDowell was active in counteracting their movements.
In June, 1780, having been joined by Shelby, Sevier, and Clarke, of Georgia, near Cherokee Ford on Broad River, McDowell determined to attack the British at a strongly fortified post on the Pacolet River, under command of Patrick Moore, which he gallantly performed and compelled him to surrender.
He also attacked the Tories at Musgrove Mill on the Enoree River and routed them.
Many other brilliant affairs in this section marked his energy and efficiency as a soldier. We have recorded the facts of his missing a participation in the battle of King's Mountain.
As the several officers held equal rank, by a council of officers McDowell was dispatched to headquarters, then near Salisbury, to have General Sumner or General Davidson, who had been appointed brigadier general in place of General Rutherford, taken prisoner at Gates' defeat.
This closed his military career. The people of his county were not ungrateful to him for his long and successful military service. He was the Senator from Burke from 1782 to 1788, and he had been also in 1778, and member of the House 1809-'10-'11.

"... 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.

Charles McDowell & The Kings Mountain Command

From "The McDowells of Burke County Divided Over Who Commanded at King's Mountain," A Sketch by Judge M. L. McCorkle, Charlotte Democrat, Charlotte, NC, 6 July 1894:

[Joseph] McDowell [b. 1715], of Quaker Meadows, married Margaret O'Neil. They were married in Ulster, Ireland. They determined to encounter all the perils in search of what better fortune might await them on this side of the broad ocean. They first settled in Pennsylvania. Thence they soon moved to Winchester, Va. There their sons, Charles and Joe, were born—the former in 1743; the latter in 1755. They removed to North Carolina and settled at Quaker Meadows. Their sons soon grew to manhood. Charles, afterwards General Charles, early embarked in the War of the Revolution. He was soon placed in command of Burke and Rutherford Counties, a large military district at that time. Stoutly he had held the mountain passes against the Indians, and had made several successful expeditions against the Cherokees; one called the Rutherford campaign, another the Stono expedition. He was engaged in a number of skirmishes with the Tories. He had a small force under him to resist Col. Ferguson. With this force he went across the mountains to obtain assistance, and was in consultation with Colonels Shelby and Sevier. It was decided that each should make an effort to raise all the men he could, and that they should meet on the Wautauga. Colonel Shelby informed Colonel William Campbell, of Washington County, Virginia, of their purpose and asked them to join them. They met on the Wautauga and were joined by Colonels Cleveland, Campbell, Sevier and others. They immediately crossed the mountains near the head of the Catawba river. They ascertained that they were nearly all of the same rank, and had no general officer to command them. It was decided to send Colonel Charles McDowell to Hillsboro, to see General Gates and procure a general officer to command the troops. In the meantime, they elected Colonel Campbell, the red-headed Argyle, as commander-in-chief of all the forces present.
It is said that Colonel Campbell was placed in command through courtesy, on account of his being from a sister State and also on account of his having the largest number of men under him. Colonel Charles McDowell turned his regiment over to the command of Major Joe McDowell, of Pleasant Garden, until he should return from his mission; but the great battle was fought before he returned. This was the last of Colonel Charles McDowell's military career. He lived many years after the war at his paternal home Quaker Meadows, and served his country and district many times in the Senate of North Carolina, from 1783 to 1788. He died at Quaker Meadows greatly beloved and respected by all who knew him. The following tablet was placed over his grave: "To the memory of General Charles McDowell, A Whig officer in the Revolutionary War, who died, as he had lived, a patriot, the 31st of March, 1815, aged about 70 years."