Evening Republican, Volume 21, Number 253, Rensselaer, Jasper County, 9 November 1917 — SPARTAMBURG [ARTICLE+ILLUSTRATION]

SPARTAMBURG

FIT training ground for the. New York National Guard is Spartanburg, S. C., in the very heart of the American Sparta. How Spartanburg came to receive its name recalls the story of that Thermopylae which modern historians recognize as having had much to do in bringing about the effective turning point of the Revolution which gave freedom to the United States, writes John Walker Harrington in the New York Sun. What is now the county of Spartanburg was part of District 96, a region which in 1755 was purchased from the Cherokee Indians. Its inhabitants were mostly Scotch and Scotch-Irish families who had come down from Between the Broad and Saluda rivers, in upper South Carolina, in the region of the Blue Ridge, they had established the three settlements of Upper Fair Forest, Lawson’s Fork and Tygers. In their views of life and conduct these pioneers bore many resemblances to the men of ancient Sparta. They were self-reliant and aggressive, and endured toil, hardship and pain without complaint When South Carolina cast her lot with the other colonies she had much opposition from the Tories and Loyalists within her own borders. To overcome this opposition delegates were sent out by the South Carolina Council of Safety to explain to the people the situation out of which had grown the first Continental congress. The representatives of the council who went to District 96 were William Henry Drayton and Rev. William Tennant. On their way they stopped at the house of Col. Thomas Fletchall, commander of a regiment consisting ostensibly of colonial militia but In reality of Tories. They had negotiations with him In the hope of inducing him to join the popular cause. Finding him obdurate, they proceeded further toward the Blue Ridge. Mr. Drayton later reported that the people of District 96 were capable of resisting the Indians and also of putting a check on Fletchall and that therefore he had taken the liberty of supplying them with ammunition from Fort Charlotte, which was just across the line between the Carolinas as now delineated. Through his influence the region was made into new divisions and he referred to the part where the frontiersmen were strongest and most devoted to the cause of liberty as the “Upper or Spartan district.”

Organization of The Spartans. Mr. Drayton belonged to a race of scholars, and to him the organization of the settlements and the fearlessness of the inhabitants suggested very strongly the people who withstood the Persian might in Greece. When a regiment was organized in tire district it was called the Spartan regiment. Its comamnder was Col. John Thomas, Sr. “The Spartans” were attached to the command of Col. Richardson and took an active part in the snow campaign in which the Tory forces were much harried. The name Spartans was applied in time to all of those in northwest South Carolina, and although this difficult to trace the history of the regiment itself, the people of the region were continually active in the cause of liberty. Although South Carolina .was for three years without a regularly or-

ganized patriot army, the cause was kept alive by such men as Gen. Francis Marion, General Sumner and Colonel Thomas of the “Spartans.” On one occasion Thomas and several of his associates surrendered and entered Into an agreement that they would not take up arms for the balance of the war. It was understood that if they retired to their homes they would receive protection from the British commanders. Considering, however, that the agreement with them had been violated, they returned to the cause and fought as the annalists of the time say “with halters around their necks.” One of them, Col. Isaac Hayne, was captured, and after a summary court-martial was hanged at Charleston by the orders of Tarleton. Broken up as were their military organisations, the Spartans figured extensively in the detached and irregular forces of the patriots under Marion, Sumner and Moultrie. Major Ferguson was sent by Cornwallis to South Carolina with 1,200 men, of whoi-« five-sixths were native Loyalists. His Instructions were to intimidate the rebels and to bring in

as many recruits as he possibly could. Battle of King’s Mountain. The news of Ms nppfbgelr ntused the American Spartans to do or die. They left their farms and ranges, armed and came out of the passes of the Appalachians. Sure-footed, quick of eye, deadly In their alm as marksmen and acciistomed to deal hand-to-hand with the savages in fights with knife and tomahawk, they constituted one of the most effective fighting forces ever assembled on this continent. Their-garb was buckskin. They came like trile frontiersmen in hunting shirts, and on their caps were sprigs of hemlock, emblems of their rugged land. They came 1,300 strong, under the urge of a mighty impulse, and It was to engage the enemy at King’s Mountain, about forty miles from the present city of Spartanburg, that they chose as their leader William Campbell. He. was one of those patriots who had commanded troops of the irregular light cavalry and, like Marion, had suffered much for the cause of liberty. The result of the battle of King’s Mountain depended almost entirely on the personal initiative of the men of this Sparta of the western world. The American Spartans were accustomed to climbing mountains, and up the steep sides of the heights they went with incredible agility, firing from under cover of shrubs and trees when they could. The British charged down the hillside with bayonets and pressed back the American line. The pioneers formed again and went to the attack with renewed spirit. The cry was raised that Tarleton was coming in from the rear to the attack. Sevier rode like Sheridan among the patriots, assured them that the report was false and again got them Into line. The mountain was taken by the Americans in their fourth assault. The sharpshooting of the pioneers did deadly execution. Major Ferguson refused to surrender and although one of his men had raised a flag of truce he struck it down with his sword. He made an attempt to get through the American lines and was shot five times and fell dead upon the field. After his death his command surrendered. There were 456 British dead upon the field and of the survivors nearly every man was wounded. Only 28 of the American fighters were killed.

Back to Their HHIs. The battle over the men went back Into the strongholds in the hills from which they had so suddenly come. In the words of Elson: “At King’s Mountain they turned the tide of the war and insured the ultimate independence of America.” The success of the patriots in this battle emboldened the forces of liberty in South Carolina to concerted action. Gen. Nathaniel Greene, who had succeeded General Gates, reached the state in the December of 1780 and gathered about him an army of 3,500 men. His first move was to send Daniel Morgan, one of the same type as Francis Marion, to make quick dashes into the back or up country and to dislodge the British. With 900 men Morgan met Tarleton, whose command consisted’ of. 1.100, men,, about fifteen miles from the present city of Spartanburg. The battle of Cowpens which followed nearly wiped out the entire Tarleton force. . - Tracing back the chain of circumstances which had to do with the final defeat of the British arms the finger of history lingers upon the land of the American Spartans. Their action at King’s Mountain and Cowpens undoubtedly coMri'huted greatly to the final result / I After th« (warJthese pioneers turned their atten .the development of their fertile lands. The county of “Spartanbnrgh” was formed. The final “h” was/dropped early in the nineteenth century and the present spelling was adopted. The development of the city of Spartanburg was not rapid and even in 1800 there was only a small group of settlers there. The city had only 1,050 inhabitants in 1870, three times as many in 1880 and 5,550 in 1890.* At present it has 20,000 inhabitants. It has only been within recent years that the place has come into prominence Industrially. Now one of the largest cotton mills of the South is situated, in the city, and there has been a great increase in its resources within the last ten years,

Laying Out the Training Camp Streets.