Frontier Currents -- part 4

... Chapter I (continued from part 3) ...

As, once again, the Blackley’s adjusted to a new family member, the tide of American efforts was about to shift. On February 6, 1778, French and American representatives signed a Treaty of Alliance strengthening the American rebel cause. A few weeks later, Prussian Baron Friedrich von Steuben arrived at Valley Forge (where Washington’s troops had been camped since mid-December) and began drilling the Continental Army. This badly needed training also promised to improve the patriots’ situation. Foreign support of the colonists provided additional incentive for Britain to negotiate a settlement so, by the middle of March, a British peace commission had been created and offered to grant all American demands, except independence. By this time, however, many Americans were committed to independence. The offer was rejected and warfare continued. Faced with prolonged warfare, Britain adopted a war strategy that relied on their Indian allies conducting a campaign of terror. From New York to Carolina, Indian attacks continued to menace American settlements. In April of 1779, troops from Virginia’s Washington and Montgomery counties joined Carolinians in a retaliatory campaign against Chickamauga villages in Tennessee. (1)

This long standing pattern of attack and retaliation followed by treaties signed and treaties broken continued and with it, the hostility between Indian and settler. The British had an obvious interest in keeping frontiersmen occupied in Indian engagements, and thereby unavailable to participate in battles against his Majesty’s troops. However, theirs was not the only contributor to the on-going conflict. Neither Indians nor settlers had a single voice who could speak for their interests. Although a chief might speak for his tribe, he could not guarantee his warriors would comply, and no single chief had the power to represent all tribes. Colonial settlers’ interests in the frontier settlements were similarly divided. Authority over the land in present-day Tennessee was claimed variously by Virginia, North Carolina and the Watauga Association. Land grants made by one authority might not be honored by another. Increasing the opportunity for land disputes was the historical practice of "tomahawk rights" or "corn rights" to claim frontier lands. This method consisted of staking a claim by blazing hatchet marks on tree trunks or planting and harvesting a crop of corn. These varied perceptions regarding who held legitimate claims coupled with the absence of a single, consistent authority, left settlers with little motivation to abide by treaties that limited or nullified personal holdings. Without a singular authority to negotiate and enforce the terms of a treaty, promises made continued to be promises breached and intensified the atmosphere of violence and misunderstanding between new settlers and native inhabitants.

As the western settlements continued to mount offensive and defensive measures directed at Indian tribes, warfare also continued between American patriots and British loyalists and Spain joined in declaring war on England. With the exception of Indian engagements and some Tory disturbances along the New River, most Revolutionary War battles were fought far from the Southwestern Virginia frontier, so her inhabitants were engaged less in defending and more in building their new nation. Holston families grew and harvested their crops, built roads and mills, raised their children, and responded to civic responsibilities as necessary. Some local men served in the Continental Army and others served extended periods in the local militia, but the majority remained on their farms taking up arms for brief spells only when threats drew close to home.

In this climate, Charles and Margaret continued to build their family with the addition of a daughter, Agnes, in 1779. Sarah, at four, was no longer the only girl in the Blackley clan. She probably helped her mother by tending to her youngest brother, Jesse, while Margaret was occupied with household chores and the care of her new infant. As a female child of the back country, Sarah would have been taught to be a caretaker and learned domestic skills such as weaving, felting, candlery, butter churning, and soap making. Even at her young age, she would have been expected to help her mother. Her brothers, James at eight to ten years old, and Alexander at six, were old enough to learn to use the tools they would need for survival on the frontier (hatchet, hoe, and rifle) and may have practiced their skills while helping their father and neighbors build and maintain roads near their land. (2)

Fathers and sons of the Holston Valley soon responded to a call to aid their fellow patriots in the Carolinas. The American rebellion had dragged on for nearly five years and the British, determined to gain ground in the war, developed a plan of attack focused on Charleston, South Carolina. Late in 1779, Lord Cornwallis and Sir Henry Clinton, along with more than 7,500 men, left New York for Charleston. To ensure the success of this military operation, troops from Georgia and New York were also dispatched to join the Tory force moving toward Charleston. Although General Washington reluctantly sent Continental soldiers to aid the southern American army and the militia of Charleston, there was little hope they would be able to successfully defend Charleston against the larger British force. By the middle of May, 1780, Charleston fell to the British, landing a painful blow to the rebel cause. (3)

Following the fall of Charleston, the British began a campaign intended to intimidate Carolinians into supporting the Tories. Lord Cornwallis, Colonel Patrick Ferguson, and other military leaders were dispatched to march through the Carolinas to ensure the subjugation of the people to the Royal authority. As they traveled through South Carolina, they organized militias, inspected supply stores, administered oaths of fealty and apprehended Rebel leaders where they were found. Joining in the fervor to eliminate rebel sympathizers, vindictive outlaws and zealous Loyalists ransacked and plundered patriot properties. With most of the rebels who were capable of bearing arms in North Carolina, the spree of destruction and intimidation proceeded with only limited opposition. (4)

By the summer of 1780, patriot Colonel Charles McDowell became alarmed that Ferguson’s troops posed a significant threat to the settlements near the border between the Carolinas. He sent messages to Colonels John Sevier and Isaac Shelby in the Holston country urging them to bring as many men as could be mustered and to come as quickly as possible. Both Sevier and Shelby responded and, over the course of the summer, they fought the British troops alongside the Carolinians. Before returning home to the Holston country, Shelby and his men contributed to the capture of Thicketty Fort. (5)

Colonel Ferguson was so irritated by the Patriot triumph at Thicketty Fort, that he taunted Shelby and the men of the Holston by sending a message that if they did not desist from their opposition to the British arms, he would march his army over the mountains, hang their leaders, and lay their country waste with fire and sword. Ferguson’s plan was to attack further into North Carolina and Virginia and to incite southern Indians to invade the Holston country as far into Southwest Virginia as Chiswell’s Lead Mines about twenty miles northeast of the Blackley’s home. (6)

The threat raised by Ferguson created an understandable stir along the Holston settlements. If he were successful, they would find themselves under Indian and British attack. Furthermore, if the Loyalists remained true to their pattern, families would be subjected to the same ravages being exacted on Patriot Carolinians. Though settlers were deeply motivated to rise against Ferguson’s challenge, the Indian menace on the home front was grave. Nonetheless, men under Isaac Shelby, John Sevier, and William Campbell gathered in late September and rendezvoused at Sycamore Shoals in the Watauga area bordering Virginia. They were joined by companies under Colonel McDowell and Colonel Arthur Campbell. Families also made the trip to remain at the fort under the protection of a small number of men while awaiting the return of the Holston soldiers. (7)  

Whether the Blackley family was among those who took refuge on the Watauga or remained at home on the Middle Fork of the Holston is unknown. Family legend says Charles fought alongside his neighbors in the famous battle that was about to be waged, but few historical records of the conflict exist to prove or disprove this claim. The Blackley children were too young to participate in the battle, though fathers did take sons as young as fourteen to fight alongside them. They also were too young to be left to provide the sole protection for the family. So, it may be that Charles remained at home to protect his family and his in-laws. Whatever he did, it is unlikely that Margaret and the children were left to deal with the threat alone. Frontier women and children were accustomed to the perils of the wilderness and were often resourceful in responding to Indian attacks, but they were also well aware of the dangers those threats represented. (8)

Endnotes:

1. Dates for French-American treaties and Baron von Steuben visit from: “An Unlikely Victory, 1777 to 1783”, The History Place: The American Revolution. Online: < http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/index.html > [3 May 2006].
Campaign of terror and Chickamauga village attack from: Summers, History of Southwest Virginia and Washington County, 294.
2. Image of Colonial butter churn: U. S. History Images online at: http://images.google.com/imgres?imgurl=http://ushistoryimages.com/images/colonial-life/fullsize/colonial-life-4.jpg&imgrefurl=http://ushistoryimages.com/colonial-life.shtm&usg=__1J8TFUP9fVnntzvAgGcj_nz3ejw=&h=400&w=324&sz=28&hl=en&start=94&um=1&tbnid=aDmW1u3ro_ux_M:&tbnh=124&tbnw=100&prev=/images%3Fq%3Dimages%2Bof%2Bcolonial%2Btools%26ndsp%3D21%26hl%3Den%26rls%3Dcom.microsoft:en-us:IE-SearchBox%26rlz%3D1I7DELA%26sa%3DN%26start%3D84%26um%3D1  [21 September 2009].
16 June 1779 Spain declared war against England from: “An Unlikely Victory, 1777 to 1783”, The History Place: The American Revolution. Online: http://www.historyplace.com/unitedstates/revolution/revwar-77.htm  [3 May 2006].
Agnes Blackley birth information from: Perry, The Charles Blackley family of Knox County, Tennessee, 15.
Charles Blackley was appointed overseer of the road from Alexander Wylies to the ford of Holston at Captain John Campbells from: Summers, Lewis Preston. Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800. (Baltimore: Genealogical Publishing Company, 1970), 706.
3. British siege of Charleston from: Draper, Lyman C. King’s Mountain and Its Heroes: History of the Battle of King’s Mountain. Johnson City, Tennessee: The Overmountain Press, 1881, (Reprint: 1996.), 20-36.
4. Ibid,68-83.
5. Ibid, 84-122.
6. Ibid, 169-171.
7. Ibid, 169-176.
Photo of Watauga marker: From dlrides album on SmugMug at: http://dlrides.smugmug.com/Motorcycles/Overmountain-Victory-Trail-VA/5961896_SkFrT#372672197_DNCoY  [21 September 2009].
8. James Blakely is said to have told of his grandfather, Charles, fighting under Sevier at the Battle of Kings Mountain. Records the Blackley’s neighbors (James Crow and Robert Buchanan) and Margaret’s brothers (Robert and Samuel Davis) among those who fought in the Battle of King’s mountain. Included on that list, as well, is the name, Charles Bickley whom many believe is meant to read Charles Blackley. Records exist for a man named Charles Bickley living on the North Fork of the Holston at the time of the Blackley’s. He seems to be a separate individual and appears on other military lists. More research is required to resolve the question of Charles’ participation in the battle with Sevier, Campbell, Shelby and his Holston neighbors: Summers, Annals of Southwest Virginia, 1769-1800, 1387.

Bjs