Mr. and Mrs. William Moore

William Moore was a bold and fearless fighter during the Revolutionary war.  Taking up his rifle and horse, he would leave his wife at home to confront the British before they came to his doorstep.

 On making the long journey from Abingdon, Virginia with Colonel Campbell, he proved himself in the eyes of his leader.  He was selected at Cowpens, SC to be a part of the flying column.  This 900-man force was culled from the bigger army that had come and camped at Cowpens in the hunt for Major Ferguson.  Moore headed off with this fast-moving contingent that ultimately surrounded the British at Kings Mountain.

The warriors that fought with Campbell were described by an injured Tory, Drury Mathis, as darting about the mountain during the battle “like enraged lions.” Drury went on to say, “they were the most powerful looking men he had ever beheld; not over-burdened with fat, but tall, raw boned, and sinewy, with long matted hair…” 

William Moore was among these men of the mountains.  During the battle he was wounded badly in the leg and it was amputated in the field to save his life.  Moving back over the mountains on a 10-day journey was not something he could do.  Potential for infection was too high and a lack of medical supplies a reality.  He was left in the care of nearby good Samaritans while his compatriots made the long journey home.

Once at home, they gladly recounted their tails of victory to all who would listen.  An air of joy permeated the community as the warriors returned.

Among the listeners was Mrs. Moore who inquired about her husband’s fate.  

Hearing that her husband had been wounded and was still in the area where British General Cornwallis was, she saddled her own horse and immediately set out in search of her loved one.

Back across the November mountains and down through North Carolina she rode with bold determination to find her loved one. She camped beneath the stars and elements.  She forded rivers and streams.  Her journey was as like and long as the army that preceded her, but without the company of thousands of men.

Bold and fearless she rode on with determined spirit, until at last she found him.

Their story certainly had the makings of a ballad.  He, leaving home to protect her and she, leaving home to find and care for him.  They loved and lived to be a ripe old age.  Their story was a source of pride and a touchstone of patriotic fervor for the family generations afterward. (1)

Freedom Reigns!

(1)    King’s Mountain and Its Heroes: History of King’s Mountain, October7th, 1780, and the Events Which Led to It, Lyman Draper, Anthony Allaire