Local News - February 2003

Fallen leader honored for bravery, sacrifice

By JACOB RUDOLPH, Staff Writer

February 5, 2003 - HUNTERSVILLE — On Feb. 1, 1781, a skirmish broke out on the banks of the Catawba River, and a page of American history was written.

Exactly 222 years later, a crowd gathered to commemorate that day, and remember a local hero lost during the Battle of Cowan’s Ford.

While bagpipes droned outside Hopewell Presbyterian Church Saturday, wreaths were laid and prayers were said at the grave site of Gen. William Lee Davidson.

In the background, a guard presented colors, while a drum and fife corps whistled tunes — tunes which would certainly have echoed throughout east Lincoln County on that fateful day.

Guest speaker and former Davidson College history professor Malcolm Lester, after highlighting the events of the battle, stressed the necessity of remembrance.

“A nation is the sum of its memories, and when those memories are allowed to deteriorate, it is less of a nation,” Lester said. “The liberty we still enjoy was won by those patriots, such as Gen. Davidson, who died on that cold day at Cowan’s Ford.”

It was, in fact, one of the coldest winters of the 18th Century, according to Darrell Harkey, Lincoln County Historical Coordinator.

It was also rainy in the days leading up to the Battle of Cowan’s Ford. In late January, Britain’s Lord Cornwallis camped at Ramsour’s Mill, in present-day Lincolnton.

He and his estimated 4,000 troops marched, on Jan. 28, in the cold and rain to the swollen and impassable waters of the Catawba.

The fords — especially Beatty’s and Cowan’s — normally knee and waist deep, were now 10-feet deep, Harkey said.

Desperate for supplies to feed his army, Cornwallis retreated to Jacob Forney’s plantation, Ingleside, for three days. It was at that wealthy land-owner’s farm, where Cornwallis’ troops were replenished. The white-columned plantation house still stands on N.C. 73, west of East Lincoln High School.

“If they had eggs in the morning, a minimum of 4,000 men would eat two eggs. That’s 8,000 eggs a day,” Harkey said. “Three days? We’re talking 24,000 eggs. (There) aren’t that many eggs in Harris Teeter.”

Meanwhile, having heard of Cornwallis’ plans to cross the Catawba, Davidson split his patriot troops between Beatty’s and Cowan’s fords to thwart the British movement.

It was at Cowan’s Ford, where Davidson and his nearly 400 troops were awakened before sunrise by splashing water.

“Daybreak, Feb. 1, they look up, and the water’s full of red-coated soldiers coming across,” Harkey said. “They sound the alarm, and the battle begins.”

Shortly after the firing started, Davidson was thrown from his horse — struck dead by a lone shot, fired from the cold waters of the Catawba River.

The fatal shot came, not from a redcoat, but from local loyalist, Frederick Hager.

“The bullet lodged in him was a .36-caliber,” Harkey said. “No British soldier had a .36-caliber rifle — only Frederick Hager.”

The patriots were defeated at Cowan’s Ford, but not before killing more than 90 of Cornwallis’ men.

The battle, though unsuccessful, also slowed Cornwallis’ forces, allowing the patriots to gather enough forces to defeat him at Guilford Courthouse, a deciding victory in the Revolutionary War.

A great leader, however, in Gen. William Lee Davidson was lost in the skirmish. His body, stripped naked by the British, was later buried in the Hopewell cemetery by torchlight.

Ken Ingraham, vice president of the North Carolina Society of the Sons of the American Revolution, acknowledged Davidson as a proud and gallant soldier.

“He was a man who could gather forces and command armies,” Ingraham said. “He was a general who was out in front of his troops.”

A factor in his demise, for sure.

Although long gone, Davidson’s name is not forgotten. A historical marker, remembering the general, was recently moved to the side of Beatties Ford Road, in front of Hopewell Presbyterian Church.

Lincolnton residents Judson and Jeri Crow, descendants of Cowan’s Ford proprietor Joseph Cowan, began commemorating February 1 more than 20 years ago.

The couple still travels to the Cowan’s Ford Dam overlook at sunrise to remember the fallen heroes of that cold morning.

Acknowledging the sacrifices those patriots made to our country, Judson Crow said, is the duty of every living American.

“As with all historical events, the battle teaches us about the past,” Judson Crow said. “They were a terrific bunch of men, and we all owe them a great debt of gratitude.”

© 2001 Lincoln Times-News  

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