Independent Thoughts for Independence Day - 2013

I live in "The Two Thousand and Thirteenth Year of Our Lord" still breathing the pure air of liberty, liberty given me by God and defended by many a patriot over the years.  My father was one such patriot.

He was born after the "Great War" and was just 10 years old at the onslaught of the "Great Depression."  He was a proud member of the class of  '37, Daniel Webster High School, Tulsa, OK.  He died before his time in 1966 at the age of 46 at Hampton, VA.  He was my dad.  He was my hero.  He was an American patriot.

Russ McCullough, Jr. was truly a Renaissance man.  He was an accomplished musician, an engineer of extraordinary merit, a marksman of no small talent and a father of rare dedication to his family.  He somehow sensed the need for service to country while he was still in high school.  Instead of taking advantage of a full music scholarship at the University of Tulsa, he joined the Navy upon graduation.  In 1938 many a patriotic Oklahoman wanted to serve on the proud and mighty U.S.S. Oklahoma, a battleship "of the line."  In those days, one could enlist to serve specifically on the ship named for one's state of residence.  Many "Okies" were on board between the wars.  Even today her lines stir both pride and sorrow.   From 1938 until the fall of 194l my dad served aboard Oklahoma.  He received orders to go to New York where he was to wait for reassignment.  He was there the day Oklahoma rolled over at Pearl on December 7.  Few sailors survived.  He never really talked about his service.  I know very little of it.  One time he said he had to discharge his weapon while off North Africa.  I do know this...though in the Navy, he was a marksman with the 1917 Remington 30.06.

During the Korean War, of all people, the U. S. Army contracted Russ to train its sharpshooters at the Lafayette Gun Club located between Newport News and Williamsburg.  He loved to sing and play the piano.  He was proud of his sharp shooting ability.  He was, however, very focused on his work.  He possessed an uncanny ability to see things in 3D.  Between 1949 and 1953 he went from designing floor furnaces in Tulsa to designing catapults for aircraft carriers at Newport News Shipbuilding and Dry-dock Company. One of my first memories was standing on the bank of the James River with my mother and my sister Carol as we watched the USS Forrestal ship out on her shake down cruise.  Dad was on board to check out his designs. 

She's now stricken since 1993 awaiting the scrap pile.  She will be sold piecemeal to who knows who...the Chinese perhaps?  She served proudly for nearly 40 years, quite a feat for an "oil burner."  From Lebanon to Desert Storm she projected the power of the United States where ever needed.  In her day, she was the very first "flat top" to have an angled deck, steam catapults and an optical landing system.  Fully loaded she weighed in at little over 81 tons!  She was the largest ship in the world for a number of years, and the most revered.

I was only 14 when he passed away.  I still miss him today.  However, his love and dedication to liberty allows me to write this account in 2013.  Though I can't read music, shoot a rifle or design catapults I CAN write about liberty and those who made it possible. The life of Russ McCullough, Jr. was part of that mosaic of sacrifice and dedication.  Thanks, Dad!  Happy Independence Day. 

The Battle of McIntyre Farm

McIntyre farm house foundation remains as they appear today (May 2012).  Photo by JTC Media

Can you magine a force of 600 battle hardened veterans sent fleeing defeated and bloodied by only 14 men?  That's a ratio of nearly 40 - 1!  Imagine the commanding officer of the larger force being killed along with a good many others and the smaller force suffering no killed or wounded at all!  Imagine no more...this is the REALITY of the Battle of McIntyre Farm, October 3, 1780.  Rarely in the annals of history has such a small force wrecked havoc on such a large army!

McIntyre farm house still standing circa 1940.  Looking south from Beaties Ford Road.  Photo via: xtimeline.com

Lord Cornwallis needed food for his army.  That is why he was sitting anxiously in Charlotte Town on the afternoon of 3 October 1780.  His couriers, his wagon trains and his pickets were under constant attack from some force out there in the dense Carolina wilderness.  "Where did they all come from?"  "Where and how do they so quickly disappear?"  "How could these blasted Presbyterians muster a force large enough to keep his army of thousands confined to their fortified camps?"  After crushing two Patriot armies at Charleston and then Camden, how could these few Bible believing Presbyterians keep the King's soldiers pinned down as if they were just so many cowards?  It was simply more than he could bear. He had determined in the days just prior that he would rely on, what in the 21st century, would be known as "overwhelming force."  He would deploy so many red coated soldiers, cavalrymen, horses and wagons as to send the bravest Patriot fleeing into the woods!

TO BE CONTINUED 

The Battle of Polk's Mill

Photo of modern day Dellinger Grist Mill dating from ca. 1901. Precious little remains of Polk's Mill.  This photo is illustrative of what it "may" have looked like on or about 7 October 1780 (1)

A Chapter in the Forthcoming Book by Russ McCullough; 1780 - The Year The Presbyterians Saved America

"...the counties of Mecklenburg and Rowan were more hostile to England than any others in America."
- Banastre Tarleton

In the whole scheme of man's 6,000 year history being 232 years removed from 1780 seems insignificant. That assumption will not hold water. 1780 in the Carolina's had more in common wth 1,500 B.C. than it does with 2012! Grain was ground pretty much the same way as it was in antiquity. Corn was not harvested in July like it is today but rather in October after it had dried out on the stalk. The only thing that was different was the plenitude of much water here in the Catawba River Basin. A stream would be dammed up with a spillway for overflow. The water would flow through a culvert, or flume as it was called, to the side turning a water wheel. The water wheel would turn two large grist stones against one another, in between which the dried corn would be turned into meal. The bottom stone was called the bedstone and it was stationary.  The top stone was called the running stone and moved around on the bedstone.  Grooves allowed the corn to enter and the flour to exit. This technology prevailed until electricity became prevalent in the early 20th century. Once electricity became available the old mills fell into disuse, were torn down and the dams and spillways destroyed. Such was the fate of Polk's Mill. Greater Charlotte today is urbanized, industrialized and digitized 180 degrees from the wild and woolly wilderness that was 1780 up and down the Catawba River Basin. Of the 24 operating grist mills in Mecklenburg County in 1780, none remain today.  The closest thing?  The ruins of a mill on the campus of Myers Park High School in Charlotte, the 1857 Issac Newton Alexander Mill.

Europeans had been in these parts of the Carolina's for only about 30 years in 1780. They were almost all Scot-Irish, almost all Presbyterian and almost all displaced from western Pennsylvania. The British ran as many Presbyterians as they could out of Scotland and Northern Ireland in order make subjugation and tyranny easier. They had, at first, been warmly received by the Quakers. The Presbyterians served as a buffer between the coastal dwellers in and around Philadelphia and the Indians still roaming the forests in far western Pennsylvania and Ohio. It was a flawed plan. The Scot-Irish flourished and threatened to become more numerous than the Quakers themselves. Soon they came under persecution. Their solution? Move as far away from "civilization" as they could without moving further west, a fatal solution had it been tried due to the fact that western migration was outlawed at the time past the Appalachian Mountains into was then solid Indian territory. The Shenandoah Valley was a natural highway and brought the Presbyterians to the Catawba. The Carolina foothills, therefore, became home to the Presbyterians. Even today the largest concentration of Presbyterians in the South live within a 50 mile radius of Charlotte. The lay of the land reminded them of their ancestral home, had wild life in abundance and plenty of rivers, streams and creeks. Along these waterways sprung up numerous grist mills providing food and economic growth for the newcomers, both man and beast.

Picture taken from the likely location of Polk's Mill. Scene is looking east down a steep bank to what is now known as Irwin's Creek. The mill, blockhouse, dam and spillway disappeared sometime after 1904. Image by JTC Media.

The last thing the Presbyterians wanted was another confrontation with the brutal English. The so-called "revolution" was another mans fight, not theirs. Isolation, self government and self reliance was all that any of them wanted. Charlotte Town, Lord Cornwallis, the Presbyterians and 1780 converged to change everything about their wishes. Charlotte Town was occupied, the country side was pillaged to feed the British army and the Presbyterians awoke to fight. So fiercely did they fight back, in these parts, the American Revolution is known as the Presbyterian Rebellion. 1780 was quite a year.

Looking north from the Remount Road bridge onto the likely ruins of both the dam and spillway of Polk's Mill. Image by JTC Media.

The occupation of Charlotte Town began on 26 September 1780. (2) The English were hungry and so were their horses. In order to procure enough food, Cornwallis unleashed his forces to occupy and confiscate the various grist mills around Charlotte Town. In fact, so abundant were these grist mills, their presence became the singular drawing card for Cornwallis.  One such mill was Polk's Mill. In addition to stealing the Presbyterian's corn, Cornwallis planned on using the mill as a staging point for horse mounted foraging, another word for theft. (Cornwallis would pay hard money for any forage "IF" the owner would surrender his rifle and sign a loyalty pledge to the king!) Polk's Mill was quite the prize. Cornwallis seized some 28,000+ lbs. of grain upon arrival as it was "corn pickin time." Polk's Mill was located on the west bank of what is now known as Irwin Creek just north of Remount Road and just west of Interstate 77. It lies just inside what is now Revolution Park in Charlotte, NC.

Col. Thomas Polk was Charlotte Town's leading citizen. He lived in what was called "the only painted house in town." (3) It was certainally the nicest! Cornwallis chose it as his headquarters. In addition to Polk's Mill, Polk owned two others as well. (4) In May of 1775 it was Polk that called the for the meetings that would, on the 20th of that month, produce the Mecklenburg Declaration now known simply as the Mec Dec. As the closest printing press was all the way on the coast at New Bern, no copies of Mec Dec are now extant. (5)

Image of the West Point Mill dam and spillway in Durham, NC. The dam and spillway of Polk's Mill likely looked much like this. Image via: http://www.enoriver.org/eno/parks/WestPoint/westpoint.html.

Being just 2 miles away from Charlotte Town, Polk's Mill was very quickly taken over. A very young officer, Lt. Stephen Guymon, effectively occupied and defended Polk's Mill with a force of about 60 men. Guymon commanded the 23rd Regiment of Foot - Royal Welch Fusiliers. Making up that command was a core of 20 Welsh guards with the remainder being Tories of various sorts. Sadly, the capable, gallant and brave Guymon would perish a year later at Yorktown. (6)

Records are scant and there are conflicting dates for the battle of Polk's Mill. October 7, 1780 is the most likely point in time. The overall commanding officer opposing Lt. Guymon was a Col. Philip Taylor, assisted by Maj. William Hunt. The Patriot force was a combination of a new unit, the Granville County of Mounted Volunteers Militia and the North Carolina State Cavalry - Western District Regiment. under the command of the much acclaimed Maj. Joseph Dickson who was very likely not present that day. (7)

Looking west from the likely location of Polk's Mill up the knoll to a clump of trees where the blockhouse was likely located. Image by JTC Media.

Taylor rounded up a substantial force of 120 men on horseback that circled Charlotte Town looking for pickets, supply trains and couriers. The disruption to the British was intense. Guymon had the mill grinding night and day for the army had to be fed. The Patriot force surrounded Polk's Mill and engaged the enemy. Guymon took his entire force and placed them in the loop hole block house building up the hill from the mill itself. In the Catawba most mills had been built with these small fortress to protect the Presbyterians from Indian attacks, attacks that were common up through the 1760's. Polk's Mill was no exception and, even though outnumbered 2 - 1, the British held their position. Pension petition accounts from the 1830's indicate that Taylor was unaware of regular troops on station, thinking initially he was dealing only with Tory militia. The blockhouse provided a superior field of fire with little likelihood that return fire would have any effect. The Patriot's, however, were not without some success. One British picket sentinel and 7 Tories were captured. Taylor's force lost one dead and one wounded. The dead patriot was a man by the name of Hugh Gray. William Husbands also took a severe wound to the leg, Being obvious that they could not take the fort by assault and that a siege was not possible due to the mill's proximity to Cornwallis' main force just 2 miles away, Taylor withdrew. But...the Americans were not through with Polk's Mill that day! That same night, they came back and carried off 50 horses, leaving the British no choice but to withdraw back to Charlotte Town. (8) 

All that remains of Polk's Mill are two millstones  set in concrete on display at Revolution Park in Charlotte.  As there is not a historical marker, these "likely" are the two millstones removed from the mill when it was torn down sometime after 1904 when it was last known as "Wilson's Mill."  Image by JTC Media.

The Battle of Polk's Mill is a memory disappeared in the minds of most. However, the intense resistance of the Presbyterian Patriots to the invaders of the Catawba was such that Lord Cornwallis withdrew from the area in a little over 2 weeks. Within a year he would surrender his army at Yorktown. That surrender took place, in part, because the Presbyterian Patriots of the Catawba denied him the grain he needed from Polk's Mill on October 7, 1780. In fact, Col. Tarleton later recalled that Rowan and Mecklenburg counties in NC resisted the British more than any other counties in all of America!

Standing here one would hardly know that anything happened here on the banks of Irwin Creek in 1780, or at any time for that matter. Other than the two millstones, nothing remains of either the mill or the blockhouse. The last we hear of the mill is in 1904 when it was last known as "Wilson's Mill." The blockhouse was likely located at the top of the ridge which now contains a playground, a parking lot and a tennis court. In addition to the park, I look around and all I see is little more than a big urban drainage ditch, a noisy road, and the skyline of Charlotte (Town), NC. Then...I open my eyes and I see what is really here, a beautiful tile in the precious mosaic of liberty, the War for Independence. Huzzah! Their sacrifice is our legacy, let's not let it slip away.

Though not as old the Issac Newton Alexander Mill on Briar Creek is representative of what was Polk's Mill.  Check out this video as it is quite informative:

Russ McCullough - 19 April 2012

(1) Photo courtesy of: http://images.search.yahoo.com/search/images?_adv_prop=image&fr=ush-mail&va=dellinger+grist+mill (2) http://jrshelby.com (3) Ibid. (4) Ibid. (5) Ibid. (6) Ibid. (7) http://www.carolana.com/NC/Revolution/revolution_polks_mill.html (8) op. cit., jrshelby.com 

Russ McCullough is a historian, writer and speaker on all things War for Independence in the Carolina's. Contact him at russellwrites@hotmail.com for the presentation needs of your church, school or civic organization.  His services are made available to the public by JTC Media.

Travel - Not Always A Destination!

It's strange if you think about it. Some people travel at random with no destination in mind. Other people travel with a destination very much in mind. Why? Simply that one's study, interest and research often produces a desire, a goal and, yes, even an obsession to visit a specific destination. Thusly, we often "travel" to a place or time "in our mind" before we travel "in our person."

This week I have been "mind traveling" to Boston, a place where I have never yet physically been. By chance I was introduced to the great American choral composer, William Billings.

I live in the heart of the Catawba which runs along the west-midwest border of North and South Carolina, the "greater Charlotte area." It was once known as the Waxhaws. Andrew Jackson was born here and wounded by the British during the War for Independence. During the 1770's and 1780's up to 70% of the population were of the Presbyterian religion, mostly from Scotland and Ireland via Pennsylvania where they outgrew their welcome. Their opposition to British tyranny was so intense that here locally the war became known as the "Presbyterian Rebellion." It is their worship style, namely singing, which inadvertently swerved me into William Billings, a man I had never heard of before this week.

Those Scotch - Irish Presbyterians sang a-capella without instrumental intervention. They sang only the Psalms and with only 12 tunes. The singing style later morphed into what we now call "Sacred Harp," today more recognizable as "American Choral." William Billings is known as the "father of American choral music." If you ever sang in your high school or college chorus you have likely sang one or more of Billings compositions.

Last Sunday we studied out of II Samuel 18 concerning the tragic death of King Davids son, Absalom. David passionately laments his son's demise in 18.33;

And the king was much moved, and went up to the chamber over the gate, and wept: and as he went, thus he said, O my son Absalom, my son, my son Absalom! would God I had died for thee, O Absalom, my son, my son!

This outpouring of unrequited love is known simply as "David's Lamentation." In 1778 Billings composed a song known by this title. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RjxaUEyvifU&feature=related You will notice on the link video that "Sacred Harp" is sung in a "square" with the leader in the middle, the four parts on the four sides of the square. The practice was to sing the tune first and then the hymn itself. Time is kept by the raising and lowering of the forearm.

It was while viewing "David's Lamentation" that I discovered a new "travel destination!" Billings wrote what was to become the un-offical national American anthem from the War for Independence until 1931 when Congress formally chose Francis Scott Key's "Star Spangled Banner." In early American composition, songs often were known by the town or hamlet where they were written, thus the name "Chester." Here are the lyrics to the five verses (via Wikepedia):

Let tyrants shake their iron rod,
And Slav'ry clank her galling chains,
We fear them not, we trust in God,
New England's God forever reigns.

Howe and Burgoyne and Clinton too,
With Prescott and Cornwallis join'd,
Together plot our Overthrow,
In one Infernal league combin'd.

When God inspir'd us for the fight,
Their ranks were broke, their lines wer forc'd,
Their ships were Shatter'd in our sight,
Or swiftly driven from our Coast.

The Foe comes on with haughty Stride;
Our troops advance with martial noise,
Their Vet'rans flee before our Youth,
And Gen'rals yield to beardless Boys.

What grateful Off'ring shall we bring?
What shall we render to the Lord?
Loud Hallelujahs let us Sing,
And prais his name on ev'ry Chord.

Follow along with this modern day choral rendition: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1aFs-QlyuQc&feature=related

There you have it, my "travel destination" not yet realized. One day, Lord willing, I will write a dispatch on this site from Boston on the life and times of William Billings - American hero!

Illuminating the Future with the Light of the Past

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The need to discover my family roots rushed upon me suddenly last month. My only sibling, Carol Lynne, passed suddenly in Tulsa. She and I as children spent many a week end exploring what we now call the "Historic Triangle," Jamestown, Williamsburg and Yorktown. It is as if the beginnings of our exceptional republic is in my DNA. I am, to my dismay, the last one left living in my immediate contemporary family. Both sets of grandparents are gone, Dad and Mom are gone and now, so is Carol. My father was an only child and my sister never had children. I have one uncle & aunt on my Mom's side still living,along with 3 cousins and one remaining aunt by marriage with one more cousin. One other cousin died of leukemia at 3 years old and one other cousin perished in a car wreck during the early 1980's. The vacuum of aloneness is driving me to discover my family and relay that history to our children, a history they, like me, have never heard. Come along with us so the light of the past can help shine and blaze a path to the future!

In my search for real heros, real places and real events surrounding our War for Independence, I never thought that these discoveries would be in my own family...but find them I did! It is all so very surreal. My parents grew up in Tulsa, OK and moved to Hampton, Virginia in 1949 as my father had found employment with what was then called The Newport News Shipbuilding and Drydock Company. Both sets of our grandparents lived in Tulsa. That was the extent of what I knew about our family until this month. After living in Oklahaoma City twice, Memphis, TN and Durham, NC, I brought my family to Charlotte, Mecklenburg County, North Carolina in 1991 where we have remained since. I want to share with you what I have discovered about my family this month for the history that has been uncovered is beyond belief!

Welcome!

Look forward to exciting reports from our Patriotic past to our very own 21st century!

Questions and Comments? e-mail RUSS McCULLOUGH @ rmcculls6@bellsouth.net