DAR Colonel Frederick Hambright Chapter

02/11/2026

Revolutionary Veteran Esaias Bowman 🇺🇸

Like many other Revolutionary War veterans, there’s a scarcity of information about Essius (Esaias) Bowman, a free man of color. Being a man of color makes it even more difficult. Between historical sources and genealogy, we might get a reasonable but incomplete picture of his life. Genealogy sources point to Bowman being born free in Augusta County, Virginia on or about 26 August 1763. He was likely of mixed ancestry with perhaps a mix of African, Native American, or European blood.
Adding to confusion, Bowman may have resided for some time in western part of North Carolina, the region that later became part of Tennessee. Descendents have also indicated that he had connections with the Cherokee Nation, and he owned land in Virginia. Genealogy sources and DNA evidence point to Essius Bowman as being married to Mary Ann Cawood, who was born in and passed away in Washington County, Virginia. They had nine children. Bowman also passed away in Washington County on or about 25 September 1837.
The Battle of Kings Mountain appears to be the primary event of Bowman’s Revolutionary War military service with no known pension application left to help us. Bowman marched and fought in the epic Battle of Kings Mountain on 7 October 1780 under the command of Captain Joel Lewis. During the one-hour engagement, the loyalists’ will to fight vanished after their commander was shot down, and it appears that Bowman was one of the soldiers who managed to get off a shot at him. Major Patrick Ferguson’s death signaled the end of the battle and put major British operations in North Carolina on hiatus for the duration of 1780. Following the battle, Lord Cornwallis withdrew his army from Charlottetown, NC to Winnsboro, SC for the winter.
Bowman’s wartime service is memorialized at Kings Mountain National Military Park on a monument recognizing the contributions of black patriots in that struggle. Dedicated on 7 October 2016, the battlefield’s most recent marker commemorates the 3 known African American patriots, listing them specifically by name. It also recognizes others who participated in the victory at Kings Mountain but lack enough primary source documentation to allow listing them by name. The marker was erected and dedicated by the Frederick Hambright Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, located in the town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina.


Image courtesy Kings Mountain National Military Park
Image description: A bronze plaque attached to stone with the text: In honor of the three known African American patriots and others who participated in the Battle of Kings Mountain
Esaias Bowman
John Broddy
Andrew Ferguson

02/08/2026

Born about 1750, John Broddy was the slave or manservant of Col William Campbell of Virginia. He did not fight in the 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain but observed it closely. He was said to have been fired upon by Loyalists who mistook him for Colonel Campbell. While his presence at Kings Mountain is documented, John Broddy’s origins are a bit more obscure. The noted 19th century researcher Lyman Draper indicated that Broddy was likely the illegitimate child of one of the Campbells. A more contemporary Western Virginia researcher provided an alternative story or origin that’s compelling.

Gordon Aronhime concluded that John Broddy was likely from India, due in part to name similarities. Broddy himself may have indicated to a member of the Campbell family that he came from a far-off land where men rode animals bigger than horses and on the trees were nuts and large balls full of milk and white meat. His memory was that of a small child, being taken away from his home, and put on a ship bound for the English colonies in America. After arriving in Annapolis, Maryland, the youngster was briefly held by a magistrate before becoming Charles Campbell's property and moving to southwest Virginia Colony.

John Broddy participated in the September 1780 militia muster in Abingdon, Virginia for the pursuit of Patrick Ferguson. During the ensuing Battle of Kings Mountain, Broddy remained behind with the horses, personally caring for William Campbell’s horse, which had been exchanged due to its skittish nature.
John Broddy was emancipated in 1793, fulfilling a promise made by the Campbells. Additionally, he was provided with land to live out the rest of his life. He passed away in 1859, making him perhaps the oldest and one of the longest living of all the Kings Mountain men. He’s buried near Saltville, Virginia.


Image courtesy of Kings Mountain National Military Park
Image description: A bronze plaque attached to stone with the text: In honor of the three known African American patriots and others who participated in the Battle of Kings Mountain
Esaias Bowman
John Broddy
Andrew Ferguson

01/18/2026

On the afternoon of January 18, 1781, Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton and the remnants of his command rode into Lord Cornwallis’s camp at Hillhouse Plantation in Turkey Creek, South Carolina. By then scouts had informed Cornwallis of the defeat at Cowpens, but he was not yet aware of its magnitude.

Patriot prisoners in the camp later described Cornwallis’s reaction as Tarleton described how he had lost ninety percent of the troops under his command. “(While) he listened to Tarleton’s narrative, he was leaning on his sword. He pressed it so hard in his fury that it broke, and he swore he would recover the prisoners at all hazards.”

Cornwallis’s determination to chase down the rebels and recover their prisoners led him to plunge deep into the sparsely inhabited wilderness of North Carolina in pursuit. As Brigadier General Charles O’Hara would later put it, “It was resolved to follow Greene’s army to the end of the world.” Eventually, to speed up his army, Cornwallis would order the burning of all his baggage wagons, requiring his men and horses to subsist off the land, which provided little sustenance in the best of times, and almost none in the winter after the Patriot army had already passed over it.

The next two months were among the most dramatic and consequential months of the war. They would witness dogged and relentless pursuit by the British, and brilliant and daring maneuvering by Greene and Daniel Morgan to evade them—all coming to a climax at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15.

01/17/2026

On the chilly morning of January 17, 1781, two armies collided in the South Carolina backcountry at a place called The Cowpens.

The two armies that fought against one another at Cowpens were small compared to more modern armies. American Brigadier Daniel Morgan could only muster between 1000-1500 men. They were a mix of Continentals regulars and militia men from all the southern colonies. Motivated and supremely confident in their legendary commander, Morgan’s men were ready to deal out retribution against their hated foe.

Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton was the focus of the American’s retribution. He commanded a small, but powerful, army of around 1100 troops that combined the dreaded British Legion, redcoat regulars, and two artillery pieces. Most of Tarleton’s troops were battle tested and anticipated that their commander would land the final blow to the independence cause in South Carolina.

In a sharp, quick, and deadly battle, Daniel Morgan and his troops nearly destroyed the entire British army. The “old wagoner” pulled off a rare double envelopment and encircled Tarleton’s force. Over 600 of Tarleton’s troops surrendered on the field. 230 British men were wounded, and 110 men paid the ultimate price. Morgan’s losses were comparatively light. He lost 24 men killed and less than 150 men wounded. It was a “…devil of a whipping…”

The Battle of Cowpens set the stage for British General Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown, Virginia on October 19, 1781. North Carolina General William Lee Davidson wrote to Daniel Morgan in the days after Cowpens and told General Morgan,
“In my opinion you have paved the way for the salvation of this country.”



Image of Daniel Morgan. Courtesy of the Washington Light Infantry, 1881.

12/18/2025

https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/44543/Overview/?relatedId=44544

12/14/2025

Today, several community organizations gathered at Kings Mountain's Mountain Rest Cemetary to honor our veterans at the Wreaths Across America ceremony.
We would like to thank the Cub Scout Troop 92, Boy Scout Troop 92, Boy Scout Troop 62 (Belmont), Optimist Youth Cheerleaders, Optimist Youth Football Players, FFA Leadership Team from KMHS, GFWC NC Kings Mountain Women's Club, Mayor Pro Temp Anne Thoms and of course all of the volunteers, who purchased and laid wreaths today.
"Freedom is never more than one generation away from extinction. We didn’t pass it on to our children in the bloodstream. The only way they can inherit the freedom we have known is if we fight for it, protect it, defend it, and then hand it to them with the well fought lessons of how they in their lifetime must do the same. And if you and I don’t do this, then you and I may well spend our sunset years telling our children and our children’s children what it once was like in America when men were free"

12/04/2025

77 boxes of wreaths unloaded to get ready for Wreaths Across America where we will honor our veterans buried in Mountain Rest Cemetery at 12 on December 13th!!

See yall there!!!

11/11/2025

“On the 11th hour, of the 11th day, of the 11th month”

Today we honor veterans and thank them fo their service. Armistice Day started as a marking of this day and hour in 1918 when a cease-fire agreement was made in Europe to end hostilities of World War 1 between Allied and German forces. In 1954 it was changed to Veteran’s Day as a way to honor ALL veterans.

DAR Colonel Frederick Hambright Chapter honors veterans buried at Mountain Rest Cemetary in Kings Mountain on December 13th by placing a wreath on their graves. We have 634 wreaths ready for our veterans but we still need 661 to cover them all! Please consider helping us do this by sponsoring a wreath.

🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

https://www.wreathsacrossamerica.org/pages/44543/Overview/?relatedId=44544&fbclid=IwZnRzaAOAOaZleHRuA2FlbQIxMQBzcnRjBmFwcF9pZAo2NjI4NTY4Mzc5AAEe-qpI0EwBH2IJ1bTeXriq-RRNhTAZKrjXTaIIh_i7HYEyxaHi9Ke61pItF8c_aem_duNJfg6ptPJcMuye-Hv5LAdryynner

10/12/2025

Liberty Mountain - The Revolutionary Drama was fantastic!! ⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️

Thank you to everyone who worked so hard to make sure we had a great time!

08/16/2025

Huzzah!!! 🇺🇸🇺🇸🇺🇸

08/16/2025