Guilford County N Archives Military Records.....Lovelady, Thomas
Rev War - Pension

File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Nancy Poquette npoq@hotmail.com June 17, 2006, 2:10 am

Pension Application Of Thomas Lovelady, Natl Archives Microseries M804, Roll 1591, Application #W8065

THOMAS LOVELADY, a resident of Russell County, Virginia, aged eighty-three years:

“That he entered the service the same year that Charleston in South Carolina was taken by the British [1779]. He then resided in Guilford County in the state of North Carolina, and was drafted for a three months tour to go against a band of Tories upon Cross Creek in the vicinity of Newbern, headed by one FANNING. The said THOMAS LOVELADY then belonged to a company commanded by Captain WILLIAM BETHEL. The name of the lieutenant and ensign not now remembered, the battalion to which his company was attached was commanded by Majors THOMAS OWENS and NELSON, and formed a part of the regiment of North Carolina militia commanded by Colonel MARTIN [although not mentioned by LOVELADY, John Paisley was serving in the same regiment as a Lieutenant Colonel under James Martin, Colonel], and served out the said tour of three months, and was discharged at Lower Little River Bridge and returned home, where he remained about ten days.”

“…He volunteered for a three months tour again under the same officers, marched through the country lying between Guilford and the Congaree River, into the state of South Carolina, but had hitherto been in no engagement, and after marching from point to point for the purpose of attacking the enemy, that tour of three months expired, and they were discharged and returned home.”

“Twelve of his company set out together and on their return, called at the home of an old Dutch Tory by the name, he thinks, of ADAM APPLE, living on a creek called Stinking Creek, a stream he thinks, of the Big Alamance River, and asked for some refreshment, which was refused. Pinched by hunger which has few restraints, they helped themselves, and after eating, the company, except the said THOMAS LOVELADY and the Dutchman’s daughter, lay down upon the floor and went to sleep, and he requested the young lady to go to bed, assuring her that she would not be interrupted. She, however, declined, and he, knowing that they were in an enemy’s home, determined not to sleep, lest she should give notice to the Tories that they were there. He however, overcome by fatigue, fell asleep in his chair, and awaking sometime afterward, missing the young lady and found she was not in the house, and immediately waked up his companions, and advised them to leave the house, but they refused, and about daybreak or a little after, the band of Tories commanded by FANNING and Major BILL NICHOLS [the ___ the same who killed WILLIAM LETCHER in bed in the Long Hollows of Dan River], came up and surrounded the house.”

“FANNING, whom the Tories called Colonel, shot one of their company by the name of JOHNSTON TYLER, and was in the act of shooting the said THOMAS LOVELADY, when the said BILL NICHOLS interfered, and said that he was acquainted with him, and had been raised with him, and by that means, saved the lives of the other eleven, but required them to take an oath, administered by the same FANNING, not to fight thereafter against his majesty, the king of Great Britain, and then released them upon a parole of honour. They then set out on their way homeward, and soon met with a company of Whigs, when six of their little party joined them, and the said THOMAS LOVELADY one of that number, and returned back to see the old Dutchman and his daughter, and their morning guests. But FANNING and his party having fled, they took the young lady into Stinking Creek and gave her a sound dunking, and left her in a situation not the best suited to carrying speedy expresses, and returned homeward.”

“Reached home sometime afterward and soon made a visit to see a sister living in the then County of Washington, but now County of Scott, in the state of Virginia, where he volunteered under Captain MONTGOMERY, Lieutenant DANIEL FRAZER, commanded by Colonel EVAN SHELBY, to go against the Chickamaugy Indians on the Tennessee River.”

“They went down by water from the Long Island of Holston, and took from the Indians a good many horses and cattle, and after some little skirmishes, returned back to Washington County aforesaid, after having been in that service three months.”

“Some time afterward, he returned home to Guilford County in the state of North Carolina and went with two horses at the request of his father, to the state of South Carolina to aid an uncle in removing to Guilford County in North Carolina, where property had been taken away from him by the Tories; and whilst there, enlisted for nine months with Captain ANDERSON, a recruiting officer, and was marched by him and Major ANDERSON, from point to point as the depradations of the British and Tories might require; until a few days before the Battle of the Cowpens, when they joined the Old Waggoner, Colonel MORGAN, and remained with him until after that battle, and fought with him on that memorable occasion, which by the united efforts of Colonel LEE, and the brave Colonel WASHINGTON, ended in the complete discomfiture of TARLETON and his troops, and in which TARLETON narrowly escaped the pursuit of the intrepid Colonel WASHINGTON. Continued their marches from place to place, annoying the enemy and defending the country, until the nine months for which he had enlisted expired, when they were discharged and returned home.”

“Sometime afterwards he visited his relations in Washington County in the state of Virginia again, and again volunteered for no certain time, with Captain EDMISTON, Major DASEY, Colonel WILLIAM CAMPBELL, Colonel SHELBY and Colonel SEVIER, to go against the British forces in the south, whence they marched, and after crossing the Blue Ridge into the state of S. Carolina, they formed a junction with Colonel BENJAMIN CLEVELAND. All the forces then were put under the command of Colonel CAMPBELL. They then pursued the British under the command of FERGUSON, until the two armies met upon the top of King’s Mountain, where a most spirited and bloody engagement took place, which resulted in the death of FERGUSON, and about 400 of his men killed, and about 1200 taken prisoners.”

“Marched on from there with the said army, guarding the said prisoners, until they reached Wilkes (old Courthouse) in North Carolina, whence he and with others from the same section of country, was discharged, after having been in service of the country three months, and returned back to the County of Washington, where he remained until sometime in the winter, he thinks in the month of January.”

“When he volunteered again at Abingdon, in the state of Virginia, under Captain MONTGOMERY for another expedition to the south against the British forces under CORNWALLIS, who was said to be pillaging and devastating the southern country. He was then commanded again by his old leader Colonel CAMPBELL, who feared neither Tory nor British redcoat, and marched from Abingdon by the lead mines upon New River, on to the Moravian Towns in North Carolina, in number about 1200 riflemen, and from thence to Guilford County in the same state, where they got upon the pursuit of CORNWALLIS, followed him nearly to Boyd Ferry on Dan River, when he took a turn round through Caswell County in the direction of the Reedy Fork of Haw River.”

“Colonel CAMPBELL took a nearer route and intercepted him at Whitesell’s Mills, when Colonel CAMPBELL found it necessary after a short engagement, to order a retreat, and was closely pursued, and would probably have been taken or cut to pieces but for the timely succor of Colonels WASHINGTON and LEE, who covered the retreat and then saved us from an enemy only superior in numbers. A few days after, Colonel CAMPBELL offered to let his riflemen return home, many of whom had lost their horses and blankets, and were badly equipped for a winter campaign, and nearly all of them accepted his kind offer. The said LOVELADY and 10 or 11 others remained with their old Colonel, and told him they wanted one more shooting match with the red coats, and sure enough, they got it.”

“They were then attached to a company commanded by Captain PERKINS, and the same day joined the army commanded by General GREENE. The two armies seemed to be watching the movements of each other, and maneuvering about for several days, until they came together about one half mile from Guilford Courthouse, where the engagement commenced, which occupied a good part of the day and ended at the said Courthouse.”

“And after a very bloody engagement, in which many were killed on both sides, General GREENE ordered a retreat, and his forces were marched to Perkins’s Iron Works, upon Troublesome Creek about 10 or 12 miles distant. They returned back the next day to Guilford Courthouse, and found that CORNWALLIS had buried his dead in rather a hasty manner, and left the ground. General GREENE had our killed [men] buried, and again pursued CORNWALLIS to Ramsour’s Mills, where the Virginia troops were discharged, and the said LOVELADY returned back to Washington County in the State of Virginia, after having been in the service that tour three months.”

“That in the month of September next, preceding the Battle at Little York in the state of Virginia, himself and six others left home to find their old Colonel CAMPBELL, who was yet in the army, and arrived in Richmond whilst he was there sick, and of that sickness died at that place, and they turned about and returned back to Washington County in Virginia. He, after peace was declared, went to the state of Georgia to live, and whilst there, had the misfortune to have his house burned, and with it, all of his several discharges and everything in his house, which was done by a party of Indians, so that he cannot now produce that evidence of his services, etc…”

“And on the same day, before the same court, came HENRY INGLE, who, after being first duly sworn, etc, deposeth that after the Battle at Guilford Courthouse in the state of North Carolina, he saw THOMAS LOVELADY in the army under the command of General GREENE, and knows that the said LOVELADY is the same person who has sworn to and subscribed the foregoing declaration, but how long the said LOVELADY served in the War of the Revolution, the said HENRY INGLE does not know. That he remembers many of the incidents mentioned by the
said THOMAS LOVELADY in his declaration aforesaid…”

“…Personally appeared, JAMES ROSE, a witness on behalf of THOMAS LOVELADY…who saith that THOMAS LOVELADY…was in the army with this affiant at Chesterfield Barracks in the month of December next preceding the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in the state of North Carolina, where they remained together a few weeks, and separated, and the said LOVELADY was sent with a party to take a dispatch from Colonel WILLIAM DAVIE at the said Barracks, to Colonel WILLIAM CAMPBELL, who was said to be at the lead mines upon New River.”

“This affiant moreover, declares that from the time at which they separated as aforesaid, at the Chesterfield Barracks, he saw nothing of the said LOVELADY until the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, when he again saw the said LOVELADY in the American Army under the command of the said Colonel WILLIAM CAMPBELL, and remained there in the neighborhood of that place, occasionally together for about a week. This affiant is the more certain and distinct in his recollection as to the facts which he states from the circumstances of himself being at that time an invalid nearly, from an injury which he had before received in the left leg, and was helped into a wagon by the said LOVELADY on the day of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse aforesaid.”

“This affiant moreover declares that from recent conversations with the said LOVELADY and the narrative which he gives of the circumstances and events which were notorious throughout the army in which he served, and of which this affiant has an indelible recollection, he verily believes that the said LOVELADY was in the army at other times, than when he said he saw him as aforesaid, and that he does not doubt that the said LOVELADY served as he states in his said declaration. This affiant is the more confirmed in this belief from a perfect recollection of hearing many of the incidents stated in the said declaration, at the time at which they are therein stated to have occurred and as the said incidents were chiefly known to those who were actually in the army, and from the further impression that he then had, that the said LOVELADY was regarded as a valiant and fearless soldier and devoted to his leader, Colonel WILLIAM CAMPBELL, of whom the said LOVELADY has always expressed? them and ___ in terms of highest admiration, etc.”

“…Personally appeared…JOHN HACKNEY, an aged and reputable witness, and who has for many years been a resident of the said County of Russell, and who has for many years been receiving a pension from the United States, and who after being first duly sworn…saith that he was acquainted with THOMAS LOVELADY in the Revolutionary War and that the said LOVELADY belonged to a company commanded by Captain ANDERSON, who as this affiant now thinks, was a regular officer, and another officer called and known as Major ANDERSON, of Colonel
LEE’s infantry.”

“That he remembers well that the said LOVELADY was in the Battle of the Cowpens and also in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in the state of North Carolina. That he became acquainted with the said LOVELADY sometime before the Battle at the Cowpens, and although they were occasionally separated in the service, that he saw the said LOVELADY frequently between that time and the time of the Battle at Guilford Courthouse, and that he saw him there, and knows that during that time, the said LOVELADY was regarded by all who knew him, to be a good and faithful soldier. That they retreated from Guilford Courthouse by order of General GREENE to Perkins Old Ironworks upon Troublesome Creek, and remained in the same army together for some time, and were, by the order of their officers, separated and never met again until they met in the said county of Russell.”

“That from the time he first saw the said LOVELADY until he saw him last in the War of the Revolution, that he is morally certain that the said LOVELADY was in the service of the Revolution in the states of South and North Carolina under the command of Captain and Major ANDERSON, fully nine months…”

Questions by the Court:

Where and when were you born?
I was born in Guilford County in the state of North Carolina in the year 1750.

Have you any record of your age; and if so, where is it?
I have the record of my age, in an old family prayerbook, now in my house.

Where were you living when called into service, where have you lived since the Revolutionary War, and where do you now live?

I was, when first called into service, living in my native county, Guilford, North Carolina. Since the Revolutionary War, I have lived in the state of Georgia, also in the counties of Washington, Augusta and Russell, in the state of Virginia, and was living in the last named county at the time of the late war, at which time, although old, I enlisted and went into the service again as a regular soldier. Served out the term of my enlistment, returned to the county of Russell again, where has lived ever since.

How were you called into service? Were you drafted, did you volunteer, or were you a substitute, and if a substitute, for whom?

According to my best recollection at this time, in which I believe I am correct, I was first drafted in Guilford County, North Carolina for a tour of three months under Captain BETHEL, Major THOMAS OWENS, and Major ___ NELSON and Colonel MARTIN. [John Paisley was Lt. Colonel in this same regiment, during this time, although not here mentioned by Lovelady.] Afterward I volunteered for another tour of three months, commanded by the same officers. Afterward, I volunteered in the then County of Washington, VA for another tour of three months, to go against the Chickamoggy Indians then on the Tennessee River, was commanded in that expedition by Captain MONTGOMERY, Lieutenant FRAZER, and Colonel SHELBY. I afterwards enlisted in the state of South Carolina for a tour of nine months and served under Captain ANDERSON and remained with him and Major ANDERSON until the Battle of the Cowpens. I afterward volunteered again Captain WILLIAM EDMISTON, Major DAVIE, Colonels WILLIAM CAMPBELL and SHELBY and SEVIER, but if for any specified time. I do not now remember, but am ___morally certain that the time exceeded three months, but will say that upon that occasion, he was in the service three months at the least. I again volunteered
afterward at Abingdon, VA under Captain MONTGOMERY for another tour of three months in an expedition to the south, and was commanded again by Colonel WILLIAM CAMPBELL.

State the names of some of the regular officers who were with the troops were you served, such Continental and militia regiments as you can recollect, and the general circumstances of your service.   I remember that Captain ANDERSON whom I mentioned was a regular recruiting officer. Colonel MORGAN was also sometimes in the same service with, at one time, the company to which I belonged was attached to the 6th or 7th regiment of Virginia infantry, and marched sometimes before and sometimes in the rear of the cavalry. I remember also Colonel WILLIAM DAVIE who was with us at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. At the same time and place, was also, General GREENE. I do not remember sufficiently well to name any particular Continentals or militia regiments further than I have already stated in this and my original declaration.

Did you ever receive a discharge from the service, and if so by whom was it given, and what has become of it?

I received a discharge from the recruiting officer Captain ANDERSON, one from Colonel MARTIN, whom I have mentioned, and who was as I afterward understood, promoted to the high appointment of General; one from Captain WILLIAM BETHEL, and another from Captain MONTGOMERY. All of which several discharges were afterwards destroyed by fire by the burning of my house in Elbert County upon Broad River in the state of Georgia, by the Indians, after the termination of the Revolutionary War, at which time almost everything he possessed was also destroyed, and my wife narrowly escaped as the Indians were approaching…”