| The American Revolution - The Southern Campaign |
| Peytonsburg Military Post
| |||
When the British landed a force in the South, Georgia and South Carolina were quickly over-run. General Gates was put in command of a Southern Continental Army, and was badly defeated at Camden, South Carolina. He was then removed and General Nathaniel Greene of Rhode Island was appointed in his stead. On his way south Greene stopped in Richmond to make arrangements for Virginia to furnish his army with all necessary supplies. Food, clothing, arms and ammunition were needed and Virginia alone could supply them. In order to collect these supplies the state was divided into nine districts with a central depot in each at which the stores were to be collected and forwarded south. The district of Dan and Staunton Rivers comprised the counties of Mecklenburg, Lunenburg, Charlotte, Halifax, Bedford, Pittsylvania and Henry, the central depot of the district being at Peytonsburg in Pittsylvania. The village at once became a place of great military activity. Smith shops were hastily erected where guns were repaired and horseshoes and canteens were made by hand. A large number of men were employed in these shops. Warehouses were built to store the supplies gathered from the inhabitants of the district. Wagon brigades plied between the post and the army in the South; at one time McCraw, commander of the post, reported that a brigade of forty wagons had just set out. There was the hurried arrival of express riders, bearing important dispatches, which were forwarded on. Down the dusty roads plodded droves of cattle, sheep and hogs; and above all was the incessant din of hammer and anvil as horse shoes and canteens took shape. Continental Congress had established two arsenals in the new nation, one at Springfield, Massachusetts, and the other at New London, Bedford County, Virginia. It was said of the arsenal at New London that "it is of first importance, as the operations of Greene's Army depend entirely upon the supplies." And in January 1781 General Greene said, "Unless Virginia immediately collects the magazines of provisions on the Roanoke we shall absolutely starve."
Virginia never failed to support General Washington and the Northern Continental Army. In October 1777, Pittsylvania was called upon for thirty-six men; in May 1778, for a full company of fifty men with officers, and again in October for one twenty fifth of all militia. When General Nathaniel Greene assumed command in the south, Virginia at once sent reinforcements. From Pittsylvania in the fall and winter of 1780-81 marched companies of militia commanded by Captains John Winn, James Brewer, William Witcher, Isaac Clements and Joshua Stone. Cornwallis, who commanded the British Army, tried to force battle upon Greene before he was prepared, and then followed Greene's masterly retreat north across the Carolinas into Halifax county, Virginia. When he felt he was sufficiently strong Greene marched back into North Carolina and offered battle to Cornwallis on the fields of Guilford Courthouse (Greensboro), on March 15, 1781. No doubt every man in Pittsylvania who could shoulder a gun took part in the battle, for the enemy was now on their very door steps. But the names of only a few companies have been preserved in the pension files. Companies were commanded by Captains James Brewere, William Dix, Thomas Smith, and Joseph Morton. Colonel Peter Perkins commanded a regiment in the battle. go back to page the Resources page. |
