Again this week, we are moving toward our nation’s semiquincentennial by focusing on the Revolutionary War effort of attaining independence and the related contributions and connections of folks of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston rivers.
Service and sacrifice. We often use those words in relation to what our military persons provide to our country, but what did that mean in 1779? How did individuals feel when faced with the choice of entering the fray that was already on their doorstep? Neighbors who remained loyal to the king eyed neighbors who were considered rebels for rising up against the king’s reign over the British colonies, and those two opposing allegiances resulted in conflict and violence that threatened daily peace in rural communities.
John McLemore of Granville County, North Carolina, was familiar with the angst, anger, and anguish in making a decision about which side to support and to what extent he would be involved. However, in late summer of 1779, he joined the American army under the command of Captain Micajah Bullock and Lieutenant Ralph Williams. John was 17. To “keep the Tories in awe,” Major Richard Cook led them to the mouth of Cross Creek on the Cape Fear River, then to Hillsborough and on to Back Creek, covering hundreds of miles within John’s three-month service…