William R. Davie. By Walter Clark
William Richardson Davie was born at Egremont, near Whitehaven, Cumberland county, in the north of England, on June 20, 1756. He was brought over to this country by his father, Archibald Davie, who, upon the peace of 1763, made a visit to America, and was left in the care of his maternal uncle, Rev. William Richardson, a Presbyterian clergyman residing in the Waxhaw settlement on the Catawba river, in South Carolina. Having no children, Mr. Richardson adopted his nephew and namesake, who became heir to his estate. At the usual age young Davie was sent to the “Queen’s Museum,” the well-known academy and high school in Charlotte. From thence he entered at Nassau Hall, Princeton College, New Jersey, of which the famous Dr. Witherspoon was then President. In the summer of 1776, with the consent of the President, a party of students, among whom Davie was one, was raised and served as volunteers in the patriot army. In the fall of that year he returned to college, and, passing his examinations, took his college degree of Bachelor of Arts with the first honors of the institution. His uncle died before his return home. Davie selected the profession of law and began his studies at Salisbury. In 1777 he joined a detachment of twelve hundred men under General Jones, ordered to be raised for the defense of Charleston, then threatened with another attack, but on reaching Camden it was found that the design was abandoned by the enemy, and the detachment returned home after a service of three months. In 1779 a troop of cavalry was raised in the Salisbury district. Of this William Barnett, of Mecklenburg, was chosen captain and Davie lieutenant. His commission, signed by Governor Caswell, is dated 5 April, 1779. With two hundred horse he was immediately sent into the back country to suppress a Tory rising, but it was quelled before their arrival. Soon afterward the troop joined the Southern Army and was attached to Pulaski’s Legion.
Captain Barnett having resigned, Davie was promoted to captain, and shortly thereafter was made major. On June 20th of that year Davie took part in the battle of Stono, near Charleston. In this battle the North Carolina brigade was commanded by General Jethro Sumner. In a cavalry charge on that day Davie was wounded and fell from his horse, but retained hold of the bridle. The cavalry, dispirited by his fall, were in full retreat when a private in another company, whose horse had been shot under him and was carrying off his saddle, saw Major Davie standing by his horse unable to mount him, his thigh being disabled by his wound. Though the enemy were in a few yards, this man deliberately placed him on his horse and led him from the field. His deliverer then disappeared and resumed his place in the ranks, and Davie could find no trace of him. The wound was a severe one and kept Davie long in the hospital at Charleston, rendering him incapable of further service that year. At the siege of Ninety-Six, two years later, when Davie was present as Commissary-General of the Southern Army, on the morning of the attack a stranger came to his tent and introduced himself as the man who had saved his life at Stono. He promised to visit him again, but when the troops were recalled from the fruitless attempt to storm the fort the body of the gallant unknown was found among the dead. On his return from the Charleston hospital in September, 1779, Davie being unfit for service, applied for and received his County Court license and was sent by the Governor to attend the courts on the Holston river, then in North Carolina, that he might ascertain public sentiment in that section. In the spring of 1780 he received his Superior Court license. About the same time he obtained authority from the Legislature of North Carolina to raise a troop of cavalry and two companies of mounted infantry. The authority was all that the State could give, its funds being too low to provide the means. Major Davie, with a patriotism worthy of perpetual remembrance, disposed of the estate inherited from his uncle and thus raised the funds to equip his command.
The surrender of Charleston, 12th May, 1780, and the surprise and butchery of Buford’s men by Colonel Tarleton on the 29th of the same month, completed the subjugation of South Carolina. Colonel Moore, with eleven hundred Tories, having collected at Ramsour’s Mills, in the edge of the present town of Lincolnton, Colonel Francis Locke with three hundred militia of Burke, Lincoln, and Rowan, crossed the Catawba at Beattie’s Ford, while General Rutherford, acting in concert with him with seven hundred troops, among whom was Davie and his command, crossed at Tuckaseege Ford. The two divisions were to meet in the night near the enemy and attack at break of day. Rutherford’s march being circuitous, was delayed, but Colonel Locke, notwithstanding the disparity of force, attacked alone and won a complete victory. Rutherford arrived about an hour after the action and dispatched Major Davie in pursuit of the fugitives. Shortly after Major Davie was ordered to take post near the South Carolina line, opposite Hanging Rock, to prevent the enemy from foraging and to check the depredations of the Tories who infested that section. He was reenforced by some South Carolinians under Major Crawford, by thirty-five Catawba Indians under their chief, New River, and by part of the Mecklenburg militia. With part of his dragoons and some volunteers he left camp 20th July, 1780, to intercept a convoy of provisions and clothing destined for the enemy at Hanging Rock, eighteen miles distant. Marching all night, he turned the enemy’s flank and fell into the Camden road five miles below Hanging Rock. Here he awaited the convoy, which appeared in the afternoon, and it was surprised and completely captured, with all the stores.
About the last of July, Colonel Sumter, with the South Carolina refugees, and Colonel Irwin, with the North Carolina troops, advanced to the attack of Rocky Mount, while Major Davie was to make a diversion to engage the attention of the enemy at Hanging Rock. His detachment consisted of eighty mounted men. In sight of the enemy’s camp, he fell upon three companies of their mounted infantry returning from an excursion. Taken by surprise, they were literally cut to pieces almost before they were aware of his presence. Sixty valuable horses, with their furniture, and one hundred rifles and muskets, were carried off by Davie in safety without the loss of a man. On August 5th an attack was ordered upon Hanging Rock by Colonel Sumter, who commanded in person the eight hundred troops engaged in the expedition. Of these five hundred were North Carolinians, commanded by Colonel Irwin and Major Davie. The troops halted at midnight within two miles of the enemy’s camp, which they attacked next morning at daylight. The British regulars were commanded by Major Carden, while among the auxiliaries were several Tory regiments. One was composed of Tories from the upper Yadkin, commanded by Colonel Bryan (whom Davie afterwards defended when tried for treason at Salisbury), and another, mostly of South Carolinians, was led by Colonel John Hamilton, of Halifax, who for many years after the war was British Consul at Norfolk. The attack at first was completely successful, but from lack of discipline many of the troops plundered the camps and became intoxicated. A part of the British troops remaining intact, formed a hollow square and necessitated a retreat, which, however, was made in good order, Davie’s corps covering the rear. The wounded were safely convoyed by him to Charlotte, where, by his foresight, a hospital had been established. It is worthy of note that on this march to the attack at Hanging Rock, by Davie’s side rode, as guides conversant with the roads and of undoubted courage and patriotism, two country lads, brothers, respectively aged thirteen and fifteen years. The younger of the two was destined to see many another field of carnage, and his name has filled long and well the sounding trump of fame—Andrew Jackson. Long years after, in the retirement of the Hermitage, he said that Davie was the best soldier he had ever known and that his best lessons in the art of war had been learned from him.
On Davie’s return from Charlotte he hastened to the general rendezvous of Gates’ army at Rugely’s Mills. On August 16th, while proceeding to join General Gates at Camden, and ten miles from the battle-field, Major Davie met the defeated army with the General leading the retreat. He ordered Davie to fall back on Charlotte, but he replied that his men had formed the acquaintance of Tarleton’s Legion and did not fear to meet them again. He continued his course towards the battle-ground, meeting the flying fragments of the routed army. He secured several wagons loaded with clothing and medicine, which had been abandoned. With characteristic thoughtfulness he immediately sent an officer to notify Colonel Sumter of the great disaster which had befallen our arms. He reached Sumter that evening, who at once began his retreat along the west bank of the Catawba, towards the up-country. Not taking sufficient precaution, however, Sumter was surprised on the 18th by Tarleton at Fishing Creek, and his entire command of eight hundred men was captured or put to flight with the loss of all his artillery, arms, and baggage. Colonel Sumter himself, who was asleep under a wagon when the attack was made, barely escaped, and the next day reached Davie’s camp at Charlotte alone, riding on horseback, without saddle or bridle. The tidings carried consternation into the fragments of Gates’ army which had rallied there, and in a few moments Davie and his command were the only force left in front of the enemy. Instead of retiring, he boldly advanced to the Waxhaws, and found that the enemy had fallen back to Camden.
On the 5th of September, 1780, Davie was appointed by Governor Nash Colonel Commandant of Cavalry in the Western District of North Carolina, with instructions to raise a regiment. When he had collected only about seventy men, with that force and two small companies of riflemen, commanded by Major George Davidson, he took post at Providence, twenty-five miles from the British camp. Cornwallis, after resting at Camden till the first week in September, had advanced to the Waxhaws, forty miles below Charlotte, while the fragments of the American army were slowly gathering at Hillsborough, two hundred miles distant. South Carolina was wholly subjugated, and North Carolina had not recovered from the shock of Gates’ defeat. Under these circumstances, Colonel Davie, with unprecedented boldness, with a command not exceeding one hundred and fifty men all told, on the 20th of September, turning the right flank of the British army by a circuitous march, fell upon three or four hundred of the enemy at Wahab’s plantation. The attack was made at daylight. The surprise was complete.
The enemy left fifteen or twenty dead on the field and had some forty wounded. Davie got off safely with the captured horses and had only one man wounded. The enemy at once caused the farm buildings which belonged to Captain Wahab, then a volunteer with Davie, to be laid in ashes. Davie brought off ninety-six horses and their furniture and one hundred and twenty stand of arms, and arrived in camp the same afternoon, having marched sixty miles in less than twenty-four hours, including the time employed in seeking and beating the enemy. That evening Generals Sumner and Davidson arrived at his camp with their force of one thousand badly equipped militia.
On the 24th of September the American patrols gave notice that the force of the enemy was in motion on the Steele Creek road, leading to Charlotte. Generals Sumner and Davidson retreated by Phifer’s on the nearest road to Salisbury. Colonel Davie, with one hundred and fifty mounted men and some volunteers under Major Joseph Graham, was left alone in front of the British army, and he was ordered to observe the enemy and skirmish with his advance. On the afternoon and night of the 25th he took a number of prisoners, and at midnight took up his position at Charlotte, seven miles from the spot where Earl Cornwallis had encamped. Early on the 26th his patrols were driven in by the enemy’s light troops, and in a few moments the Legion and light infantry were seen advancing, followed by the whole army. Charlotte was then a village of about twenty houses, built on two streets which crossed each other at right angles. At their intersection stood the court-house. Colonel Davie dismounted one company and stationed it under the court-house, where they were protected by a stone wall. The other two companies were advanced about eighty yards and posted behind some houses and gardens. The Legion formed at a distance of three hundred yards with a front to fill the street. On sounding the charge the enemy’s cavalry advanced at full gallop, but at sixty yards from the court-house the Americans opened fire and drove them back with great precipitation. A second and third charge had the same result, but being outflanked by the Legion infantry, Davie withdrew his companies in good order, they successively covering each other, and retreated on the Salisbury road. The enemy followed with great caution and respect for some distance, when they at length ventured to charge the small rear guard. In this charge Lieutenant Locks and four privates were killed and Major Graham and five privates wounded. The coolness and skill of Davie in this ever-memorable combat, in which, with a mere handful of men, he held the whole British army for hours at bay and drove back repeatedly its best troops and finally brought off his command unbroken and in good order, stamp him as a soldier of no ordinary capacity. He was at this time twenty-four years of age. Governor Graham says of him: “He was prudent, vigilant, intrepid, and skillful in his movements against the enemy, and with a charming presence, a ready eloquence, and an undaunted spirit, he was among the young men of the day as was Harry Percy to the chivalry of England.” He also terms him “one of the most accomplished and elegant gentlemen of the Revolutionary race.” Besides his abilities as a leader he was an expert swordsman. It is said in Garden’s Anecdotes of the Revolutionary War, that he had slain more men in personal encounters in battle than any man in the army.
The next day, after the brilliant affair at Charlotte, Colonel Davie joined the army at Salisbury, where, recruits having come in and Colonel Taylor from Granville having joined him, his force consisted of three hundred mounted infantry and a few dragoons. Generals Sumner and Davidson continued their retreat across the Yadkin, while Davie returned towards Charlotte, where he so vexed the British by cutting off the foraging parties and beating up their advanced posts that Cornwallis began to feel great distress for want of forage and supplies. (Tarleton’s Campaigns, p. 184). The British officer declared he had “found a rebel in every bush outside his encampment.” On October 7th occurred the disastrous defeat of Ferguson at King’s Mountain, and on the night of October 14th, Cornwallis began his retreat to South Carolina, followed by Davie, who harassed his rear and captured part of his baggage. On the 19th the British crossed the Catawba at Land’s Ford and completely evacuated the State of North Carolina. When General Greene took command of the Southern Army in December, 1780, he and Colonel Davie met for the first time. The commissary department became vacant by the resignation of Colonel Thomas Polk. The subsistence of the army had become very difficult, and Colonel Polk declared that it had become impossible. General Greene having formed a high estimate of Colonel Davie’s abilities, earnestly, and in most flattering terms, solicited him to relinquish his hopes of brilliant service in the field and accept the vacant office. At the call of patriotism he abandoned the tempting career which lay before him and assumed the not less important but more unpleasant and arduous duties of a station which offered no distinctions. General Greene had himself set the example, having relinquished a brilliant career in the field to assume for years the duties of Quartermaster-General of the army. Colonel Davie assumed the duties of his new post in January, 1781, and continued with the army for the next five months. Hardly any combination of circumstances could exist presenting greater difficulties to the commissary of an army than those under which he began. With a depreciated, almost worthless, currency and an exhausted country, his only resource was to receive from the willing and extort from the reluctant such means of subsistence as they possessed, a service requiring promptness and vigor among the disaffected and skill and discretion among the friendly. These duties were well performed, and, while they make no display on the page of history, their efficient discharge was more really useful to the cause and contributed more to the success of the army than the most brilliant services of the most brilliant officer in the field. In that capacity he was present in the memorable battle at Guilford Court House. Though he had, of course, no command, he was a watchful observer of all the movements of the fight and distinguished himself by his efforts to rally the broken ranks and bring them again into the field. After Judge Schenck’s vivid description of this battle it would be a twice-told tale to recount its incidents. It may be well to recall, however, that Eaton’s Brigade was composed of men from Warren, Franklin, Nash, Halifax, and Northampton counties, while Butler’s men were from the present counties of Wake, Durham, Orange, Alamance, Vance, Granville, Person, and Caswell. No race of people has changed less by infiltration of foreign immigration. It is in warp and woof the same it was a hundred years ago. Those who know them well, know that they are “the blue hen’s own chickens,” and it is not to be believed (if all other proof was wanting) that men of that stock ever left any fair field of fight in a body save in honor.
It was here that Colonel Davie, seeing the veteran First Maryland permit the enemy to approach to close quarters while it remained apparently inert and impassive, exclaimed with great emotion, “Great God! is it possible Colonel Gunby will surrender himself and his whole regiment to the British?” He had scarce spoken when, the command having been given, their fire, like a sheet of flame, swept off the enemy’s first line. This was followed up by a bayonet charge from Gunby. The hostile lines became so intermingled and the moment so critical that Cornwallis, to save himself, caused his cannon to open upon the mass of struggling men and swept off friend and foe alike. This he did against the remonstrance of General O’Hara, who was lying wounded on the ground, and whose men were thus being destroyed at short range by the cannon of their own army.
Colonel Davie continued with the army and was present at Hobkirk’s Hill on April 25th, and also at the evacuation of Camden and the siege of Ninety-Six. While the army lay before Ninety-Six, General Greene found it necessary to send him as a confidential messenger to the Legislature of North Carolina to represent to that body the wants of his army, and that his almost sole reliance for assistance was on them. Colonel Davie’s knowledge of the members and his tact were such that he procured a most generous contribution from the General Assembly of men and supplies. The exigencies of the service and the equipment of the new levies required him to remain in North Carolina, and in July, 1781, he entered on his duties as Commissary-General of this State, which post he filled till the end of the war. The finances of the State were in a desperate condition, and the country was well-nigh exhausted by the requisitions of both hostile and friendly armies, and, besides, supplies had to be dispatched to our troops operating in South Carolina. No duties could be more arduous or more admirably performed than those which fell to Colonel Davie’s lot at this stage of the war. Transportation was lacking even for the supplies which could be obtained. The future seemed uncertain as to everything. No post could more sorely have tried the patience of any man. It argues great versatility of talents that the brilliant cavalry officer should execute with patience the duties of such a station, and it required a rare self-denial to lay aside the opportunities of distinction for the humdrum exactions of his wearying post. To add to other troubles, he had to deal, during the year 1781, with three different Governors of entirely different views and dispositions. Governor Nash had resigned in disgust at the proceedings of the Legislature; Governor Burke had been taken prisoner, and Governor Martin completed the year. So feeble at times was the support of the government that some of the most pressing supplies were procured by Davie on his own credit. Complex and numerous as were his accounts, when he laid down his office he invited the severest legislative scrutiny, but no objection to them could be found.
The war being over, Colonel Davie resumed the practice of his profession in February, 1783. About the same time he married Miss Sarah Jones, the daughter of General Allen Jones, of Northampton, a niece of Willie Jones, and settled in the town of Halifax, which place he made his future residence. It was at that time practically the capital of the State. The sessions of the General Assembly had been frequently held at that place, and it was there that most of the executive business of the State was transacted. He was a brilliant advocate and possessed a natural aptitude for the practice of law. The State at that time was divided into seven judicial districts: Halifax, New Bern, Wilmington, Edenton, Hillsboro, Salisbury, and Morganton. To these, in 1787, Fayetteville was added. The Superior Courts were held only at these places, and not as now at a court-house in each county. Colonel Davie took the circuit and attended in turn all the Superior Courts of the State, except that held at Morganton. He soon commanded a leading practice in all these courts. At some places and at some terms the dockets show that he appeared without exception on one side or the other of every civil case. His practice was very lucrative and he quickly accumulated a large estate. An examination of our published Reports shows numerous cases of importance in which he was counsel. Probably the most important were Hamilton vs. Eaton, 1 N. C., 84, which held the State Confiscation Act repealed by the United States treaty of peace with England, and Bayard vs. Singleton, 1 N. C., 42, the first case in America which asserted the power and duty of the courts to declare an act of the Legislature unconstitutional. It also held the confiscation acts against the late Tories invalid. Iredell, Johnston, and Davie appeared for the successful plaintiff and Moore and Nash for the defendant.
With the chivalry of his nature, it was most natural that when the Tory, Colonel Bryan, with whom he had so often crossed swords, was arraigned and tried at Salisbury, in 1782, for treason, Colonel Davie was one of the counsel who conducted his defense. In this he displayed a courage of the forum no less brilliant and commendable than his conduct in the field. Indeed Davie, though the youngest, became in fact the principal counsel. Excitement ran so high that no lesser favorite than “the hero of Charlotte” could command attention. Bryan was convicted with several others, and was sentenced to be hanged the 14th of April, 1782, but was pardoned and exchanged. Judge Murphy, who had the opportunity of judging, and whose opinion is of high value, says: “Davie took Lord Bolingbroke for his model, and applied himself with so much diligence to the study of his master that literary men could easily recognize his lofty and flowing style. He was a tall, elegant man in his person; graceful and commanding in his manners. His voice was mellow and adapted to the expression of every passion. His style was magnificent and flowing. He had a greatness of manner in public speaking which suited his style and gave his speeches an imposing effect. He was a laborious student and arranged his discourses with care, and, when the subject suited his genius, poured forth a torrent of eloquence that astonished and delighted his audience. They looked upon him with delight, listened to his long, harmonious periods, caught his emotions, and indulged that ecstasy of feeling which fine speaking and powerful eloquence can alone produce. He is certainly to be ranked among the first orators whom the American nation has produced.” It is said of him, with probably small exaggeration, that during fifteen years while he was at the bar there was not a capital trial in North Carolina in which he was not retained for the defense. Eminent as he was, it was not for the lack of worthy competitors. James Iredell and Alfred Moore, successively Justices of the Supreme Court of the United States, François Xavier Martin, afterwards Chief Justice of Louisiana, and Judge John Haywood, afterwards of Tennessee, were his contemporaries. His brief-books, some of which are still in existence, are models of neatness and show a most careful summary of the evidence and citation of authority in each case. Among his law students were Governor and United Stales Senator David Stone, Mr. Justice Daniel, of our Supreme Court, and many others who became distinguished men. Judge Daniel said that he was the best lawyer and most accomplished man he had ever known. It is stated of him, in comparison with his great legal rival, John Haywood, that while the latter carefully prepared every point, Davie would seize the strong points of the case and throw his whole strength upon them. In this he seems to have retained the experience and instincts of his soldier-life. As a characteristic of his elegant tastes and attention to details it is said that an examination of his correspondence shows that his letters were invariably written upon gilt-edge paper.
When the Convention which formed our present Federal Constitution was called to meet at Philadelphia in May, 1787, he was elected one of the delegates. The delegates were the then Governor, Richard Caswell, ex-Governor Alexander Martin, Richard Dobbs Spaight, who, like Davie, was subsequently Governor, William Blount, afterwards United States Senator, and Hugh Williamson, afterwards a member of Congress and an historian. Governor Caswell did not attend. Colonel Davie was the junior member of the delegation, being then, notwithstanding his distinguished career as a soldier and his high standing at the bar, not yet thirty-one years of age. Still his eloquence and influence made a decided impression upon the Convention. The Constitution all through is the result of compromise; but the critical question was the equal representation of each State in the Senate. Upon this it seemed likely the Convention would be dissolved. The large States were firm for proportional representation. With the smaller States an equal voice in the Senate was a sine qua non. On that question North Carolina voted with the other large States against the demands of the smaller States, and this made the vote a tie, as Georgia, on purpose, evenly divided her vote. The friends of the Constitution, fearing a disruption, referred the question to a committee composed of one from each State. Davie was the member of the committee from North Carolina. When the committee made its report, Davie, acting for North Carolina, gave her vote with the smaller States, and thus, by one majority, was equal representation in the Senate secured. Without it the Convention would doubtless have adjourned after a useless session. The Constitution, without that wise concession, could not have been adopted, and if adopted by the Convention, its ratification by the smaller States could not have been expected. This act was certainly against the wishes of his own State, then the third, in point of population, in the Confederation, ranking next after Virginia and Massachusetts and ahead of New York. It was also apparently against the interests of his State, but the act was that of a statesman, and should be recalled to his lasting honor. It was a critical moment, for a narrow-minded man in his place, timid of responsibility and fearful of his own popularity at home, would have prevented or postponed for many years the American Union. He remained in Philadelphia till the deliberations of the Convention were virtually over and the adoption of the Constitution had become certain. Then, in obedience to his duty to his clients, as the fall circuit was about to begin, he left for home. Hence it is that his name does not appear among those appended to that instrument. The Constitution being the work of many hands and containing so many alterations and amendments, would naturally have been rough and ill-joined, containing a variety of styles. It is worthy of note that the Convention considerately referred it to a committee of one—Gouverneur Morris—an accomplished scholar, to make changes “of form, not of substance.” Under his hand it was polished and put in shape, and hence the uniform flow and regularity of its language.
But the work was not yet done. The Constitution was yet to be ratified by the conventions of the several States. When the North Carolina Convention met at Hillsborough, July 21, 1788, a formidable opposition was arrayed against its adoption, headed by Willie Jones, David Caldwell, Judge Spencer, and others. The friends of adoption were led by James Iredell, a remarkably able man, and Colonel Davie, aided by Spaight, Maclaine, Steele, and others. The adoption of the Constitution was at that time defeated. After its subsequent adoption by North Carolina, President Washington tendered the appointment of United States District Judge to Davie, who declined it. Colonel Stokes was appointed, but, soon dying, John Sitgreaves was appointed, probably through Davie’s influence. He had married his wife’s sister.
By his wife he had acquired a valuable plantation near Halifax, which he took pleasure in cultivating, and he evinced a deep interest in introducing there a better system of farming. His enterprise and public spirit procured the organization of a company for the proposed drainage of Lake Scuppernong.
A friend of education, in 1786 he obtained from the General Assembly the charter of Warrenton Academy, and had himself, with Willie Jones, Thomas Person, Benjamin Hawkins, and other prominent men named as the board of trustees. He was chosen repeatedly, except when his private business constrained him to decline an election, to represent the borough of Halifax in the House of Commons. He served thus in the years 1786, 1787, 1789, 1791, 1793, 1794, 1796, and 1798. He was the real founder of the University of North Carolina, and is so styled in the journal of 1810 of that institution, and well deserved to be so called. Judge Murphy bears this testimony: “I was present in the House of Commons when Davie addressed that body (in 1789) for a loan of money to erect the buildings of the University, and, although more than thirty years have elapsed, I have the most vivid recollection of the greatness of his manner and the power of his eloquence upon that occasion. In the House of Commons he had no rival, and on all questions before that body his eloquence was irresistible.” He procured the act of incorporation to be passed in 1789, and other aid, and was always a fostering friend.
The opposition to all the measures in favor of the University was great. The cry of “economy” and the fear expressed that the institution was one step towards the founding of an aristocracy made it difficult to carry any measure through. Gifted with less tact, with less eloquence or with less popularity, Davie must have failed. The institution is no less a monument also to his public spirit, boldness, and foresight. He was a member of the first board of trustees. The selection of a site for the University, the superintendence of the erection of the buildings, the choice of professors, the arrangement of a course of studies, the adoption of regulations, the maintenance of discipline engaged his personal and active attention. Truly he might have exclaimed “Exegi monumentum aere perennius.” The course of studies adopted at Davie’s instance in 1795 was the “optional” system which now generally obtains. In this he anticipated the course of other colleges full fifty years. When Dr. David Caldwell was elected President this was set aside and the old iron-bound curriculum was adopted and remained in force eighty years.
On December 9, 1787, in the town of Tarboro, the Free Masons of this State organized the Grand Lodge of North Carolina. At that meeting many of the most distinguished men of the State attended, Colonel Davie among them. Governor Johnston was elected the first Grand Master of North Carolina, and Governor Caswell the second. Davie was elected Grand Master in December, 1792, and was successively reelected for seven years. In that capacity he laid the cornerstone of the University, October 12, 1793 (the old East Building), and on April 14, 1798, he laid the cornerstone of the South Building at the same place.
The project of a digest of the laws was brought forward by him, and the appointment of Judge Iredell, the accomplished jurist, to do the work, was made at his suggestion. The cession of the territory which now forms the State of Tennessee was effected mainly by his influence. In 1791 he was appointed by the Legislature one of the three commissioners to establish the unsettled part of the boundary between this State and South Carolina. He was again elected for the same purpose in 1796, and again in 1803. None of these commissions, however, were successful.
In 1794 he was commissioned by Governor Spaight to be Major-General of the Third State Division, in view of the likelihood of war with France. Congress, by the Act of June 24, 1797, directed an embodiment of troops from the several States. The number to be raised by this State under the act was seven thousand two hundred and sixty-eight, and in September of that year Davie was appointed by Governor Ashe Major-General to command this detachment. As matters became more serious, Congress, in May, 1798, authorized a provisional army of the United States of ten thousand men, and in this he was appointed a brigadier-general by President Adams, July 17, 1798, and was confirmed by the Senate on July 19th. Of this army Washington was made commander-in-chief, and he, in effect, committed to General Davie the selection of the officers for that part of the troops which should be raised in this State. In the same year General Davie prepared a system of cavalry tactics which was adopted by the Legislature and ordered to be printed. A copy of this is now in our State Library.
General Davie came out of the war with the first military reputation in the State, and these successive appointments, so many years after, prove that North Carolina still turned to him as her greatest soldier.
Just at this time, singularly enough, when in the receipt of high honors, State and national, his election for the borough of Halifax was first endangered. The circumstance is thus stated in a private letter from that town, written in August, 1798: “The ‘true whigs,’ as they styled themselves, dined together under the oaks and toasted Mr. Jefferson. The other party, who were called ‘aristocrats,’ ate and drank in the house on entirely different principles. General Davie dined in the house with the ‘aristocrats.’ The ‘true whigs’ took offense at this and resolved to oppose his election, and it was only with much address that they were kept quiet.” The writer adds: “If any person had had the impudence to dispute the election General Davie would certainly not have been returned. The rabble, which in all places is the majority, would have voted against him.”
He took his seat when the Legislature met. By that body, under the then constitutional mode, he was, on joint ballot, elected Governor of the State on December 4th, 1798, over Benjamin Williams (afterwards Governor), and was inaugurated December 7th. Nothing of special note took place during his tenure of office. President Adams appointed an embassy to treat with the French Directory, consisting of Mr. Murray, then our Minister to Holland, Chief Justice Ellsworth, and Patrick Henry. The latter having declined on the ground of age and ill health, Governor Davie was appointed in his stead, June 1, 1799. On September 10th he resigned the office of Governor, and on the 22nd, left Halifax to join Mr. Ellsworth at Trenton. At his departure the people of Halifax and vicinity presented him with a complimentary address, which was written by a political adversary and signed by large numbers of the same party.
On November 3, 1799, Messrs. Ellsworth and Davie embarked in the frigate United States, from Newport, Rhode Island. Aware of the changes constantly taking place in the French government, they touched at Lisbon on the 27th of November. They left on the 21st of December, but being driven out of their course by a storm, they put into Corunna the 11th of January, 1800, which they left by land on the 27th, and on February 9th, at Burgos, in Spain, they met a courier from Talleyrand, the French Minister, inviting them, on the part of Bonaparte, who had become First Consul, to proceed to Paris, which place they reached on March 2d. These dates will show the vast difference which less than a century has made in the modes of traveling and the transmission of intelligence. On April 8th the Commissioners were received with marked politeness by the First Consul. Napoleon having left for Italy on the famous campaign of Marengo, the negotiations dragged till his return. On September 30, 1800, the treaty between the United States and France was signed by our Commissioners and by Joseph Bonaparte, Roederer, and Fleurieu, on the part of France. The conclusion of the treaty was celebrated with éclat at Morfontaine (the country-seat of Joseph Bonaparte), the First Consul and a brilliant staff attending. One who was then in Paris writes: “A man of his (Davie’s) imposing appearance and dignified deportment could not fail to attract especial attention and remark wherever he went. I could not but remark that Bonaparte, in addressing the American legation at his levees, seemed for the time to forget that Governor Davie was second in the commission, his attention being more particularly directed to him.” In the brilliant circles of the nascent empire of Napoleon he was distinguished by his elegance and his popular manners. His sojourn in Paris was very agreeable to him. He was an accomplished linguist and spoke French and Spanish fluently.
In the fall of that year Governor Davie returned directly home. It is significant that the very day after the treaty was signed, France, by the treaty of St. Ildefonso, reacquired Louisiana from Spain, which it so soon after sold to the United States.
On his return home Davie was solicited to become a candidate for Congress in 1801, but his private affairs, by reason of his long absence, required his attention, and he declined. Willis Alston, then a member of the same political party, was elected. In June of that year President Jefferson appointed Governor Davie head of a commission, with General Wilkinson and Benjamin Hawkins, to negotiate with the Creeks and other Indians for further cession of lands. This he declined for the same reason that he had refused an election to Congress. In 1802 he was appointed by President Jefferson a commissioner on the part of the United States in the treaty to be made between North Carolina and the Tuscaroras, most of whom had moved from this State, but had retained a valuable landed interest in Bertie county. He met the agents of the State and the chiefs of the Indians at Raleigh, and the treaty was signed December 4th, 1802, by virtue of which King Blount and the remainder of the tribe removed to New York in June, 1803. In the spring of 1803, Alston having gone over to the opposite political party, General Davie was again solicited by his friends to become a candidate for Congress. He accepted the nomination, but declined to make any canvass. He was charged with being an aristocrat and with being opposed to Mr. Jefferson, whose prestige was then all-powerful. He was defeated at the polls.
He had lost his wife not long after his return from France. This, together with his political defeat, determined him to withdraw altogether from public life. In November, 1805, he removed to an estate he possessed at Tivoli, near Landsford, in South Carolina, just across the line from Mecklenburg county in this State. Here he lived in dignified ease and leisure.
Many men, after the bufferings of a stormy or a busy life, have in like manner felt the need of rest before going hence. It was thus that the Emperor Charles V., at Juste, and Wolsey, who had “sounded all the depths and shoals of honor,” at Leicester Abbey, had sought to put a space of contemplation between the active duties of life and the grave. Davie’s country, however, did not forget him. During the second war with Great Britain, President Madison appointed him a major-general in the United States army, and he was confirmed by the Senate, March 2d, 1813. But “time steals fire from the mind as vigor from the limbs.” Though not an old man, General Davie’s early campaigns had told upon him. The sword which twenty-five years before had almost leapt of itself from the scabbard was now constrained to hang idly by his side, and he declined the appointment. General Harrison (afterwards President) was appointed in his stead and fought the battle of the Thames, October 5, 1813 in which Tecumseh was slain. The next year he in turn resigned and General Andrew Jackson was appointed to succeed him, and the battle of New Orleans followed on January 8, 1815.
General Davie’s seat at Tivoli, on the Catawba, was the resort of many of the Revolutionary characters. In their journeys by private conveyance to Virginia or the North, the custom was to arrange to spend a day or two there with him, where he kept open house for his friends, and, sitting under an immense oak, from which there was a view of miles of the Catawba, they fought over the war together or discussed the workings of the new government and the Constitution they had established. This was all the more interesting, as much of his campaigning had taken place on and around this very spot. In this connection it is interesting to state that after his retirement to Tivoli he was much sought after in drawing wills. He drew some of the most famous wills in that State—indeed, it is said, all of them in that part in which he resided, not one of which, except his own, was ever assailed. In this respect he had the fortune of Sugden (Lord Saint Leonard’s), Governor Tilden, and many other famous lawyers. The contest over Governor Davie’s will has just been settled by a decision of the Supreme Court of the United States, filed the 28th of March of this year (1892), in the case of Bedon vs. Davie, 144 U. S., 142, a very interesting case.
His correspondence and other materials for history must have been very large and very valuable. It was from his papers that the copy of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20th, 1775, was procured, which is known as the “Davie Copy.” Unfortunately all his family papers and all the historical material which had been carefully preserved by him for publication at some future time were destroyed during Sherman’s raid. The banks of the Catawba were said to have been strewn with them, and nothing of the collection now remains.
In retirement he displayed his accustomed public spirit by introducing improved methods of farming, and mainly at his instance a State Agricultural Society in South Carolina was formed, of which he was the first president. By his practice at the bar he had accumulated a large estate, which he dispensed with liberality and hospitality.
When the end came he met it with the firmness of a soldier. His sun of life went down in a cloudless sky. He passed away the 18th of November, 1820, in his sixty-fifth year.
“The hero lies still, while the dew-drooping willows,
Like fond weeping mourners, lean over his grave.
The lightnings may flash and the loud cannon rattle,
He heeds not, he hears not, he’s free from all pain;
He sleeps his last sleep, he has fought his last battle,
No sound can awake him to glory again!”
He was buried at Waxhaw Church, Lancaster county, South Carolina, just across the Catawba river from his Tivoli plantation. The following modest and truthful inscription in his tomb is said to be from the pen of his friend, Governor Gaston, of South Carolina:
IN THIS GRAVE ARE DEPOSITED THE REMAINS OF
WILLIAM R. DAVIE,
THE SOLDIER, JURIST, STATESMAN, AND PATRIOT.
IN THE GLORIOUS WAR FOR
AMERICAN INDEPENDENCE
HE FOUGHT AMONG THE FOREMOST OF THE BRAVE.
AS AN ADVOCATE AT THE BAR,
HE WAS DILIGENT, SAGACIOUS, ZEALOUS,
INCORRUPTIBLY HONEST, OF COMMANDING ELOQUENCE.
IN THE LEGISLATIVE HALL
HE HAD NO SUPERIOR IN ENLARGED VISION
AND PROFOUND PLANS OF POLICY.
SINGLE IN HIS ENDS, VARIED IN HIS MEANS, INDEFATIGABLE
IN HIS EXERTIONS.
REPRESENTING HIS NATION IN AN IMPORTANT EMBASSY,
HE EVINCED HIS CHARACTERISTIC DEVOTION TO HER INTERESTS
AND MANIFESTED A PECULIAR FITNESS FOR DIPLOMACY.
POLISHED IN MANNERS, FIRM IN ACTION,
CANDID WITHOUT IMPRUDENCE, WISE ABOVE DECEIT.
A TRUE LOVER OF HIS COUNTRY,
ALWAYS PREFERRING THE PEOPLE’S GOOD TO THE PEOPLE’S FAVOR.
THOUGH HE DISDAINED TO FAWN FOR OFFICE,
HE FILLED MOST OF THE STATIONS TO WHICH AMBITION MIGHT ASPIRE,
AND DECLINING NO PUBLIC TRUST,
ENNOBLED WHATEVER HE ACCEPTED
BY TRUE DIGNITY AND TALENT,
WHICH HE BROUGHT INTO THE DISCHARGE OF ITS FUNCTIONS.
A GREAT MAN IN AN AGE OF GREAT MEN.
IN LIFE HE WAS ADMIRED AND BELOVED BY THE VIRTUOUS AND THE WISE,
IN DEATH HE HAS SILENCED CALUMNY AND CAUSED ENVY TO MOURN.
HE WAS BORN IN EDINBURGH,1 1756,
AND DIED IN SOUTH CAROLINA IN 1820.
The foregoing is the main body and more strictly biographical part of an address delivered by Judge Clark, July 4th, 1892, at the celebration of the battle of Guilford Court House, on the battle-field.
Davie’s life has been written more at length by Prof. Fordyce M. Hubbard and published in Sparks’ American Biography; but I have used Judge Clark’s sketch, and have slightly abbreviated it to suit the scope of my purpose.
I am reminded by Colonel Benehan Cameron, a member of the North Carolina Publishing Society, that the lovers of fine horses will be glad to have it noted here that General Davie was once the owner of the celebrated “Sir Archie”—the sire of American thoroughbreds—the Godolphin of the American turf. Like all great commanders, Davie was a fine judge of a horse; he readily paid five thousand dollars for “Sir Archie” as a colt, and only parted from him in deference to his friends, who urged him that such a price was very extravagant. Davie’s judgment, however, was abundantly vindicated; for, many years afterwards, the commissioner of the court found that the horse had been worth to the estate of William Amis, his subsequent owner, the round sum of eighty thousand dollars.
Some idea may be gathered of the interest of the turfmen in this great horse—the great-grandsire of “Lexington”—from the fact that they are still disputing about the places of his birth and death.
The truth of the matter is, says Colonel Cameron, who takes interest in this controversy, he was born at Carter Hall, in Virginia, died in North Carolina, and was buried on the “Mowfield” plantation of Colonel Amis in Northampton county. The place of his burial is still pointed out by old people, for human nature is loath to allow the memory of great excellence to perish, even though exemplified in a dumb beast. It is said that some years ago his bones were taken up and carried to a museum in Philadelphia.
Notes
1 A mistake.