Colonel William Campbell
Colonel William Campbell was a native of Augusta County, Virginia. He was of Scottish descent (his grandfather came from Inverary) and possessed all the fire and sagacity of his ancestors. He assisted in raising the first regular troops in Virginia in 1775 and was honored with the commission of Captain. In 1776, he was made Lieutenant Colonel of the militia of Washington County, Virginia. On the resignation of Evan Shelby (the father of Governor Shelby), he was promoted to the rank of Colonel, a rank he retained until after the battles of King's Mountain and Guilford Courthouse, in both of which he distinguished himself when he was promoted by the Virginia Legislature, for gallantry and general high merit, to the rank of Brigadier General in the Continental service. La Fayette, perceiving his fine military talents, gave him the command of a brigade of riflemen and light infantry, and he was ordered to join that officer below Richmond, who was covering Washington"'s approach to Yorktown in September 1781, previous to the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown on the 19th of October following.Colonel Campbell, suffering from the severe wound received in the battle of Guilford, was taken ill and soon after died at the headquarters of General LaFayette, about twenty-five miles above Williamsburg, in the thirty-sixth year of his age. His military career was short but brilliant, and on all occasions, bravery, unsullied patriotism, and manly rectitude of conduct marked his movements.
Col. Campbell was married to Patrick Henry's sister and left only one child, the mother of the late Hon. William C. Preston and Col. John S. Preston, both of Columbia, South Carolina. He did all of the land surveying for himself and his kindred, large landholders in Virginia, east Tennessee, and Kentucky.
When under thirty, he commanded a company in the Point Pleasant expedition on the Kenhawa River and participated in the battles against the Indians. Next, Colonel Campbell participated in the battle of King's Mountain against British Colonel Ferguson.
On the first application, Col. Campbell deemed it imprudent to withdraw his forces from their place of rendezvous for fear of an attack from the neighboring Indians. Still, on a second urgent application, his assent yielded to the appeals of patriotism. He promptly marched with his regiment to cooperate with Colonels Sevier, Shelby, and other officers to gain undying fame and glorious victory at King's Mountain.
Sketches of Western North Carolina, Historical and Biographical by C. L. Hunter
Battle of Kings Mountain by Jeannette Holland Austin published on medium.com
Quoted from Hero Implants by Jeannette Holland Austin
" General William Campbell of King's Mountain fame and son of Charles Campbell, was baptized by Rev. John Craig on September 1, 1745 in Augusta County, Virginia. The origin of the family was Ireland when John Campbell came to America in 1726 with five or six grown sons and several daughters. They removed to that part of Orange County which became Augusta County in 1738.Charles Campbell, the son of Patrick,died in Augusta County in 1767. In his last will and testament dated AUgust 4,1761, proved March 17, 1767, he speaks of himself as a resident of Beverley's Manor. He left his wife Margaret as executrix, 1000 acres of land on the Holston to go to his son William. The land was located in later Washington County. The wife of General William Campbell was a sister of Patrick Henry and his only child became the wife of General Francis Preston. It was on October 7, 1780, that Campbell lead his regiments into the Battle at Kings Mountain, where they defeated the British Forces lead by Major Patrick Ferguson. The victory destroyed the left wing of Cornwallis's Army and forced the British to retreat from Charlotte into South Carolina. When the General died in 1781, his widow married General Russell. The battle soon raged with fury from every angle of the mountain. General
Lighthorse Harry, Lee said of King's Mountain that it was more assailable by the rifle than defensible with the bayonet.
Ferguson dashed from one side to another to to rally his men to lead a charge, crying aloud Which way I flay is hell! At certain times, Whigs and Tories would be making for the same rock. The counter-sign of the Americans was Colonel Buford in remembrance of Tarleton's No Quarter Given at the Battle of Waxsaws. Now as the time to exact revenge. As the armies were driven closer togehter, the colums of Colonel Shelby and Campbell united on the summit of the mountain while Colonels Cleveland, Winston and McDowell led their men up the steep acclivity and were in the rear of Ferguson's line which was facing the united columns of Campbell and Shelby and the british were too closely enveloped to renew the charge. Two white flags of surrender were raised as a token remembrance of the surrender which Ferguson cut down with his sword. Ferguson exclaimed Iwould never surrender to such banditti." Then, he mader a desprate effort to break through the American lines, but failed. It had been announced by 120 the British beforehand that Colonel Ferguson wielded the sword in his left hand and that he wore a light or checked duster or hunting shirt over his uniform, called the pig shirt. Thus, the Americans were on the qui vice for him. About twenty calvary men followed Ferguson, but were picked off by the American marksmen as fast as they mounted. Ferguson was desperate to escape with his only two officers, Colonel Vazey Husband and Major Daniel Plummer, both of whom were killed. Ferguson was conconscious when he fell and lived only a few minutes! Many heroic deeds were performed that day."