As the weeks progress, we continue moving toward our nation’s semiquincentennial by focusing on the related contributions and connections of folks of the Fork, the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston rivers.

I grew up on a few acres at the center of the Fork, and on top of our hill was an old log cabin. It’s funny to me that I tried to learn so much about lots of other history around me, but I had never researched the history behind that cabin until just a few years ago. This week and next, I’ll connect the dots between that cabin and a Revolutionary War veteran.

Long before Jane Spurgeon and her sons had a reason to aid American Gen. Nathaniel Greene in North Carolina in 1781, even before the Overmountain men defeated British Gen. Ferguson and his Loyalists at King’s Mountain, other Patriots had been trying to quell the backwoods Tories who were loyal to the crown.

Patriots had made their strengths known at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, in April of 1775, and by September of that same year, Loyalists in the southern colonies were getting a little nervous. In the Carolinas, a man by the name of Thomas Fletchall was actively involved in trying to recruit and organize militia who opposed the rebellion, spurring competition for munitions between the two groups in the backcountry.

After Loyalists seized a shipment of gunpowder and ammunition in October of 1775, Patriot Col. Richard Richardson and his Camden, South Carolina, militia set out in November to get it back. He gathered more and more Patriots on his way westward toward Fort Ninety-Six, where 1,900 Loyalists were headed, and arrested and disbanded Loyalist units along the way.

Richardson and the others soon captured Fletchall (who was found hiding in a cave), along with other Loyalist leaders. By the time the Patriots reached the Enoree River in December, they were 3,000 in number, and the Loyalists were scampering for refuge in Cherokee country near the Seluda River. Patriot militia from North Carolina and elsewhere joined forces with them at the Enoree, increasing their total to about 5,000 men.

Among that number was Jesse Perry (1755-1845), who was living in Fairfield District, South Carolina, when he first joined the militia as the weather turned cold. In his pension application, he described how they camped near Duncan’s Creek, now Greenville County, in the area where the Tories had gathered, “for the purpose of keeping them in awe.” He and his fellow soldiers then marched back across the Broad River, while for 30 hours snow fell and accumulated up to 2 feet. Their efforts became known as the “Snow Campaign.” They were sent home after their grueling trek.

However, Jesse Perry’s service during the American Revolution didn’t end there. To learn about his connection to the cabin on our property and make sure his service isn’t forgotten in the Fork, we will continue our summary of his military experiences in next week’s article.

Jan Loveday Dickens is an educator, historian, and author of Forgotten in the Fork, a book about the Knox County lands between the French Broad and Holston Rivers, obtainable by emailing ForgottenInTheFork@gmail.com.

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