On October 7, 1780, brother met brother, neighbor met neighbor, Patriot met Loyalist on a battlefield in rural South Carolina. The battle lasted an hour: the brevity belied the import. Thomas Jefferson proclaimed the Battle of King's Mountain turned "the tide of success which terminated the Revolutionary War, with the seal of our independence."
Fewer than one thousand American Heroes, through skill, luck, and the leadership of cunning strategists, defeated Patrick Ferguson, a brilliant star of the British military might. William Alexander was one of the hundreds of foot solders who had started on the Campaign to find Ferguson and negate his prowess. He was headed to the battlefield from the Cowpens, but arrived too late to join the battle.
He documented his service when he submitted his Application for Revolutionary War Pension, S1785. Will Graves transcribed thousands of pensions of Patriots who fought in the Southern Campaign and housed them at revwarapps.org.
Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters
Pension application of William Alexander S1785 f14VA1
Transcribed by Will Graves 9/27/06 rev'd 7/15/14
[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Where the meaning is not compromised by adhering to the spelling, punctuation or grammar, no change has been made. Corrections or additional notes have been inserted within brackets or footnotes. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. A bracketed question mark indicates that the word or words preceding it represent(s) a guess by me. The word 'illegible' or 'indecipherable' appearing in brackets indicates that at the time I made the transcription, I was unable to decipher the word or phrase in question. Only materials pertinent to the military service of the veteran and to contemporary events have been transcribed. Affidavits that provide additional information on these events are included and genealogical information is abstracted, while standard, 'boilerplate' affidavits and attestations related solely to the application, and later nineteenth and twentieth century research requests for information have been omitted. I use speech recognition software to make all my transcriptions. Such software misinterprets my southern accent with unfortunate regularity and my poor proofreading skills fail to catch all misinterpretations. Also, dates or numbers which the software treats as numerals rather than words are not corrected: for example, the software transcribes "the eighth of June one thousand eighty six" as "the 8th of June 1786." Please call material errors or omissions to my attention.]
State of Tennessee, Knox County
On this first day of December 1832 personally appeared before me Samuel McCaleb one
of the acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox aforesaid. William Alexander, a
resident in the County of Knox and State of Tennessee aged eighty one years, who first being
duly sworn according to Law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain
the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed the seventh day of June 1832.
1st: That he entered the service as a Drafted Militia man in the early part of the month of
September 1774 under the Command of Capt. James Ewing and Lieut. George Gipson [George
Gibson] in the County of Augusta and State of Virginia where he then resided, that he marched
with the Company to the Warm Springs in the State of Virginia and remained there a few days,
from there to Warwick's Fort on Greenbrier River and from there to George Westfall's Fort on a
Branch of the Monongahela River in Tiger Valley where he with the balance of the Company
remained sometime to guard the fort. There were no field officers along. There being but one
company. He was in service on this expedition six weeks.
2nd: About the last of July 1776 he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command
of Captain John Lyle, Lieut. William McCutcheon and Ensign Joseph Long on Augusta County,
Virginia and marched by way of Andersons ferry on James River, Englishes' ferry on New River,
and Fort Chissel [sic, Fort Chiswell] to Major Anthony Bledsoe's on the waters of Holston
[River], he remained there a short time and marched to Long Island on Holston River where the
troops built a Fort, when he arrived at Long Island Colonel Russell was the commanding Officer
and after a short time Colonel William Christian arrived and took the command. My impression is that
they both were regular officer. The object of this expedition was against the Cherokee Indians, he remained in service until the last of the month of November of the same year, making his term of service
four months.
3rd: In the year 1778, he moved to Washington County in the State of Virginia, and in the
month of August 1780 or 81, he cannot now recollect which, he entered the service as a drafted militia
man under the command of Ensign William Davidson who was engaged with a detachment in
hunting a celebrated Tory named Isaac Lebo, who had done considerable damage to the
inhabitants, and also in hunting and taking said Lebo's stock of horses and cattle, he having a
large stock of both, all of which that the detachment could find was sold for the benefit of the
United States, he was engaged at different times in this service, but was in actual service six
weeks.
4th: In the same year that he performed the 3rd tour of duty as above stated and in the
month of September, he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command of Captain David
Beatty, he does not now recollect who was the Lieutenant but is under the impression his name
was Robert Edmunson [sic, Robert Edmondson or Edmiston] and Ensign Nathaniel Dredden [sic,
Nathaniel Dryden], who was killed in the Battle of King's Mountain [October 7, 1780]. Col.
William Campbell commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier and Col. Isaac Shelby were
along. We marched by way of Holston and Watauga River, Yellow Mountain, Green River,
Broad River, at the Cherokee ford and within about four days march of King's Mountain, where
the mounted troops were ordered to go on ahead of the foot troops who were to follow, but after
marching a day or two we met the troops returning, the Battle of King's Mountain having been
fought. The troops then marched to the Island ford on Catawba River where the mounted troops
were ordered to escort the prisoners taken in the Battle at King's Mountain to Salisbury in North
Carolina and the foot men returned home, he was in service on this expedition until the last of
October or beginning of November, he is positive the time was as much as six weeks.
5th: On the first of December of the same year as the 4th expedition, he entered the
service as a drafted militia man to go on an expedition against the Cherokee Indians under the
command of Capt. James Montgomery, Lieut. Alexander Montgomery and Ensign Thomas
Berry. Lieut. Montgomery was appointed by the Captain and the men objected, he marched
along but did no duty, but we had no other Lieutenant. Col. Arthur Campbell of Washington
County Va. commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier was also along. The troops marched
from Washington County Virginia to Honeycutt's ford on Holston River where they remained
several days waiting to get a supply of provisions, from there to Boyd's Creek crossing French
Broad River at the Island ford where Col. Sevier joined the army with a detachment he had gone
before with, he having had a Battle with the Indians on Boyd's Creek. The troops then marched
by several Indian towns to Highwassee [sic, Hiwassee] River crossing little Tennessee at Poquo
town, on this expedition the troops were fired at several times by the Indians in crossing rivers
and from the mountains but had no battles. Several prisoners were taken and eighteen Indian
towns destroyed, the troops marched back from Hiwassee to an Indian town on Little River
called Cahtoo and remained there a short time waiting for a supply of provisions, and then
returned home. He was in service on this expedition until about the middle of January say at least
six weeks, making the whole service he performed during the War of the Revolution nine months
and eighteen days, allowing thirty days to the month, all of which he perform as herein stated,
but that he has no documentary evidence by which he can prove the same, never having received
a written discharge and that he knows of no person now living whose testimony he can procure,
who can testify to his service, and that his situation puts it out of his power to make any search,
having been afflicted with rheumatic pains for several years so that he is entirely unable to stand
alone and has not walked for the last five years. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to
a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of
the Agency of any State.
Sworn and subscribed before me the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Wm Alexander
S/ Samuel McCaleb, one of the Acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox and State of
Tennessee
1 This veteran's file is misfiled in the Fold3.com collection and is found beginning at page 70 and running to page 84 of a file labeled 'illegible' in the Virginia veterans in the Fold3.com collection.
[Amos Hardin, a clergyman, and Anthony Smith gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Note: A note in the file indicates that the veteran died June 15, 1838 and that the file contains no
family data.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $31.98 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for 9
months and 13 days service as a private in the Virginia militia.]
On October 13, 1778, William Alexander married Ann Laird. Their children were (and there may have been others:)
Joseph Alexander 1780–1833
Jane Alexander 1782–1860
Nancy Alexander 1786–1830
Elizabeth Alexander 1788–1850
Ann Alexander 1790–1830
David Laird Alexander 1791–1860
William H Alexander 1797–1850
The actual burial site of William Alexander has been lost to history. The contribution that he made to American history deserved to be recognized and recorded for posterity, so we placed a Memorial Stone in his honor in the Cantrell Gilliand Memorial Garden. May this memorial serve as an expression of the gratitude and respect we owe him for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
Fewer than one thousand American Heroes, through skill, luck, and the leadership of cunning strategists, defeated Patrick Ferguson, a brilliant star of the British military might. William Alexander was one of the hundreds of foot solders who had started on the Campaign to find Ferguson and negate his prowess. He was headed to the battlefield from the Cowpens, but arrived too late to join the battle.
He documented his service when he submitted his Application for Revolutionary War Pension, S1785. Will Graves transcribed thousands of pensions of Patriots who fought in the Southern Campaign and housed them at revwarapps.org.
Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters
Pension application of William Alexander S1785 f14VA1
Transcribed by Will Graves 9/27/06 rev'd 7/15/14
[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Where the meaning is not compromised by adhering to the spelling, punctuation or grammar, no change has been made. Corrections or additional notes have been inserted within brackets or footnotes. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. A bracketed question mark indicates that the word or words preceding it represent(s) a guess by me. The word 'illegible' or 'indecipherable' appearing in brackets indicates that at the time I made the transcription, I was unable to decipher the word or phrase in question. Only materials pertinent to the military service of the veteran and to contemporary events have been transcribed. Affidavits that provide additional information on these events are included and genealogical information is abstracted, while standard, 'boilerplate' affidavits and attestations related solely to the application, and later nineteenth and twentieth century research requests for information have been omitted. I use speech recognition software to make all my transcriptions. Such software misinterprets my southern accent with unfortunate regularity and my poor proofreading skills fail to catch all misinterpretations. Also, dates or numbers which the software treats as numerals rather than words are not corrected: for example, the software transcribes "the eighth of June one thousand eighty six" as "the 8th of June 1786." Please call material errors or omissions to my attention.]
State of Tennessee, Knox County
On this first day of December 1832 personally appeared before me Samuel McCaleb one
of the acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox aforesaid. William Alexander, a
resident in the County of Knox and State of Tennessee aged eighty one years, who first being
duly sworn according to Law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain
the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed the seventh day of June 1832.
1st: That he entered the service as a Drafted Militia man in the early part of the month of
September 1774 under the Command of Capt. James Ewing and Lieut. George Gipson [George
Gibson] in the County of Augusta and State of Virginia where he then resided, that he marched
with the Company to the Warm Springs in the State of Virginia and remained there a few days,
from there to Warwick's Fort on Greenbrier River and from there to George Westfall's Fort on a
Branch of the Monongahela River in Tiger Valley where he with the balance of the Company
remained sometime to guard the fort. There were no field officers along. There being but one
company. He was in service on this expedition six weeks.
2nd: About the last of July 1776 he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command
of Captain John Lyle, Lieut. William McCutcheon and Ensign Joseph Long on Augusta County,
Virginia and marched by way of Andersons ferry on James River, Englishes' ferry on New River,
and Fort Chissel [sic, Fort Chiswell] to Major Anthony Bledsoe's on the waters of Holston
[River], he remained there a short time and marched to Long Island on Holston River where the
troops built a Fort, when he arrived at Long Island Colonel Russell was the commanding Officer
and after a short time Colonel William Christian arrived and took the command. My impression is that
they both were regular officer. The object of this expedition was against the Cherokee Indians, he remained in service until the last of the month of November of the same year, making his term of service
four months.
3rd: In the year 1778, he moved to Washington County in the State of Virginia, and in the
month of August 1780 or 81, he cannot now recollect which, he entered the service as a drafted militia
man under the command of Ensign William Davidson who was engaged with a detachment in
hunting a celebrated Tory named Isaac Lebo, who had done considerable damage to the
inhabitants, and also in hunting and taking said Lebo's stock of horses and cattle, he having a
large stock of both, all of which that the detachment could find was sold for the benefit of the
United States, he was engaged at different times in this service, but was in actual service six
weeks.
4th: In the same year that he performed the 3rd tour of duty as above stated and in the
month of September, he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command of Captain David
Beatty, he does not now recollect who was the Lieutenant but is under the impression his name
was Robert Edmunson [sic, Robert Edmondson or Edmiston] and Ensign Nathaniel Dredden [sic,
Nathaniel Dryden], who was killed in the Battle of King's Mountain [October 7, 1780]. Col.
William Campbell commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier and Col. Isaac Shelby were
along. We marched by way of Holston and Watauga River, Yellow Mountain, Green River,
Broad River, at the Cherokee ford and within about four days march of King's Mountain, where
the mounted troops were ordered to go on ahead of the foot troops who were to follow, but after
marching a day or two we met the troops returning, the Battle of King's Mountain having been
fought. The troops then marched to the Island ford on Catawba River where the mounted troops
were ordered to escort the prisoners taken in the Battle at King's Mountain to Salisbury in North
Carolina and the foot men returned home, he was in service on this expedition until the last of
October or beginning of November, he is positive the time was as much as six weeks.
5th: On the first of December of the same year as the 4th expedition, he entered the
service as a drafted militia man to go on an expedition against the Cherokee Indians under the
command of Capt. James Montgomery, Lieut. Alexander Montgomery and Ensign Thomas
Berry. Lieut. Montgomery was appointed by the Captain and the men objected, he marched
along but did no duty, but we had no other Lieutenant. Col. Arthur Campbell of Washington
County Va. commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier was also along. The troops marched
from Washington County Virginia to Honeycutt's ford on Holston River where they remained
several days waiting to get a supply of provisions, from there to Boyd's Creek crossing French
Broad River at the Island ford where Col. Sevier joined the army with a detachment he had gone
before with, he having had a Battle with the Indians on Boyd's Creek. The troops then marched
by several Indian towns to Highwassee [sic, Hiwassee] River crossing little Tennessee at Poquo
town, on this expedition the troops were fired at several times by the Indians in crossing rivers
and from the mountains but had no battles. Several prisoners were taken and eighteen Indian
towns destroyed, the troops marched back from Hiwassee to an Indian town on Little River
called Cahtoo and remained there a short time waiting for a supply of provisions, and then
returned home. He was in service on this expedition until about the middle of January say at least
six weeks, making the whole service he performed during the War of the Revolution nine months
and eighteen days, allowing thirty days to the month, all of which he perform as herein stated,
but that he has no documentary evidence by which he can prove the same, never having received
a written discharge and that he knows of no person now living whose testimony he can procure,
who can testify to his service, and that his situation puts it out of his power to make any search,
having been afflicted with rheumatic pains for several years so that he is entirely unable to stand
alone and has not walked for the last five years. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to
a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of
the Agency of any State.
Sworn and subscribed before me the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Wm Alexander
S/ Samuel McCaleb, one of the Acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox and State of
Tennessee
1 This veteran's file is misfiled in the Fold3.com collection and is found beginning at page 70 and running to page 84 of a file labeled 'illegible' in the Virginia veterans in the Fold3.com collection.
[Amos Hardin, a clergyman, and Anthony Smith gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Note: A note in the file indicates that the veteran died June 15, 1838 and that the file contains no
family data.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $31.98 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for 9
months and 13 days service as a private in the Virginia militia.]
On October 13, 1778, William Alexander married Ann Laird. Their children were (and there may have been others:)
Joseph Alexander 1780–1833
Jane Alexander 1782–1860
Nancy Alexander 1786–1830
Elizabeth Alexander 1788–1850
Ann Alexander 1790–1830
David Laird Alexander 1791–1860
William H Alexander 1797–1850
The actual burial site of William Alexander has been lost to history. The contribution that he made to American history deserved to be recognized and recorded for posterity, so we placed a Memorial Stone in his honor in the Cantrell Gilliand Memorial Garden. May this memorial serve as an expression of the gratitude and respect we owe him for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
On October 7, 1780, brother met brother, neighbor met neighbor, Patriot met Loyalist on a battlefield in rural South Carolina. The battle lasted an hour: the brevity belied the import. Thomas Jefferson proclaimed the Battle of King's Mountain turned "the tide of success which terminated the Revolutionary War, with the seal of our independence."
Fewer than one thousand American Heroes, through skill, luck, and the leadership of cunning strategists, defeated Patrick Ferguson, a brilliant star of the British military might. William Alexander was one of the hundreds of foot solders who had started on the Campaign to find Ferguson and negate his prowess. He was headed to the battlefield from the Cowpens, but arrived too late to join the battle.
He documented his service when he submitted his Application for Revolutionary War Pension, S1785. Will Graves transcribed thousands of pensions of Patriots who fought in the Southern Campaign and housed them at revwarapps.org.
Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters
Pension application of William Alexander S1785 f14VA1
Transcribed by Will Graves 9/27/06 rev'd 7/15/14
[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Where the meaning is not compromised by adhering to the spelling, punctuation or grammar, no change has been made. Corrections or additional notes have been inserted within brackets or footnotes. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. A bracketed question mark indicates that the word or words preceding it represent(s) a guess by me. The word 'illegible' or 'indecipherable' appearing in brackets indicates that at the time I made the transcription, I was unable to decipher the word or phrase in question. Only materials pertinent to the military service of the veteran and to contemporary events have been transcribed. Affidavits that provide additional information on these events are included and genealogical information is abstracted, while standard, 'boilerplate' affidavits and attestations related solely to the application, and later nineteenth and twentieth century research requests for information have been omitted. I use speech recognition software to make all my transcriptions. Such software misinterprets my southern accent with unfortunate regularity and my poor proofreading skills fail to catch all misinterpretations. Also, dates or numbers which the software treats as numerals rather than words are not corrected: for example, the software transcribes "the eighth of June one thousand eighty six" as "the 8th of June 1786." Please call material errors or omissions to my attention.]
State of Tennessee, Knox County
On this first day of December 1832 personally appeared before me Samuel McCaleb one
of the acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox aforesaid. William Alexander, a
resident in the County of Knox and State of Tennessee aged eighty one years, who first being
duly sworn according to Law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain
the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed the seventh day of June 1832.
1st: That he entered the service as a Drafted Militia man in the early part of the month of
September 1774 under the Command of Capt. James Ewing and Lieut. George Gipson [George
Gibson] in the County of Augusta and State of Virginia where he then resided, that he marched
with the Company to the Warm Springs in the State of Virginia and remained there a few days,
from there to Warwick's Fort on Greenbrier River and from there to George Westfall's Fort on a
Branch of the Monongahela River in Tiger Valley where he with the balance of the Company
remained sometime to guard the fort. There were no field officers along. There being but one
company. He was in service on this expedition six weeks.
2nd: About the last of July 1776 he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command
of Captain John Lyle, Lieut. William McCutcheon and Ensign Joseph Long on Augusta County,
Virginia and marched by way of Andersons ferry on James River, Englishes' ferry on New River,
and Fort Chissel [sic, Fort Chiswell] to Major Anthony Bledsoe's on the waters of Holston
[River], he remained there a short time and marched to Long Island on Holston River where the
troops built a Fort, when he arrived at Long Island Colonel Russell was the commanding Officer
and after a short time Colonel William Christian arrived and took the command. My impression is that
they both were regular officer. The object of this expedition was against the Cherokee Indians, he remained in service until the last of the month of November of the same year, making his term of service
four months.
3rd: In the year 1778, he moved to Washington County in the State of Virginia, and in the
month of August 1780 or 81, he cannot now recollect which, he entered the service as a drafted militia
man under the command of Ensign William Davidson who was engaged with a detachment in
hunting a celebrated Tory named Isaac Lebo, who had done considerable damage to the
inhabitants, and also in hunting and taking said Lebo's stock of horses and cattle, he having a
large stock of both, all of which that the detachment could find was sold for the benefit of the
United States, he was engaged at different times in this service, but was in actual service six
weeks.
4th: In the same year that he performed the 3rd tour of duty as above stated and in the
month of September, he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command of Captain David
Beatty, he does not now recollect who was the Lieutenant but is under the impression his name
was Robert Edmunson [sic, Robert Edmondson or Edmiston] and Ensign Nathaniel Dredden [sic,
Nathaniel Dryden], who was killed in the Battle of King's Mountain [October 7, 1780]. Col.
William Campbell commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier and Col. Isaac Shelby were
along. We marched by way of Holston and Watauga River, Yellow Mountain, Green River,
Broad River, at the Cherokee ford and within about four days march of King's Mountain, where
the mounted troops were ordered to go on ahead of the foot troops who were to follow, but after
marching a day or two we met the troops returning, the Battle of King's Mountain having been
fought. The troops then marched to the Island ford on Catawba River where the mounted troops
were ordered to escort the prisoners taken in the Battle at King's Mountain to Salisbury in North
Carolina and the foot men returned home, he was in service on this expedition until the last of
October or beginning of November, he is positive the time was as much as six weeks.
5th: On the first of December of the same year as the 4th expedition, he entered the
service as a drafted militia man to go on an expedition against the Cherokee Indians under the
command of Capt. James Montgomery, Lieut. Alexander Montgomery and Ensign Thomas
Berry. Lieut. Montgomery was appointed by the Captain and the men objected, he marched
along but did no duty, but we had no other Lieutenant. Col. Arthur Campbell of Washington
County Va. commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier was also along. The troops marched
from Washington County Virginia to Honeycutt's ford on Holston River where they remained
several days waiting to get a supply of provisions, from there to Boyd's Creek crossing French
Broad River at the Island ford where Col. Sevier joined the army with a detachment he had gone
before with, he having had a Battle with the Indians on Boyd's Creek. The troops then marched
by several Indian towns to Highwassee [sic, Hiwassee] River crossing little Tennessee at Poquo
town, on this expedition the troops were fired at several times by the Indians in crossing rivers
and from the mountains but had no battles. Several prisoners were taken and eighteen Indian
towns destroyed, the troops marched back from Hiwassee to an Indian town on Little River
called Cahtoo and remained there a short time waiting for a supply of provisions, and then
returned home. He was in service on this expedition until about the middle of January say at least
six weeks, making the whole service he performed during the War of the Revolution nine months
and eighteen days, allowing thirty days to the month, all of which he perform as herein stated,
but that he has no documentary evidence by which he can prove the same, never having received
a written discharge and that he knows of no person now living whose testimony he can procure,
who can testify to his service, and that his situation puts it out of his power to make any search,
having been afflicted with rheumatic pains for several years so that he is entirely unable to stand
alone and has not walked for the last five years. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to
a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of
the Agency of any State.
Sworn and subscribed before me the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Wm Alexander
S/ Samuel McCaleb, one of the Acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox and State of
Tennessee
1 This veteran's file is misfiled in the Fold3.com collection and is found beginning at page 70 and running to page 84 of a file labeled 'illegible' in the Virginia veterans in the Fold3.com collection.
[Amos Hardin, a clergyman, and Anthony Smith gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Note: A note in the file indicates that the veteran died June 15, 1838 and that the file contains no
family data.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $31.98 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for 9
months and 13 days service as a private in the Virginia militia.]
On October 13, 1778, William Alexander married Ann Laird. Their children were (and there may have been others:)
Joseph Alexander 1780–1833
Jane Alexander 1782–1860
Nancy Alexander 1786–1830
Elizabeth Alexander 1788–1850
Ann Alexander 1790–1830
David Laird Alexander 1791–1860
William H Alexander 1797–1850
The actual burial site of William Alexander has been lost to history. The contribution that he made to American history deserved to be recognized and recorded for posterity, so we placed a Memorial Stone in his honor in the Cantrell Gilliand Memorial Garden. May this memorial serve as an expression of the gratitude and respect we owe him for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
Fewer than one thousand American Heroes, through skill, luck, and the leadership of cunning strategists, defeated Patrick Ferguson, a brilliant star of the British military might. William Alexander was one of the hundreds of foot solders who had started on the Campaign to find Ferguson and negate his prowess. He was headed to the battlefield from the Cowpens, but arrived too late to join the battle.
He documented his service when he submitted his Application for Revolutionary War Pension, S1785. Will Graves transcribed thousands of pensions of Patriots who fought in the Southern Campaign and housed them at revwarapps.org.
Southern Campaign American Revolution Pension Statements & Rosters
Pension application of William Alexander S1785 f14VA1
Transcribed by Will Graves 9/27/06 rev'd 7/15/14
[Methodology: Spelling, punctuation and/or grammar have been corrected in some instances for ease of reading and to facilitate searches of the database. Where the meaning is not compromised by adhering to the spelling, punctuation or grammar, no change has been made. Corrections or additional notes have been inserted within brackets or footnotes. Blanks appearing in the transcripts reflect blanks in the original. A bracketed question mark indicates that the word or words preceding it represent(s) a guess by me. The word 'illegible' or 'indecipherable' appearing in brackets indicates that at the time I made the transcription, I was unable to decipher the word or phrase in question. Only materials pertinent to the military service of the veteran and to contemporary events have been transcribed. Affidavits that provide additional information on these events are included and genealogical information is abstracted, while standard, 'boilerplate' affidavits and attestations related solely to the application, and later nineteenth and twentieth century research requests for information have been omitted. I use speech recognition software to make all my transcriptions. Such software misinterprets my southern accent with unfortunate regularity and my poor proofreading skills fail to catch all misinterpretations. Also, dates or numbers which the software treats as numerals rather than words are not corrected: for example, the software transcribes "the eighth of June one thousand eighty six" as "the 8th of June 1786." Please call material errors or omissions to my attention.]
State of Tennessee, Knox County
On this first day of December 1832 personally appeared before me Samuel McCaleb one
of the acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox aforesaid. William Alexander, a
resident in the County of Knox and State of Tennessee aged eighty one years, who first being
duly sworn according to Law, doth on his oath make the following declaration, in order to obtain
the benefit of the Act of Congress, passed the seventh day of June 1832.
1st: That he entered the service as a Drafted Militia man in the early part of the month of
September 1774 under the Command of Capt. James Ewing and Lieut. George Gipson [George
Gibson] in the County of Augusta and State of Virginia where he then resided, that he marched
with the Company to the Warm Springs in the State of Virginia and remained there a few days,
from there to Warwick's Fort on Greenbrier River and from there to George Westfall's Fort on a
Branch of the Monongahela River in Tiger Valley where he with the balance of the Company
remained sometime to guard the fort. There were no field officers along. There being but one
company. He was in service on this expedition six weeks.
2nd: About the last of July 1776 he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command
of Captain John Lyle, Lieut. William McCutcheon and Ensign Joseph Long on Augusta County,
Virginia and marched by way of Andersons ferry on James River, Englishes' ferry on New River,
and Fort Chissel [sic, Fort Chiswell] to Major Anthony Bledsoe's on the waters of Holston
[River], he remained there a short time and marched to Long Island on Holston River where the
troops built a Fort, when he arrived at Long Island Colonel Russell was the commanding Officer
and after a short time Colonel William Christian arrived and took the command. My impression is that
they both were regular officer. The object of this expedition was against the Cherokee Indians, he remained in service until the last of the month of November of the same year, making his term of service
four months.
3rd: In the year 1778, he moved to Washington County in the State of Virginia, and in the
month of August 1780 or 81, he cannot now recollect which, he entered the service as a drafted militia
man under the command of Ensign William Davidson who was engaged with a detachment in
hunting a celebrated Tory named Isaac Lebo, who had done considerable damage to the
inhabitants, and also in hunting and taking said Lebo's stock of horses and cattle, he having a
large stock of both, all of which that the detachment could find was sold for the benefit of the
United States, he was engaged at different times in this service, but was in actual service six
weeks.
4th: In the same year that he performed the 3rd tour of duty as above stated and in the
month of September, he entered the service as a Volunteer under the command of Captain David
Beatty, he does not now recollect who was the Lieutenant but is under the impression his name
was Robert Edmunson [sic, Robert Edmondson or Edmiston] and Ensign Nathaniel Dredden [sic,
Nathaniel Dryden], who was killed in the Battle of King's Mountain [October 7, 1780]. Col.
William Campbell commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier and Col. Isaac Shelby were
along. We marched by way of Holston and Watauga River, Yellow Mountain, Green River,
Broad River, at the Cherokee ford and within about four days march of King's Mountain, where
the mounted troops were ordered to go on ahead of the foot troops who were to follow, but after
marching a day or two we met the troops returning, the Battle of King's Mountain having been
fought. The troops then marched to the Island ford on Catawba River where the mounted troops
were ordered to escort the prisoners taken in the Battle at King's Mountain to Salisbury in North
Carolina and the foot men returned home, he was in service on this expedition until the last of
October or beginning of November, he is positive the time was as much as six weeks.
5th: On the first of December of the same year as the 4th expedition, he entered the
service as a drafted militia man to go on an expedition against the Cherokee Indians under the
command of Capt. James Montgomery, Lieut. Alexander Montgomery and Ensign Thomas
Berry. Lieut. Montgomery was appointed by the Captain and the men objected, he marched
along but did no duty, but we had no other Lieutenant. Col. Arthur Campbell of Washington
County Va. commanded the Regiment, Col. John Sevier was also along. The troops marched
from Washington County Virginia to Honeycutt's ford on Holston River where they remained
several days waiting to get a supply of provisions, from there to Boyd's Creek crossing French
Broad River at the Island ford where Col. Sevier joined the army with a detachment he had gone
before with, he having had a Battle with the Indians on Boyd's Creek. The troops then marched
by several Indian towns to Highwassee [sic, Hiwassee] River crossing little Tennessee at Poquo
town, on this expedition the troops were fired at several times by the Indians in crossing rivers
and from the mountains but had no battles. Several prisoners were taken and eighteen Indian
towns destroyed, the troops marched back from Hiwassee to an Indian town on Little River
called Cahtoo and remained there a short time waiting for a supply of provisions, and then
returned home. He was in service on this expedition until about the middle of January say at least
six weeks, making the whole service he performed during the War of the Revolution nine months
and eighteen days, allowing thirty days to the month, all of which he perform as herein stated,
but that he has no documentary evidence by which he can prove the same, never having received
a written discharge and that he knows of no person now living whose testimony he can procure,
who can testify to his service, and that his situation puts it out of his power to make any search,
having been afflicted with rheumatic pains for several years so that he is entirely unable to stand
alone and has not walked for the last five years. He hereby relinquishes every claim whatever to
a pension or annuity except the present, and declares that his name is not on the Pension Roll of
the Agency of any State.
Sworn and subscribed before me the day and year aforesaid.
S/ Wm Alexander
S/ Samuel McCaleb, one of the Acting Justices of the Peace for the County of Knox and State of
Tennessee
1 This veteran's file is misfiled in the Fold3.com collection and is found beginning at page 70 and running to page 84 of a file labeled 'illegible' in the Virginia veterans in the Fold3.com collection.
[Amos Hardin, a clergyman, and Anthony Smith gave the standard supporting affidavit.]
[Note: A note in the file indicates that the veteran died June 15, 1838 and that the file contains no
family data.]
[Veteran was pensioned at the rate of $31.98 per annum commencing March 4th, 1831, for 9
months and 13 days service as a private in the Virginia militia.]
On October 13, 1778, William Alexander married Ann Laird. Their children were (and there may have been others:)
Joseph Alexander 1780–1833
Jane Alexander 1782–1860
Nancy Alexander 1786–1830
Elizabeth Alexander 1788–1850
Ann Alexander 1790–1830
David Laird Alexander 1791–1860
William H Alexander 1797–1850
The actual burial site of William Alexander has been lost to history. The contribution that he made to American history deserved to be recognized and recorded for posterity, so we placed a Memorial Stone in his honor in the Cantrell Gilliand Memorial Garden. May this memorial serve as an expression of the gratitude and respect we owe him for risking his life and braving the unknown to help build a new country: our America.
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