Tuesday, July 24, 2007 1:03 AM CDT
Revolutionary War author Bowles speaks to descendants of early Coles County settlers
By ROB STROUD, Staff Writer
rstroud@jg-tc.com
OAKLAND — Revolutionary War soldier Adam Mitchell was highly motivated on March 15, 1781, as he fought the British at the battle of Guilford Courthouse, N.C.
“(Adam) was not just fighting for independence. He was fighting for his farm,” said author David Bowles of his ancestor, whose son was an early Coles County settler.
The 36-year-old Mitchell’s mother, wife and four children were on that farm not far behind the American lines. Adam Mitchell’s family took shelter inside the farm’s spring house, a stone structure used to keep food cool.
“Spring House” is the title of Bowles’ book about his ancestors’ experiences in colonial North Carolina and in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse.
Bowles visited the 101st Galbreath family reunion Sunday in Oakland to visit with descendants of James Galbreath and Martha Mitchell Galbreath, and to give a presentation on his book.
Galbreath descendent Ann Hinrichs, who was born in Charleston and grew up in Greenup, found out about Bowles’ book and invited the Texas-based author to attend the reunion.
“We found each other on the Internet through genealogy research,” Bowles said Saturday while touring Charleston. “We did not even know each other existed until about six months ago.”
The author was accompanied by Hinrichs’ cousin Mary Drystad of Columbus, Ind., and Drystad’s great nieces Claire, 10, and Chloe, 8, Chambers, also of Columbus.
“Ann got me that (book) for Christmas and I read it in two days. It was so interesting,” Drystad said.
Bowles said Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene decided Guilford Courthouse would be a good place to stand against the advancing British force of 2,200 soldiers led by Lord Charles Cornwallis. He said Greene formed his 4,500 soldiers into three lines, with more than half of them being drawn from local militias.
“They were farmers, not fighters, but they were defending their property,” Bowles said. “Some of them that were on the first line did not even have guns.”
The National Park Service reports Cornwallis forced his opponents to withdraw from the field after 2 1/2 hours of intense and often brutal fighting. Cornwallis’ victory was won at the cost of more than 25 percent of his army, while Greene’s retreat preserved the strength of his army.
Bowles said Adam Mitchell’s family was well protected from the battle by the spring house’s stone walls. Still, Bowles said the cannon fire was audible to the women and children. That group included 7-year-old John, who later settled in 1828 in eastern Coles County.
“I think it would be very scary to hear that as a 7-year-old,” young Claire Chambers said.
Bowles said a British officer later found the family in the spring house and ordered 70-year-old Margaret Mitchell to move, but she refused. The officer ultimately left the family unharmed, not knowing 14-year-old Robert Mitchell was poised to shoot him with a hidden pistol.
Margaret Mitchell was hiding a trunk containing 64 pounds of pewter plates and drinking cups that the British could have melted down for ammunition, Bowles said. Cornwallis’ forces were low on ammunition when they surrendered seven months later at Yorktown, Va. to combined American and French forces, he said.
After the Guilford Courthouse battle, Bowles said Margaret negotiated with Cornwallis for the release of her son and other American prisoners. He said the Mitchell family lived in the spring house for a time and then moved to Jonesboro, Tenn.
“Their home was destroyed by the British. Their corn field was turned into a mass grave,” Bowles said. The farm is now part of the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park.
The Mitchell family later went separate directions. John Mitchell settled in Ashmore Township when Coles County was still part of Clark County.
John Mitchell’s daughter Martha got married in 1839 to James Galbreath, who arrived in Ashmore Township six years earlier with his father, William. Ann Hinrichs noted William Galbreath served seven years in the Revolutionary War and guarded Cornwallis when he parlayed with Gen. George Washington’s forces at Yorktown.
Bowles, a direct descendent of John Mitchell’s sister Rebeckah, is working on the second book, “Adam’s Daughters,” in his Westward Sagas series about his ancestors. He is also enjoying getting contacts from family, like the Coles County Galbreaths, he never knew he had.
“I never dreamed anything like this could come from a little book,” Bowles said. For more information on his book, visit www.westwardsagas.com.
Contact Rob Stroud at rstroud@jg-tc.com or 348-5734.
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