It was in this building in Bethania that Cornwallis established his head¬
quarters. It is now the home of Mr. L. T. Butner.
Cornwallis in
Wachovia
A description of the invasion off
(he Moravian territory by the
British forces who were in pur¬
suit of General Greene. They
spent two days in the vicinity of
Bethania.
By F.DWAKD M. HOLDER
BLACKOUTS, restrictions on
travel, food rationing, and price
fixing bring the war close houie
t<> the peoplt- of North Carolina, but
the present conflict i- by no means a
novelty for this State. Kverv genera¬
tion in North Carolina history has
known war. Twice its hardships have
fallen upon the people much more
directly and heavily than in the pres¬
ent conflict. During the Civil War
our grandparents did without many
of the necessities of life, not because
they were rationed, but because
Yankee gunboats blockaded the coast.
In the Revolution the same scarcity
prevailed, with such essential items
as salt, sugar, and coffee wholly un¬
obtainable. Nor was this all : in both
the Civil War and the Revolution the
-tale was invaded hv enemy troops,
and both invading and defending
forces lived off the country.
In the winter of 17K1 Lord Corn¬
wallis crossed the Piedmont portion
of the State from Charlotte to Hills¬
borough, in pursuit of (leneral
Greene, who was conducting a strategic
retreat to lure the British away from
their base of supplies at Winnshoro.
South Carolina. Cornwallis passed
through Wachovia, the settlement of
Moravians in what i' now Forsyth
County, on the ninth and tenth of
February. Records of this invasion
have been well preserved. They por¬
tray realistically the impact of war
upon the everyday life of a peaceable
people.
Throughout the Revolutionary War
the Moravian towns, the chief centers
of industry and commerce in Pied¬
mont North Carolina, had furnished
grain, flour, meat, shoes, and other
supplies to the American forces. They
had on several occasions provided
quarters for detachments of the Pa¬
triot army. During the month of
January, 1781, Colonel White’s Vir¬
ginia cavalry was quartered in Salem,
and the congregation infirmary was
taken over for a military hospital.
The Moravian sisters worked as busily
as any Red Cross volunteer center of
today supplying surgical dressings -
‘‘rags for lint," the record says.
When news arrived that Corn¬
wallis was heading north, the town
of Salem dispatched two men to Gen¬
eral Greene with n request for n guard
to protect against marauders and if
possible against the British army. But
General Greene, hard pressed by
Cornwallis himself ami without suf¬
ficient forces yet recruited to risk
battle, could give no help.
On the ninth of February Lord
Cornwallis marched into Bethania,
on the northwest corner of the Wach¬
ovia tract, from Shallowford on the
Yadkin, He had been detained by
Hood water at Salisbury and forced
to move farther upstream to cross the
river. His entire army camped in
Bethania for the night and moved
on next, day through Rcthabara ami
Salem to Friedland, on the opposite
side of the Wachovia tract, where
they camped on the night of the tenth.
All available food, cattle, chickens,
meal, bread, and brandy in Botbania.
and much from Bethabara and Salem,
were taken for the two-day encamp¬
ment. Likewist, all the horses in the
community were seized.
An Authentic Record
The Reverend John Jacob Ernst,
pastor of the Bethania congregation,
wrote in the church diary as follows:
“About noon the English really
arrived here. The officers were
divided among the houses. As they
arrived order was given that cattle
for butchering should Ik- furnished,
and a» that was neglected more than
sixty were killed during the day, of
which thirty were seized here; this
did not include the sheep, geese, and
chickens which they took. A sharp
order was given for twenty good
horses by six o’clock. Everything was
in tlie greatest confusion, and no one
knew what to do; for all houses were
filled with officers ami their servants.
At dusk the order for horses was
rotated with threats. We made an
attempt to explain to General Corn¬
wallis that it was impossible to fur¬
nish twenty horses; he was not at all
moved, hut wrote a puss permitting
two of our young men to ride to the
neighbors and bring in some horses.
I had hardly reached the house when
an officer arrived to seize me as a
