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July 04, 2005
Horseshoe: Soldier of the American Revolution
Being that today is the birthday of the USA, this blog presents a true story about a soldier of the American Revolution.
In January of 1819, aspiring novelist John Pendleton Kennedy was traveling by horseback through the frontier section of South Carolina, when he came upon a boy who had been injured in a horse-riding accident. Kennedy assisted the boy’s father in taking the boy home. Once inside the boy’s house, the father determined that the boy was in need of immediate medical attention. The nearest physician was several miles away, and so the boy’s father sent for an elderly man called Horseshoe, who was skilled in first aid.
When Horseshoe arrived, Kennedy found himself in the presence of a soldier of the American Revolution. Here is Kennedy’s description of that soldier:
What a man I saw! With nearly seventy years upon his poll, time seemed to have broken its billows over his front only as the ocean breaks over a rock. There he stood – tall, broad, brawny, and erect. The sharp light gilded his massive frame and weather-beaten face with a pictorial effect that would have rejoiced an artist. His homely dress, his free stride, as he advanced to the fire; his face radiant with kindness; the natural gracefulness of his motion; all afforded a ready index to his character. Horseshoe, it was evident, was a man to confide in.
Kennedy watched as the old soldier began aiding the wounded boy, who had a dislocated shoulder. According to Kennedy, Horseshoe “went to work with the earnest of a practiced surgeon” and set the shoulder into its proper position.
Kennedy and Horseshoe stayed the night at the boy’s house, during which time Horseshoe entertained everyone with stories about his participation in the American Revolution. Years later, Kennedy wrote of his impression of the old soldier’s stories:
It was long after midnight before our party broke up; and when I got to my bed it was to dream of Horseshoe and his adventures. I made a record of what he told me, whilst the memory of it was still fresh, and often afterwards reverted to it, when accident or intentional research brought into my view events connected with times and scenes to which his story had reference.
In 1835, Kennedy published a novel about the American Revolution based on Horseshoe’s war experiences. Those experiences included Horseshoe being captured by the British during the siege of Charleston. Horseshoe escaped and rejoined the American army. Horseshoe’s military service record indicates that he was one of the militia men who participated in the Battle at Cowpens in South Carolina, the battle featured at the conclusion of Mel Gibson’s movie The Patriot.
Late in life, Horseshoe moved to Tuscaloosa, Alabama. On January 17, 1838, Tuscaloosa’s Flag of the Union newspaper published an account of a visit that two journalists had with Horseshoe. Here is an excerpt of the account:
He was born, he says in 1759 in Virginia, and entered the army in his seventeenth year. Before the close of war, he says, he commanded a troop of horse, so that his military title is that of Captain. Horseshoe, although in infirm health, bears evident marks of having been a man of great personal strength and activity. He is now afflicted with a troublesome cough, which ill the natural course of events must ill a few nears wear out his aged frame. Yet, notwithstanding his infirmities and general debility, his eye still sparkles with the fire of youth as he recounts the stirring and thrilling incidents of the war, and that sly, quiet humor so well described by Kennedy may still be seen playing around his mouth as one calls to his recollections any of the pranks he was wont to play upon any of the "Tory vagrants," as he very properly styles them. The old Gentleman received us with warm cordiality and hospitality; and after partaking of the Bounties of his board and spending a night under his hospitable roof we took leave of him, sincerely wishing him many years of the peaceful enjoyment of that liberty which he fought so long and so bravely to achieve. It will not be uninteresting, we hope, to remark that the old hero still considers himself a soldier, though the nature of his warfare is changed; he is now a zealous promoter of the Redeemer's cause as he once was in securing the independence of his country.
Horseshoe passed away in April of 1838. His grave is in Tuscaloosa County, Alabama on the banks of the Black Warrior River, in the old family burial ground. His tombstone contains the following description:
. . . he earned a just fame in the war of independence, in which he was eminent in courage, patriotism and suffering. He lived fifty-six years with his worthy partner, useful and respected, and died in hopes of a blessed immortality. His children erect this monument as a tribute justly due a good husband, father, neighbor, patriot and soldier.
The independence of the USA was paid for with the blood, sweat and tears of men like Horseshoe. Sadly, most soldiers of the American Revolution have been forgotten. So, on this July 4th, if you are a citizen of the USA, and if you enjoy your liberty, then please take a moment to thank God for the brave soldiers who made your liberty possible. Now you know about one of them, the Revolutionary War soldier named James “Horseshoe” Robertson.
In October of 1997, more than 200 of Horseshoe’s descendents gathered at Horseshoe’s grave to pay their respect to their heroic ancestor. Among those descendents was an aspiring writer who was born on July 4th. That descendent is now a blogger with the Lifelike Pundits.
Posted by Dodo David at July 4, 2005 09:47 AM
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Comments
Sounds like that blogger comes from good stock!
Posted by: joe-6-pack at July 5, 2005 07:13 PM