on." "Go son, said his mother, and join yourself to
the men of our country. We ventured our lives on the waves
of the ocean in quest of the freedom promised us here. Go,
and fight for it, and rather let me hear of your _death_
than of your _cowardice_."

In a short time afterward this patriotic advice of his mother was
called into action. "Orders were presently issued," continues his
journal, "by Colonel Thomas Polk to the several militia companies of
the county for two men, selected from each _beat_ or district to meet
at the Court House in Charlotte, on the 19th day of May, 1775, in
order to consult upon such measures as might be thought best to be
pursued. Accordingly, on said day, a far greater number than two out
of each company were present." Drawn by the great excitement of the
occasion, surpassing that of any other preceding it, he attended the
Convention on the appointed day. He was then a few days over twenty
years of his age, and mingled with the numerous crowd of interested
spectators. He then had the pleasure of listening to the reading of
the _first Declaration of Independence_ in the United States, and
joined in the shout of approval which burst forth from the assembled
multitude. In a short time after the Convention in Charlotte, Col.
Thomas Polk raised a regiment of infantry and cavalry, and marched in
the direction of Cross creek (now Fayetteville) to disperse a body of
Tories. In this service, he joined a corps of cavalry under Captain
Chas. Polk. Soon after the return of this expedition, he commenced his
classical studies at Clio Academy, in the western part of Rowan
county, (now Iredell) under the instruction of the Rev. James Hall.

About this time the Cherokee Indians were committing numerous
depredations and occasional murders near the head sources of the
Catawba river. Upon this information, Gen. Rutherford called out a
brigade of militia from Guilford, Mecklenburg, Rowan, Lincoln and
other western counties, composed of infantry and three corps of
cavalry. In one of the companies commanded by Captain, afterwards Col.
Robert Mebane, he acted as Lieutenant. Two skirmishes took place
during this campaign, in which several Indians were killed and a
considerable number made prisoners, among the latter, Hicks and Scott,
two white traders, who had married Indians and espoused their cause.
After his return from the Cherokee expedition, he resumed his
classical education at Queen's