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Colonel Robert Love was an American Revolutionary War soldier that served
in the command of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Robert Love was also the founder of Waynesville, North Carolina,
which he named in honor of his commanding officer.
Robert Love was born near the Tinkling Springs Church in Augusta County, Virginia,
May 11, 1760, and was the son of Samuel and Dorcas Love. Robert died on July 17, 1845, in Waynesville, Haywood
County, North Carolina. He was one of the earliest pioneers in the settlement and development of Western North Carolina
(see State of Franklin History: Tennessee and North Carolina). He was also prominent in the early history of that Region and he figured in the rise and fall
of the State of Franklin, which Governor John Sevier attempted to establish. He conducted the Robert Love Survey of 1820 (see related reading
below) and was well known to President Andrew Jackson. Robert Love was the progenitor of a large and influential family. His
brother, General Thomas Love, was also a prominent North Carolina politician.
Colonel Robert Love's
Revolutionary War Service and Pension Record:
On the April 5, 1833, Colonel Robert Love made
application for a pension under the Act of Congress of June 7, 1832, attaching his commission signed by Ben. Harrison,
Governor of Virginia. But, when the date of his commission was questioned, President Andrew "Old Hickory" Jackson wrote from The Hermitage and stated that he had known Colonel Robert Love since the fall of 1784 and further declared:
"
I sincerely regret to find from the contents of your letter the treatment which that worthy man & patriot, Col. Robert
Love, has received at the hands of the pension office....no man in this Union has sustained a higher reputation for integrity
than Col. Robert Love, with all men and with all parties, although himself a uniform democratic Republican, and that no man
stands deservedly higher as a man of great moral worth than Col. Love..." Even Jackson's endorsement, however, did not serve to secure the pension. Consequently, E. H. McClure
of Haywood County, North Carolina, filed an affidavit to the effect that the date of the commission was 1781 or 1782. Colonel
Robert Love was subsequently granted the pension. (State
Colonial Records, Vol. xxii, p.74; Colonel Robert Love Papers-Matthew D. Parker Private Collection)
Robert Love entered military service in 1776 from what is currently Wythe
County, Virginia. In 1776, Robert Love was stationed at Fort Robertson, which was located at the head of the Clinch and Sandy
rivers in what was then Montgomery County, Virginia.
Love served as a sergeant in Captain John Stephens Company against the Shawnee Indians from April
to October of 1778. In 1780, he served about six months against the Tories as a lieutenant under Colonel William Campbell.
This service was rendered on Tom's Creek at the Moravian Old
Town in North Carolina,
and on an excursion up to and near the Shallow Ford of the Yadkin. In 1781, Love spent about two months in Guilford County, North Carolina. While at Guilford County on March 6,
the Americans fought Cornwallis in the Battle at Wetzell's Mills (aka Whitesell's, Wetzel's, Weitzel's, Wetzell's). From
June to October of 1782, he was stationed at Fort Robertson as a lieutenant in Captain William Love's Company.
Colonel Robert
Love's pension and service records further reflect that he was a member of the expedition with Colonel Christie in 1776
against the Cherokees; that he served under the command of General "Mad" Anthony Wayne at Fort Patrick Henry on Long Island
of the Holston in 1777; was stationed at the head of the Clinch and Sandy rivers at Fort Robertson in 1778; operated
against the Shawnees from April to October in 1778; while serving with Col. Wm. Campbell, from 1779 to 1780, he engaged the
Tories on Tom's creek, New River, Cripple creek, Moravian Old Town, and Shallow ford of the Yadkin; in 1781, he
engaged Cornwallis in Guilford County "and the adjoining county," and while serving with Gen. Pickens, he "was in a severe
battle with his [Cornwallis] army at Whitesell mill and the Rudy ford of the Haw river;” then, with Capt. Wm. Doach,
he was sent back "from the rendezvous at the Lead Mines to collect and bring more men;" in 1782, he "was again stationed out
on the frontiers of the Clinch, at Fort Robertson...from June to October." He was living in Montgomery,
now Wythe County, Va., when
he entered military service in 1776.
Recommended Reading: Western North Carolina: A History from 1730 to 1913, by John Preston Arthur (Hardcover: 679 pages). Description: From the introduction to the appendix, this volume is filled with
interesting information. Covering seventeen counties—Alleghany, Ashe, Avery, Buncombe, Cherokee, Clay, Graham, Haywood,
Henderson, Jackson, Macon, Madison, Mitchell, Swain, Transylvania, Watauga, and Yancey—the author conducted about
ten years searching and gathering materials. Continued below...
About the Author: John Preston Arthur was born in
1851 in Columbia, South Carolina. After relocating to Asheville, North Carolina, in 1887, he was appointed Secretary of the
Street Railway Company, and subsequently the Manager and Superintendent until 1894. Later, after becoming a lawyer, he
was encouraged by the Daughters of the American Revolution (D.A.R.) to write a history of western North Carolina.
Recommended Reading:
Battles Of The Revolutionary War: 1775-1781 (Major Battles and Campaigns Series). Description:
The Americans did not simply outlast the British in the Revolutionary War, contends this author in a groundbreaking study,
but won their independence by employing superior strategies, tactics, and leadership. Designed for the "armchair strategist"
with dozens of detailed maps and illustrations, here is a blow-by-blow analysis of the men, commanders, and weaponry used
in the famous battles of Bunker Hill, Quebec, Trenton, Princeton, Saratoga, and Cowpens.
Colonel Robert Love's House Burned to the Ground by Yankee Raiders:
By 1865 the Confederacy had failed, and Colonel George W. Kirk and the Union's 3rd North Carolina Mounted Infantry Regiment believed it would encounter minimal opposition and resistance as they continued sacking Western North Carolina communities.
However, although the Confederacy was doomed, the Thomas Legion's highest calling was protecting North Carolina's mountain citizens. In late February
and early March of 1865, Union Col. Kirk continued his raids into Southern Appalachia. Kirk and the men of the Union's
3rd North Carolina (AKA North Carolina Federal Mounted Infantry) were commonly referred to as "Kirk's Raiders" because
they often pillaged and plundered the region. On February 4th, Kirk and a small army of 400 cavalry and 200 infantry left
Newport, Tennessee, and crossed into Haywood County, North Carolina, via the old Cataloochee Turnpike on a raid that reached
Waynesville, the county seat. Kirk's Raiders (armed with Spencer repeating rifles) soon entered Waynesville and pillaged
stores, stole numerous horses, killed about 20 men, and burned several houses, including Confederate Lt.
Col. James R. Love's house (also the former residence of James R. Love's grandfather, the Revolutionary
War hero Robert Love). Next they attacked the Waynesville jail, freed the prisoners, and then burned the jail. Slow and impeded
communication, the vastness of Western North Carolina, and few “Home Guard” made it extremely difficult to defend
the area.
Colonel Robert Love Summary:
Robert Love was born in Augusta County, Virginia, on May 11, 1760. When called into service he was residing in Montgomery
County, Virginia (currently Wythe
County, Virginia). He died on
July 17, 1845, in Waynesville, Haywood County, North Carolina.
After
the revolution, and with his parents deceased, he moved to what was then Washington County, North Carolina, but is now part
of Tennessee. About one year later, in 1782, he married Mary Ann Dillard, the daughter of Col. Thomas Dillard of Virginia.
Love represented Washington County in the North Carolina Legislature in 1789. He moved to Buncombe County, North Carolina,
in 1792 and was elected to the State Senate of North Carolina. In 1809, Love donated land in Haywood County, North Carolina,
for a courthouse, jail and town square. This formed Mount Prospect which was quickly renamed Waynesville in honor of his
commanding officer during the war. He helped to establish the final state boundary line between North Carolina and Tennessee
in 1821. (See Robert Love Survey of 1820 at bottom of page.)
Recommended Reading: Bushwhackers, The Civil War in North Carolina: The
Mountains (338 pages). Description: Trotter's book (which could have been titled "Murder, Mayhem, and Mountain Madness") is an epic backdrop
for the most horrific murdering, plundering and pillaging of the mountain communities of western North Carolina during the
state’s darkest hour—the American Civil War. Commonly referred to as Southern Appalachia, the North
Carolina and East Tennessee mountains witnessed divided loyalties in its bushwhackers
and guerrilla units. These so-called “bushwhackers” even used the conflict to settle old feuds and scores, which,
in some cases, continued well after the war ended. Continued below...
Some bushwhackers
were highly organized ‘fighting guerrilla units’ while others were a motley group of deserters and outliers,
and, since most of them were residents of the region, they were familiar with the terrain and made for a “very formidable
foe.” In this work, Trotter does a great job on covering the many facets of the bushwhackers, including their: battles,
skirmishes, raids, activities, motives, the outcome, and even the aftermath. This book is also a great source for tracing
ancestors during the Civil War; a must have for the family researcher of Southern Appalachia.
Related Reading:
Recommended
Reading: Touring the Western North Carolina
Backroads (Touring the Backroads). Editorial
Review: This guidebook, unlike most, is so
encyclopedic in scope that I give it as a gift to newcomers to the area. It is also an invaluable reference for the visitor
who wants to see more than the fabulous Biltmore Estate. Even though I am a native of the area, I learned nearly everything
I know about Western North Carolina from this book alone and it is my primary reference.
I am still amazed at how much fact, history and folklore [just enough to bring alive the curve of the road, the odd landmark,
the abandoned building] is packed in its 300 pages. The author, who must have collapsed from exhaustion when she finished
it, takes you on a detailed tour, laid out by the tenth of the mile, of carefully drawn sections of backroads that you can
follow leisurely without getting lost. Continued below...
The author
is completely absent from the text. The lucid style will please readers who want the facts, not editorial comment. This book,
as well as the others in this publisher's backroads series, makes an excellent gift for anyone, especially the many seniors
who have relocated, or are considering relocating to this fascinating region. It is also a valuable reference for natives,
like me, who didn't know how much they didn't know.
Recommended
Viewing: The History Channel Presents The Revolution (A&E) (600 minutes). Review: They came of age
in a new world amid intoxicating and innovative ideas about human and civil rights diverse economic systems and self-government.
In a few short years these men and women would transform themselves into architects of the future through the building of
a new nation – “a nation unlike any before.” From the roots of the rebellion and the signing of the Declaration
of Independence to victory on the battlefield at Yorktown and the adoption of The United States Constitution, THE REVOLUTION tells the remarkable
story of this pivotal era in history. Venturing beyond the conventional list of generals and politicians, THE HISTORY CHANNEL®
introduces the full range of individuals who helped shape this great conflict including some of the war’s most influential
unsung heroes. Continued below...
Through sweeping
cinematic recreations intimate biographical investigations and provocative political military and economic analysis the historic
ideas and themes that transformed treasonous acts against the British into noble acts of courage both on and off the battlefield
come to life in this dramatic and captivating program. This TEN HOUR DVD Features: History in the Making: The Revolution Behind-the-Scenes
Featurette; Interactive Menus; Scene Selections.
Bibliography:
Robert Love's Pension and Service Record; Mary Love Stringfield of Haywood County, North Carolina, a
descendant of Robert Love-F.D. Love; Love Family Volume I, First Series, Columbus, Georgia © 2001;
Matthew D. Parker (Private Collection); National Park Service; John Preston Arthur, History of Western North Carolina: Edward Buncombe Chapter of the Daughters of the American Revolution, Asheville, North Carolina, 1914; John
Hill Wheeler (1806-1882), Reminiscences and Memoirs of North Carolina and Eminent North Carolinians; Wheeler's History of
North Carolina, Vol. I. 97; Official Records
of the Union and Confederate Armies; Vernon H. Crow, Storm in the Mountains: Thomas' Confederate Legion of Cherokee Indians
and Mountaineers; Walter Clark, Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Great War 1861-1865;
National Park Service: American Civil War; Weymouth T. Jordan and Louis H. Manarin, North Carolina Troops, 1861-1865; D.
H. Hill, Confederate Military History Of North Carolina: North Carolina In The Civil War, 1861-1865; Christopher M. Watford,
The Civil War in North Carolina: Soldiers' and Civilians' Letters and Diaries, 1861-1865. Volume 2: The Mountains; Library
of Congress; National Archives and Records Administration; State Library of North Carolina; North Carolina Office of Archives
and History; North Carolina Museum of History; E. Stanly
Godbolt, Jr. and Mattie U. Russell, Confederate Colonel and Cherokee Chief: The Life of William Holland
Thomas; Paul A. Thomsen, Rebel Chief: The Motley Life of Colonel William Holland
Thomas C.S.A.
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