Bagpipes
The Scottish bagpipes added to the fife and drums of some orderly and established military units on both the Whig and Tory sides. The 1780 over moutain clans were not that organized. The plaids of the clans and the bagpipes are traditions which survived in the Appalachians.
Gatherings for “Highland Games” are still annual events in several mountain communities.
Highland Games shows some of them by state.
2013 Smoky Mountain Highland Games shows the May 2013 Games at Maryville College.
This tune provided by my USMC friend Rick Clevenger, came along after the Revolutionary War.
Semper Fi
Other tunes are on the internet, such as Bagpipe Marches
While I had ancestors both at King’s Mtn., and Cowpens, including Maj. John Cunningham, commander of the Georgia Sharpshooters then Wilkes Co., Georgia, it was when I found my 3rd Great-Grandfather, Pvt. David Aldrin McDonald, of Troup’s Artillery, Athens, Clarke Co., GA., was I able to bring the elements of his father’s Scottish homeland and his together. David had the funeral that he never had following death, but it was a solemn and meaningful ceremony.
David’s father, James McDonald, Rev. War soldier (NC) was born in Sleat, Isle of Skye, and came to America for freedom and land, both denied on Skye.
David was the oldest son of James’ 2nd marriage, and an ‘old man’ when he joined Troup’s Artillery, early during the Civil War. He was discharged due to age after serving in the Shenandoah campaign of 1862, and the Battle of Williamsburg. He made it as far as Richmond where he died in the Chimborazo Hospital of ‘Sepsis’ 28 Jun 1862 – he was 47 yrs. of age. As far as I know the family did not know where he was buried, however I was able to find him in Oakwood Confederate Cemetery in Richmond, and was able to place a government marker and to say ‘good-bye’ from the family, most of whom I never met.
A bagpiper played Scotland the Brave and Dixie before the ceremony as the reenactment unit took to the field, and I did find an artillery unit with a big gun. At the end of the ceremony after the cannon salute, the piper slowly walked away playing ‘Going Home’ and ‘Amazing Grace’ with his pipes fading into the distance. It was beautiful and I shared this moment with two of my grandchildren, and I hope they remember it forever.
Thanks for taking me back.
I enjoyed J. David Dameron’s account of the Battle of Kings Mountain. It certainly reads more readily that Lyman Draper’s work.