My Ancestors in the American Revolutionary War: Capt CHARLES WOODSON of Cumberland County Virgina: Siege of Charleston

 Siege of Charleston by Alonzo Chappel

CHARLES WOODSON was born 30 December 1759 in Cumberland County, Virginia, the son of DRURY WOODSON and LUCY CHRISTIAN. 

When he was about eighteen years old, CHARLES enlisted in the Virginia Continental Line under Brigidier General WILLIAM WOODFORD.  He first held the rank of Sergeant Major, then Captain within this regiment. The Virginia Continental Soldiers were beginning to build winter quarters in Morristown, New Jersey, when General GEORGE WASHINGTON ordered them to march post haste to Charleston, South Carolina to reinforce the troops of General BENJAMIN LINCOLN who were already fighting there. Charleston is over 800 miles away from Morristown, so it must have been a grueling march.

While he was encamped at Charleston, but before the battle began, CHARLES WOODSON sent a letter to Miss JUDITH LEAKE,  to whom he was engaged:

Source: "Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their Connections" by Henry Morton Woodson p 109

A short time later,  in March of 1780, the Siege of Charleston began. The battle lasted six weeks and culminated in the total surrender of General BENJAMIN LINCOLN and over 5000 American troops.  It was a stunning defeat for the Continental Army. 

Captain CHARLES WOODSON was captured and imprisoned by the British 12 May 1780.  While paroled, he and 30 other American prisoners of war managed to escape-- and walked back to Virginia.  It was a harrowing journey, hundreds of miles;  the men were required to walk at night in order to avoid any British sympathizers.   

Shortly after CHARLES returned to his home and recuperated,  he wed JUDITH LEAKE on the 23 of September 1780 in Goochland County, Virginia. She was  the daughter of  JOSIAH LEAKE and ANN FENTON (who died a few years after JUDITH's birth).  JOSIAH was a Captain in the local Militia (see next blogpost).  

There are no indications that Captain CHARLES WOODSON ever re-enlisted after his grueling march to Charleston and his walk back to Virginia.

Upon his marriage, CHARLES' father DRURY WOODSON gave him slaves, farm implements, horses, cattle--and a substantial amount of land, "skirted by the Willis River". It was here that CHARLES and JUDITH built their home, which they named "Rosebank". They lived there for the rest of their lives.

Captain CHARLES WOODSON died 31 December 1830 at Rosebank Plantation, Cumberland County, Virginia.  I could only find a transciption of his will, dated 1 September 1829, which names wife JUDITH and their children. However, I am certain that they owed many slaves, whose names were likely included in the original will.  A court record from 1785, a lawsuit against his father-in-law JOSIAH LEAKE listed slaves PHYLLIS, LUCY, SUCKEY, JUDY, JAMES, AMY, JACK & ISAAC, which CHARLES & JUDITH claimed as JUDITH's property from the estate of THOMAS FENTON, JUDITH's maternal grandfather. The lawsuit indicated  that the slaves were being withheld from JUDITH by her father JOSIAH LEAKE.

 JUDITH LEAKE WOODSON applied for her husband's  Revolutionary War Pension, which she received on 4 March 1836.  

Capt CHARLES WOODSON is in the lineage of my maternal grandfather R B MARTINE

SOURCES:

--DAR Patriot Index

--Virginia Soldiers of 1776 by Louis Alexander Burgess

--Historical Genealogy of the Woodsons and their Connections by Henry Morton Woodson

--The Leake Family and Connecting Lines by George Warren Chappalear

--Revolutionary War Pension Application of Capt CHARLES WOODSON by wife JUDITH

Have a great day!

Betty 

© Betty Tartas 2025

My Ancestors in the American Revolutionary War: JOSEPH BALLEW II of Burke County, North Carolina : The Battle of Kings Mountain

 

Battle of Kings Mountain, South Carolina (artist unknown)

JOSEPH BALLEW II was born about 1746 in Albemarle County (later Buckingham County), Virginia, the son of JOSEPH BALLEW I and his wife DIANA, who resided in Henrico County, then Albemarle County Virginia, which part eventually became Buckingham County.  

JOSEPH BALLEW I & wife DIANA had four sons who fought in the American Revolutionary War. Three of the sons survived and their Pension Application files provide a great deal of information about their service, their family,  and their migration in the years after the Revolution.

The four sons of JOSEPH BALLEW I and DIANA who fought in the Revolutionary War were:

-Capt DAVID BALLEW of the 71st Virginia Regiment. He died of smallpox in 1777 in Winchester, Virginia, during his enlistment, as per brother ROBERT's 1836 Pension application.

-JOSEPH BALLEW II who fought in several regiments in Burke County North Carolina (see below)

-ROBERT BALLEW who joined the fight as a very young soldier aged 14, in the 71st Virginia Regiment under his brother Capt DAVID BALLEW.  After his brother's death in 1777  and when  his term of enlistment expired,  he  moved  with his parents and siblings to Burke County, North Carolina.  ROBERT re-enlisted in Burke County and served in 1778, and in 1779 as a substitute for his uncle ROBERT BALLEW, who had also migrated to Burke County, North Carolina. In 1781, ROBERT was at the Battle of Yorktown, under Capt JOHN STEWART. ROBERT BALLEW applied for his pension in 21 January 1836 in Decatur, Morgan County, Alabama, and his brother JOSEPH BALLEW II provided verification of his service. ROBERT BALLEW's  Pension Application is highly detailed and shows that he fought in many more battles & skirmishes than I've outlined here. 

- RICHARD BALLEW fought in several regiments in Burke County, North Carolina.  He applied for his Pension 24 November 1834 in Knox County, Kentucky. His younger brother PETER BALLEW, who was too young to fight at the time of the Revolution, provided verification of RICHARD's service. According RICHARD fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain under Capt EDMUND FEAR. RICHARD BALLEW's Pension Application is highly detailed and shows that he fought in many more battles & skirmishes than I've outlined here. 

JOSEPH BALLEW II appears to have arrived in Rowan County, North Carolina around 1770, and married in about  1771 ELIZABETH CONNELLY, daughter of Irish immigrants BRYAN O'CONNELLY and his wife MARY FOLEY.  JOSEPH and ELIZABETH  had at least eight children. Burke County was formed from Rowan County in 1777, and JOSEPH's parents, siblings and several other relatives arrived there shortly after the county's formation. JOSEPH's first land grant dated was 5 October 1778 and shows he was granted 320 acres on the S side of the Catawba River, adjacent to JAMES WILLIAMS.

In early 1780 JOSEPH BALLEW II enlisted in McDOWELL's Regiment, under Capt THOMAS KENNEDY;  by summer he was in the same Regiment, under Capt JAMES McFARLAND, and fought at the Battle of Kings Mountain on October 7 1780.  He enlisted again, for a third tour of duty in March of 1782, in HENRY HIGHLAND's Company of JOSEPH McDOWELL's Regiment. 

JOSEPH BALLEW II and ELIZABETH CONNELLY continued to reside in Burke County from 1780 until at least 1820, according to land deed and census records. Sometime after that,  they migrated first to Knox County Kentucky where his brother RICHARD lived, and then to Morgan County, Alabama where his brother ROBERT lived, as per his Pension Application.  JOSEPH applied for his Revolutionary War  Pension on 16 October 1832 in Shelby County, Tennessee. His application was approved.   A note in his file indicates that : "On May 3, 1845 in Little Rock Arkansas, the veteran applied for the transfer of his pension benefit from the Tennessee agency to the Arkansas agency stating that he has removed to the County of White in Arkansas where he intends to remain in order to reside with his children who have settled in said County."

If his assumed birthdate of 1746 is accurate, JOSEPH BALLEW II would have been 99 years old in 1845.  I have not found any records for his death in White County, Arkansas, nor have I found his gravestone.

JOSEPH BALLEW II is in the lineage of my paternal grandmother MINTTIE MAE BRUTON HUBER

Sources:

-Revolutionary War Soldiers of Burke County, North Carolina Vol 1 by Emmett R White

-Burke County North Carolina Land Grants 1778 Vol 1 by Edith Warren Huggins

--Revolutionary War Pension Application File of JOSEPH BALLEW II

--Revolutionary War Pension Application File of ROBERT BALLEW (see above)

--Revolutionary War Pension Application File of RICHARD BALLEW (see above)

Have a great day!

Betty 

© Betty Tartas 2025