Clement McDaniel was born in 1752 in Halifax County, Virginia, to William McDaniel and Ann Smith.  He married Elizabeth Watson Coleman Octobe4 20, 1794.  Clement fought in the American Revolution.  After the war he moved his family to the state of Tennessee, ending up in Shelby County. 

Clement and Elizabeth’s children, listed in the pension application, were Sarah Watson McDaniel, Ann Smith McDaniel, Stephen Coleman McDaniel, Livingston McDaniel and Emily Virginia McDaniel, the last four who died in the year 1834.  Livingston died in April, Stephen and Emily died in July (during the cholera epidemic) and Ann died in November.  Daughter Lucy McDaniel married John Ralston, but she was not listed in any pension records.

On August 13, 1832, Clement McDaniel applied for a pension per the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.  The following is his testimony concerning his time spent during the Revolutionary War.  This is the most descriptive, accurate account I have read of anyone involved in the revolution.  He remembers names, places and dates – and fills his story with his personal account.

State of Tennessee, Shelby County

On the 13^th day of August personally appeared before us, sitting as a called court, Col. Clement McDaniel, a resident of said county and state aforesaid, who first being duly sworn according to law, doth on his oath make the following statement and declaration, in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7, 1832.  That agreeable to my father’s register I was born in Halifax County, Virginia, on the 19^th of December, 1759, which makes me now upwards of seventy-two years of age.  That in August 1776 I volunteered in what was then called the minute service under Fleming Bates of Halifax County, Captain William McDaniel Lieutenant and Stephen Bates Ensign.  That I lived in Virginia in the County of Halifax and Pittsylvania until the year 1806, then moved to Mero District of Tennessee and lived there until the year 1820 when I moved to this county where I have lived ever since.

That as soon as Capt. Fleming Bates was complete we had marching orders.  We rendezvoused at New London in Bedford County about the first of September when and where we were formed into a regiment commanded by Col. Charles Lours of Albemarle County and State of Virginia.  Harris Morgan Lieutenant Colonel and Nicholas Lewis of Albemarle County.  Early in the month of September we marched westwardly crossing New River at English’s Ferry, thence to Fort Cissel, thence to the Town House on the middle fork of Holton, thence to Island of Holston, where all the frontier settlers were forted in, having been much harassed by the Indians.  Here we rendezvoused against ? until we were joined by Col. Christis’

regiment of riflemen from west of the Blue Ridge.  Col. Joseph Williamson’ regiment from the Yadkin in the state of North Carolina.  Our forces in all about two thousand men.  As soon as practicable we took up the line of march through the wilderness, when our movements were duly watched by the Indians as by the reports of our spies.  We were in daily and hourly expectation of an attack and were more than once formed into a line of battle, but after they learned our strength, as we supposed, they fled to their towns and carried off their wives and children down the river in canoes.  We marched and crossed the river, at great peril, suffering at the same time from the coldness of the night, it being towards the last of November.  We lay near the river for 26 hours.  Our troops were greatly afflicted with the ? complaint.  I, myself, was very sick and I lost a brother and many of the troops died when we reached the town.  We found them vacated.  We remained there some days, during which time the Indians came in and made a Treaty of Peace.  The sick were sent to the Long Island Holston and shortly after the main army followed where we were discharged, three hundred miles from home, without provisions or money to buy with.  In this situation we started home and most of us were in bad health.  The country through which we passed was thinly settled by the Dutch, who were quite poor and could but seldom give us anything better than sour rye bread and some buttermilk.  The snow on the mountains was then half leg deep.  A merciful God protected us, and we reached our homes after an absence of about four months, having experienced all the privations and hardships incident to an Indian campaign.  This service so affected my health that I was rendered unfit for any laborious work for eighteen months or more.  On a partial restoration to health, I was desirous to enter the continental service, but was restrained by the entreaties of my

parents who thought that it would cost me my life.  So eager was I to be doing something for my country that I employed two wagons in hauling salt for the army from the ?  I hauled baggage for the marching militia and sometimes furnished provisions.  I was called on by the Quarter Master to take command of a guard and conduct a brigade of wagons with public stores from Richmond to Salsbury, North Carolina, which service I performed.  The first public service after this was in the year 1781 in the character of first Lieutenant of a company of militia of the County of Pittsylvania, Stephen Coleman, Captain.  My commission was signed as I now believe by Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia.  We marched and joined with General Green’s army near Gilford Courthouse some short time before the battle was fought, at that place, and remained with his army until honorably discharged by John Wilson, Colonel of the Regiment to which I belonged.  In the succeeding fall I marched to Little York as First Lieutenant of a Company and as adjutant to three companies, William Dick’s of Pittsylvania is my Captain.  We reached Little York a few days after the commencement of the legion and were formed into a regiment and placed under the command of continental officers, Viz. Col. Thomas Meriweather, Col. Hardeman and Nicholas Major.  We continued there until the surrender of Lord Cornwallis acting in the double character as First Lieutenant of a company and as adjutant to the regiment after the surrender, I guarded the prisoners on their route to Frederick Town in Maryland but was later sick at Bowling Green and being unable to proceed was there honorably discharged by Major Wood James of Virginia.

All the commissions and discharges I ever had was viewed by me as of no consequence, and of course were not preserved.  I have never been on the pension roll, have never received any pay for my services and hereby relinquish all claim to a pension or annuity except the present.

Sworn to and subscribed before us – Clement McDaniel

Clement McDaniel was given $93.33 per annum, commencing March 4, 1831.  His first payment was for $186.66 for the two-year period of March 1831-March 1833. 

Unfortunately, Clement McDaniel didn’t live long enough to fully enjoy his pension.  He died September 25, 1836.  Elizabeth Watson McDaniel, his widow, was given a pension, for the same amount.  It seems as though it should be a straightforward matter for a widow to receive her husband’s pension, but it wasn’t. 

April 13, 1839, Elizabeth’s son-in-law wrote a letter on her behalf to receive a pension.  His name was John Ralston.

Big Creek, Shelby County, Tennessee – April 13, 1839

Hon J. L. Edwards, Commissioner of Pensions

Sir, I have been informed that there is a law giving to the widows of deceased Revolutionary pensioners the pension their husbands were entitled to during the life of such widows, but I have not seen said law and although I have enquired for it, I have not been able to find it.  Therefore, I now address you on the subject.

Elizabeth McDaniel, the widow of Clement McDaniel, now lives with us – her husband Clement McDaniel died the 25^th September 1836 – he had visited you at Washington and was placed on the pension list in the fall of 1832 and received his pension until the time of his death – after his death the original certificate of pension was forwarded to the pension agent at Jackson.  It appears from the family record now in my house that the said clement and Elizabeth McDaniel were married on the 20^th October 1779.  She is now about 77 years of age, consequently feeble and inform.

If she is entitled to a pension, please inform me what is necessary in order that her name may be placed on the pension list.  Your directions, with the form necessary to be pursued, and instruction where to apply for a form will be thankfully received.

Respectfully your humble servant,

John Ralston

October 7, 1839, Elizabeth McDaniel appeared before the court of Shelby County with the following information.

On this 7^th day of October 1839, personally appeared before said Court Elizabeth McDaniel, a resident of said county and state, aged about seventy-seven years, who being first duly sworn according to law, doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the benefit of the provision made by the Act of Congress passed July 4, 1836.  That she is the widow of Clement McDaniel, formerly of said county and state, who was a Lieutenant in the Militia in the War of the Revolution, that previous to the Battle of Guilford he, the said Clement McDaniel, marched into the army under Captain Stephen Coleman as Lieutenant, that he also marched as Lieutenant under Captain William Dick’s to Little York and she believes remained there until the British army surrendered to the American army, also that previous to their marriage he had also served a tour as a volunteer against the Indians, but she presumes the evidence of her said husband’s services in the War of the Revolution is on file in the pension office in Washington as he, the said Clement McDaniel, was placed on the list of pensioners in the fall of 1832 and until the time of his death drew a pension of between 90 and 100 dollars per annum, first at Nashville and last at Jackson, the agency for the Western District of Tennessee.

She further declares that she was married to the said Clement McDaniel on the 20^th October one thousand seven hundred and seventy nine in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, by Parson Gillum, and also that she does not know any person now living who was then of mature age and present at said marriage, neither does she know of any documentary evidence to prove said marriage except the family record – and that he husband, the aforesaid Clement McDaniel died on the 25^th September one thousand eight hundred and thirty six – and that she has remained a widow ever since that period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof here to annexed.

Elizabeth McDaniel

Elizabeth received the same amount as her husband, $93.33 per year.  She received $325.10 in pensions, which was through September 1839.  She died in September the next year.

Now for the brilliant part of this post – as if the information is not astonishing enough!  Clement McDaniel’s military uniform that he wore during the surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, was saved by daughter Lucy Tice McDaniel Ralston through the years.  Near the year 1880 only the coat was still in savable condition.  Her descendants gave the coat to the Tennessee Historical Society.  Wonder if it’s still there?  A bit more research to do!

The Daily Memphis Avalanche, Memphis, Shelby County, Tennessee

Tuesday, May 25, 1880

A Revolutionary Relic

The Military Coat of a Continental Colonel, Whose Dust is Entombed in Shelby County

A revolutionary relic – one of the very few of its kind still in existence – was exhibited in the Avalanche office a day or two since by Mr. W. M. Coleman, who resides near Lucy, on the Paducah and Memphis Railroad.  It is a military coat, all that is left of a colonel’s uniform of the “days of ’76.”  Nothing could be more ancient in appearance than this venerable garment.  Originally blue, time and exposure have done their work in imparting to it a dinginess to which it was a stranger when worn by the gallant officer for whom it was manufactured.  It is torn in several places and furnishes every evidence of having “seen service” in the cause of liberty.  Could this dingy, tattered old coat be given a tongue, what tales of “hairbreadth ‘scapes” it might unfold – of the bivouac, of marches through almost impenetrable wilderness, of days and nights of fatigue and scanty rations, and of the thunder of battle, when the contending hosts grappled each with the other, and victory seemed suspended by a thread!

The original owner of this now almost sacred relic of the “days that tried men’s souls” was Col. Clement McDaniel.  He was a Virginia, from near Pittsylvania courthouse and commanded a regiment of infantry raised in that portion of the old Dominion.  He served with distinction during the war and was present as part of the victorious continental army when Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.

Col. McDaniel moved to the then wilderness of Tennessee soon after the independence of the colonies was achieved and sought as his residence the northern portion of what is now known as Shelby County.  He died near the banks of Big Creek 55 years ago, and his remains still lie in a quiet spot nearby, known to a few besides his descendants, who fondly cherish the memory of the brave officer who struck such sturdy blows for the independence of the colonies.

For 35 years after his death Col. McDaniel’s entire uniform was possessed by his descendants, but about 20 years ago, his daughter, the late Mrs. Lucy T. Ralston, found it impossible to longer preserve any other portion that the coat.

The Tennessean, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

Friday, May 28, 1880

A Relic of Yorktown

The Coat Worn by an American Colonel at the Surrender of Cornwallis Presented to the Tennessee Historical Society

Mr. Anson Nelson, Recording Secretary of the Tennessee Historical Society, received from J. Harvey Mathes, of Memphis yesterday, a coat worn by Clement McDaniel at the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in 1781.  The gift is one which will be appreciated by the society.

The Memphis Ledger, speaking of the coat and the family of Col. McDaniel, says:

‘Shelby County sends forward to the Tennessee Historical Society, through the Ledger office, a rare old relic of the Revolutionary War.  It is a dingy, faded blue coat of English pilot cloth, worn by Col. Clement McDaniel, who commanded a regiment of infantry in the American army, from Spotsylvania Courthouse, at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis.  It was cut away in front in the style of the times, with short breast and long tail or skirt, and flaps at the hips as if concealing pockets.  The buttons, only a limited number of which remain, are of plain gilt, such as were used by our Revolutionary fathers.

“Colonel McDaniel came to the wilds of Tennessee soon after the revolutionary war and settled at or near Nashville.  It is said that he attempted to establish iron works there, but failed, and came a few years later to the wilds of what is now Shelby County.  He had a wife, a son and seven daughters.  Tradition says that his daughters were very beautiful.  Col. McDaniel located at the mouth of Big Creek, where it empties into the Hatchie River, and where he built tests, opened a clearing, and carried on a traffic with the Indians.  He and his family were among the first white people from the East who settled in this county.

“Mr. John Ralston, one of the early pioneers of this section, came here from near Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1805, when about nineteen years old.  He was a surveyor and surveyed large tracts of land both in Tennessee and in Kentucky.  One day he came suddenly upon Col. McDaniel’s camp on Big Creek, and was greatly surprised, as he had never heard of the settlement.  The Colonel could not induce him to come in and face so many handsome girls until he went to the creek and attempted to improve his appearance.  It seems that he succeeded then or subsequently, for in 1815 he married Miss Lucy Tice McDaniel, the sixth daughter, then only fifteen years old.

“Col. McDaniel died at the residence of his son-in-law, in this county, over fifty years ago.

“Mr. John Ralston laid out the ancient town of Raleigh and was one of first three or five magistrates of Shelby County.  He died in the year 1865 at the age of seventy-nine.  His wife, Lucy Tice Ralston, died November 28, 1879, also at the ripe old age of seventy-nine.  She kept her father’s continental uniform intact until twenty years ago.  About that time, she took off the epaulets, which were very fine and heavy, and gave them to her children, and by some accident during the war they were lost.

“After the death of Mrs. Ralston, her son-in-law, Capt. W. M. Coleman, of Lucy Depot, administered upon her effects.  It was decided in the family to present the coat worn by Col. McDaniel at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to the Tennessee Historical Society.  It was accordingly packed at Mr. James Kirkland’s yesterday, and forwarded by express to Mr. Anson Nelson, Secretary of the Society.

“The dust of Col. McDaniel and his wife, Mr. Ralston and his wife, and other members of the family rest in the family burying ground near Lucy Depot, a few miles north of Memphis.  They were all highly respectable, intelligent people, and the descendants of the two old couples mentioned are very numerous and widely scattered over Shelby, Fayette, Tipton and other counties, and even in the distant West.  They are generally people of means, influence and high standing.  They may, however, well be proud of their pioneer ancestors.”

Clement McDaniel was born in 1752 in Pittsylvania County,
Virginia, to William McDaniel and Ann Smith. 
He married Elizabeth Watson Coleman Octobe4 20, 1794.  Clement fought in the American Revolution.  After the war he moved his family to the
state of Tennessee, ending up in Shelby County. 

Clement and Elizabeth’s children, listed in the pension
application, were Sarah Watson McDaniel, Ann Smith McDaniel, Stephen Coleman
McDaniel, Livingston McDaniel and Emily Virginia McDaniel, the last four who
died in the year 1834.  Livingston died
in April, Stephen and Emily died in July (during the cholera epidemic) and Ann
died in November.  Daughter Lucy McDaniel
married John Ralston, but she was not listed in any pension records.

On August 13, 1832, Clement McDaniel applied for a pension
per the Act of Congress passed June 7, 1832. 
The following is his testimony concerning his time spent during the Revolutionary
War.  This is the most descriptive,
accurate account I have read of anyone involved in the revolution.  He remembers names, places and dates – and fills
his story with his personal account.

1

State of Tennessee, Shelby County

On the 13^th day of August personally appeared
before us, sitting as a called court, Col. Clement McDaniel, a resident of said
county and state aforesaid, who first being duly sworn according to law, doth
on his oath make the following statement and declaration, in order to obtain
the benefit of the provision made by the act of Congress passed June 7,
1832.  That agreeable to my father’s
register I was born in Halifax County, Virginia, on the 19^th of
December, 1759, which makes me now upwards of seventy-two years of age.  That in August 1776 I volunteered in what was
then called the minute service under Fleming Bates of Halifax County, Captain
William McDaniel Lieutenant and Stephen Bates Ensign.  That I lived in Virginia in the County of
Halifax and Pittsylvania until the year 1806, then moved to Mero District of
Tennessee and lived there until the year 1820 when I moved to this county where
I have lived ever since.

That as soon as Capt. Fleming Bates was complete we had
marching orders.  We rendezvoused at New
London in Bedford County about the first of September when and where we were
formed into a regiment commanded by Col. Charles Lours of Albemarle County and
State of Virginia.  Harris Morgan
Lieutenant Colonel and Nicholas Lewis of Albemarle County.  Early in the month of September we marched
westwardly crossing New River at English’s Ferry, thence to Fort Cissel, thence
to the Town House on the middle fork of Holton, thence to Island of Holston,
where all the frontier settlers were forted in, having been much harassed by
the Indians.  Here we rendezvoused
against ? until we were joined by Col. Christis’

2

Regiment of riflemen from west of the Blue Ridge.  Col. Joseph Williamson’ regiment from the
Yadkin in the state of North Carolina. 
Our forces in all about two thousand men.  As soon as practicable we took up the line of
march through the wilderness, when our movements were duly watched by the
Indians as by the reports of our spies. 
We were in daily and hourly expectation of an attack and were more than
once formed into a line of battle, but after they learned our strength, as we
supposed, they fled to their towns and carried off their wives and children
down the river in canoes.  We marched and
crossed the river, at great peril, suffering at the same time from the coldness
of the night, it being towards the last of November.  We lay near the river for 26 hours.  Our troops were greatly afflicted with the ?
complaint.  I, myself, was very sick and
I lost a brother and many of the troops died when we reached the town.  We found them vacated.  We remained there some days, during which
time the Indians came in and made a Treaty of Peace.  The sick were sent to the Long Island Holston
and shortly after the main army followed where we were discharged, three
hundred miles from home, without provisions or money to buy with.  In this situation we started home and most of
us were in bad health.  The country
through which we passed was thinly settled by the Dutch, who were quite poor
and could but seldom give us anything better than sour rye bread and some
buttermilk.  The snow on the mountains
was then half leg deep.  A merciful God
protected us, and we reached our homes after an absence of about four months,
having experienced all the privations and hardships incident to an Indian
campaign.  This service so affected my
health that I was rendered unfit for any laborious work for eighteen months or
more.  On a partial restoration to health,
I was desirous to enter the continental service, but was restrained by the
entreaties of my

3

parents who thought that it would cost me my life.  So eager was I to be doing something for my
country that I employed two wagons in hauling salt for the army from the ?  I hauled baggage for the marching militia and
sometimes furnished provisions.  I was
called on by the Quarter Master to take command of a guard and conduct a
brigade of wagons with public stores from Richmond to Salsbury, North Carolina,
which service I performed.  The first
public service after this was in the year 1781 in the character of first
Lieutenant of a company of militia of the County of Pittsylvania, Stephen
Coleman, Captain.  My commission was
signed as I now believe by Patrick Henry, Governor of Virginia.  We marched and joined with General Green’s
army near Gilford Courthouse some short time before the battle was fought, at
that place, and remained with his army until honorably discharged by John
Wilson, Colonel of the Regiment to which I belonged.  In the succeeding fall I marched to Little
York as First Lieutenant of a Company and as adjutant to three companies,
William Dick’s of Pittsylvania is my Captain. 
We reached Little York a few days after the commencement of the legion
and were formed into a regiment and placed under the command of continental
officers, Viz. Col. Thomas Meriweather, Col. Hardeman and Nicholas Major.  We continued there until the surrender of
Lord Cornwallis acting in the double character as First Lieutenant of a company
and as adjutant to the regiment after the surrender, I guarded the prisoners on
their route to Frederick Town in Maryland but was later sick at Bowling Green
and being unable to proceed was there honorably discharged by Major Wood James
of Virginia.

4

All the commissions and discharges I ever had was viewed by
me as of no consequence, and of course were not preserved.  I have never been on the pension roll, have
never received any pay for my services and hereby relinquish all claim to a
pension or annuity except the present.

Sworn to and subscribed before us – Clement McDaniel

10

Clement McDaniel was given $93.33 per annum, commencing
March 4, 1831.  His first payment was for
$186.66 for the two-year period of March 1831-March 1833. 

Unfortunately, Clement McDaniel didn’t live long enough to
fully enjoy his pension.  He died
September 25, 1836.  Elizabeth Watson
McDaniel, his widow, was given a pension, for the same amount.  It seems as though it should be a straightforward
matter for a widow to receive her husband’s pension, but it wasn’t. 

April 13, 1839, Elizabeth’s son-in-law wrote a letter on her
behalf to receive a pension.  His name
was John Ralston.

9

Big Creek, Shelby County, Tennessee – April 13, 1839

Hon J. L. Edwards, Commissioner of Pensions

Sir, I have been informed that there is a law giving to the
widows of deceased Revolutionary pensioners the pension their husbands were
entitled to during the life of such widows, but I have not seen said law and
although I have enquired for it, I have not been able to find it.  Therefore, I now address you on the subject.

Elizabeth McDaniel, the widow of Clement McDaniel, now lives
with us – her husband Clement McDaniel died the 25^th September 1836
– he had visited you at Washington and was placed on the pension list in the
fall of 1832 and received his pension until the time of his death – after his
death the original certificate of pension was forwarded to the pension agent at
Jackson.  It appears from the family
record now in my house that the said clement and Elizabeth McDaniel were
married on the 20^th October 1779. 
She is now about 77 years of age, consequently feeble and inform.

If she is entitled to a pension, please inform me what is
necessary in order that her name may be placed on the pension list.  Your directions, with the form necessary to
be pursued, and instruction where to apply for a form will be thankfully
received.

Respectfully your humble servant,

John Ralston

October 7, 1839, Elizabeth McDaniel appeared before the court
of Shelby County with the following information.

5

On this 7^th day of October 1839, personally
appeared before said Court Elizabeth McDaniel, a resident of said county and
state, aged about seventy-seven years, who being first duly sworn according to
law, doth on her oath make the following declaration in order to obtain the
benefit of the provision made by the Act of Congress passed July 4, 1836.  That she is the widow of Clement McDonald,
formerly of said county and state, who was a Lieutenant in the Militia in the
War of the Revolution, that previous to the Battle of Guilford he, the said
Clement McDaniel, marched into the army under Captain Stephen Coleman as
Lieutenant, that he also marched as Lieutenant under Captain William Dick’s to
Little York and she believes remained there until the British army surrendered
to the American army, also that previous to their marriage he had also served a
tour as a volunteer against the Indians, but she presumes the evidence of her
said husband’s services in the War of the Revolution is on file in the pension
office in Washington as he, the said Clement McDaniel, was placed on the list
of pensioners in the fall of 1832 and until the time of his death drew a
pension of between 90 and 100 dollars per annum, first at Nashville and last at
Jackson, the agency for the Western District of Tennessee.

She further declares that she was married to the said
Clement McDaniel on the 20^th October one thousand seven hundred and
seventy nine in Pittsylvania County, Virginia, by Parson Gillum, and also that
she does not know any person now living who was then of mature age and present
at said marriage, neither does she know of any documentary evidence to prove
said marriage except the family record – and that he husband, the aforesaid
Clement McDaniel died on the 25^th September one thousand eight
hundred and thirty six – and that she has remained a widow ever since that
period as will more fully appear by reference to the proof here to annexed.

Elizabeth McDaniel

EM

Elizabeth received the same amount as her husband, $93.33
per year.  She received $325.10 in
pensions, which was through September 1839. 
She died in September the next year.

Now for the brilliant part of this post – as if the
information is not astonishing enough! 
Clement McDaniel’s military uniform that he wore during the surrender of
Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, was saved by daughter Lucy Tice McDaniel Ralston
through the years.  Near the year 1880
only the coat was still in savable condition. 
Her descendants gave the coat to the Tennessee Historical Society.  Wonder if it’s still there?  A bit more research to do!

1

The Daily Memphis Avalanche, Memphis

Tuesday, May 25, 1880

A Revolutionary Relic

The Military Coat of a Continental Colonel, Whose Dust is
Entombed in Shelby County

A revolutionary relic – one of the very few of its kind
still in existence – was exhibited in the Avalanche office a day or two since
by Mr. W. M. Coleman, who resides near Lucy, on the Paducah and Memphis
Railroad.  It is a military coat, all
that is left of a colonel’s uniform of the “days of ’76.”  Nothing could be more ancient in appearance
than this venerable garment.  Originally
blue, time and exposure have done their work in imparting to it a dinginess to
which it was a stranger when worn by the gallant officer for whom it was
manufactured.  It is torn in several places
and furnishes every evidence of having “seen service” in the cause of
liberty.  Could this dingy, tattered old
coat be given a tongue, what tales of “hairbreadth ‘scapes” it might unfold –
of the bivouac, of marches through almost impenetrable wilderness, of days and
nights of fatigue and scanty rations, and of the thunder of battle, when the
contending hosts grappled each with the other, and victory seemed suspended by
a thread!

The original owner of this now almost sacred relic of the
“days that tried men’s souls” was Col. Clement McDaniel.  He was a Virginia, from near Pittsylvania
courthouse and commanded a regiment of infantry raised in that portion of the
old Dominion.  He served with distinction
during the war and was present as part of the victorious continental army when
Lord Cornwallis surrendered at Yorktown.

Col. McDaniel moved to the then wilderness of Tennessee soon
after the independence of the colonies was achieved and sought as his residence
the northern portion of what is now known as Shelby County.  He died near the banks of Big Creek 55 years
ago, and his remains still lie in a quiet spot nearby, known to a few besides
his descendants, who fondly cherish the memory of the brave officer who struck
such sturdy blows for the independence of the colonies.

For 35 years after his death Col. McDaniel’s entire uniform
was possessed by his descendants, but about 20 years ago, his daughter, the
late Mrs. Lucy T. Ralston, found it impossible to longer preserve any other
portion that the coat.

2

The Tennessean, Nashville, Davidson County, Tennessee

Friday, May 28, 1880

A Relic of Yorktown

The coat Worn by as American Colonel at the surrender of
Cornwallis Presented to the Tennessee Historical Society

Mr. Anson Nelson, Recording Secretary of the Tennessee
Historical Society, received from J. Harvey Mathes, of Memphis yesterday, a
coat worn by Clement McDaniel at the surrender of Cornwallis, at Yorktown, in
1781.  The gift is one which will be
appreciated by the society.

The Memphis Ledger, speaking of the coat and the family of
Col. McDaniel, says:

‘Shelby County sends forward to the Tennessee Historical
Society, through the Ledger office, a rare old relic of the Revolutionary
War.  It is a dingy, faded blue coat of
English pilot cloth, worn by Col. Clement McDaniel, who commanded a regiment of
infantry in the American army, from Spotsylvania Courthouse, at the surrender
of Lord Cornwallis.  It was cut away in
front in the style of the times, with short breast and long tail or skirt, and
flaps at the hips as if concealing pockets. 
The buttons, only a limited number of which remain, are of plain gilt,
such as were used by our Revolutionary fathers.

“Colonel McDaniel came to the wilds of Tennessee soon after
the revolutionary war and settled at or near Nashville.  It is said that he attempted to establish
iron works there, but failed, and came a few years later to the wilds of what
is now Shelby County.  He had a wife, a
son and seven daughters.  Tradition says
that his daughters were very beautiful. 
Col. McDaniel located at the mouth of Big Creek, where it empties into
the Hatchie River, and where he built tests, opened a clearing, and carried on
a traffic with the Indians.  He and his
family were among the first white people from the East who settled in this
county.

“Mr. John Ralson, one of the early pioneers of this section,
came here from near Lebanon, Tennessee, in 1805, when about nineteen years
old.  He was a surveyor and surveyed
large tracts of land both in Tennessee and in Kentucky.  One day he came suddenly upon Col. McDaniel’s
camp on Big Creek, and was greatly surprised, as he had never heard of the
settlement.  The Colonel could not induce
him to come in and face so many handsome girls until he went to the creek and
attempted to improve his appearance.  It seems
that he succeeded then or subsequently, for in 1815 he married Miss Lucy Tice
McDaniel, the sixth daughter, then only fifteen years old.

“Col. McDaniel died at the residence of his son-in-law, in
this county, over fifty years ago.

“Mr. John Ralston laid out the ancient town of Raleigh and
was one of first three or five magistrates of Shelby County.  He died in the year 1865 at the age of
seventy-nine.  His wife, Lucy Tice
Ralston, died November 28, 1879, also at the ripe old age of seventy-nine.  She kept her father’s continental uniform
intact until twenty years ago.  About
that time, she took off the epaulets, which were very fine and heavy, and gave
them to her children, and by some accident during the war they were lost.

“After the death of Mrs. Ralson, her son-in-law, Capt. W. M.
Coleman, of Lucy Depot, administered upon her effects.  It was decided in the family to present the
coat worn by Col. McDaniel at the surrender of Lord Cornwallis to the Tennessee
Historical Society.  It was accordingly
packed at Mr. James Kirkland’s yesterday, and forwarded by express to Mr. Anson
Nelson, Secretary of the Society.

“The dust of Col. McDaniel and his wife, Mr. Ralston and his
wife, and other members of the family rest in the family burying ground near
Lucy Depot, a few miles north of Memphis. 
They were all highly respectable, intelligent people, and the
descendants of the two old couples mentioned are very numerous and widely
scattered over Shelby, Fayette, Tipton and other counties, and even in the
distant West.  They are generally people
of means, influence and high standing. 
They may, however, well be proud of their pioneer ancestors.”