A petition by a Catawba who fought with the Americans during the Revolutionary War

This is such a beautiful piece of writing. It was included in an exhibition we put on when I was at my last museum, which focused entirely on Native American and African American soldiers in the American army during the Revolutionary War.


To the Councils of South Carolina

The memorial of Peter Harris Warrior of the Cataba nation, in the war of Independence,

I am one of the lingering embers of an almost extinguished race. Our graves will soon be our only habitations. I am one of the few stalks, that still remain in the field, where the tempest of revolution pafsed, I fought against the British for your sake, the British have Disappeared and you are free, yet from me the British took nothing, nor have I gained anything by their defeat. I hunted the deer for my subsistance, the deer are disappeared, I must starve. God ordained me for the forest, and my ambition is the shade, but the strength of my arm decays, and my feet fail in the chase, the hand which fought for your liberty is now open for your relief - In my youth, I bled in battle, that you might be independent, let not my heart in my old age, bleed, for the want of your Consideration.

Peter Harris

His mark


South Carolina Dept. of Archives

Peter Harris, soldier of the Catawba in the Revolutionary War