THE MODERATOR MOVEMENT OF 1765 Opposition soon arose to the Regulators from a variety of sources in the upcountry. Naturally the meaner element who had felt the strength of the Regulators wanted to curb them. Respectable citizens who abhorred extralegal assumption of power formed another group of opponents. Some of the justices of the peace who felt that they had been unfairly treated formed another nucleus of opposition. The efforts of the Regulators in attempting to make everyone conform to their own ideas of morality inevitably brought the movement into disrepute much as a later KU Lux Klan would o. And, of course, there were the usual opportunists who saw a chance for leadership. Of help to these opponents of the Regulation were those at the seat of government in Charleston who saw the opportunity to hit back at the Regulators for daring to defy the authorities there. Gilbert Hays of Clouds Creek and John Furnas of Bush River were two justices of the peace who were removed from office on complaint of the Regulators. clearing themselves before the Council, both were reinstated but then removed for good. When Hays sought to sue Moses Kirkland, Edward McGraw, and Henry Hunter in the summer of 1768, the Regulators prevented the provost marshal's deputy from serving the process by capturing him. In that same year Furnas' neighbors of the Bush River settlement showed their confidence in him by petitioning for his appointment as commissioner to build the road from Orangeburg to Rayburn's Creek. Of more moment was the mistreatment of Major John Musgrove of Bush River and his brother, Colonel Edward Musgrove of Enoree. Edward Musgrove was one of the most influential men in the upcountry-one of the early settlers, he was a militia officer, deputy surveyor, and justice of the peace. During the Cherokee War he had commanded Fort William Henry Lyttelton on the Enoree. As a man of education and some training in the law, Musgrove was counsellor to a large segment of the population. His brother John was the object of special hatred by some of the Regulators and was roughly handled by them and driven from his home in the winter of 1769; Edward took his brother's side and was himself then indicted as a "very bad person and encourager and conniver of thieves and robbers." Jonathan Gilbert, a justice of the peace who lived on Beaver Dam Creek, was a friend and neighbor of John Musgrove. He went to Charleston and related the story of Musgrove's persecution to Governor Montagu and the Council. Based on his story and many affidavits which he submitted, the Council revoked the commissions as militia officers of Colonel Tacitus Gaillard, Robert Cunningham, Major James Mayson, Robert Buzzard, Jacob Fray, John and Jacob Fulmore and Elisha Teiger. It also revoked the commissions as justice of the peace of Gaillard, Mayson, and Wofford, some of the more important men in the entire backcountry. This bred even more bitter feelings and increased the existing tension. Seeing an opportunity to strike back at those who had brought order to the upcountry, the rougher element joined forces with Gilbert and the Musgroves. Gilbert and his cohorts organized the so-called Moderator movement among the various dissident elements. The notorious Joseph Coffell (otherwise known in history as Scoffel or Scovil) from Orangeburg District was put in command of the Moderator force. He and John Musgrove enlisted 100 men upon promise of a monthly salary of 20 pounds; they appropriated food and supplies from the settlers without authority. When challenged by a band of Regulators, they fired upon and wounded one of the Regulators and killed fifteen horses. Brown says that the Moderators used the same methods which the Regulators had employed a few years before. However, the Regulators justified their methods on questionable moral grounds but denied the same privilege to their opponents. Both sides prepared for the showdown. On Saturday, March 25, 1769, about six hundred or seven hundred Regulators met a like number of Moderators prepared to do battle at John Musgrove's plantation at the mouth of Bush River in present-day Newberry County. After a few shots were exchanged and it appeared that a bloody encounter would ensue, Colonel Richard Richardson, Colonel William Thomson, and Daniel McGirt suddenly appeared; by dint of their leadership the two groups agreed to come to terms. Both sides agreed that the law should take its course, the Regulators agreed to abolish their name, and the Moderators agreed to disband. Thus the South Carolina Regulators avoided a major battle; the North Carolina Regulators did not and had their Battle of Alamance. The Regulator movement ended in present-day Newberry County but its effects were apparent in the passage of a circuit court act and a growing awareness of the needs of the backcountry for an orderly society. ________________________________________________________________________ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com