was impossible for the
cavalry to pursue them.

Colonel Washington was unhorsed and made a prisoner, but succeeded
with his brave men in preventing the meditated attack in the rear.
Brevard had not observed this division of the enemy, and the first
thing he saw was the flying caps and tumbling horses of the cavalry as
they made their dashing charge upon them. This was the last important
battle in which Capt. Brevard was engaged, fought on the 8th of
September, 1781, and near the close of the war. On all occasions he
maintained an unflagging zeal and promptitude of action in achieving
the independence of his country, and evincing a persistent bravery
unsurpassed in the annals of the American Revolution.

After the war Captain Brevard married Rebecca, a daughter of Major
John Davidson, one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration.
Major Davidson suggested to himself and General Joseph Graham, another
son-in-law, the propriety of entering into the manufacture of iron.
They readily approved of the suggestion and went over into Lincoln
county. There they found General Peter Forney in possession of a
valuable iron ore bank. With him they formed a copartnership and
erected Vesuvius Furnace on the public road from Beattie's Ford to
Lincolnton--at present known as Smith's Furnace. After operating for a
time altogether, Forney withdrew. Davidson and Brevard then left
Graham in the management of Vesuvius Furnace, and built Mount Tirzah
Forge, now known as Brevard's Forge. The sons-in-law shortly afterward
bought out Davidson, and finally they dissolved. Brevard then built a
furnace on Leeper's Creek, above Mount Tirzah Forge, and continued in
the iron business until his death.

Captain Brevard, being of a retiring disposition, never sought
political favor, but preferred to discharge his obligations to his
country rather by obeying than by making her laws. His manners were
frank and candid, and the more intimately he was known the better was
he beloved. The dishonest met his searching eye with dread, but the
industrious and the honest ever found in him a kind adviser and
beneficent assistant. Long will he be remembered as a pure man, a
faithful friend, and an upright citizen, conscientious in the
discharge of all his obligations and in the performance of all his
duties. He was for many years, a worthy elder in the Presbyterian
Church, and died, as he had lived, a true christian, and with humble
resignation, on the 1st of