Previous to the battle of Alamance on the 16th May 1771, at length, Colonel Moses Alexander, a magistrate under the colonial government, succeeded in getting wagons by impressment to convey the munitions to Hillsboro to obey the behest of a tyrannical governor. The following individuals, viz. James, William, and John White, brothers; and William White, a cousin; all born on Rocky River and one mile from Rocky River Church, Robert Caruthers, their brother in law, Robert Davis, Benjamin Cockrane, James Ashmore, and Joshua Hadley, bound themselves by solemn oath not to divulge the secret object of their contemplated mission, and, in order to prevent section, blackened their faces preparatory to their intended destruction work. They were joined and led in this and other expeditions by William Alexander of the Sugar Creek Congregation, a brave soldier, and afterwards known and distinguished from others bearing the same name as "Captain Black Bill Alexander" and whose sword now hangs in Liberty Hall in Davidson College.
