October 1, 2025 • 17 mins
Tune in here to this Wednesday's edition of the Brett Winterble Show!
We’re joined by Robert Riles from the Liberty Mountain drama to talk about his role as Reverend Mackenzie and the upcoming production commemorating the Battle of Kings Mountain. A first-time community theater actor, Robert shares how his passion for history led him to this powerful role. He brings to life a character who inspires courage and unity during a pivotal moment in the American Revolutionary War. The play explores intense family conflicts, with brothers fighting brothers, and highlights the crucial role of women like Mary Patton, who made black powder for the Patriots. This year’s performances, including a special October 7th show marking the battle’s 245th anniversary, offer a unique chance to experience history live, especially with the Kings Mountain National Military Park closed for now. For tickets and more info, visit libertymountandrama.com — don’t miss this gripping and heartfelt production that brings America’s first civil war to life.
Listen here for all of this and more on The Brett Winterble Show!
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:07):
I I.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I mean it is by the way, it is almost
Halloween and the Prince of Darkness is, you know, bringing
us in. Of course, it's great to have you. I've
got a great guest in studio. That's uh, that is
I'm very excited about. And it's uh. He is Robert Ryles,
(00:30):
who portrays the Reverend Mackenzie in the uh in the
in the production of.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Liberty Mountain, right, that is correct?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Oh so, so how how how long have you been
portraying that particular role.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm glad that you brought that up.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I am a first year, first timer, how about that.
And it's a very interesting story how I got involved
with the production. I do the reading of the Mecklenburg
Declaration uptown each year on May twentieth. Awesome and Jeremy
and Ashley were there this year. They saw me doing
the reading and then they also saw me at a
different event at the Museum of the Wax Saws in
(01:10):
Union County, North Carolina for the Battle of the Wax
Saw's event, and I was doing a program about a
historical figure, a reverend during the American Revolutionary War. His
name was Reverend William Martin. Very parallel interesting kind of
parallel stories to the Walter McKenzie immigration part that we
have in the play.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
And they saw me and then they asked me, It's like,
have you ever done any community theater and any theater
at all? And it's like, no, I never have. They said, well,
would you be interested in joining the cast this year
for Liberty Mountain.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
It's like, oh, let me think about that. Yes, that's awesome.
That is outsd Okay, so you're a newbie. I'm a newbie, yes,
but you're.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
But listen, I'm sitting here in the studio with him,
and you have got an unbelievable outfit that you have.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
It's really really great.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I taking a look at.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
This, thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I figured I might as well dress up for the
part here absolutely, just to give you an idea. What
I have here is a hunting shirt made of linen,
which is the common type of material that they use
for the clothing back in the day, linen and wool
typically cotton not so much, yes, you know.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And then of course I have my linen breeches. Yes,
he's right here, he's got them.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Right there, come up to the knee and knee only.
And then of course the stockings and then especially made shoes.
But these shoes are actually for the production for safety shoes.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Oh that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
By the they's safety shows.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Then we're not gonna tell, We're not gonna We're not
gonna let anybody here get that secret from us. How
long have you been you were talking about reading the
Meckelberg and all that sort of stuff. Have you always
been a history buff? Have you always been wanted to
be a part of history and things like that?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Absolutely? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I mean the first exposure that I got to being
bit by the public history bug was back in the
nineteen eighties when I went with my mother and father
to a trip to Williamsburg participated in a little militia
drill there.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Nice That planted the seed for me.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
That experience of experiencing it live is what planted the
seed for me. And then years later got a degree
in history from Florida State University apologies to those South
Carolina North Carolina at Florida State kind of a bachelor's
and a master's degree in public history, and I started
(03:38):
volunteering at a historic site there in Tallahassee that was
the seventeenth century Spanish mission site that I started going
over to Saint Augustine, Florida eighteenth century, got involved in
black powder, moved up here in Charlotte area of two
thousand and nine, fell absolutely in.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Love with rev war is. I've been doing it ever since.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Rev Woar meaning the Revolutionary War.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yes, sir, that Revolutionary War.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
See that is cool. So we were just talking before
we got on the air about the notion of the
characters who are in this incredible drama, right, yeah, and
one of them you were talking about with the person
who was able to manufacture quite a lot of black powder.
Can you talk a little bit about one of those characters? Chair?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Absolutely, that was Mary Patten, who is also portrayed in
a really good scene in the play about the role
of women during the American Revolution. Mary Patent manufactured black
powder for the cause of independence during the American Revolution,
five hundred pounds of black powder whoa were manufacturer and
(04:44):
donated to the Whigs, in other words, the patriots for
this battle.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So when you talk about the two sides, right, and
it's really there's really two sides, plus other characters that
are involved in this in the theater. I saw the
performance a couple of years ago. And it was magnificent
and you are completely enveloped in the process when you
guys are doing the performance itself, and it does take
(05:12):
its own it does take a beautiful sort of turn
from tragedy to even a little bit of comedy even
into what the big the big battle that happens that
is a big undertaking in that beautiful theater at the
Joy Theater.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Absolutely, and it is a team sport without a doubt.
You know, we don't have football pads, obviously, we have
layers of clothing that we that we wear. But it
truly is a monumental effort to put together. And a
shout out to Bob Inman and the years of dedicated
(05:51):
work that he as a playwright has done to tweak
that play each year to make it nuanced and slightly
different ways, brings different stories to Lie eight. And also
hats off to Jeremy Holmesley and Ashley Damar and that
team for really bringing it together. Jeremy has been with
(06:11):
this production since the very beginning. He's a wonderful director
to work with. We have a wonderful team that's been assembled.
The caste is incredible and the production values are really great.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
It's it is amazing. You are surrounded. It is amazing.
It is it is remarkable. And one of the things
I want to reach out to the audience here is
to say, listen, you want to get these tickets, and
you want to come and see us, and you want
to spend time with with this. This this incredible event. Uh,
Liberty Mountain Drama dot com. Liberty Mountain Drama dot com.
(06:44):
You go to info at Libertymountain Drama dot com and
and you can get those get those tickets. We've got
a very special night coming up here on October the seventh,
that is correct, and that happens to be the exact
date of the actual battle there at Liberty Mountain.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Two hundred and forty fifth anniversary or commemoration of the
Battle of Kings Mountain.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
King's Mountain.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And it's incredible, and it's what's really.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Fortuitous about this particular evening is that with the government
shut down and with the closure of Kings Mountain National
Military Park as a consequence of that, this gives people
an opportunity to experience King's Mountain in a different way,
in a different format.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So for those who have purchased tickets.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
For the nighttime walking talks at Kings Mountain, Nash Military
Park or planning to go to the commemoration, we are
here for you. Yes, we also have matinee and evening
performances on the fourth and fifth as well when that
commemoration event was to her at King's Mountain National Military Park.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
And you can get those tickets again at Libertymountaindrama dot
com or info at Libertymuntain Drama dot com. Can I
can I keep you hostage here for another segment?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
By all me?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
All right, let's do it. This is absolutely fantastic. I
love this performance. I love this play. It is so wonderful.
And Robert Ryles is sticking around with us here for
this next segment. My name is Brett Witterbules.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Just stay those all.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Lose Talk eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT Brett Wooterbule
in studio with Robert Ryles, who portrays the Reverend McKenzie
in the play coming up at Liberty Mountain that we're
gonna be able to come and see October the seventh.
You want to get these tickets, We're gonna we're giving
some of them away, but we want you to come
(08:58):
out and spend time with us at the WBT night
that night. And it's a pleasure to have Robert here
in studio with me. So I understand that there was
a little bit of a tension back in that time
period among the different sort of folks that were believing
one way or another and things like that. So can
(09:20):
you give us a little taste of what this might
have happened and looked like?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Sure? Absolutely, Well.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
During the American Revolutionary War, it was assumed that in
South Carolina, based on faulty intelligence, that there were more loyalists,
those who wanted to support the king than patriots. All right,
So that was part of the Southern strategy, which meant
going through South Carolina, conquering South Carolina, doing the same
in North Carolina. After you have all these loyalists support
(09:51):
presumably in South Carolina and presumably in North Carolina, and
then go into Virginia. That was, in a nutshell, the strategy. Well,
it didn't exactly work out that way. There were a
large number of loyalists in South Carolina that made up
Patrick Ferguson's army, and for the most part that was
pretty much it South Carolina loyalists. You did have some
(10:14):
British provincials. Those were loyalists from New York, New Jersey,
you know, those damn Yankees recruited it to serve in
the British Army as provincial soldiers that were also there
at the Battle of King's Mountain. But this was also
a war, America's first civil war arguably, where you had
(10:36):
brother fighting against brothers, sometimes father against son. And there's
a really good book, if I may show your time.
Absolutely the book is by Randall Jones. The title is
Before they Were Heroes at King's Mountain, which gives a
really great detailed overview of all the events that lead
up to the Battle of King's Mountain, the significance of
(10:57):
the year of seventeen eighty, from the collapse of Charlestown
through the summer seventeen eighty very dramatic time, and then
of course the description of the battle itself. What's great
is that Randall Jones also provides some great examples of
brothers fighting against brothers.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
And if I may, I've got a couple packages.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Okay, the first one, Bowen and Cleveland did not know
one another, and they fought for the same side. Others
on the mountain that day knew each other well and
were enemies. The Logan family of Lincoln County had two sons,
William and Joseph, fighting for the Patriots and against their brothers,
John and Thomas, fighting on behalf of the crown. Thomas
(11:42):
was badly wounded and left on the field of battle.
His brother John would be taken prisoner and marched away afterwards.
In another instance, a wounded Tory recognized his brother in
law a Patriot and called to him for help. Look
to your friends for help, came the stern rebuke as
the patriot moved on. One example. Second example, if I
(12:02):
may just roupe sure briefly, one family from Rutherford County
lost four sons in the battle. Preston go Forth fought
for the Patriots. His three brothers, including John, were among
the Tories. Preston and one of his brothers may well
have been the pair. Colonel Shelby later recalled two brothers.
Expert riflemen were seeing to present at each other to
(12:24):
fire and fall at the same instant. Another patriot noticed
heavy and accurate fire coming from inside the hollow shell
of a chestnut tree through a hole in it. He
fired several shots through the small hole silen, seeing the
firing from within. He later looked inside the shell to
discover he had killed his brother, a Tory. The shock
and grief overwhelmed the man, and he became almost deranged
(12:49):
in consequence.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Wow, so really brutal stuff. Absolutely, it is really the
first Civil War. Yes, in many ways, without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Wow, folks, you want to get the tickets, you want
to come in and see this. It's gonna be absolutely incredible.
Libertymountain Drama dot com. Libertymuntain Drama dot com. We happen
to have a satisfied customer on the on the whole.
Let's let's check in with Doug. Doug, welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Hey, gentlemen, how are you today? Great?
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Doing great?
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Doug awesome, Well, Reverend, I wanted to comment. I took
my daughter to see the play on the second day
it opens, and I thought it was wonderful. Whether you
know everything about King's Mountain or nothing, it was really great.
But I wanted to call and say it's great for anybody,
any age. We had a really good time, and I
(13:38):
thought you did an excellent Irish accent. And I think
the guy that played King George was hilarious worth the
price of admission alone. I was a little surprised because
I'm I'm related to Colonel Campbell that came down from Virginia,
which I wasn't sure I hear anything about him in
(13:59):
the play, but I did, so that was also fantastic.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
How about that? Well, that was I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
That.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Uh, that speaks to my heart very well. I'm I'm
so grateful for that, and I will pass that compliment
onto Julian who portrays King George. All these young people,
if I may, all these young people work so incredibly hard. Uh,
if you could just see about five minutes, what is
(14:26):
like backstage? I can imagine a chaos that happens. I
mean Julian, the guy who plays King George, for example,
he plays about three different roles. You don't you see
him with speaking lines as King George, but he also
plays a bandit in a couple of other scenes, w
with a clever handkerchief covered over his face, so you
(14:46):
can't recognize that that is the actor who portrays King George.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That's a little trade secret.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Looking for that's I gotta I gotta keep an eye out.
My eyes peeled on that one. Listen, It's so wonderful
to have you in here. Robert Ryles, who portrays the
Reverend Mackenzie in the play for you know, a Battle
Liberty Mountain final pitch, what's your favorite moment so far?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
My favorite moment so far, quite honestly for me, is
and well, it involves my character, so I'm unabashably giving myself,
of course, But the height of the discussion in camp,
(15:40):
where the principal figure saying, boys, we're here to defend
our liberties and our sensibilities essentially, and then Reverend Mackenzie
comes out, and what he does is very powerful. He
quotes from the book of Joshua Wow and the story
(16:04):
of Gideon Wow. And then in a very dramatic moment,
he yells the same cry that presumably Reverend Samuel Doak
had cried out at the Battle of Sycamore, I'm sorry
at the Sycamore Shoals muster ground Wow. Just before the
over Mountain men went on their quest to find Patrick Ferguson.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Great stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
And I'm not going to reveal with that, don't reveal it,
not going to reveal what that is, don't reveal it.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
But all I can say it's for me.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
It was just a wonderful moment and I love performing
it every time. Phenomenal, but there are so many moments,
Oh sure, so many.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Well, they're going to have to come and see it. Absolutely,
gotta have them do. Absolutely. I'm so happy you came
into the studio here today. Robert Ryles, he portrays Reverend
Mackenzie in the play. You got to get these tickets,
ladies and gentlemen. It's absolutely going to be phenomenal. Libertymountain
Drama dot com make sure you buy those tickets, you
check them out, and we cannot wait to see each
(17:03):
and every one of you enjoy this
I I.
Speaker 2 (00:08):
I mean it is by the way, it is almost
Halloween and the Prince of Darkness is, you know, bringing
us in. Of course, it's great to have you. I've
got a great guest in studio. That's uh, that is
I'm very excited about. And it's uh. He is Robert Ryles,
(00:30):
who portrays the Reverend Mackenzie in the uh in the
in the production of.
Speaker 1 (00:36):
Liberty Mountain, right, that is correct?
Speaker 2 (00:38):
Oh so, so how how how long have you been
portraying that particular role.
Speaker 1 (00:46):
I'm glad that you brought that up.
Speaker 3 (00:48):
I am a first year, first timer, how about that.
And it's a very interesting story how I got involved
with the production. I do the reading of the Mecklenburg
Declaration uptown each year on May twentieth. Awesome and Jeremy
and Ashley were there this year. They saw me doing
the reading and then they also saw me at a
different event at the Museum of the Wax Saws in
(01:10):
Union County, North Carolina for the Battle of the Wax
Saw's event, and I was doing a program about a
historical figure, a reverend during the American Revolutionary War. His
name was Reverend William Martin. Very parallel interesting kind of
parallel stories to the Walter McKenzie immigration part that we
have in the play.
Speaker 1 (01:31):
Interesting.
Speaker 3 (01:32):
And they saw me and then they asked me, It's like,
have you ever done any community theater and any theater
at all? And it's like, no, I never have. They said, well,
would you be interested in joining the cast this year
for Liberty Mountain.
Speaker 1 (01:47):
It's like, oh, let me think about that. Yes, that's awesome.
That is outsd Okay, so you're a newbie. I'm a newbie, yes,
but you're.
Speaker 2 (01:56):
But listen, I'm sitting here in the studio with him,
and you have got an unbelievable outfit that you have.
Speaker 1 (02:04):
It's really really great.
Speaker 2 (02:06):
I taking a look at.
Speaker 1 (02:07):
This, thank you.
Speaker 3 (02:08):
I figured I might as well dress up for the
part here absolutely, just to give you an idea. What
I have here is a hunting shirt made of linen,
which is the common type of material that they use
for the clothing back in the day, linen and wool
typically cotton not so much, yes, you know.
Speaker 1 (02:24):
And then of course I have my linen breeches. Yes,
he's right here, he's got them.
Speaker 3 (02:30):
Right there, come up to the knee and knee only.
And then of course the stockings and then especially made shoes.
But these shoes are actually for the production for safety shoes.
Speaker 2 (02:40):
Oh that's fantastic.
Speaker 1 (02:42):
By the they's safety shows.
Speaker 2 (02:43):
Then we're not gonna tell, We're not gonna We're not
gonna let anybody here get that secret from us. How
long have you been you were talking about reading the
Meckelberg and all that sort of stuff. Have you always
been a history buff? Have you always been wanted to
be a part of history and things like that?
Speaker 1 (03:00):
Absolutely? Yeah.
Speaker 3 (03:03):
I mean the first exposure that I got to being
bit by the public history bug was back in the
nineteen eighties when I went with my mother and father
to a trip to Williamsburg participated in a little militia
drill there.
Speaker 1 (03:15):
Nice That planted the seed for me.
Speaker 3 (03:17):
That experience of experiencing it live is what planted the
seed for me. And then years later got a degree
in history from Florida State University apologies to those South
Carolina North Carolina at Florida State kind of a bachelor's
and a master's degree in public history, and I started
(03:38):
volunteering at a historic site there in Tallahassee that was
the seventeenth century Spanish mission site that I started going
over to Saint Augustine, Florida eighteenth century, got involved in
black powder, moved up here in Charlotte area of two
thousand and nine, fell absolutely in.
Speaker 1 (03:51):
Love with rev war is. I've been doing it ever since.
Speaker 2 (03:54):
Rev Woar meaning the Revolutionary War.
Speaker 1 (03:56):
Yes, sir, that Revolutionary War.
Speaker 2 (03:58):
See that is cool. So we were just talking before
we got on the air about the notion of the
characters who are in this incredible drama, right, yeah, and
one of them you were talking about with the person
who was able to manufacture quite a lot of black powder.
Can you talk a little bit about one of those characters? Chair?
Speaker 3 (04:20):
Absolutely, that was Mary Patten, who is also portrayed in
a really good scene in the play about the role
of women during the American Revolution. Mary Patent manufactured black
powder for the cause of independence during the American Revolution,
five hundred pounds of black powder whoa were manufacturer and
(04:44):
donated to the Whigs, in other words, the patriots for
this battle.
Speaker 2 (04:49):
So when you talk about the two sides, right, and
it's really there's really two sides, plus other characters that
are involved in this in the theater. I saw the
performance a couple of years ago. And it was magnificent
and you are completely enveloped in the process when you
guys are doing the performance itself, and it does take
(05:12):
its own it does take a beautiful sort of turn
from tragedy to even a little bit of comedy even
into what the big the big battle that happens that
is a big undertaking in that beautiful theater at the
Joy Theater.
Speaker 3 (05:30):
Absolutely, and it is a team sport without a doubt.
You know, we don't have football pads, obviously, we have
layers of clothing that we that we wear. But it
truly is a monumental effort to put together. And a
shout out to Bob Inman and the years of dedicated
(05:51):
work that he as a playwright has done to tweak
that play each year to make it nuanced and slightly
different ways, brings different stories to Lie eight. And also
hats off to Jeremy Holmesley and Ashley Damar and that
team for really bringing it together. Jeremy has been with
(06:11):
this production since the very beginning. He's a wonderful director
to work with. We have a wonderful team that's been assembled.
The caste is incredible and the production values are really great.
Speaker 2 (06:22):
It's it is amazing. You are surrounded. It is amazing.
It is it is remarkable. And one of the things
I want to reach out to the audience here is
to say, listen, you want to get these tickets, and
you want to come and see us, and you want
to spend time with with this. This this incredible event. Uh,
Liberty Mountain Drama dot com. Liberty Mountain Drama dot com.
(06:44):
You go to info at Libertymountain Drama dot com and
and you can get those get those tickets. We've got
a very special night coming up here on October the seventh,
that is correct, and that happens to be the exact
date of the actual battle there at Liberty Mountain.
Speaker 3 (07:03):
Two hundred and forty fifth anniversary or commemoration of the
Battle of Kings Mountain.
Speaker 2 (07:10):
King's Mountain.
Speaker 1 (07:11):
And it's incredible, and it's what's really.
Speaker 3 (07:17):
Fortuitous about this particular evening is that with the government
shut down and with the closure of Kings Mountain National
Military Park as a consequence of that, this gives people
an opportunity to experience King's Mountain in a different way,
in a different format.
Speaker 1 (07:38):
So for those who have purchased tickets.
Speaker 3 (07:41):
For the nighttime walking talks at Kings Mountain, Nash Military
Park or planning to go to the commemoration, we are
here for you. Yes, we also have matinee and evening
performances on the fourth and fifth as well when that
commemoration event was to her at King's Mountain National Military Park.
Speaker 2 (08:02):
And you can get those tickets again at Libertymountaindrama dot
com or info at Libertymuntain Drama dot com. Can I
can I keep you hostage here for another segment?
Speaker 3 (08:11):
By all me?
Speaker 2 (08:12):
All right, let's do it. This is absolutely fantastic. I
love this performance. I love this play. It is so wonderful.
And Robert Ryles is sticking around with us here for
this next segment. My name is Brett Witterbules.
Speaker 1 (08:34):
Just stay those all.
Speaker 2 (08:38):
Lose Talk eleven, ten ninety nine three WBT Brett Wooterbule
in studio with Robert Ryles, who portrays the Reverend McKenzie
in the play coming up at Liberty Mountain that we're
gonna be able to come and see October the seventh.
You want to get these tickets, We're gonna we're giving
some of them away, but we want you to come
(08:58):
out and spend time with us at the WBT night
that night. And it's a pleasure to have Robert here
in studio with me. So I understand that there was
a little bit of a tension back in that time
period among the different sort of folks that were believing
one way or another and things like that. So can
(09:20):
you give us a little taste of what this might
have happened and looked like?
Speaker 1 (09:26):
Sure? Absolutely, Well.
Speaker 3 (09:27):
During the American Revolutionary War, it was assumed that in
South Carolina, based on faulty intelligence, that there were more loyalists,
those who wanted to support the king than patriots. All right,
So that was part of the Southern strategy, which meant
going through South Carolina, conquering South Carolina, doing the same
in North Carolina. After you have all these loyalists support
(09:51):
presumably in South Carolina and presumably in North Carolina, and
then go into Virginia. That was, in a nutshell, the strategy. Well,
it didn't exactly work out that way. There were a
large number of loyalists in South Carolina that made up
Patrick Ferguson's army, and for the most part that was
pretty much it South Carolina loyalists. You did have some
(10:14):
British provincials. Those were loyalists from New York, New Jersey,
you know, those damn Yankees recruited it to serve in
the British Army as provincial soldiers that were also there
at the Battle of King's Mountain. But this was also
a war, America's first civil war arguably, where you had
(10:36):
brother fighting against brothers, sometimes father against son. And there's
a really good book, if I may show your time.
Absolutely the book is by Randall Jones. The title is
Before they Were Heroes at King's Mountain, which gives a
really great detailed overview of all the events that lead
up to the Battle of King's Mountain, the significance of
(10:57):
the year of seventeen eighty, from the collapse of Charlestown
through the summer seventeen eighty very dramatic time, and then
of course the description of the battle itself. What's great
is that Randall Jones also provides some great examples of
brothers fighting against brothers.
Speaker 1 (11:16):
And if I may, I've got a couple packages.
Speaker 3 (11:18):
Okay, the first one, Bowen and Cleveland did not know
one another, and they fought for the same side. Others
on the mountain that day knew each other well and
were enemies. The Logan family of Lincoln County had two sons,
William and Joseph, fighting for the Patriots and against their brothers,
John and Thomas, fighting on behalf of the crown. Thomas
(11:42):
was badly wounded and left on the field of battle.
His brother John would be taken prisoner and marched away afterwards.
In another instance, a wounded Tory recognized his brother in
law a Patriot and called to him for help. Look
to your friends for help, came the stern rebuke as
the patriot moved on. One example. Second example, if I
(12:02):
may just roupe sure briefly, one family from Rutherford County
lost four sons in the battle. Preston go Forth fought
for the Patriots. His three brothers, including John, were among
the Tories. Preston and one of his brothers may well
have been the pair. Colonel Shelby later recalled two brothers.
Expert riflemen were seeing to present at each other to
(12:24):
fire and fall at the same instant. Another patriot noticed
heavy and accurate fire coming from inside the hollow shell
of a chestnut tree through a hole in it. He
fired several shots through the small hole silen, seeing the
firing from within. He later looked inside the shell to
discover he had killed his brother, a Tory. The shock
and grief overwhelmed the man, and he became almost deranged
(12:49):
in consequence.
Speaker 1 (12:50):
Wow, so really brutal stuff. Absolutely, it is really the
first Civil War. Yes, in many ways, without a doubt.
Speaker 2 (12:57):
Wow, folks, you want to get the tickets, you want
to come in and see this. It's gonna be absolutely incredible.
Libertymountain Drama dot com. Libertymuntain Drama dot com. We happen
to have a satisfied customer on the on the whole.
Let's let's check in with Doug. Doug, welcome to the show.
Speaker 4 (13:15):
Hey, gentlemen, how are you today? Great?
Speaker 1 (13:17):
Doing great?
Speaker 4 (13:18):
Doug awesome, Well, Reverend, I wanted to comment. I took
my daughter to see the play on the second day
it opens, and I thought it was wonderful. Whether you
know everything about King's Mountain or nothing, it was really great.
But I wanted to call and say it's great for anybody,
any age. We had a really good time, and I
(13:38):
thought you did an excellent Irish accent. And I think
the guy that played King George was hilarious worth the
price of admission alone. I was a little surprised because
I'm I'm related to Colonel Campbell that came down from Virginia,
which I wasn't sure I hear anything about him in
(13:59):
the play, but I did, so that was also fantastic.
Speaker 1 (14:02):
How about that? Well, that was I really appreciate that.
Speaker 2 (14:05):
That.
Speaker 3 (14:05):
Uh, that speaks to my heart very well. I'm I'm
so grateful for that, and I will pass that compliment
onto Julian who portrays King George. All these young people,
if I may, all these young people work so incredibly hard. Uh,
if you could just see about five minutes, what is
(14:26):
like backstage? I can imagine a chaos that happens. I
mean Julian, the guy who plays King George, for example,
he plays about three different roles. You don't you see
him with speaking lines as King George, but he also
plays a bandit in a couple of other scenes, w
with a clever handkerchief covered over his face, so you
(14:46):
can't recognize that that is the actor who portrays King George.
Speaker 1 (14:50):
That's a little trade secret.
Speaker 2 (14:53):
Looking for that's I gotta I gotta keep an eye out.
My eyes peeled on that one. Listen, It's so wonderful
to have you in here. Robert Ryles, who portrays the
Reverend Mackenzie in the play for you know, a Battle
Liberty Mountain final pitch, what's your favorite moment so far?
Speaker 3 (15:18):
My favorite moment so far, quite honestly for me, is
and well, it involves my character, so I'm unabashably giving myself,
of course, But the height of the discussion in camp,
(15:40):
where the principal figure saying, boys, we're here to defend
our liberties and our sensibilities essentially, and then Reverend Mackenzie
comes out, and what he does is very powerful. He
quotes from the book of Joshua Wow and the story
(16:04):
of Gideon Wow. And then in a very dramatic moment,
he yells the same cry that presumably Reverend Samuel Doak
had cried out at the Battle of Sycamore, I'm sorry
at the Sycamore Shoals muster ground Wow. Just before the
over Mountain men went on their quest to find Patrick Ferguson.
Speaker 1 (16:26):
Great stuff.
Speaker 3 (16:27):
And I'm not going to reveal with that, don't reveal it,
not going to reveal what that is, don't reveal it.
Speaker 1 (16:32):
But all I can say it's for me.
Speaker 3 (16:34):
It was just a wonderful moment and I love performing
it every time. Phenomenal, but there are so many moments,
Oh sure, so many.
Speaker 2 (16:41):
Well, they're going to have to come and see it. Absolutely,
gotta have them do. Absolutely. I'm so happy you came
into the studio here today. Robert Ryles, he portrays Reverend
Mackenzie in the play. You got to get these tickets,
ladies and gentlemen. It's absolutely going to be phenomenal. Libertymountain
Drama dot com make sure you buy those tickets, you
check them out, and we cannot wait to see each
(17:03):
and every one of you enjoy this
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