The Capture of North Carolina Governor Thomas Burke
byWhen the vote came on Tuesday, July 26, 1781, before the House’s evening adjournment, it was Thomas Burke’s turn to hold the Executive office…
North Carolina
5
William Tryon and the Park that Still Bears His Name
byFort Tryon Park, sixty-seven acres just north of the George Washington Bridge in Manhattan, is a bucolic refuge among the skyscrapers of New York…
17
The Admission of North Carolina and Rhode Island into the Union
byOn November 21, 1789, the people of the state of North Carolina ratified the United States Constitution. On May 29, 1790, the people of…
The Impeachment of Senator William Blount—the First in American History
byIt is easy to suggest that William Blount made no significant contribution to the development of the United States. His achievements, although not negligible,…
1
The Battle of Shallow Ford, October 14, 1780
byIn September 1780, writing from Hillsborough, North Carolina, just one month after the disastrous defeat at Camden, Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates penned a disconcerted…
2
Cornwallis and the Winter Campaign, January to April 1781
byLeaving Colonel Francis Lord Rawdon to command in the field from Georgetown to Augusta, Lt. Gen. Charles Earl Cornwallis, the British General Officer Commanding…
2
Captain John De Treville: Continental Officer and British Spy
byIn late June 1780 a messenger arrived in Charleston, South Carolina, with intelligence for Lt. Gen. Charles, Earl Cornwallis. The messenger, Capt. John La Boularderie…
9
North Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders
byNorth Carolina’s Revolutionary Founders, edited by Jeff Broadwater and Troy L. Kickler (Chapel Hill, NC: University of North Carolina Press, 2019) The Old North…
3
Milton’s Odyssey: The Revolutionary and Post-Revolutionary Service of Georgia’s John Milton
byGeorgia’s fragile independence within the new American republic was shattered on December 29, 1778, when British troops attacked Savannah. Despite clear signs that the…
1
Their Pockets Filled with Paper Dollars: The Raid on Little Ferry
byDuring the American Revolution, Bergen County, New Jersey, was flooded with combatants from all over America, many of whom had never been to the…
This Week on Dispatches: Andrew Waters on the Campaign in the Carolinas
byOn this week’s Dispatches host Brady Crytzer interviews JAR contributor Andrew Waters on the course of the campaign through the Carolinas, including Cowpens and other key…
9
Midsummer 1780 in the Carolinas and Georgia—Events predating the Battle of Camden
byBesides dealing with events elsewhere, this article relates in particular the plight of the Carolina loyalists and the way in which British ascendancy in…
1
9
The Road to Charleston: Nathanael Greene and the American Revolution
byThe Road to Charleston, Nathanael Greene and the American Revolution by John Buchanan (University Press of Virginia, 2019) John Buchanan’s latest account of the southern theater…
2
George Farragut: The Epitome of an American Colonial
byJordi Ferragut Mesquida, better known by his anglicized name George Farragut, was the only known Spanish volunteer who fought under the American flag in…
2
Decoding British ciphers used in the South, 1780-81
byDuring the southern campaigns the British used two kinds of cipher, each kind being markedly different from the other. The First Kind of Cipher: The…
To the End of the World: Cornwallis Pursues Morgan to the Catawba
byAs Daniel Morgan collected his prisoners on the morning of January 17, 1781, he knew Charles, Lord Cornwallis, could not be far behind. “The…
16
The Decision that Lost Britain the War: An Enigma Now Resolved
byIn this article I address the absurdity of Cornwallis’s decision to march from Wilmington, North Carolina, to Virginia and the light thrown on it…
5
Major James Wemyss: Second Most Hated British Officer in the South
byNo British officer was more reviled by Patriots in the South during the American Revolution than Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton. Based partly on fact…
2
Skulking Shots on the Flank: The Skirmish at Cane Creek
byThe October 7, 1780 Battle of Kings Mountain is likely familiar to those even casually interested in the American Revolution. For those who look…
Norfolk, Virginia, Sacked by North Carolina and Virginia Troops
byIf the headline of a January or February 1776 edition of any North American Tory newspaper read, “Norfolk, Virginia, Sacked by North Carolina and…
3
A ‘Heavenly Harvest’ of Vulnerable Women in North Carolina: Tory Troops as Sexual Predators
byStrong in the memories of North Carolina veterans of the Revolution were images of Tory (Americans loyal to the British government) terrorists, mounted on…
6
North Carolina Patriot Women Who Talked Back to the Tories
byOn January 10, 1776, the British governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin, then bobbing on the HMS Scorpion off Wilmington, appointed just over two…
3
With Cornwallis to the Dan: Deconstructing the “Forbes Champagné Letter”
byThe American War of Independence produced many dramatic episodes, but none surpassed the campaign that Lt. Gen. Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis, conducted in North…
4
The Southern Expedition of 1776: The Best Kept Secret of the American Revolution
byOne of the most enjoyable aspects of researching the history of the American Revolution is the process of looking beneath and/or beyond those events…
19
Paddy Carr, “a honey of a Patriot”
byKnown primarily through a mix of fact and legend as the most notorious Patriot of the southern campaigns, Paddy Carr was also claimed to…
11
Fanning’s Bloody Sabbath as Traced by Alexander Gray
byOn March 10, 1782, Colonel David Fanning led a band of vengeful Loyalists on a path of slaughter and arson in northern Randolph County,…
1
John Butler’s “Want of Good Generalship”
byI plan to write about how the Tory guerrilla David Fanning changed after being made a Loyalist Colonel and given his own red coat,…
5
John McClure Rallies the South
byHad he made it through the war, John McClure’s name would likely draw equal fame and respect as the nation’s most celebrated southern patriots….
2
Fanning Outfoxes Marion
byWhen news of Lord Cornwallis’s surrender at Yorktown on October 19, 1781 arrived in southeastern North Carolina well into November, the war there did…
41
The Tryon County Patriots of 1775 and Their “Association”
byOn August 14, 1775 some North Carolina colonial men, possibly as many as four dozen or so, met at the Tryon County courthouse. That…
5
9
The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775
byBook Review: The First American Declaration of Independence? The Disputed History of the Mecklenburg Declaration of May 20, 1775 By Scott Syfert. Jefferson, NC:…
3
Race to the Dan:
“Pushed with Great Expedition”
by
It had been a tense three weeks in the Carolinas for General Nathanael Greene, the commander of the American southern army. In the wake…
5
Overlooked Wilmington
byThe city you probably never thought about for its role in the Revolution had a tremendously important role in the conflict. Boston, Philadelphia, Newport,…
5
The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge
byIt was January 1776. In a bold plan hatched in London to end this rebellion, General Sir Henry Clinton was to sail from New…
Loyalist Leadership in the Revolutionary South
byThe historical debate concerning the Loyalists in the Revolutionary South has generally focused on matters such as the Loyalists’ numbers and motivations. While these…
20
“Light Horse Harry” Lee and Pyle’s Massacre
byOn February 25, 1781, the Continental cavalry of Lieutenant Colonel Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee’s Legion and Brigadier Andrew Pickens’s militia encountered several hundred…
6
The Loser’s Account: A Story of Two Carolina Loyalists
byThey say that history is written by the victors. Thus, the story of the American Revolution is largely one of heroic figures such as…
3
Spring Break Road Trip – Days 5 to 7 (NC, SC, GA)
byOur spring break road trip concludes the same way as the major fighting of the Revolutionary War did — in the south. The first…
“Horrid and Treasonable”
byIn late May 1775, the Scots-Irish settlers of remote Mecklenburg County, in the Carolina backcountry, received news by express messenger of the Battles of…