|
Year |
Date |
Battle Name or Location |
Present-Day County |
Notes |
|
1775 |
19-Jul |
Fort Johnston |
Brunswick County |
Patriots sent
Royal Governor Josiah Martin packing as he fled North Carolina
aboard the Cruizer. 500 Minute Men under Robert Howe attacked
and burned this fort, in present-day Southport, which had been
under British control. This action left the Cape Fear River unguarded
throughout the Revolutionary War. |
|
|
1776 |
27-Feb |
Moore's
Creek Bridge |
Pender County |
NC Militia defeated Loyalist Scots inflicting
heavy casualties. |
|
|
1776 |
27-Feb |
Brunswick Town |
Brunswick County |
Prior
to the battle of Moore's Creek Bridge, the residents of Brunswick
Town evacuated the village in anticipation of British reprisals. |
|
|
1776 |
April |
Brunswick Town |
Brunswick County |
British destroyed
the deserted town completely, burning all homes and shops to
the ground. The citizens left the town deserted for the remainder
of the war, then decided not to rebuild after the war was concluded. |
|
|
1776 |
19-Sep |
Coweecho River |
Rowan County |
Col. Williamson's
patriots were attacked by Cherokees south of (now) Franklin,
NC, in a gorge known as the Black Hole. Patriots eventually cleared
the pass. |
|
|
1780 |
29-May |
Waxhaws |
Union County |
aka Buford's
Massacre; Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton and his Loyalist Legion
bayoneted 113 Continental soldiers of Colonel Buford's Virginia
unit. Battle raged on both sides of the NC-SC border. |
|
|
1780 |
20-Jun |
Ramseur's
Mill |
Lincoln County |
1,000 Tories
under Lt. Colonel John Moore and Major Nicholas Welch were gathered
here to receive arms and training. They were attacked by a force
of 500 militiamen under Col. Francis Locke and Major Joseph McDowell.
After more than an hour's fighting, mostly hand-to-hand, the
Tories fled. 100 were estimated to have been dead and wounded
on each side, and 50 Tories were captured. |
|
|
1780 |
15-Jul |
Earle's Ford |
Polk County |
Loyalist James
Dunlap surprised Charles McDowell in his camp on the North Pacolet
River in today's Polk County, then Rutherford County. This action
seriously damaged the military reputation of Charles McDowell. |
|
|
1780 |
21-Jul |
Fight at Colson's Mill |
Stanly County |
About
200 Tories were camped at a farm near Colson's Mill, close to
the junction of the Rocky and Pee Dee Rivers. A force of about
400 commanded by Colonel William Lee Davidson attacked and defeated
them. Of the Patriots, Colonel Davidson and one other were wounded.
Of the Tories, 3 were killed, 4 to 5 wounded, and 10 taken prisoner. |
|
|
1780 |
12-Sep |
Cane Creek |
Rutherford County |
Lt. Allaire
described a skirmish with Colonel Charles McDowell’s band
on Cane Creek, about 21 miles north of Gilbert Town, when forty
American Loyalist Volunteers and 100 Tory militia finally came
into contact with the Rebels: "We totally routed...those
congress heroes. Our loss was two wounded and one killed."
Rebel accounts collected years after the skirmish claim that
McDowell initiated the action and that several Tories were killed
before the Rebels retreated. |
|
|
1780 |
21-Sep |
Wahab's Plantation |
unknown |
Lt. Colonel
Davie attacked Colonel Banastre Tarleton's Legion and captured
horses and equipment. |
|
|
1780 |
26-Sep |
Charlotte |
Mecklenburg County |
Lt. Colonel
Davie and 150 Patriots ambushed Colonel Tarleton's Legion at
Charlotte, near the courthouse and close to the center of town,
but were driven off by reinforcements. |
|
|
1780 |
3-Oct |
McIntyre Cabin Site |
Mecklenburg County |
Skirmish |
|
|
1780 |
14-Oct |
Shallow Ford |
Forsyth County & Yadkin County |
310 Whig militia
from North Carolina and Virginia, under Major Joseph Cloyd, defeated
between 400 and 900 Tories under Colonels Gideon and Hezekiah
Wright. Captain Henry Francis of the Whigs was killed, and four
were wounded. 14 Tories were killed. |
|
|
1781 |
1-Feb |
Cowan's Ford |
Mecklenburg County |
Cornwallis and
his army of British and Tories successfully crossed the Catawba
River, defeating the Patriot forces of General William Lee Davidson,
Major Joseph Graham, Colonel William Polk, and Lt. Thomas Davidson.
General Davidson, perhaps the most beloved of all North Carolina's
commanders, was killed. |
|
|
1781 |
1-Feb |
Wilmington |
New Hanover County |
A fleet of 18
British vessels anchored in the Cape Fear River near Wilmington.
450 Redcoats under Major James Craig occupied the town. Arrived
in January. |
|
|
1781 |
1-Feb |
Tarrent's Tavern |
Iredell County |
2/1 - 2/2, aka
Torrence's Tavern; Colonel Tarleton's Legion charged a force
of the NC Militia with sabers, inflicting heavy casualties. |
|
|
1781 |
3-Feb |
Trading Ford |
Rowan County & Davidson County |
In a brilliant
maneuver, General Greene's Continental Army gathered local boats
and used others built by engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko to cross
the swollen Yadkin River at the Trading Ford. Colonel Banastre
Tarleton engaged Greene's rear guard and Cornwallis, unable to
follow, shelled Greene's camp on the far shore. |
|
|
1781 |
13-Feb |
Summerfield |
Guilford County |
aka Bruce's Crossroads - Skirmish |
|
|
1781 |
Feb |
Heron's Bridge |
Pender County |
Major Craig's
British forces attacked General Alexander Lillington's Whig militia.
After two days, Craig retreated, leaving the Whigs still in control
of the bridge. |
|
|
1781 |
23-Feb |
Pyle's Defeat |
Alamance County |
Tories going
to join Cornwallis' army at Hillsborough were destroyed by a
Whig force under ''Light Horse Harry'' Lee and Pickens. Over
90 Loyalists were killed. |
|
|
1781 |
25-Feb |
Haw
River |
Alamance County |
NC Loyalists
were tricked into believing that they were being reviewed by
Colonel Tarleton, when they actually had encountered Lt. Colonel
Lee, whose Continental Legion wore green jackets as did Tarleton's
men. Lee ordered a saber attack and butchered the Loyalists.
This tended to intimidate the Loyalists in that area. |
|
|
1781 |
2-Mar |
Clapp's Mill |
Alamance County |
Lt. Colonel
Henry Lee's Patriot forces attempted to ambush Colonel Banastre
Tarleton's British forces. Tarleton recovered and Lee was forced
to retreat, losing 8 men, while the British lost 20. |
|
|
1781 |
6-Mar |
Wetzall's
Mill |
Guilford County |
aka Weitzel's
or Wetzell's; American forces under Colonel Otho H. Williams
were unable to stop Cornwallis and his British troops under Colonel
James Webster and Tarleton from crossing the Reedy Fork Creek. |
|
|
1781 |
15-Mar |
New Garden Meeting House |
Guilford County |
About 6 miles
from Guilford Courthouse, there was a skirmish between Light
Horse Harry Lee's American forces and British under Colonel Tarleton. |
|
|
1781 |
15-Mar |
Guilford
Court House |
Guilford County |
General Nathanael
Greene's American forces (4,400) and Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis'
British forces (1,900) finally met in battle. Although the British
claimed the field of battle, their greater losses, more than
a quarter of the army, greatly weakened them. |
|
|
1781 |
7-Apr |
Cornwallis Arrives in Wilmington |
New Hanover County |
He
sets up his headquarters here for the duration of the war. |
|
|
1781 |
25-Apr |
Hillsborough |
Orange County |
Lord
Cornwallis seized the Quaker Manor House of Hannah Hadley in
Hillsborough as his headquarters. Pickens and Lee, with a few
American troops, made frequent attacks upon his men, so he tarried
only six days. |
|
|
1781 |
1-May |
Halifax |
Halifax County |
Cornwallis defeated local militia
and occupied town. |
|
|
1781 |
1-May |
Peacock's Bridge |
Wilson County |
General James
Gorham commanded 400 militia against Colonel Banastre Tarleton
with 800 British in a brief skirmish. |
|
|
1781 |
7-May |
Swift Creek / Fishing Creek |
Nash County |
Cornwallis defeated local militia. |
|
|
1781 |
16-Jul |
Pittsboro |
Chatham County |
aka
Old Chatham County Courthouse; Newly-appointed Tory Colonel David
Fanning and his militia of Chatham and Randolph counties guarded
the roads leading to the Courthouse and captured most of the
Whig militia officers of the county. |
|
|
1781 |
1-Aug |
Alston House |
Moore County |
aka House in
the Horshoe' Tories under David Fanning attacked the Patriot
forces of Colonel Phillip Alston camped at his house. Alston
surrendered. |
|
|
1781 |
2-Aug |
Rockfish |
Duplin County |
British
under Major Craig defeated 330 N. Militia under General Caswell
and Colonel Kenan. 20-30 Patriots were taken prisoner. |
|
|
1781 |
19-Aug |
New Bern |
Craven County |
New Bern occupied by British soldiers. |
|
|
1781 |
27-Aug |
Elizabethtown |
Bladen County |
70 Patriots
under Colonel Thomas Robeson defeated a force of 400 Tories under
Colonel John Slingsby. After most of the Tory officers had been
killed or wounded, the remaining fled, many into a ravine since
called Tory Hole. |
|
|
1781 |
1-Sep |
McPhaul's Mill |
Hoke County |
Tory forces
under David Fanning routed Whig force under Thomas Wade. |
|
|
1781 |
12-Sep |
Hillsborough |
Orange County |
NC Loyalists
captured 200 Patriots, including NC Governor Thomas Burke. Loyalist
leader, MacNiel, was killed in the raid. |
|
|
1781 |
13-Sep |
Lindley's
Mill |
Alamance County |
aka Cane Creek;
General Butler and 300 Patriots attempted to rescue Governor
Thomas Burke and 13 others from David Fanning's 600 Tories. The
previous day, Fanning and 21 to 22 of his men had ridden into
Hillsborough in broad daylight and captured the Governor. |
|
|
1781 |
15-Oct |
Raft Swamp |
Robeson County |
Patriots routed Tories after McPhaul's
Mill. |
|
|
1781 |
18-Nov |
British Evacuated Wilmington |
New Hanover County |
War is over
in North Carolina. |
|
