The American Revolution in North Carolina - The Patriots and Their Militias




The American Revolution in North Carolina

The NC Patriots and Their Militias

Some of the Patriot Militia Leaders in NC
Richard Caswell	Alexander Lillington	William Lee Davidson
Griffith Rutherford		Isaac Shelby
Benjamin Cleveland		Charles McDowell

The following are the known Patriot Militia units that fought against the Loyalists and the British Army in North Carolina.
Edenton District Militia	Halifax District Militia	Hillsborough District Militia
New Bern District Militia	Salisbury District Militia	Wilmington District Militia
NC 1st Regiment of Militia (1780)	NC 2nd Regiment of Militia (1780)	NC Light Dragoons (1777-1778)
Bynum's Company of Militia (1781)	Collier's Regiment of Militia (1780)	Grahams's Tryon County Regiment (1776)
Kingsbury's Company of Artillery (1778)	Lytle's Regiment of Levies (1778)	Porter's Company Tryon County (1777)
Seawell's Regiment of Militia (1780)	Sharpe's Company of Light Horse (1781)	Vernon's Company of Light Horse (1781)

These are all I can find - with very little information found so far. If anyone knows of other NC Militia units, please contact me at jd.lewis@carolana.com.

At the outbreak of the Revolution, the newly formed North Carolina government divided the state into six military districts. These districts were each comprised of a number of counties surrounding a significant town. The six districts, which corresponded with old judicial organizations, were: Edenton, New Bern, Wilmington, Halifax, Salisbury, and Hillsborough. Later, two additional districts were added, further dividing the mountainous western part of the state. The North Carolina government did not require the militia units to keep any records, and consequently, very little extant information is available. Through some herioic efforts by numerous amateur and professional historians, there are lots of muster rolls and pension lists available in books and on the web. But, few are 100% complete.

For a complete and detailed history of the North Carolina Militia, in general - from 1665 to the end of the American Revolution, Click Here. Link is current as of September 2005. Click Here to download a Word document containing an extract of a History of the North Carolina Militia, by James Whiskers.

There are hundreds of Revolutionary War reenacting units all over the country, including the regiments of the Continental Army, local militias, and even the British Regulars. Click Here to see what is available on the web. Great site. Link is current as of September 2005.