On 9/9/1775, Joseph Dickson (aka Joseph Dixon) was commissioned as a Captain under Col. Griffith Rutherford in the Rowan County Regiment of Militia.

On 10/22/1775, the Rowan County Regiment of Militia was renamed to the 1st Rowan County Regiment of Militia, and therefore Capt. Joseph Dickson was now under Col. Griffith Rutherford in the 1st Rowan County Regiment of Militia. Capt. Joseph Dickson led his company at the first siege of Ninety-Six, SC (11/19-11/21/1775).

On 12/21/1775, Capt. Joseph Dickson was under the newly-appointed Col. Francis Locke, who now led the 1st Rowan County Regiment of Militia, after Col. Griffith Rutherford was appointed to take over the 1st Battalion of Salisbury District Minutemen. Capt. Joseph Dickson led his company at the battle of Great Cane Brake, SC (12/22/1775), in the famous Snow Campaign, SC (12/23-12/30/1775), and in the Cherokee Expedition of August to November of 1776.

On 11/25/1776, Capt. Joseph Dickson was assigned again to Col. Francis Locke in the 1st Battalion of Volunteers, a special regiment created in anticipation of a British invasion that never materialized. This regiment mostly drilled in and around Camden, SC, and it was disbanded on 4/10/1777.

There are no known records of Joseph Dickson's military service between April of 1777 and early 1779, but it is very likely that he continued to serve as a Captain in the NC Militia, either in Rowan County or Tryon County, where he actually lived at that point in time.

On 2/8/1779, the NC General Assembly created Lincoln County out of the abolished Tryon County, and soon thereafter they commissioned Joseph Dickson as a Major under Col. William Graham in the newly-created Lincoln County Regiment of Militia. Maj. Joseph Dickson led the Lincoln County Regiment of Militia at the battle of Kings Mountain, SC (10/7/1780) because Col. William Graham went home sick the day before the battle.

On 9/5/1780, the NC General Assembly authorized the NC State Cavalry-Western District, and soon thereafter they assigned Maj. Joseph Dickson to serve under its new commander, Col. William Richardson Davie. Maj. Joseph Dickson and Col. Davie led the NC State Cavalry-Western District at the battle of Charlotte on 9/26/1780. Maj. Joseph Dickson led part of this regiment at the battle of Polk's Mill on 10/9/1780. This regiment was disbanded in December of 1780. It is assumed that Maj. Joseph Dickson went back to his home county, as a Major under Col. William Graham in the Lincoln County Regiment of Militia.

On 2/4/1781, Joseph Dickson was commissioned as Colonel/Commandant over the Lincoln County Regiment of Militia, after Col. William Graham was asked to resign. He continued in this position until the end of the war (assumed, records incomplete). He led the Lincoln County Regiment of Militia at the battle of Haw River on 2/25/1781.

Joseph Dickson was born in April of 1745 in Chester County, PA, the son of John Dickson and Ann ?. His family moved to Rowan County, NC around 1755. Joseph Dickson married Margaret Elizabeth McEwen in 1764, and they had nine (9) known children. He was elected to represent Lincoln County in the State Senate, where he served four terms between 1788 and 1795. He was later elected to the U.S. House of Representatives 1799-1801. In 1803, Joseph Dickson moved his family to Davidson County, TN. He served two terms in the Tennessee legislature from 1807 to 1811. He died on 4/14/1825 just northeast of Murfreesboro in what is now Rutherford County, TN.

From the Biographical Directory of the U.S. Congress:

"Dickson, Joseph, a representative from North Carolina; born in Chester County, Pa., in April 1745; moved with his parents to Rowan County, NC, and was reared and educated there; engaged in cotton and tobacco planting; member of the Committee of Safety of Rowan County in 1775; commissioned Captain in the Colonial Army the same year; served under Colonel Charles McDowell in 1780, and at the Battle of Kings Mountain as major of the “Lincoln County Men”; clerk of Lincoln County Court in 1781; member of the State Senate 1788-1795, and during this time was appointed one of a commission to establish the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill; elected as a Federalist to the Sixth Congress (March 4, 1799-March 3, 1801); moved to Tennessee in 1803 and settled in that portion of Davidson County which subsequently became Rutherford County; member of the State House of Representatives 1807-1811 and served as Speaker the last two years; died in Rutherford County, Tenn., April 14, 1825; interment on his plantation northeast of Murfreesboro, Tenn."

Click Here for a photo and brief writeup about the gravesite of Joseph Dickson.