The 9th North Carolina Regiment was authorized on November 28, 1776 and assigned to the Southern Department. It was first placed in the 1st NC Brigade under Brigadier General James Moore. On February 5, 1777, it was placed in the 3rd NC Brigade under the newly-appointed Brigadier General Francis Nash. Upon the death of Brigadier General James Moore on April 15th, and the subsequent appointment of Brigadier General Robert Howe to assume leadership of the Southern Department in Charlestown, the NC Continental Line was entirely under a singular general, Brigadier General Francis Nash, who simply led was was known as the NC Brigade. It soon marched northward.

The 9th North Carolina Regiment was organized during the Spring and Summer of 1777 at Halifax, NC. It included eight companies from Hillsborough and Salisbury Districts. On July 8, 1777, it was officially assigned to the NC Brigade, an element of the Northern Department - it arrived in early September of 1777. The 9th NC Regiment was soon engaged at the battles of Brandywine Creek and Germantown in Pennsylvania.

Upon the death of Brig. Gen. Francis Nash as a result of his severe wounds at the Battle of Germantown, the 8th NC Regiment, along with all other NC Continental regiments in the Northern Theater, was placed under the command of Maj. Gen. Alexander McDougall of New York. On December 20, 1777, the NC Continental Line was placed under Brigadier General Lachlan McIntosh of Georgia, and they were encamped at Valley Forge in Pennsylvania for that brutal winter.

On May 15, 1778, the NC Continental Line was led by Col. Thomas Clark (of the 1st NC Regiment) and placed under Major General Gilbert du Motier, Marquis de Lafayette - simply known as Lafayette.

On May 29, 1778, Continental Congress ordered the reorganization of all NC regiments due to low numbers in their ranks. The 8th NC Regiment was disbanded effective June 1, 1778, never to be reconstituted.