Background
Following the British defeat at Ramsour's Mill, where he arrived with over 1,200 men after the battle on June 20, 1780, General Griffith Rutherford of the Salisbury District Brigade set about chasing down refugees from the battle that were trying to regroup with British troops elsewhere. While he met with some success, expiring enlistments and furloughs rapidly reduced his army's size to about 200. On June 22, he learned that a group of several hundred Loyalists had been recruited by Colonel Samuel Bryan about 75 miles (121 km) to the northeast, near the Yadkin River. Rutherford set off in pursuit, putting out a call for men. By the time he was within 15 miles (24 km) of Bryan's position his force had grown back to 600 men.
The Battle of Ramsour's Mill took place on June 20, 1780 in present-day Lincolnton, North Carolina, during the British campaign to gain control of the southern colonies in the American Revolutionary War. The number of fighters on each side of the battle is still an issue of contention, but Loyalist militiamen outnumbered Patriot militia and had captured a group of Patriots who they were planning to hang on the morning of June 20.
Griffith Rutherford was an officer in the American Revolutionary War, a political leader in North Carolina, and an important figure in the early history of the Southwest Territory and the state of Tennessee.
The Salisbury District Brigade was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). This unit was established by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776, and disbanded at the end of the war.
Bryan anticipated Rutherford's approach, and began to withdraw down the east side of the Yadkin River with the goal of joining with British regulars on the Pee Dee River. Rutherford gave chase, but his attempts to cut Bryan's retreat off failed. At Salisbury he detached Colonel William Lee Davidson and a picked force to ride down the west side of the Yadkin in case Bryan tried to cross over. However, this design was frustrated when Bryan, marching day and night, reached the British force.
The Pee Dee River, also known as the Great Pee Dee River, is a river in the U.S. states of North Carolina and South Carolina. It originates in the Appalachian Mountains in North Carolina, where its upper course, above the mouth of the Uwharrie River, is known as the Yadkin River. It is extensively dammed for flood control and hydroelectric power. The lower part of the river is named Pee Dee after the Pee Dee Indian Tribe. The Pee Dee region of South Carolina, composed of the northeastern counties of the state, was also named after the tribe. In fact, today the Pee Dee Indian Tribe still occupies some of their ancestral lands, although the tribe only consists of just over 200 enrolled members. The first Europeans believed to have navigated part of the river was a party sent by Lucas Vázquez de Ayllón in 1521. They named it "River of St. John the Baptist."
Salisbury is a city in the Piedmont region of North Carolina; it has been the county seat of Rowan County since 1753 when Rowan County was much larger and its territory extended to the Mississippi River. Located 44 miles northeast of Charlotte and within its metropolitan area, the town has attracted a growing population, which was 33,663 in the 2010 – 27.8 percent greater than 2000.
William Lee Davidson (1746–1781) was an officer in the North Carolina militia and Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was born in Pennsylvania and moved with his family to Rowan County, North Carolina in 1750. He was killed at the Battle of Cowan's Ford.
Two days into the chase, Davidson learned that several hundred Loyalists had gathered near Colson's Mill, not far from the junction of the Rocky and Pee Dee Rivers.
The Rocky River is a 95-mile-long (153 km) river in the Piedmont region of North Carolina. It begins in Iredell County near Mooresville and flows south into Cabarrus County, where it is the principal waterway in the county. The river continues southeastward to form the line between Stanly, Union, and Anson counties. It empties into the Pee Dee River just below Norwood, North Carolina at the junction of Stanly, Montgomery, Anson, and Richmond counties, at the foot of the Uwharrie Mountains.
Moving rapidly in order to gain the element of surprise, Davidson and his force attempted to surround the farm on which the Loyalists were gathering. However, his front was discovered shortly before the flanking men were in place, and fire commenced. Davidson, the only man in uniform, was targeted by Loyalist marksmen, and was severely injured by a bullet to the gut. However, his men did not falter when he went down, when Col. Francis Locke took command and they dispersed the Loyalist troop, killing three, wounding several more, and taking ten prisoners. The escape of the Loyalists was helped by their familiarity with the local terrain. [3]
Norwood is a town in Stanly County, North Carolina, United States. The population was 2,379 at the 2010 census.
The Yadkin River is one of the longest rivers in North Carolina, flowing 215 miles (346 km). It rises in the northwestern portion of the state near the Blue Ridge Parkway's Thunder Hill Overlook. Several parts of the river are impounded by dams for water, power, and flood control. The river becomes the Pee Dee River at the confluence of the Uwharrie River south of the community of Badin, NC and east of the town of Albemarle, NC. The river flows into South Carolina near Cheraw, which is at the Fall Line. The entirety of the Yadkin River and the Great Pee Dee River is part of the Yadkin-Pee Dee River Basin.
The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took place on October 7, 1780, 9 miles (14 km) south of the present-day town of Kings Mountain, North Carolina in what is now rural Cherokee County, South Carolina, where the Patriot militia defeated the Loyalist militia commanded by British Major Patrick Ferguson of the 71st Foot. The battle has been described as "the war’s largest all-American fight".
Patrick Ferguson was a Scottish officer in the British Army, an early advocate of light infantry and the designer of the Ferguson rifle. He is best known for his service in the 1780 military campaign of Charles Cornwallis during the American Revolutionary War in the Carolinas, in which he aggressively recruited Loyalists and harshly treated Patriot sympathizers. Some dispute this characterization of Ferguson as showing pro-Patriot bias, however, and other accounts praise him for his humanity and unwillingness to follow orders he considered barbaric.
The Battle of Kettle Creek was a minor encounter in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War. It was fought in Wilkes County about eight miles (13 km) from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriots decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta.
The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Appalachian Mountains who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in the war's southern campaign, they are best known for their role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. The term "overmountain" arose because their settlements were west of, or "over", the Appalachians, which was the primary geographical boundary dividing the 13 American colonies from the western frontier. The Overmountain Men hailed from parts of Virginia, North Carolina, and what is now Tennessee and Kentucky.
Pyle's Massacre, also known as Pyle's Hacking Match or the Battle of Haw River, was fought during the American Revolutionary War in Orange County, North Carolina, on February 24, 1781, between Patriot and Loyalist North Carolina militia troops. Patriot cavalry commander Continental Army Colonel Henry Lee surprised Loyalist militia under Dr. John Pyle, who thought Lee was the British cavalry commander Banastre Tarleton sent to meet Pyle. Lee's men then opened fire, surprising and scattering Pyle's force, with Colonel Lee pursuing Tarleton in the direction of Hillsborough, NC, intending to capture or kill his command.
The Tuckertown Reservoir is the reservoir formed by the Tuckertown Dam35°29′05″N80°10′36″W at the North end of Badin Lake and the High Rock Dam 35°36′03″N80°14′06″W at the bottom of High Rock Lake in the Uwharrie Lakes Region in the U.S. state of North Carolina.
The Battle of Lindley's Mill took place in Orange County, North Carolina, on September 13, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War. The battle took its name from a mill that sat at the site of the battle on Cane Creek, which sat along a road connecting what was then the temporary state capital, Hillsborough, with Wilmington, North Carolina.
Huntsville is a small unincorporated community in eastern Yadkin County, North Carolina, United States. The community was formerly chartered in 1792 by Charles Hunt of Salisbury, NC and was chartered again in 1822. Not to be confused with the other Huntsville, North Carolina which is a small town not listed on maps. Huntsville, North Carolina is located in Rockingham county near Ellisboro, North Carolina along Ellisboro Rd at the Sardis Church Rd. intersection. Between Stokesdale and Madison. It is mostly known to the locals as Huntsville and even has Huntsville Elementary School, Huntsville Volunteer Fire Department, and Huntsville Community Center which is in front of a baseball/softball field which is home to Huntsville little league.
The Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 19, 1780, occurred near a ford of the Enoree River, near the present-day border between Spartanburg, Laurens and Union Counties in South Carolina. During the course of the battle, 200 Patriot militiamen defeated a combined force of approximately 300 Loyalist militiamen and 200 provincial regulars.
The Battle of Black Mingo was a skirmish during the American Revolution. It took place in September 1780 in the vicinity of Dollard's Tavern near Black Mingo Creek near Hemingway, South Carolina. General Francis Marion attacked and scattered a contingent of Loyalist troops that had been left to secure the region by Colonel Banastre Tarleton after his destructive march through the area. The Loyalists, under Colonel John Coming Ball, were driven into the nearby swamp after suffering significant casualties.
The Pee Dee River Railway is a South Carolina railroad that serves the far eastern portion of the state.
The Battle of Torrence's Tavern was a minor engagement of the American Revolutionary War that took place in what was the western portion of Rowan County, North Carolina, approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of the Catawba River near modern-day Mooresville in Iredell County. Torrence's Tavern was a part of the larger Southern campaign of the American Revolution, which, by 1780–1781 involved a series of clashes between the British Army and Loyalist militia and the Continental Army and Patriot militia in the Piedmont region of North and South Carolina.
The Battle of Tearcoat Swamp was a battle during the American Revolutionary war between Lieutenant Colonel Francis Marion's Patriot militia, and a Loyalist Militia led by Lieutenant Colonel Samuel Tynes. The battle took place on 25 October 1780 in present-day Clarendon County, South Carolina.
Francis Locke Sr. (1722–1796) was a plantation owner, businessman, politician, and a participant in the American War of Independence, where he led the American Patriots to the decisive victory at Ramseur's Mill, which turned the tide of the American War for Independence in the south.
