Brigadier General Francis Marion, also known as the "Swamp Fox", was an American military officer, planter, and politician who served during the French and Indian War and the Revolutionary War. During the American Revolution, Marion supported the Patriot cause and enlisted in the Continental Army, fighting against British forces in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War from 1780 to 1781.
The Battle of Eutaw Springs was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, and was the last major engagement of the war in the Carolinas. Both sides claimed a victory.
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, 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".
Benjamin Cleveland was an American pioneer and officer in the North Carolina militia. He is best remembered for his service as a colonel in the Wilkes County Regiment of the North Carolina militia during the War of Independence, and in particular for his role in the American victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain.
Pyle's Massacre,, was fought during the American Revolutionary War in present-day Alamance County on February 24, 1781. The battle was between Patriot troops attached to the Continental Army under Colonel Henry Lee and the Loyalist North Carolina militia commanded by Dr. John Pyle. Due to the unique uniform design of his forces, the Loyalists mistakenly thought Colonel Lee was the expected British cavalry commander, Banastre Tarleton, who was known to be en route to reinforce Pyle. When Lee's men opened fire, they took Pyle's force totally by surprise. This resulted in an extremely lopsided victory for Lee, and Pyle's command was scattered and routed.
Thomas "Burnfoot" Brown was a British Loyalist during the American Revolution. Intending to become a quiet colonial landowner, he lived, instead, a turbulent and combative career. During the American Revolutionary War he played a key role for the Loyalist cause in the Province of Georgia as a Lt. Col in the King's Carolina Rangers. Following the overthrow of British rule and the Patriot victory in the Revolution, Brown was exiled first to British East Florida, and later to St. Vincent's Island in the Caribbean.
David Fanning was a Loyalist leader in the American Revolutionary War in North and South Carolina. Fanning participated in approximately 36 minor engagements and skirmishes, and in 1781, captured the Governor of North Carolina, Thomas Burke, from the temporary capital at Hillsborough. Additionally, Fanning was captured by Patriot forces 14 times throughout the war, each time escaping or receiving a pardon. After the British defeat in the war, Fanning fled to Canada, where he was elected to the Legislative Assembly of New Brunswick from 1791 to 1801 representing Kings County. After being convicted of rape in 1801, Fanning was expelled from New Brunswick, and settled in Nova Scotia, where he lived the remainder of his life.
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.
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.
Frederick Hambright was a military officer who fought in both the local militia and in the North Carolina Line of the Continental Army during the Revolutionary War. He is best known for his participation in the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780. Serving as a statesman early in the Revolution, Hambright joined the war in 1777, ranked a lieutenant colonel in a local militia. His early actions were limited to occasional checks on Loyalist groups. This changed in 1780 with Hambright's important role at the Battle of Kings Mountain, which occurred near his lands in the newly formed Lincoln County, North Carolina. Hambright was commended for his bravery during the battle, though suffering a wound which forced him to permanently resign from military service.
William "Bloody Bill" Cunningham (1756–1787) was an American loyalist infamous for perpetrating a series of bloody massacres in South Carolina's backcountry in the fall of 1781 as commander of a Tory militia regiment in the Revolutionary War. Though his family were loyal to the British crown, Cunningham initially enlisted in the Continental Army as part of the State of South Carolina's 3rd regiment in 1775. His tenure in the rebel army was an unhappy one and Cunningham changed sides to fight for the British in 1778. He earned the nickname "Bloody Bill" for the violent, ruthless nature of his raids on rebels and patriot civilians.
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.
John Butler was a military officer in the Hillsborough District Brigade of the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War from 1775 to 1784, and served as its commanding general between 1779 and the end of the conflict. He was a member of the North Carolina House of Commons for several terms simultaneously with his military service. Butler commanded soldiers in several major engagements throughout North and South Carolina, but is perhaps best remembered for his role in the Patriot defeat at the Battle of Lindley's Mill. Butler died shortly after the end of the war, and his career as a military commander has received mixed reviews by historians.
James Trousdale was a captain in the American Revolution and father of William Trousdale, Governor of Tennessee. He was the son of John and Elizabeth (Carraway) Trousdale, who were born in Ulster Province, Ireland. With his second wife and children, he accompanied his parents from Pennsylvania to Orange County, North Carolina, settling on the Haw River. Trousdale's first recorded grant of land was by the State, 200 acres on the waters of Haw Creek, south of Hawfields, 3 Sep 1779.
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.
The Anson County Regiment was authorized on September 9, 1775 by the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress. The regiment was engaged in battles and skirmishes against the British and Cherokee during the American Revolution in North Carolina, South Carolina and Georgia between 1776 and 1781. It was active until the end of the war.
The Edenton 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.
The Wilmington 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.
Joseph Graham was a Revolutionary War militia officer, politician, and wealthy ironmonger from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina.
The Battle of Elizabethtown occurred on August 27, 1781 in Elizabethtown, North Carolina in Bladen County, North Carolina. The battle was fought between Patriot troops under the command of Thomas Robeson and Thomas Brown and the Loyalist North Carolina militia commanded by John Sligsby and David Godden. The day before the battle, a local resident named Sallie Salter entered the Loyalist camp to sell eggs. Unknown to the Loyalist forces, Sallie was a spy for the Patriot cause. She reported to Colonels Thomas Robeson and Thomas Brown, commanders of a band of the Bladen County militiamen. The information Salter provided to both men led to them making a decision to attack the Loyalist encampment. Despite the fact that the Patriot forces were significantly outnumbered, Robeson and Brown fabricated a plan in which their forces would appear to be greater in number by masquerading false commands to "phantom" soldiers, intended to be heard by the enemy. The Patriot forces approached the Loyalist camp at night and launched a surprise attack. John Sligsby and David Godden were both mortally wounded and many of the soldiers fled the area into a ravine near the river, which has been known as "Tory Hole" ever since. Today, a state historic marker entitled with the name of the battle denotes the site of the engagement. It reads as follows: "Whigs broke Tory power in Bladen Co., August, 1781, driving them into Tory Hole, 50 yards N."
Patriot militia 