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The North Carolina Line refers to North Carolina units within the Continental Army. The term "North Carolina Line" referred to the quota of infantry regiments assigned to North Carolina at various times by the Continental Congress. These, together with similar contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. The concept was particularly important in relation to the promotion of commissioned officers. Officers of the Continental Army below the rank of brigadier general were ordinarily ineligible for promotion except in the line of their own state.
The North Carolina Contintental units included the following (original commander and date established are indicated): [3]
The North Carolina Regiments were for a time organized into a 1st, 2nd and 3rd Battalions (sometimes referred to as Brigades) early in the war and then consolidated as a North Carolina Battalion before October 1777.
The Corps of North Carolina Light Dragoons consisted of four companies: 1st Company (Captain Samuel Ashe, Jr.), 2nd Company (Captain Martin Phifer), 3rd Company (Captain Cosmo Medici); 1777; 4th Company (Captain John Brown), 1778. [10]
On May 9, 1776, the North Carolina General Assembly authorized the creation of one company of artillery, the 1st North Carolina Company of artillery, headed by Captain John Vance. Captain Vance resigned in November 1777 and he was replaced by Captain John Kingsbury on November 16, 1777. A second company, the 2nd North Carolina Company of Artillery was authorized by the North Carolina General Assembly on January 7, 1777 and was headed by Captain Thomas Clark. The 2nd company was disbanded in June 1779. While both companies were originally part of the North Carolina State troops, both companies were place under the Continental Line on July 10, 1777. [11]
On May 7, 1776, the Deputy Quarter Master General's Department was created for the Southern Department and Colonel Nicholas Long, former commander of the Halifax District Minutemen, was selected to head the department. Camp Quankey, near the town of Halifax, North Carolina was established as a depot and it remained until the end of the war with Colonel Long as commander. [12] [13]
The regiments of the North Carolina Line are known to have been involved in 36 engagements from December 1775 to August 1782. [3]
Order | Date | Known Battles / Skirmishes | State/Province | 1st | 2nd | 3rd | 4th | 5th | 6th | 7th | 8th | 9th | 10th |
---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
1 | December 22, 1775 | Battle of Great Cane Brake | SC | x | x | ||||||||
2 | December 23–30, 1775 | Snow Campaign | SC | x | x | x | |||||||
3 | January 1, 1776 | Burning of Norfolk | VA | x | |||||||||
4 | February 27, 1776 | Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge | NC | x | x | ||||||||
5 | March 8–12, 1776 | Fort Johnston #4 | NC | x | |||||||||
6 | April 6, 1776 | Brunswick Town #1 | NC | x | x | ||||||||
7 | May 1–3, 1776 | Fort Johnston #5 | NC | x | |||||||||
8 | May 11, 1776 | Orton Mill & Kendal Plantation | NC | x | |||||||||
9 | June 28, 1776 | Breach Inlet Naval Battle | SC | x | |||||||||
10 | June 28, 1776 | Fort Moultrie #1 | SC | x | x | x | x | ||||||
11 | September 1, 1776 | Florida Expedition | FL | x | x | x | |||||||
12 | September 6, 1776 | Fort George/Bald Head Island | NC | x | |||||||||
13 | September 11, 1777 | Battle of Brandywine | PA | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
14 | October 4, 1777 | Battle of Germantown | PA | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x | x |
15 | June 28, 1778 | Battle of Monmouth | NJ | x | x | x | |||||||
16 | March 3, 1779 | Battle of Brier Creek | GA | x | x | x | |||||||
17 | May 16, 1779 | Near West Point (NY) | NY | x | x | ||||||||
18 | May 31, 1779 | Fort Lafayette | NY | x | |||||||||
19 | June 20, 1779 | Battle of Stono Ferry | SC | x | x | ||||||||
20 | July 15, 1779 | Battle of Stony Point | NY | x | x | ||||||||
21 | September 16, 1779 – October 18, 1779 | Siege of Savannah | GA | x | x | ||||||||
22 | December 9, 1779 | Battle of Great Bridge | VA | x | |||||||||
23 | March 28 to May 12, 1780 | Siege of Charleston 1780 | SC | x | x | x | |||||||
24 | April 14, 1780 | Battle of Monck's Corner #1 | SC | x | |||||||||
25 | May 6, 1780 | Battle of Lenud's Ferry | SC | x | |||||||||
26 | May 7, 1780 | Fort Moultrie #2 | SC | x | x | ||||||||
27 | August 11, 1780 | Little Lynches Creek (1 unit) | SC | x | |||||||||
28 | August 16, 1780 | Battle of Camden | SC | x | |||||||||
29 | March 15, 1781 | Battle of Guilford Court House | NC | x | x | x | |||||||
30 | April 25, 1781 | Battle of Hobkirk's Hill | SC | x | x | ||||||||
31 | May 12, 1781 | Siege of Fort Motte | SC | x | |||||||||
32 | May 21 to June 19, 1781 | Siege of Ninety-Six 1781 | SC | x | |||||||||
33 | May 24 to June 1, 1781 | Siege of Augusta | GA | x | |||||||||
34 | September 8, 1781 | Battle of Eutaw Springs | SC | x | x | x | x | ||||||
35 | September 12, 1781 | Battle of Lindley's Mill (Hillsborough) | NC | x | |||||||||
36 | August 25, 1782 | Battle of the Combahee River | SC | x |
The 1st North Carolina Regiment of the Continental Army was raised on September 1, 1775, at Wilmington, North Carolina. In January 1776 the organization contained eight companies. Francis Nash was appointed colonel in April 1776. The regiment was present at the defense of Charleston in 1776. It transferred from the Southern Department to George Washington's main army in February 1777. At that time, Thomas Clark became colonel of the 1st Regiment. The regiment became part of General Francis Nash's North Carolina Brigade in July.
The 2nd North Carolina Regiment was an American infantry unit that was raised for the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. In 1776 the regiment helped defend Charleston, South Carolina. Ordered to join George Washington's main army in February 1777, the regiment subsequently fought at Brandywine and Germantown during the Philadelphia Campaign. After most other North Carolina regiments were sent home to recruit, the 1st and 2nd Regiments remained with the main army and fought at Monmouth in June 1778. The regiment was transferred to the Southern Department and was captured by the British army in May 1780 at the Siege of Charleston. Together with the 1st Regiment, the unit was rebuilt and fought capably at Eutaw Springs. The 2nd was furloughed in April 1783 and officially dissolved in November 1783.
The 9th North Carolina Regiment was raised, on 16 September 1776, at Halifax, North Carolina for service with the Continental Army. The regiment saw action at the Battle of Brandywine and Battle of Germantown. The regiment was disbanded, on 1 June 1778, at Valley Forge, Pennsylvania.
The Rhode Island Line was a formation within the Continental Army. The term "Rhode Island Line" referred to the quota of numbered infantry regiments assigned to Rhode Island at various times by the Continental Congress. These, together with similar contingents from the other twelve states, formed the Continental Line. The concept was particularly important in relation to the promotion of commissioned officers. Officers of the Continental Army below the rank of brigadier general were ordinarily ineligible for promotion except in the line of their own state.
The Hillsborough District Brigade of militia was an administrative division of the North Carolina militia established on May 4, 1776. Brigadier General Thomas Person was the first commander. Companies from the eight regiments of the brigade were engaged in 55 known battles and skirmishes in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia during the American Revolutionary War. It was active until the end of the war.
Jethro Exum Sumner was a senior officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Virginia, Sumner's military service began in the French and Indian War as a member of the state's Provincial forces. After the conclusion of that conflict, he moved to Bute County, North Carolina, where he acquired a substantial area of land and operated a tavern. He served as Sheriff of Bute County, but with the coming of the American Revolution, he became a strident patriot, and was elected to North Carolina's Provincial Congress.
James Moore was a Continental Army general during the American Revolutionary War. Moore was born into a prominent political family in the colonial Province of North Carolina, he was one of only five generals from North Carolina to serve in the Continental Army. He spent much of his childhood and youth on his family's estates in the lower Cape Fear River area, but soon became active in the colonial military structure in North Carolina.
The Battle of Germantown on 4 October 1777 pitted a 9,000-man British army under General William Howe, 5th Viscount Howe against an 11,000-strong American army commanded by General George Washington. After an initial advance, the American reserve allowed itself to be diverted by 120 English soldiers holding out in the Benjamin Chew House. A heavy morning fog disoriented the American assault columns and led to a friendly fire incident between elements of Major General John Sullivan's right column and Major General Nathanael Greene's left column. At about this time, the American attack lost impetus and both columns retreated. Meanwhile, two wide flanking columns numbering 3,000 American militia had little effect on the outcome. American losses was numbered at 673 soldiers killed and wounded plus 400 captured, while the British suffered 520 casualties.
Thomas Clark was an officer who served in the War of the Regulation in North Carolina and in the 1st North Carolina Regiment, North Carolina Line of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. He was promoted to brigadier general after the war.
James Hogun was an Irish-American military officer who was as one of five generals from North Carolina to serve with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Ireland, Hogan migrated to North Carolina – then a British colony – in 1751. Settling in Halifax County, he raised a family and established himself as a prominent local figure.
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 Fourth North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776, and disbanded at the end of the war.
The Rowan County Regiment was originally established in about August 1, 1775 as a local militia in Rowan County in the Province of North-Carolina. When the North Carolina Provincial Congress authorized thirty-five existing county militias to be organized on September 9, 1775, the Rowan County Regiment was included and all officers were appointed with commissions from the Provincial Congress. The members of the Rowan County Regiment were mostly from what was Rowan County at the time. Prior to establishment of the Rowan County Regiment, many of its officers were active in the Rowan County Committee of Safety. The regiment included 160 known companies and one or more of these companies were engaged in 36 known battles or skirmishes during the American Revolution. After the establishment of the Rowan County Regiment, several other counties were created from Rowan County, including Burke County in 1777, Iredell County in 1788, Davidson County in 1822 and Davie County in 1836.
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 Halifax 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.
North Carolina state troops in the American Revolution were the initial military units created in a transition from the Province of North Carolina under British rule to independence from British rule. Most units did not last long as such and were either transferred to the Continental Army or state militia instead.