250 and Counting

Category: North Carolina History

  • The Fourth NC Regiment–April 15, 1776

    Cover art for April 15, 1776: the gravesite of General (!) Thomas Polk, in the Old Settlers Cemetery, plot 129, in Charlotte, NC.

    The Fourth North Carolina Regiment got into some interesting battles, but in retrospect it feels as though they didn’t get a ton of love from the Army in general.

    (My delaying the show notes probably doesn’t do anything for their ego either, but I was so tired that I was practically hallucinating. But I didn’t want to delay the episode drop, and I didn’t want to do meaningless show notes. And I do thank you for your patience.)

    Not long after they organized, they were moved to the Northern Department of the Continental Army, then after a couple of years they were switched back to the Southern Department. Thomas Polk was removed from command without being told about it. They were absorbed by another regiment at one point and then dissolved altogether when the enlistments ran out, so the leaders had to go and recruit more men, meaning they weren’t around when the British took Charleston, SC.

    Today’s cover art is the grave of Thomas Polk. That small plate reading “129” is the lot number; there used to be a lovely plaque there identifying Polk as one of the signers of the Mecklenburg Declaration, but it was reportedly stolen. See? No respect.

    We’ll hear from them later this year when we talk about the Battle of Fort Moultrie.

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  • The Halifax Resolves–April 12, 1776

    Cover art for April 12, 1776: a commemorative plaque in the North Carolina State Capitol marking the anniversary of the Halifax Resolves.

    The Halifax Resolves was the first official action in which Independence from Great Britain was actually called for and approved.

    I have to admit that in earlier years, when driving up and down Interstate 95, when I got to Halifax County in North Carolina, I’d see a sign saying that this county is “Where the Spirit of Independence Was Born.”

    And this didn’t make a lot of sense to me: Most of the action early on was in Boston. Philadelphia is where the Declaration was written and signed. Richard Henry Lee, who proposed Independence, was from Virginia. How does Halifax County get to make this claim?

    Listen, my children, and you shall hear.

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  • Notes From All Over–April 11, 1776

    Cover art for April 11, 1776: Detail of the April 11 letter from Abigail Adams to John Adams. via Massachusetts Historical Society.

    While there were a lot of smaller things going on on this day in 1776, there are typically multiple things going on for any given day. We often have to make choices regarding what we’re going to concentrate on, and don’t think we don’t feel a twinge of regret when we spot something else that happened on thus-and-such a date and had a moment of “Man, I wish we’d done that one.”

    So today we were fortunate in that there were several smaller items going on, but we didn’t have to use up a lot of audio real estate to cover all of them. It’s nice to have the luxury of telling all the stories you’ve got for a day.

    Incidentally: Mike and I are in Boston this week, absorbing history, interviewing people and shooting video for you to enjoy in a few weeks when we’ve finished editing it. It’s an extra dimension to the show that we hope you’ll enjoy.

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  • William Tryon Isn’t Popular–March 22, 1776

    Cover art for March 22, 1776: "Governor Tryon and the Regulators." Alexander Bobbett's 1877 line engraving based on an earlier illustration by the prominent American artist Felix Octavius Carr Darley (F.O.C. Darley) in 1876.

    To be perfectly clear, William Tryon was never popular on this side of the pond.

    When he was appointed Lieutenant Governor in North Carolina in 1764, he wasn’t able to move into the usual housing for a man of that title because the previous inhabitant refused to move out.

    When the Stamp Act was enacted in 1765, there was a great deal of opposition in North Carolina, so he refused to allow meetings of the Assembly in order to prevent them from voting for a resolution formally opposing it.

    When he was appointed Royal Governor, he made plans for an elaborate new Governor’s Mansion that cost twice the amount of money allotted for it. Then he hired laborers from Philadelphia to construct it, saying that North Carolinians didn’t have the necessary skills.

    The 1771 Regulator Uprising that Mike talks about in today’s episode was the last straw for William Tryon in North Carolina, and many historians view it as the first sign that a true revolution was coming. Within a month of that event, he left North Carolina and headed for New York, where things, as you’ll hear, didn’t go any better.

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  • The NC Royal Governor is Defiant–March 2, 1776

    Cover art for March 2, 1776: miniature portrait of Josiah Martin, artist unknown, ca. 1775. via Wikimedia

    Oh, that Royal Governor Josiah Martin. He might be defiant, he might be delusional. He might be in denial.

    What he was not, apparently, was cognizant of the effect that the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge had on Loyalist morale. Or, perhaps he did. At any rate, his order to raise the British flag anywhere a flag could be raised was more performative than anything else.

    This was Martin’s second big push to restore North Carolina to British control, but it wasn’t his last. Many months later the Carolina Campaign began. It went on for a long time and they very nearly succeeded. However, Martin finally had to leave, first for Long Island and then for Britain.

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  • The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge–February 27, 1776

    Cover art for February 27, 1775: Historical marker located near the restored bridge. Image via revolutionarywar.us

    As Revolutionary battles go, the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge was relatively minor. It didn’t last very long, there weren’t a ton of losses on either side (though definitely more on the Loyalist side), and it led to the capture of hundreds of Loyalists.

    However, it changed the way the British viewed the Carolinas through the rest of the war. Overall, the perception was that the Carolinas were poor, and weak, and a stronghold of Loyalist sympathizers. And this was an easy assumption to make, especially when you think back to the Siege of Ninety-Six and the way that finally ended. British confidence was pretty high at that point, especially given the fact that it ended pretty much in a draw.

    But the lasting effect of The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge was more in the way it affected recruitment of Loyalist troops, in that the numbers plummeted. And, only about two months later, North Carolina delegates were among the first to vote for Independence.

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    To read about the battle in greater detail, check out this website, which is also the source of today’s cover art.

  • Things Heat Up in Wilmington–February 15, 1776

    Cover art for February 15, 1776: A map depicting troop movements in mid-February of 1776. Base map originally published in 1794, from the North Carolina Collection at UNC; overlay created by Wikipedia contributor Thomas Kitchin.

    We should confess that by the time we actually get to the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, it’s not going to be as big a battle as anyone thought it was going to be. But the buildup was something else again. It seemed pretty clear to everyone involved that this was going to be epic and a veritable cast of thousands would be involved.

    But, things happen. Motivations change. Cynicism and even capriciousness sets in. And there’s still a battle, but it involves hundreds, not thousands. So from a battle standpoint, it wasn’t a lot. But by many other standards, which we’ll explore a little further down the line, there was a huge lasting impact.

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  • Troop Movement in North Carolina–February 11, 1776

    Cover art for February 11, 1776: image believed to be a portrait of Richard Caswell as Governor of North Carolina. via Wikimedia.

    Richard Caswell was in charge of the Minutemen in New Bern, North Carolina until the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. Not long after that, the Provincial Congress did away with the Minutemen in favor of a more broadly-trained milita. From that point, his position in the Continental Congress was pretty much over for good.

    Caswell remained active in the military throughout the Revolution, and was in charge of the Provincial Congress when it came time to write their first State Constitution. Shortly thereafter he became the state’s first governor. And after a couple of one-year terms, he stepped down from that position, since he was term-limited. But he remained active in state politics until he died in 1789 at the age of 60.

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  • Common Sense Comes to NC–February 10, 1776

    Cover art for February 10, 1776: Portrait of John Penn, ca. 1776. Artist unknown. Now at the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. via Wikimedia.

    As the ideas behind Common Sense spread through the country, it’s an interesting coincidence that Common Sense came to both North and South Carolina a day apart. What’s curious is the way it caught on very quickly in South Carolina, but was more of a slow burn in North Carolina.

    It’s possible that the difference is as simple as Christopher Gadsden presenting the pamphlet orally before the Provincial Congress, whereas John Penn took more of a backdoor approach, giving a copy to a colleague and hoping word gets out. Sure enough it did, and while there was no hard line of “Wow! We need to act on this!,” it proved to be quite the influential pamphlet that led to a gradual changing of minds regarding whether or not the Colonies should be free from England.

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  • A Plan Is Hatched–January 9, 1776

    Cover art for January 9, 1776: a miniature portrait of Josiah Martin, artist unknown, circa 1775.
    A miniature portrait of Josiah Martin, artist unknown, circa 1775.

    Josiah Martin was the last Royal Governor of North Carolina, and while he spent the first few months of the job in New York, he probably wouldn’t have a reputation as an especially bad governor if he hadn’t been hampered so much by circumstances that were in place before he got the job.

    There were money issues that his predecessor had left behind, and the rest of the government was plagued by internal squabbling that pretty much ensured nothing got done. It’s actually kind of amazing that there were any Loyalists left in North Carolina by the time 1776 rolled around.

    But there were, and so Josiah Martin began to put together a nearly foolproof plan to get himself back in power.

    Nearly.

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    P.S. You know you watched a lot of The West Wing when you hear the name “Josiah” and your mind immediately goes to “Bartlet.” Just sayin’.