The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge
A little after midnight on February 27, 1776, about 800 Loyalist men wearing their Scottish Tartans came through the swampy woods clutching their weapons. The Bagpipes were playing highlander music to encourage the men as they moved forward toward the patriot forces. They carried their ancient weapons, large heavy broadswords with a basket hilt around the handle, which protected the soldiers’ hands. They were heading out to crush a Patriot army that was forming near Wilmington, NC. They were loyal to their King George, and were ready to fight the Patriots.
The Royal British Governor Josiah Martin of North Carolina wanted to retake control of his state. He was preparing for redcoat soldiers to arrive from England. He issued a call to arms for the Loyalists in North Carolina to start forming military battalions to fight the Patriots. The men gathered together and formed companies preparing for the upcoming war. General Donald MacDonald was put in charge of the forming Loyalist army
The patriot forces under Colonel Richard Caswell assembled near Moore’s Creek about 18 miles north of Wilmington. They built earthworks for protection and removed the planks from the bridge over the creek to prevent the Loyalists from using it. The men were prepared to fight for the freedom they believed in.
As the Scottish Loyalist soldiers charged towards the bridge Captain John Campbell shouted “King George and Broadswords”, the patriots unleashed a volley with muskets and cannons that devastated the men in the attack. They killed two officers leading the charge and wounded and captured a third. The Loyalist army ran away pursued by the Americans. More than 30 of the Highlanders were killed, over 20 wounded and over 800 were taken prisoner. The patriots collected over 1,500 muskets, 150 swords, and about 15,000 pounds in British money. The patriots lost one man killed and one man wounded.
The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge is often called the “Lexington and Concord of the South”. It signaled the permanent end of the Royal English authority in North Carolina. The English would never again rule in the state. The battle helped lead to the Halifax Resolves which instructed the North Carolina representatives in the Continental Congress to vote for Independence. It also prevented the British from taking control of the Southern Colonies at the start of the war. The British would not return to North Carolina until 1780. The next British attack to a Southern state would be in June 1776 when they attempted to capture Charleston, South Carolina. That story will come another day.
