Topics Related to Revolutionary War
On December 14, 1786, Robert Howe, Continental army general, died on his way to Fayetteville to serve in the state legislature.Born in 1732 in New Hanover County, Howe inherited a considerable fortune and owned several large plantations in the region. When Brunswick County was formed, he was elected to the colonial assembly, a post he held for six terms. He also served as a militia officer and commanded Fort Johnston from 1769 to 1773.
On June 20, 1780, at the Battle of Ramsour’s Mill, Col. Francis Locke and his Patriot force stormed the defenses of the Loyalist militia led by Maj. John Moore.Farmers, not soldiers, determined the outcome of most Revolutionary War battles fought in North Carolina, as most of the skirmishes and battles were fought between Loyalist and colonial militias. Few participants had ever received formal military training. The engagement at Ramsour’s Mill was no exception to this rule.
On May 18, 1795, Revolutionary War veteran Joseph McDowell died in Burke County at the age of 38.The only son of “Hunting John” McDowell, a pioneer of Scotch-Irish descent who arrived in western North Carolina in the mid-1700s, Joseph was born on the family plantation, Pleasant Gardens, in what was then Burke County.
On April 24, 1776, North Carolina’s Provincial Congress ordered that a salt works be established in the colony for Revolutionary War use.
On January 16, 1831, Peter Francisco, the “Virginia Giant,” died in Richmond, Va.Francisco was noted for his many feats of bravery during the American Revolution, especially during the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in what’s now Greensboro in March 1781.
On January 11, 1740, Revolutionary War colonel and state legislator Thomas Robeson was born in Bladen County.Robeson first entered politics as a member of the Third Provincial Congress, held at Hillsborough in August 1775. During that session, he was appointed colonel of the Bladen militia. He served in the Fourth Provincial Congress at Halifax the following year and was a member of the First Assembly at New Bern in 1777.
On this 225th anniversary of the signing of the Constitution, an overview of the five men who attended the constitutional convention in Philadelphia.