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Abstract

In the early morning of February 27, 1776, the cold dark swamp surrounding the Moore’s Creek Bridge in southeast North Carolina came alive with the roar of combat to quickly be replaced with the silence of the dead. In moments, the political, military, and social structure of North Carolina in the early years of the Revolutionary War would be cemented until the Cornwallis-led Southern Campaign of 1780-1781. While considerable research has been expended on the later campaign, the crucial battle at Moore’s Creek set the conditions for the partisan struggle of the later years of the conflict with less concerted effort being expended on this unique period of the Revolution.

While Josiah Martin, the Royal Governor of North Carolina, was reassuring London that enough Loyalist sympathy existed in the colony to maintain British control, the reality was much different. This was especially true among key ethnic components spread across colonial North Carolina, such as the Highland Scots settling in the Cape Fear River valley. Martin, believing that the strength of Loyalist sympathies, backed up by letters from regional leaders combined with oaths of loyalty taken by recent Highlander immigrants arriving in Wilmington in the early 1770s, provided evidence to support his claims. However, his proposed military operation, strong in planning but showing a severe lack of local intelligence, tactical surprise, and operational security led to the Loyalist disaster at Moore’s Creek Bridge. These factors led to the failure of Martin and the late-arriving British troops from maintaining North Carolina in the Loyalist camp during the early years of the war and allowed North Carolina to support the Patriot war effort politically, militarily, and logistically.

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