North Carolina played a critical, often overlooked, role in our nation’s founding. We at the North Carolina History Project have put together this timeline of our state’s contributions to the American Revolution. The following timeline chronologically lays out some of the most important events in North Carolina’s revolutionary history and links out to our more...
To academic historians and amateur (or avocational) historians: We explored the North Carolina Historical Review to find articles about the American Revolution. I hope these summaries (written by a person, not AI) will whet your appetite for the longer versions. (A link to each article on JSTOR is provided for each.) Did North Carolina’s Revolution...
The North Carolina Historical Review includes a rich collection of articles about the American Revolution. This list was compiled by Kathryn McKee and Jane Shaw Stroup.
Pyle’s Defeat occurred in February 1781 near the end of the Revolution. It was a savage blow to British hopes, as Lt. Gen. Charles, Lord Cornwallis attempted to stop the Patriots’ momentum.
The subject of Scottish folklore and myth, Flora MacDonald assisted Prince Charles Stuart in his escape from King George II. In 1774, she moved to North Carolina, where her Loyalist husband and son fought in the Battle of Moores Creek.
The Edenton Tea Party was one of the earliest organized women’s political actions in United States history. On October 25, 1774, Mrs. Penelope Barker organized, at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth King, fifty-one women in Edenton, North Carolina. Together they formed an alliance wholeheartedly supporting the American cause against “taxation without representation.”
World War I U-Boats
In the summer of 1918, five large German submarines (U-boats) crossed the Atlantic and operated against the lightly protected shipping off the North American coast. Several of the U-boats would get as far south as the North Carolina coast, where they sank three ships just a few miles from the Outer Banks.
Hugh Judson Kilpatrick (1836-1881) and the Carolinas Campaign
Hugh Judson Kilpatrick was a Union cavalry general and the first regular Union officer injured in the Civil War. He was a headstrong and reckless leader who sought fame and often exaggerated the results of battles. He earned the nickname “Kill-cavalry” for his reckless use of his men during battle. Kilpatrick became the head of General Sherman’s cavalry and participated in the Atlanta Campaign, the March to the Sea, and the Carolinas Campaign. After the war Kilpatrick served as the US Minister to Chile, and he died in Santiago in 1881.
Willis Alston (1769-1837)
Born in an area that many of North Carolina’s early republic and antebellum statesmen called home—Warren, Halifax, and Edgecombe counties—Willis Alston entered into the political arena with established familial and political connections. He served as a state legislator and senator, and as a U.S. Congressman for 21 years. Although he was Nathaniel Macon’s nephew, Willis Alston disagreed with his influential uncle on various political issues during Thomas Jefferson’s administration (1801-1809)
James Holland (1754-1823)
James Holland or “Big Jim” Holland was a North Carolina Militiaman and politician from Anson County, North Carolina. He served in the Revolutionary War and was elected to the North Carolina State Senate (1783, 1797) and the North Carolina House of Commons (1786, 1789). He also served in the United States House of Representatives (1795-1797, 1800-1810). Later in life Holland moved to Tennessee and served as the Justice of the Peace (1812-1818). He died in Maury County, Tennessee in 1823.
Matthew Calbraith Butler (1836-1909)
Matthew Calbraith Butler was a member of the southern gentry and a Confederate General from South Carolina during the American Civil War. He served under the command of General Wade Hampton and his valor and good judgment earned him numerous promotions. Butler served at the First Battle of Bull Run, the Confederate Peninsula Campaign, Antietam, Fredericksburg, Brandy Station, the Overland Campaign, Petersburg, and the Carolinas Campaign. During the Carolinas Campaign, Butler was a major general and one of the leading officers in the Confederate Cavalry. After the war, Butler became a United States Senator from South Carolina and eventually the vice president of the Southern Historical Association.
Wade Hampton III (1818-1902)
Wade Hampton III was one of the richest plantation owners in the South. He served as a general for the Confederacy during the United States Civil War and was engaged in battles, including Bull Run, Gettysburg, and Bentonville, from the beginning until the very end of the war. Hampton became the leader of Robert E. Lee’s cavalry forces, and he was sent southward at the end of the war to stop General Sherman. Hampton played an important role in the fighting in North Carolina. After the war, Hampton was elected as governor of South Carolina and served as a U.S. Senator.
James Gloster Brehon (1740-1819)
James Gloster Brehon was an influential physician and scientist from Warrenton, North Carolina. Originally born in Ireland, he moved to the United States and participated in the Revolutionary War as a surgeon. One of Brehon’s great legacies was his role in the foundation of the Warrenton Academy in Warrenton, North Carolina.
Fort Bragg
Fort Bragg, now Fort Liberty, is a U.S. Army base located west of Fayetteville, North Carolina and is the one of the largest military bases in the world. Covering 251 square miles in four different counties, Fort Liberty is home to the U.S. Army’s Airborne Forces and Special Forces and also houses U.S. Army Forces Command and U.S. Army Reserve Command.
Carolinas Campaign (January 1865 – April 1865)
After completing his "March to the Sea," General William T. Sherman proceeded north into the Carolinas. Sherman’s Army wrought devastation in South Carolina and met little resistance. Sherman captured Columbia, South Carolina, and it was burned to the ground. He then proceeded into North Carolina and took Fayetteville, Goldsboro, and then Raleigh. West of Raleigh at Durham’s Station, Sherman met with Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston and signed a peace agreement that officially surrendered all Confederate forces still active in Tennessee, North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida.
Flu Pandemic (1919)
From Spring 1918 to early 1919, North Carolina experienced the deadliest flu pandemic in modern times. An influenza virus spread throughout Europe, then North America, and eventually the globe. By April 1919, the virus infected one million North Carolinians and among them, 13,600 died.
Family Dollar Stores
Family Dollar is a discount store chain, with headquarters in Matthews, North Carolina. The company operates over 7,100 stores in 45 states and in Washington D.C. As one of the first discount stores, Family Dollar expanded to over 6,800 stores in 44 states and competes with large companies such as Costco, Dollar General, and Wal-Mart.
Currituck Beach Lighthouse
Currituck Beach Lighthouse is located on the Outer Banks in Corolla, North Carolina. It was put on the National Register of Historic Places on October 15, 1973; the lighthouse is the last brick lighthouse built on the Outer Banks.