Thursday, January 14, 2010

Moore's Creek Battlefield (Travel Tip Thursday)


I'd been to Moores Creek Battlefield many times as a kid, but it’s been over 30 years since I was last there. Last week, when I was in I North Carolina, my brother and I toured the site. I you remember from my post on how much Tarheel blood flows in my veins, I had ancestors fighting on both sides of the Revolutionary War, so the battle has a bit of a family tie. I took the photos last week and this is my “Travel Tip Thursday” post.

Early in the morning of February 27, 1776, in the dark swamps of what is now Pender County, the first serious fight between loyalists and patriots occurred in the South. The battle of Moores Creek Bridge (known then as Widow Moores Creek) would last only a few minutes, but it altered the British plan for dealing with the American revolution. At the time, the war was just beginning to break out. The British governor of North Carolina, Josiah Martin suggested raising a army of Highland Scots from the Sandhills of North Carolina to help stabilize the Southern Colonies and give the British a base to quall the revolt. Many of the Highlanders who’d settled there had sworn allegiance to the crown after their defeat by the English in 1745. Others, having been given land by the crown, felt they owned allegiance to the king. Martin had hoped to raise an army of 10,000, but his military commanders were only able to raise an army of approximately 1,600. In late February, the troops lead by Donald McDonald assembled at Cross Creek (now Fayetteville) to begin their march to the port in Wilmington, where they were to be united with British soldiers who were coming in by sea. They found the main road, on the south side of the Cape Fear River, to be blocked at Rock Creek by Patriots led by Col. James Moore. Unwilling to fight, McDonald moved his force northeast, crossing the Cape Fear, and they began to move south, along another road that paralleled the Black River. There were a few skirmishes along the way.


In addition to Moore’s main force, who was moving toward Wilmington, two other units were converging at Moores Creek, some twenty miles from Wilmington. The site was considered an ideal location to stop the Loyalists as the swamp around the creek kept the army on the high ground which allowed for the colonist to create an effective field of fire. Col. Alexander Lillington and his unit of 150 men who’d been with Moore, were first to arrive, digging in on the eastern approach. The next day, Col Richard Caswell arrived with 850 men from New Bern and dug in on the opposite bank. As the Loyalist approached, they sent a messenger to ask those in rebellion to give up their arms. The messenger only saw only Lillington’s men in front of the bridge. Thinking there was only a small contingent of men guarding the bridge, MacDonald’s soldiers prepared to attack in the early morning hours on the 27th. After a six mile hike on a spooky road that ran through a swamp with trees draped with Spanish Moss, they prepared to assault Lillington’s forces in the early hours of the morning. They discovered his camp to be deserted. They continued on ahead, finding the planks removed from the bridge and the girders greased. McLeod, who was leading the attack, led his men carefully across the bridge and gathered them for an attack. At daybreak, with a heavy morning fog, they supposedly charged into the Patriot lines, shouting “King George and Broadswords,“ (I wonder if this is true as most of these Scots would have spoken Gaelic at the time). The Patriot force held their fire until the Loyalists were only 30 paces from their lines and then opened fire with muskets shooting “buck and balls” and two small cannons shooting grapeshot. The battle is said to have only lasted three minutes. Soon, there were over 30 Loyalist dead, more wounded, and the rest in a quick retreat. Over the next week, Patriots captured most of the Loyalists along with their weapons. Many of the leaders and their families (including Flora MacDonald, a Scots heroine) were banished from the colony and moved to Nova Scotia or back to Scotland.


It was a small engagement, but early in the war the battle discouraged the British from trying to conquer the Southern colonies and their forces moved north where most of the fighting would occur for the next several years. The battle also helped the colonists in North Carolina by providing weapons and supplies. Interestingly, most of their Patriot weapons had been given to them by the British during the French and Indian Wars, a lesson that we still haven’t learned from history.


The battlefield is a National Park site. The earthworks have been reconstructed and numerous monuments have been erected, most given by the people of North Carolina in the great monument age (1890-1920). Two of the larger monuments are for Pvt. John Grady, the only death on the Patriot’s side, and a monument for those Scots who were fighting as loyalists. After 120 years, old grudges had died and the state (which after the Civil War entered into a Scottish revival era) no longer harbored ill feelings for the losing side. In addition to the battlefield trail, there is a small museum with a number of period weapons. There is also a short “Tarheel” interpretive trail that talk about the role the longleaf pine played in the development of the “naval stores” industry in this region of the country. Interestingly, all the native longleafs have been cut and although some younger ones are growing, all the mature pines are loblollies.


The battlefield trail takes you along a boardwalk into the swamp around Moores Creek, allowing up close views of a cypress swamp. The water is stained brown from the tannic acid of the cypress trees. These trees also have “knees” that protrude up from the muck. The Spanish moss gives the swamps an eerie feeling and in the summer, there’s a good possibility of encountering snakes and perhaps, if lucky, of seeing an alligator. When I visited the site last week, there was ice in the swamps, something one doesn’t see very often.


As for my travel tip, I'll take the lead from Pseudonymous High School teacher and encourage you today to give to those in Haiti. It won't give you a better trip, but it may make you feel better.

23 comments:

  1. what is interesting is why the loyalists felt they owed their allegiance to a monarch so many thousands of miles away.

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  2. Walking Man: Most of the Scots were forced to swear their allegiance after being released from prison in Scotland. After the second Scottish uprising, these men were imprisoned for fighting for Scottish freedom from the King of England and trying to put Bonnie Prince Charlie back on the throne. The terms of their release were often being sent to the colonies after swearing the oath.

    I had no idea this park existed. If you want to read an interesting fictional account of that battle, try Diana Gabaldon's "Fiery Cross".

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  3. As a kid, I of course believe that all the colonists were united against the English. Imagine my surprise to discover that the Revolution went on a long time in the South and was fought primarily as a civil war among colonial factions. A fascinating part of our history.

    Cheers.

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  4. Nice history lesson.

    By the way, I couldn't access your blog this morning without my malware detector saying your site is infected with something from the matresspolice(dot)com. I assume it is in one of your ads. I was forced to over ride the settings to read your blog but didn't click on any links.

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  5. Walking Guy, many of them felt bound by their oath, I assume, but when you consider that the Governor only got 15% of the recruits he was looking for, not everyone felt that way.

    Mama Badger, thanks for stopping by and for the mention of the book, I didn't know it existed.

    Randall, the way things were before are always "cleared up" after the winner has obtained before!

    Ed, I wonder what's up with that--Mattresspolice is on my blogroll, but Rob, the author, hasn't been writing much in his blog lately. If you see something else up, let me know.

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  6. I'd love to tour this. So many great dramas in history. History is just fascinating.

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  7. That is fascinating. Little bits of almost forgotten history, but nice that we can share it.

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  8. Sage - I sent you an email with the diagnostic message that Chrome gives to me. It sounds as if a third party has attached malware to the coding of Mattresspolice's blog and because you list him in your blog roll, you get flagged as well if people are using Chrome like myself.

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  9. That's not a travel tip! You owe me one now so there better be two next week. :-)

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  10. Ed - I don't which is crazier...someone adding that to a blog or the fact that Sage is a frequent reader of someone with the handle "mattresspolice".

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  11. I love your travel posts. so interesting and more than just photos.

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  12. I continue to be amazed at your knowledge and your love of this part of the country, Sage! Gordon Lightfoot once wrote a song called "Spanish Moss". Great post!!

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  13. It had to be a Irishman that managed to get himself shot.
    Its odd but the picture you present is one I have for places much further south.

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  14. On the earthworks, who built them for what they did sometimes was to use Ball shot at the Square which would push it in behind earthworks or Gabions. When the shot from the cannon would change and entire companies or even regiments could be wiped out as they had Ranged the earthwork exactly beforehand.

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  15. I've been once in a field in central Spain where a fierce battle took place during the Spanish Civil War. A brigade of foreign soldiers -many Americans, among others- fought together with the legal government troops against the insurgent army in 1936. I had that strange feeling thinking that so much had happened in that silent peaceful field and so many men had died there.

    Reading your post and watching the photos, i imagine similar scenes. What looks like a peaceful quiet river has witnessed a lot!

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  16. Very cool Sage, and always great pics to go along with the post.

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  17. The history and the photos are amazing! My friend, the landscape artist, would love that last photo. The reflection of the sky and the trees are...wow, just beautiful!

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  18. What a wonderful merging of history - both personal and national - and the present. Beautiful pics as always, Sage.

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  19. Wonderful pictures as usual and as usual great story to go along with them
    Giving to Haiti doesn't make me feel better at all

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  20. Enjoyed the history lesson, Sage.

    I'm reminded of the little-known proverb: He who thou supplieth with weapons will useth those weapons to warreth against thou.

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  21. Sage
    Thanks so much for your travel log, and I found a tip: 'life is too short and too precious to not forgive' .. the statue to the Scots on the losing side is the evidence in your story! thanks.

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  22. I always wish you came in miniature size, so that I could pack you up and put you in my bag whenever I traveled. You're full of all kinds of interesting knowledge!

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  23. I've never been there. Actually there are quite a few NC/VA trails and parks I've never visited that would be great photo adventures.

    Greenbrier did start gambling after they were bought by the family in WVA. The casino did not open until Oct 09. There is gambling in Charleston now too. The voters put jobs and saving their historical sites over religious beliefs from what I've heard. The Greenbrier was broke.

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