Moore’s Creek National Battlefield

North Carolina

Moore’s Creek Bridge is the site of the Revolutionary battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge, fought February 27, 1776, between loyalist supporting the British Crown and patriots of North Carolina. Moore’s Creek is an 87-acre park located 20 mile Northwest of Wilmington, NC. The only original remains are the bridge and a stretch of the old Negro Head Point Road.

Original weapons on display include a Highland pistol, Brown Bess Musket, half-pounder swivel gun, and broadsword.

As economic and political controversy with Great Britain became open rebellion in the mid-1770s, North Carolina was a divided colony: patriots were willing to fight for independence, but loyalists opposed war. Loyalists were mainly the Crown’s officials and the wealthy merchants and tidewater planters. They also included many Scottish Highlanders-recent immigrant-and western, frontier Carolinians. The frontiersmen had unsuccessfully rebelled in 1771 against the colony’s legislature and court system controlled by coastal interests. So, while patriot and loyalist numbers were evenly divided, sentiments were not so clear cut.

The earthen mounds mark the line of earthworks built by Col. Alexander Lillington’s troops, the first patriots to arrive at the bridge. One end was swampy ground, the other by the creek itself. Lillington could fend off the raiding parties that might ford the creek and attack his side or rear. Here he also straddled the road that the loyalists must use if they attempted to cross the bridge.

The bridge was a crucial crossing point-and the patriots’ last chance to halt the loyalist’s march to the coast, where a combined loyalist army and naval force would surely be unstoppable for the pariots.

At 1:00 a.m. on February 27, 1776 with Maj. Donald McLeod commanding, the loyalist began their march to the bridge. Swampy terrain hindered them. During the night Caswell’s patriots abandoned camp, withdrew across the creek, removed the bridge planks, and greased the girders. Gunfire erupted near the bridge before dawn. The loyalists rushed the partly demolished bridge. When they were within 30 paces of the patriot earthwork, a fire of musketry and artillery met them. Within minutes the advance party was all but cut down, and the whole force had retreated. More than 30 loyalists were killed and 40 were wounded. Pvt. John Grady was the only patriot who died. The patriots had blocked the loyalist march to the coast.

Moore patriots in the encounter were Alfred (Alphred) Moore, Amaziah Moore, J. Moore, James Moore (1), James Moore (2), James Moore, James Moore, John Moore, Moses Moore, Moses More, Ralph Moore (Moor), Richard Moore, Thomas Moore, Thomas Moore, William Moore, William Moore, William Moore, and William Moore. Cox patriots in the encounter were Aaron Cox, George Cox, James Cox, John Cox, Long Field (Lengfield) Cox, and Moses Cox. Source: Roster of the Patriots in the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge by Bobby Gilmer Moss.

Within weeks most loyalists were captured. Spoils taken included 1,500 rifles, 350 guns and shot-bags, 150 swords and dirks, and 15,00 sterling. The leaders were imprisoned or banished from the colony. Some went to Nova Scotia, and some returned to Scotland. Most loyalist soldiers were paroled to their homes.

The battle was small, but its implications were large. The victory showed the surprising patriot strength in the countryside. It discouraged growth of loyalist sentiment in the Carolinas and spurred revolutionary feeling in the colonies. The British seaborne force, which finally arrived in May moved on to Sullivans Island off Charleston, CC. In late June patriot militia there repulsed Sir Peter Parker’s land and naval attack, ending for two years any British hopes of squashing rebellion in the South. Had Britain conquered the South in early 1776, historian Edward Channing concluded, "it is entirely conceivable that rebellion would never have turned into revolution." At Moore’s Creek, and again at Sullivans Island, "the Carolinians turned aside the one combination of circumstances that might have made British conquest possible.

The History Trail follows the trace of historic Negro Head Point Road, which dates from 1743, and was used by both sides in 1776.

The Patriot Monument, erected in 1857, commemorates the battle and Pvt. John Grady, the only patriot killed.

The Tarheel Trail begins where the History Trail ends. Along this path exhibits interpret the production of naval stores (tar, pitch, and turpentine), the region’s chief industry during the American Revolution.

At Moore’s Creek Bridge a brief clash at daybreak on February 27, 1776, saw patriots defeat a larger force of Loyalists marching toward a British naval squadron. Brief but important, the battle effectively ended royal authority in the colony of North Carolina and helped forestall a full-scale British invasion of the South. The patriot victory also encouraged North Carolina, on April 12, 1776 to instruct its delegation to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia to vote for independence from Britain. It was the fist American colony to do so.

Widow Moore owned the land where Moore’s Creek is located. No one knows her maiden name or to whom she was married.

By Hugh F. Rankin

Source: National Park Service, Moore's Creek National Battlefield, NC.