Hornets' Nest

Hornets' Nest. . , You will see the hornets' nest as Mecklenburg's symbol in numerous places. Our reputation as a "hornet's nest" goes back to the Revolutionary War. On October 3, 1780, during British General Cornwallis' sixteen-day occupation of Charlotte, a British foraging party of several hundred men was sent to search for supplies. They marched out of Charlotte and up Beatties Ford Road to the McIntyre farm.

While foraging for supplies at the farm, the Redcoats were surrounded and fired upon by American patriots concealed in the woods. During their hasty retreat, the British disturbed several nests of bees on the farm and were pursued by the bees and the patriots. A correspondent for the Pennsylvania Packet wrote, "Captains Thompson and Knox, with fourteen men, attacked above 300 of a foraging party…and drove them back with such precipitation that, as I am well informed, many of their horses fell dead in the streets on their return."

Banastre Tarleton wrote, "…the counties of Mecklenburg and Rohan were more hostile to England than any other in America." Lord Cornwallis is reported to have called Charlotte, "an agreeable village, but damn rebellious country" and the Mecklenburg area a "hornets' nest" of resistance. We are proud of that name to this day. . This historical marker is in Charlotte center city in Mecklenburg County North Carolina