War Comes to North Carolina's Backcountry

War Comes to North Carolina's Backcountry. . After several years of war and a military stalemate in the northern colonies, the British took the war to the South. After capturing Charleston, South Carolina, on May 12, 1780, Lieutenant-General Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis eyed North Carolina as the next step in the British Southern Strategy of moving north, relying on strong and immediate Loyalist turnout to provide troops and logistical support., On May 29, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton defeated Patriots at Waxhaw, just 40 miles south of Charlotte. In response, Brigadier General Griffith Rutherford issued orders on June 3 for the North Carolina Patriot militia to gather. By June 12, some 800 men had assembled, including 65 cavalrymen. On June 14, Rutherford received intelligence that Tories were gathering in Lincoln County and issued orders to Colonel Francis Locke of Rowan County, Major David Wilson of Mecklenburg County, and Captains Falls and Brandon to raise men to confront the Loyalists., The Loyalists Gather , Lieutenant Colonel John Moore of Lincoln County, who had served with Loyalist forces throughout the South Carolina campaign, issued a call for Loyalists to assemble. He was soon joined by Major Nicholas Welch of Hamilton's North Carolina Volunteers (later Royal North Carolina Regiment). On June 10, Loyalists assembled on Indian Creek, 7 miles west of Ramsour's Mill., Moore and Welch knew that Patriots, commanded by Rutherford, were in Mecklenburg County, and that others, under Major Joseph McDowell, operated in Lincoln County. Moore's plan was to join Cornwallis' army in South Carolina, not to skirmish in Lincoln County. Within a few days, he led Loyalist troops to Ramsour's Mill and set up camp 300 yards east of the mill on land owned by Christian Reinhardt. By June 19, around 1,300 Loyalists were encamped. The majority of them were farmers, and only about three-fourths of them possessed firearms., The Patriots Respond , Rutherford, learning of the Loyalist gathering, marched from Charlotte to Tuckaseegee Ford on the Catawba River. Locke had assembled 400 men on Mountain Creek, about 16 miles northeast of Ramsour's Mill. Rutherford sent orders for Locke to meet him at Colonel Joseph Dickson's plantation, about 3 miles from Tuckaseegee Ford, but Locke never received the message. Instead, he decided to move against the Loyalists at Ramsour's Mill. Late on June 19, Locke's force began the overnight trek, undetected., (sidebar) , American colonists in favor of the rebellion and the establishment of an independent country free from British rule were known as "Patriots" or "Whigs". Colonists who remained loyal to Great Britain and King George III were known as "Loyalists" or "Tories.", (captions) , (top left) Lieutenant-General Charles, 2nd Earl Cornwallis , (bottom center) Local volunteer docent portrays a "Loyalist" soldier at the site of the Battle of Great Bridge. , (bottom right) Local volunteer portrays a "Patriot" soldier.