Did the Revolution begin in North Carolina? Locals say yes kind of the same way people here in York say that we were the first capitol of the US. Issues with the Crown though were not unique to New England. In North Carolina the War of the Regulation was fought over Crown control and taxation. There was a rebellion but it was never intended to gain independence or overthrow Crown rule.
The rebels believed that the Crown and its representatives were corrupt and had tried to petition the government to resolve their issues. They refused to pay taxes and fees and harassed Crown officials all the while hoping that their issues would be addressed. It didn’t work and as a last resort they picked up their guns. Royal Governor William Tryon raised 1,000 militia and set off to put down the rebellion. About 2,000 men were waiting for them calling themselves Regulators.
The Regulators intent was to intimidate Tryon with superior numbers to gain concessions. Tryon arrived in the area on May 15 and learned that the Regulators were camped a short distance from him along the banks of Alamance Creek. He sent a message telling them to lay down their arms and leave or there would be a fight. It was rejected. He tried again as he marched his men into position. This time an offer came back to return prisoners who had been captured to which he agreed but no prisoners showed up.
These negotiations gave the Regulators time to get into place and the two sides were only 30 yards apart. The Regulators dared Tryon to attack. A last attempt to negotiate a peaceful resolution was tried and failed. One of the negotiators made it back to the Regulators but was told to get down since it looked like the militia was about to open fire. The other was killed by Tryon who took a musket from a militiaman and killed him in cold blood.
Realizing what he had done he sent an officer with a flag of truce to calm things down but he was shot dead. The battle began. At first the Regulators fared well fighting “Indian style” and managed to capture one of Tryon’s three cannon but were unable to find any ammunition. But things began to turn.
One of the Regulators’ leaders was killed (Tryon nearly was killed as a bullet went through his hat) and ammunition was running out. Another flag of truce was sent by Tryon and again the bearer was killed. Tryon then attacked and the Regulators began to flee. A few Regulators remained to harass Tryon so he set the woods on fire.
Tryon lost about 70 men and the Regulators lost around an unknown amount but it is believed to be well over 100. A few prisoners were executed later but some were allowed to go free if they took the oath of allegiance.
Was this the opening of the Revolution? Probably not. Many of the militia later fought on the Colonial side including Richard Caswell, the first governor of the state of North Carolina as well as several others who would later fight the Crown at Moore’s Creek. Many of the Regulators later served in the British army as Loyalists.
