The Regulators and the Battle at Alamance
Four years before the Battle of Lexington, the Regulators in
North Carolina were waging war against the British. In 1769 Herman Husband began organizing the
farmers in the Piedmont area of NC in opposition to excessive fees and taxes
and lack of representation. After
peaceful means to resolve the problems failed the
discontented men began to harass public officials, some refusing to pay
taxes. In 1770 the “Bloody Law” or
“Riot” law was passed giving the governor power to use military force to squash
rebellion and in 1771 Governor Tryon began a campaign near Hillsborough. Several attempts to prevent hostile action stalled
and an effort to exchange prisoners failed when one regulator prisoner was
killed. The battle lasted less than
three hours with estimates of the dead ranging from nine on each side to
seventy militia and 300 regulators. One
regulator, James Few, was immediately hanged using the Riot Act as
authorization. Few, 25 years old was the
father of newborn twins and on June 13 Tryon’s troops destroyed his parents’
farm. A special court convened at
Hillsborough in June and sentenced twelve prisoners to death. Hanging for six was delayed, waiting for “the
king’s pleasure”. Two names are not
recorded but four of those hanged are known: James Pugh, Robert Messer,
Benjamin Merrill and Robert Matear.
Merrill, a captain, was sentenced to be hanged, drawn and quartered in
front of his wife and eight children. He
asked that his wife and children be allowed to keep his estate. After
the battle Tryon demanded the regulators take an oath of allegiance, ordered
crops and homes burned, and flour and cattle confiscated. Many of the settlers moved on into western
North Carolina, South Carolina and Tennessee.
Today a memorial plaque at Alamance Battleground State Historic Site
shows the hanging of James Pugh.
Husband, who had converted from Anglican to Quaker, did not participate
in the battle and soon after returned to Maryland. From Maryland he moved into
Pennsylvania where he was a force in the Whiskey Rebellion. On April 19 1775 shots were exchanged in
Massachusetts at the Battle of Lexington and the fight for Independence was
official.
From: Farming Dissenters, The Regulator Movement in North
Carolina by Carole Watterson Troxler;
A Chronicle of North
Carolina during the American Revoluton 1763-1789 by Jeffrey J. Crow
Posted by Diane Price
Lineage Research Chair
DAR Brunswick Town Chapter
Lineage Research Chair
DAR Brunswick Town Chapter
