Background
One of the least known but still crucial sites of the American Revolution was a small mill in North Carolina's Piedmont region. A modest backcountry mill, Ramsour's Mill, first played its part in the fight for independence during the summer of 1780. After Charleston, South Carolina fell in May 1780, General Charles Cornwallis was well on his way to dominating the South. Georgia and South Carolina were under British control, allowing the ambitious British general to turn his attention to North Carolina with an army of over 8,000. The southern strategy appeared to be working.
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| Lord Charles Cornwallis |
Loyalists Gather
While Cornwallis rested his army in Charleston to prepare for his next move, two Loyalist leaders chose to act independently. The war for independence was, after all, a civil war, and these are often fought locally by the people who live there. So, Loyalists Lt. Colonel John Moore and Major Nicholas Welch decided to pursue their own goals by launching the first British attack on the North Carolina colony—their home turf. By June 13, 1780, they had successfully assembled a group of Loyal recruits at Jacob Ramsour’s Mill, near Clark’s Creek in Lincoln County, NC.
However, General Griffith Rutherford, the shrewd and determined leader of the patriot forces in western North Carolina, had learned of the Loyalists gathering in Lincoln County. He immediately contacted patriot leaders, Colonel Francis Locke and Major Robert Wilson, and ordered them to assemble the militia to stop the Loyalists' assembly. To that end, 400 militia from Burke, Iredell, Mecklenburg, and Rowan Counties gathered at Mountain Creek on June 19.
The recent British victory at Waxhaws boosted Tory morale, enabling Moore and Welch to collect around 1300 Loyalists - more than three times the number of local patriots. Recognizing that the Loyalists' numbers would only increase, Rutherford decided on a surprise attack against the Loyalist camp. A battle was about to unfold, pitting neighbor against neighbor.
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| Patriot mounted militia led the attack |
Battle or Fratricide?
In the early hours of June 20, Locke led a militia band to Ramsour’s Mill to meet Adam Reep, a local patriot spy with intelligence on Loyalist troop location and strength. As the sun rose over Ramsour’s Mill, the rebel militia quietly moved through the early morning fog. The patriot cavalry launched a swift attack, aiming to surprise the Loyalists. Though initially repelled by the Loyalists' defenses, the rebel infantry advanced. The Tories were initially confused but were rallied by Moore and Welch to push back the patriot assault.
The defenders held off the attackers at first, but soon rebel marksmen closed in, leading to close combat. Many on both sides were poorly armed. The chaos was intense, as this was a battle without uniforms. The Loyalists wore green pine twigs in their hats, while the patriots had white paper on theirs. The fighting was fierce—neighbor against neighbor, even brother against brother. It was as much personal as political, with each side viewing the other as a traitor. The battle lasted nearly two hours—a lengthy engagement for such a fight. Eventually, the Loyalists became disorganized, and many fled. When Colonel Rutherford arrived, the Loyalists requested a truce but demanded an immediate surrender. While negotiations took place, the remaining Loyalists fled, and about 50 were captured as prisoners.
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| The fighting was intense - and personal for many |
The Result
The action at Ramsour's Mill cost seventy lives and left two hundred wounded. Most of the fallen, both patriots and Loyalists, were buried in a mass grave. The defeat so severely demoralized the Loyalists in that part of North Carolina that they never reorganized in that area again. As for the headstrong Colonel Moore, he and about 30 of his men were able to reach General Cornwallis, who was then at Camden. But Cornwallis, angered by Moore's rash actions and the defeat, threatened him with charges for disobeying orders.
Aftermath
Ramsour’s Mill deprived Cornwallis of Loyalist recruits when he finally invaded western North Carolina. More importantly, patriot morale received a significant boost from the unlikely victory. Additionally, the Loyalists' morale was so low that they never managed to properly recruit from that area again. This indirectly led to the chain of events that culminated in the patriot victory at King’s Mountain later that year.
In a curious and ironic postscript, Ramsour's Mill played another role in the struggle for the South and Lord Cornwallis's ambitions. It was at Ramsour's Mill in January 1781 that Cornwallis paused his advance north to burn his wagons and excess baggage before resuming his futile pursuit of American General Nathanael Greene to the Dan River.
This campaign exhausted Cornwallis's forces, and he eventually fell back under heavy pressure from ambushes and skirmishes initiated by the rebels who now sensed blood. Cornwallis finally faced Greene's resurgent army at Guilford Courthouse—a "victory" that proved costly and marked the beginning of the end for the Southern strategy.
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| Ramsour's Mill played a role in the fateful race to the Dan of 1781 |
