EDENTON IN THE REVOLUTION
From the day when the war cloud of the Revolution first began to gather
upon the American horizon, until the storm was spent and peace descended
upon the land, the little coast town of Edenton played a conspicuous and
heroic part in the struggle which for seven weary years wrought ruin and
desolation throughout the thirteen Colonies.
As early as 1765, when the oppressive rule of England reached its
culmination in the iniquitous Stamp Act, Edenton joined with the other
Carolina towns in adopting resolutions expressing the strong indignation
of her citizens at this act of tyranny on the part of George III and his
Parliament. In 1773 three of her prominent citizens, Joseph Hewes,
Samuel Johnston and Edward Vail, were appointed on the Carolina
Committee of Correspondence which wrote to the other colonies that North
Carolina was ready to join them against the King and Parliament. When
England put into operation the famous Boston Port Bill and that sturdy
little New England City was on the verge of starvation, Joseph Hewes, a
merchant of Edenton, who was later to play a prominent part in
Revolutionary events in North Carolina, joined with John Harvey, of
Perquimans, in collecting supplies and provisions from the patriotic
people of Albemarle, which they sent in the sloop Penelope to their
distressed compatriots in far away Boston. Gratefully was the donation
received by the inhabitants of that city, and a letter of thanks from
the Boston committee amply repaid the donors for their generosity.
One of the earliest, and certainly one of the most interesting events in
the Revolutionary annals of Edenton, was the far-famed Edenton Tea
Party, held at the home of Mrs. Elizabeth King, on October 25, 1774.
This famous gathering of the Edenton women was convened for the purpose
of protesting against the tax on tea, which England had lately begun to
extort from the colonies, and also for heartily endorsing the work of
the first people's Convention, which, at the call of John Harvey, had
met at New Bern in August, 1774.
Before the meeting adjourned these brave and patriotic women had drawn
up resolutions firmly declaring their intention to drink no more of the
taxed tea, and to uphold and encourage in every possible way the men of
the colony in their struggle to gain all the rights due them as British
subjects.
[Illustration: THE CUPOLA HOUSE, EDENTON, NORTH CAROLINA]
The news of this bold stand of the Edenton women spread far and wide,
and was commented upon by the newspapers of the day, both in America and
England. Arthur Iredell, of London, brother of James Iredell, of
Edenton, who married the sister of Samuel Johnston, on hearing of the
event which seemed to have caused considerable stir in London, as well
as throughout the thirteen Colonies, wrote to his brother from his home
in London the following letter anent the affair:
"I see by the papers the Edenton ladies have signalized themselves by
their protest against tea-drinking. The name of Johnston I see among
them. Are any of my sister's relatives patriotic? I hope not, for we
English are afraid of the male Congress; but if the ladies should
attack us, the most fatal consequences are to be dreaded. So dextrous
in the handling of a dart, each wound they give is mortal, while we,
so unhappily formed by nature, the more we strive to conquer them,
the more we are conquered.
"The Edenton ladies, conscious of this superiority on their side by
former experiences, are willing to crush us into atoms by their
omnipotency. The only security on our side, to prevent impending ruin
is the probability that there are few places in America which possess
so much female artillery as Edenton. Pray let me know all the
particulars when you favor us with a letter."
The old house under whose roof this historic Tea Party was held has only
of recent years been destroyed. Age and decay undermined its walls, and
it was found necessary to tear it down, but a handsome bronze tea-pot on
an iron pedestal now marks the site of the ancient building; and within
the halls of the State Capitol the Daughters of the Revolution have
placed a bronze tablet in commemoration of this spirited act of the
women of Edenton.
When John Harvey, of Perquimans, "The Father of the Revolution" in North
Carolina died, his mantle fell upon Samuel Johnston, of Edenton, whose
residence at "Hayes" now became the headquarters of the Whig party in
North Carolina, and his office the rendezvous of the leaders of the
patriots in the State, among whom Hewes, Iredell and Johnston, all of
Edenton, stood foremost. So active were these three men in arousing and
spreading the spirit of patriotism among their fellow-countrymen that
McCree, in his "Iredell Letters," declares that "Much of the triumph at
Moore's Creek must be ascribed to those three men, who at one time held
frequent consultations in Johnston's office."
By the close of 1774, and the beginning of 1775, the flames of the
Revolution, which had been slowly kindling, now burst into open
conflagration, and Edenton began to experience something of the
consequences of war.
Her militia had for some time been drilling, in preparation for the
inevitable struggle; and Mrs. Iredell, in a letter to her husband,
written in the spring of 1775, thus expresses the general anxiety and
the apprehensive state of mind of the Edenton people: "The drum which is
now beating while our soldiers exercise, drives every cheerful thought
from my mind, and leaves it oppressed with melancholy reflections on the
horrors of war."
In November of that year emissaries sent by Lord Dunmore, the Governor
of Virginia, were discovered near the town, endeavoring to incite the
slaves of that section to rise against their masters, murder them, and
join the Tory army. But General Robert Howe, at the head of a detachment
from his regiment, quickly drove these agents away, and thwarted the
dastardly attempt; then marching on with six hundred North Carolina
militia, into Virginia, the gallant General reached Norfolk two days
after the victory of the patriots at Great Bridge, helped to expel
Dunmore from Norfolk, and to take possession of the city for the
Americans.
In April, 1776, the Halifax Convention authorized the delegates from
North Carolina to the Continental Congress of that year, "to concur with
the delegates of the other Colonies in declaring independence," and upon
Joseph Hewes, of Edenton, fell the honor of presenting the Halifax
Resolution of 1776 to the Congress at Philadelphia. To the instructions
of the State he represented, Hewes added his own urgent plea for
immediate action, and cast his State's vote squarely against postponing
the declaration of independence. When the Continental Congress finally
agreed to secede from the English Government, Hewes, with John Penn and
William Hooper, of North Carolina, affixed his name to that famous
document in which the thirteen Colonies foreswore their allegiance to
King George.
Some two months after the Halifax Convention, and two weeks before the
Continental Congress had formally declared independence, the vestry of
Old St. Paul's Church in Edenton met in solemn conclave, and impelled by
the wave of intense patriotism now sweeping over the land, drew up the
so-called "Declaration of Independence of St. Paul's Parish," the
context of which is as follows:
"We, the Subscribers, professing our Allegiance to the King, and
acknowledging the Constitutional executive power of Government, do
solemnly profess, testify and declare, that we do absolutely believe
that neither the Parliament of Great Britain nor any member nor any
Constituent Branch thereof, have a right to impose taxes upon these
Colonies or to regulate the internal policy thereof; and that all
attempts by fraud or force to establish and exercise such claims and
powers are violation of the peace and security of the people, and
ought to be resisted to the utmost, and the people of this Province
singly and collectively are bound by the acts and resolutions of the
Continental and Provincial Congresses, because in both they are
freely represented by persons chosen by themselves, and we do
solemnly and sincerely promise and engage under the sanction of
virtue, honor, and the Sacred love of liberty and our country to
maintain and support all and every acts, resolutions and regulations
of the said Continental and Provincial Congresses to the utmost of
our power and ability. In testimony whereof we have set our hands
this 19th day of June, 1776."
During the winter of 1777 and 1778 nine battalions of soldiers from
North Carolina were sharing with their comrades from the other colonies
the hardships of those terrible months at Valley Forge. Half naked and
starving, the soldiers would doubtless have given up the struggle to
live through the awful winter, had not Governor Caswell, of North
Carolina, energetically set about securing the needed supplies for the
army. Joseph Hewes, responding generously to the call for help, sent his
own ships to the West Indies to obtain necessaries for the army, had
them brought to Edenton, and from there sent by wagon to Valley Forge.
After the American victory at Saratoga, France, who had been until then
hesitating as to what course she should pursue in regard to helping the
Americans against the ancient foe of the French, now yielded at last to
Franklin's persuasions, and promised to send a large fleet and four
thousand troops to aid the Colonies.
A party of French gentlemen, sympathizing with the Americans, and
anxious to aid in the cause, came over to the States in advance of the
army sent by the government, and landing in Edenton, were so agreeably
impressed with the social life of the hospitable town, that they spent
several weeks in the little metropolis. Three of these foreigners,
Messieurs Pinchieu, Noirmont de la Neuville, and La Tours, seem to have
made many friends in the town, and to have been the recipients of much
hospitality on the part of the gentlefolk of Edenton.
Judge Iredell, who spoke French fluently, made a strong impression upon
the strangers; and M. Pinchieu became one of his warm friends. The visit
of the French officers to Edenton was made the occasion of many social
functions, and before the foreigners departed from the town, they gave a
grand ball to the Edenton ladies, who had made their stay so pleasant.
The modest colonial maidens of old Edenton, though dazzled and charmed
by the airs and graces of the gay and debonair strangers, at times found
the manners of their foreign guests a little too free for their comfort.
Miss Nellie Blair, in a letter to her uncle, Judge Iredell, declares
most emphatically her displeasure at the decidedly French behavior of
one of her too attentive foreign admirers.
On leaving Edenton, the Frenchmen proceeded to New Bern, where they
tendered their swords to the General Assembly, and offered their
services in the American cause; but for reasons not stated their offer
was declined.
The many acts of open rebellion on the part of prominent citizens of
Edenton had by this time made the town a marked spot in the eyes of the
enemy; and the fact that she was the most important port in the
Albemarle region, and that her destruction would be a heavy blow to the
entire State, also singled her out as an important point of attack.
So in 1779, when Sir George Collier entered Hampton Roads, gutted
Norfolk, took possession of Portsmouth, and burned Suffolk, the citizens
of Edenton were thoroughly alarmed. The Dismal Swamp was on fire, and
the crackling of the burning reed resembling the reports of musket shot,
caused many to think that a battle was going on near the town. Many of
the inhabitants began to pack up their household goods, ready to leave
when the British should enter the town.
But for some unknown reason the enemy, though so near, failed to descend
upon the town; and as days and weeks passed by, the cloud of
apprehension began to disperse, and life in the village to resume its
normal course.
Events, however, were to prove that the danger of invasion was averted
for a time only. In the fall of 1780, just after the disastrous defeat
of the Americans at Camden, and prior to Cornwallis' march into North
Carolina, General Leslie, of the British army, was sent from New York to
Virginia to keep the Americans in southeastern Virginia and Albemarle
from joining Greene's army in the effort to repel the invasion of
Cornwallis.
Edenton was again in danger. The enemy, two thousand strong, were camped
at Portsmouth, and one thousand were reported to have set out from
Virginia on their way to attack the town. To add to the terror of the
inhabitants, two British galleys, with sixty men each, had slipped
through Roanoke Inlet, and were making for the little port. A letter
from Mrs. Blair to James Iredell, written during those anxious days,
gives a graphic description of conditions in Edenton at this juncture.
"Vessels cannot get in," she writes; "two row galleys are between us and
the bar, and are daily expected in Edenton. If they come, I do not know
what we shall do. We are unable to run away, and I have hardly a negro
well enough to dress us a little of anything to eat. We hear that there
is an English fleet in Virginia, landing men at Kempe's."
Governor Nash, realizing that the town was in imminent danger, now
ordered General Benbury, of Edenton, to join General Isaac Gregory at
Great Swamp, near the Virginia border, and aid him in preventing General
Leslie from entering Albemarle. At this post a battle was fought between
Leslie's men and the militia under Benbury and Gregory, in which the
latter were victorious. A little later Gregory wrote Governor Nash that
Leslie's army had withdrawn from Virginia, but that he had not been able
to ascertain the destination of the enemy. However, it soon became known
that Leslie was hurrying to Camden, South Carolina, to join Cornwallis
in his attempt to sweep through North Carolina and conquer that State,
as he had conquered her sister State on the south.
With Leslie's army removed from the vicinity, Edenton remained for a few
months free from the fear of invasion; but not for long did her citizens
enjoy a respite from anxiety, for in January, 1781, the traitor,
Benedict Arnold, was sent by the British to occupy the posts in Virginia
lately deserted by Leslie. From Portsmouth Arnold wrote to General Sir
Henry Clinton, K.C.B., that he was planning to send boats carrying five
hundred men through Currituck Inlet, sweep the sound as high as Edenton,
destroy that town and its shipping, and then proceed to New Bern, which
he hoped to serve in like manner. Then he expected to post armed vessels
outside Currituck Inlet, distress the people of the coast country, and
thus keep the people of eastern Carolina so busy defending their own
homes that they would not be able to send men to interfere with the
plans of Cornwallis.
Arnold asked Clinton for 100 ship carpenters to build the vessels
necessary for the execution of his plans, but the traitor was not able
to carry out his designs against the eastern towns, for on arriving in
Virginia he found himself so hated and shunned by the British officers
over whom he was placed that he soon resigned his command of the
Virginia posts to General Phillips, of the British army, and instead of
proceeding against Edenton, he undertook another expedition up the James
River.
General Phillips, who now assumed command of the British in southeastern
Virginia, immediately began to plan to join Cornwallis, who in the
meantime had won the doubtful victory of Guilford Courthouse and had
retreated to Wilmington.
The situation in Edenton was now alarming in the extreme. Leslie had
3,500 men in Virginia, 2,500 of whom, General Gregory wrote Iredell, had
embarked at Kempe's Landing, supposedly for Edenton. Rumor had it that
there were seven British boats at North Landing, and some at Knott's
Island. Cornwallis' Army was marching northward from Wilmington, and
reports from nearby counties that lay in his path, told of the atrocious
crimes committed by his men against women and children, of devastated
fields and homes burned and ruined. Hundreds of negroes were foraging
for the British army, and the Tories everywhere were wreaking vengeance
upon their Whig neighbors.
The long dreaded day at last arrived. Edenton was raided, and the
vessels in her harbor burned and carried off. Eden House, some ten miles
from the town, the home of Robert Smith, a prominent merchant of
Edenton, was plundered, and valuable papers destroyed. Many of the
beautiful homes of the planters in the neighborhood were destroyed, and
a schooner belonging to Robert Smith, and one, the property of a Mr.
Littlejohn, were captured by the enemy and carried off down the sound.
The danger was so real that many families fled from the town and sought
refuge in Windsor, and the homes of that hospitable little village were
crowded with women and children. But in spite of the discomfort that
host and guest alike must have suffered from the overflow of visitors,
the letters of the refugees to their husbands and fathers in Edenton
speak in warm praise of the cheerfulness and good humor that prevailed
in the little town during those trying and anxious days, and of the
merry social gatherings held in honor of the guests.
Though panic-stricken at first when confronted by the long apprehended
danger, the citizens soon rallied and bravely resisted the foe. Charles
Johnson, writing to James Iredell, says: "The inhabitants in general and
the sailors, have and do turn out unanimously. I never saw nor could I
hope to see so much public spirit, personal courage and intrepid
resolution." Robert Smith's schooner was retaken from the enemy, and
later the Row Galley that had invaded Edenton and captured the schooners
was taken, and her commander, Captain Quinn, lodged in Edenton jail.
In the meantime the refugees at Windsor were beginning to doubt their
wisdom in leaving their homes for the Bertie town. Many of them were
afraid that they had only jumped from the frying-pan into the fire.
Cornwallis was only thirty miles away, in Halifax, and the Windsor
people were in daily terror that foraging parties from his army would
descend upon their homes. To add to the danger of their situation, the
hated and dreaded Arnold, whose expedition up the James had been
attended by the perpetration of many dastardly cruelties, was marching
south to join Cornwallis in Carolina. Six hundred negroes, sent by
Cornwallis, were near Edenton, and other bands of foragers, two thousand
in all, were pillaging and plundering in the wake of the British army.
Fortunately for Edenton and the adjacent towns, Anthony Wayne was
stationed at Roanoke with his troops. Hearing of the ravages committed
by Cornwallis' men, he marched in pursuit of the enemy, who now left
North Carolina, entered Virginia, burned South Quays, and then
proceeded on their way to Yorktown.
In June, 1781, Samuel Johnston, of Edenton, was elected delegate to the
Continental Congress, the first that had assembled since the adoption of
the Articles of Confederation. His high ability and acknowledged
statesmanship won for him in that body the distinguished honor of being
elected to the office of President of Congress. But the critical
situation in Edenton, and his anxiety concerning his family, decided him
to decline the office and return home to share the fortunes of his
townsmen and to render what aid he could to his own people.
In August, 1781, Charles Johnson wrote Governor Burke that a French
fleet had appeared off the Virginia Capes, and had driven back General
Leslie; and General Gregory, who had been stationed at Edmund's Hill in
Nansemond County, Virginia, to hold Leslie in check, reported at the
same time that the enemy had evacuated Portsmouth, and that it was
useless to keep his soldiers there any longer.
The British army had by this time reached Yorktown, where, on the 19th
of October the famous surrender took place, and the long, weary struggle
for independence was over; but it was nearly a month later before the
joyful news of Washington's victory over Cornwallis reached Carolina.
On November 18th the British troops in the State embarked from
Wilmington, and North Carolina was troubled by the red-coats no more.
But though the surrender at Yorktown had convinced the British that she
had lost her hold upon the American Colonies, it was not until
September, 1782, that the King acknowledged the independence of his
former American subjects; and still another year passed before the
Treaty of Paris was signed, formally acknowledging the United States a
separate and independent power.
During these two years North Carolina was torn and harrassed by bands of
Tories; and in South Carolina the armies of Greene and Leslie were still
engaged in fierce skirmishes. Leslie was at last hemmed in at Charleston
by Greene's troops, and both his men and Greene's soldiers were in great
distress for want of food and clothing.
In the summer of 1782 Greene warned the people of North Carolina that
the British in Charleston were preparing to send four vessels to raid
Edenton, New Bern and Wilmington; and once more the inhabitants of these
towns were plunged into a state of alarm.
Governor Burke immediately ordered General Gregory to have 500 men
ready to march at a moment's notice to Edenton to repel the expected
invasion, and also ordered him to ask the merchants of Edenton how many
vessels they thought necessary to protect the town. The Governor
furthermore gave Gregory instructions to purchase cannon and to draft
men to man the boats, guaranteeing, himself, full pay for men and
supplies.
But the fleet of which Greene had written did not arrive, though during
the summer of 1782, Tory galleys appeared in the bay and kept the town
in constant terror of another raid. The fall passed without bringing the
expected invasion, and finally the joyful news came that on December
14th the British had evacuated Charleston, and that their fleet had
sailed for the North.
With the departure of the British fleet and army from the South, all
fear of further invasion was over, and the little town of Edenton
settled down to long years of peace and happiness.
FINIS
End of Project Gutenberg's In Ancient Albemarle, by Albertson Catherine