FANNING AND HIS BRUTALITIES--
CAPTURE OF GOVERNOR BURKE.
A. D. 1781.
When Lord Cornwallis left Wilmington, on his way to Virginia,
there were no British troops left in North Carolina except about
four hundred regulars and some Tory recruits, which constituted
the garrison of Wilmington. Major James H. Craig was in command
there, having captured the place in the preceding January.
2. He had been trained to arms, and when General Burgoyne
surrendered at Saratoga, was his Adjutant-General. He was
skillful as a soldier, but utterly unscrupulous as to the means
he used to carry out his objects. Seeing the British driven
from almost all the State, he determined to ruin a people he
could not subdue, and began to stir up a warfare of neighborhoods.
3. He found in David Fanning, of Chatham county, a powerful aid
in his inhuman scheme. Fanning was a man of low birth, ignorant
and unscrupulous. He was a good partisan guerrilla leader,
being brave, enterprising and swift to execute. Associating
with himself a small band of Tories, whose sole objects were
plunder and revenge, he was for a time the terror of Chatham and
Orange counties. Well mounted and well armed, and continually
on the alert, these marauders made havoc of the Whig
settlements, murdering, burning and destroying, unrestrained by
any authority and with no sense of humanity. They did not spare
even their own neighbors, many of whom they shot down or hanged
at their own doors.
4. Many stories are told of Fanning's exploits, of his audacity,
his cruelty, his arrogance, and his wonderful successes and
hairbreadth escapes. Such a state of affairs existed at one
time in the counties ravaged by his band that even the pitiless
Colonel Tarleton deplored its continuance. Fanning was born in
Johnston county about the year 1754, and was the vilest and
bloodiest wretch ever seen in our limits, most richly deserving
the punishment of the gallows. He continued his criminal
courses as long as he lived, and was pardoned for a capital
felony committed on the Island of Cape Breton not long before
his departure from this world.
5. Fanning began his military operations by surprising a
courtmartial in Chatham. His prisoners were disposed of by
parole or sent to Wilmington. This was in July, 1781. His
attack upon the house of Colonel Philip Alston, a few days
later, was a more serious matter, for he encountered stubborn
resistance and some loss before compelling the surrender of a
force almost as large as his own, and protected by the walls of
a large house. Four of the Whigs were killed, and those who
remained alive were spared from butchery by Fanning only at the
earnest appeals of Mrs. Alston.
6. Fanning's movements called for resistance, and Colonel Thomas
Wade collected a force of more than three hundred men at
McFall's Mill, in Cumberland county. These were speedily
attacked and utterly driven from that portion of the country.
It was afterwards learned by the victors that Colonel Dudley's
Chatham regiment of cavalry was disbanded, and Fanning
immediately pushed on to Hillsboro. On the morning of September
12th, his force entered the town, and succeeded in capturing
Governor Burke and several other prominent persons. *
*David Fanning gives the account of this affair as follows: "We
received several shots from different houses; however, we lost
none and suffered no damage, except one man wounded. We killed
fifteen of the rebels and wounded twenty, and took upwards of
two hundred prisoners; amongst them was the Governor, his
council, and part of the continental colonels, several captains
and subalterns, and seventy-one Continental soldiers out of a
church. We proceeded to the gaol and released thirty Loyalists
and British soldiers."
7. The bold marauders who had thus seized the Governor and
capital of the State, at once started with their prisoners for
Wilmington; but tidings of this exploit had reached a body of
men who hastened to Lindley's Mill, on Cane Creek, to receive
them. The Whigs, nominally commanded by General John Butler,
were really directed by Major Robert Mebane in their brave and
bloody reception of the Tories.
8. The Tory Colonel, Hector McNeil, leading the attack, was
slain, and his followers driven back in confusion. It seemed
that Governor Burke would be rescued and the whole Tory column
captured when Fanning, ever fertile in expedients, discovered a
ford in Cane Creek, and having crossed with a portion of his
command, attacked the Whigs in the rear. This soon ended the
battle, which was a bloody one to both sides.
9. About the same time with the capture of Hillsboro, a most
gallant and successful attack was made upon the Tory stronghold
at Elizabethtown, in Bladen county. There sixty Whigs, in the
favoring darkness of night, fell upon and drove out a largely
superior force commanded by Colonel John Slingsby. He and many
of his men were slain, and Major Craig was thus confined in his
fortifications in Wilmington.
10. When Fanning captured Governor Burke at Hillsboro, the Chief-
Magistracy of the State devolved upon Colonel Alexander Martin,
of Guilford. This latter gentleman had seen some service in the
field as an officer of the Continentals. Governor Burke was
treated, from the hour of his capture, with extraordinary
harshness. He was compelled to march all the way to Wilmington,
and, after some delay, was sent thence by ship to Charleston.
11. General Leslie, who commanded the British army in South
Carolina, placed the captive Governor upon an island near
Charleston, where the deadly malaria was supplemented by danger
of assassination from certain Tories, who were loud in their
threats of executing such a purpose. Burke made repeated
applications for a change of quarters, or for exchange as a
prisoner, but was told that he was kept as a hostage to be
executed in case of the capture and punishment of David Fanning.
12. After months of torture from such treatment, Governor Burke,
feeling that he was justified in disregarding his parole,
effected his escape and returned to North Carolina. He resumed
his office for the short interval between his return and the
meeting of the Legislature. To his great discomfiture, he was
defeated at the next election for Governor by Alexander Mafitin.
The members of the General Assembly could not forgive this
breach of his parole, and he regarded their act as evidence of
public condemnation. His sensitive spirit brooded over this.
His domestic relations were not such as to soothe and sustain
his wounded mind, and the life that opened with such brilliant
promise soon closed in gloom. Governor Burke died and was
buried on his farm near Hillsboro. No stone has ever marked the
spot. He left one child, a daughter, who died unmarried.
13. General Griffith Rutherford had been a prisoner in the
battle of Camden. Upon his exchange, he at once renewed his
efforts to deliver North Carolina from her foes. He soon
collected a body of Mecklenburg and Rowan militia and marched
for Wilmington.
14. On nearing the city he received news of Lord Cornwallis's
surrender at Yorktown, on October 19, 1781. He pushed on his
lines, and arriving in Wilmington he found that Major Craig had
taken ship and was flying from the land he had so scourged by
his presence.
15. The number of men enlisted from North Carolina in the
Continental army during the Revolutionary war was: in 1775,
2,000; 1776, 4,134; 1777, 1,281; 1778, 1,287; 1779, 4,930;
1780, 3,000; 1781, 3,545; 1782, 1,105; 1783, 697. The State
furnished, in Continental troops and militia, 22,910 men.
QUESTIONS.
1. What British forces were in North Carolina after the
departure of Cornwallis? Who was in command at Wilmington?
2. Can you tell something of Major Craig?
3. Tell something of the character of David Fanning.
4. Give further description of his traits. Mention the horrible
condition of the State under Fanning's exploits.
5. Relate Fanning's attack on the Chatham courtmartial.
What occurred at Colonel Alston's house?
6. What officer went to attack Fanning? What was the memorable
exploit of Fanning On September 12th, 1781?
7. What preparations were made for a fight at Lindley's Mill?
8. Describe the engagement.
9. What occurred at Elizabethtown?
10. Who became Governor after Governor Burke's capture?
How was Governor Burke treated?
11. What further account is given of his treatment?
12. Mention the concluding events of his life.
13. What was done by General Rutherford upon his exchange?
14. What did he find upon his arrival at Wilmington?
15. State the number of men enlisted in North Carolina during
the Revolution.