The North Carolina militia units were first established in 1775 by the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress on the eve of the American Revolution. Initially, the militia units were centered on the 35 counties that then existed in the Province of North Carolina. The units fought against the British, Loyalists, and Cherokee Native Americans that aligned themselves with British forces. The units included military district brigades established in 1776, county regiments, four battalions, and one independent corps of light horse. Four regiments were located in counties that became part of the Southwest Territory in 1790 and later Tennessee in 1796. The size of brigades could be up to a few thousand volunteers. Brigades were commanded by a brigadier general. Regiments were commanded by a colonel and made up of a number of companies commanded by captains with about 50 men in each company. During engagements, one or more companies of regiments may have been involved in actions and commanded by the regimental or brigade commander. In 1778, Major General John Ashe was selected to command all North Carolina militia and State Troops. Brigade commanders reported to him. Separate from the North Carolina militia, the state provided 10 numbered regiments to the Continental Army that were referred to as the North Carolina Line.
Background In August 1775, the Third North Carolina Provincial Congress of North Carolina delegates appointed Cornelius Harnett the head of the Council of Safety which oversaw resistance to British rule. They also divided the colony into six military districts for the purpose of organizing militia and arranging representation in the executive body of the Council of Safety. At the county level, there were Committees of Safety, including the Rowan, Anson, Mecklenburg, Surry, and Tryon counties. Many members of these committees of safety became the officers of the regiments of militia.
The North Carolina Provincial Congress authorized 35 existing county militias to be organized on September 9, 1775. Some counties had already established their militias earlier than 1775. The Rowan County regiment was split on October 22, 1775 into two distinct regiment, the 1st Rowan County Regiment and the 2nd Rowan County Regiment. On December 22 that same year, the North Carolina Provincial Council split the Pasquotank County Regiment into two separate and distinct regiments, the 1st and 2nd Pasquotank County regiments. The two additional regiments brought the total number of county regiments to 37 by the end of 1775.
Units The following are the North Carolina militia brigades and regiments with their subordination, along with the dates established and disestablished, as well as the original commander when the unit was established by the Provincial Congress. Many counties started mustering and training militia before the Provincial Congress got around to it, as early as October 1774 (Johnson County Regiment). Regiments were subordinated to named brigades after brigades were established in 1776. Brigades were headed by a brigadier general and subordinate to the state militia headed by a major general officer, who reported to the Governor of North Carolina. As new counties were created by the legislature, new regiments were created and some were disbanded. At the time of the Battle of Kings Mountain in October 1780, there were 50 counties and 51 regiments of militia. Many regiments had two colonels. Soldiers and officers from these units were engaged in battles and skirmishes, primarily in North Carolina and South Carolina, but a few engagements were in Georgia, Virginia, and East Florida. As militia units, the soldiers did not serve full-time and returned home between engagements, musters, and drills.
+ North Carolina militia units in the American RevolutionUnitSubordinationEstablishedDisbandedOriginal Commander, RankRefsNorth Carolina Militia and State Troops CommandGovernor of North Carolina17781783MG John Ashe, Sr.Edenton District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17761783BG Edward Vail1st Regiment of North Carolina militiaEdenton District Brigade17801780Col Samuel Jarvis2nd Regiment of North Carolina militiaEdenton District Brigade17801780Col Benjamin ExumBertie County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col Thomas WitmellCamden County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17771783Col Isaac GregoryChowan County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col Thomas BonnerCurrituck County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col Samuel JarvisGates County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17791783Col Lawrence BakerHertford County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col Benjamin WynnsMartin County RegimentEdenton District Brigade, Halifax District Brigade17751783Col William Williams1st Pasquotank County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col John Lowery2nd Pasquotank County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751777Col Isaac GregoryPerquimans County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col Miles HarveyTyrrell County RegimentEdenton District Brigade17751783Col Edward BuncombeHalifax District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17761783BG Allen Jones1st Battalion of VolunteersHalifax District Brigade17761777Col Abraham Sheppard, Sr2nd Battalion of VolunteersHalifax District Brigade17761777Col Francis LockeBute County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17751779Col William PersonEdgecombe County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17751783Col William HaywoodFranklin County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17791783Col Benjamin SeawellHalifax County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17751783Col John BradfordNash County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17771783Col James ClinchNorthampton County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17751783Col Allen JonesWarren County RegimentHalifax District Brigade17791783Col Thomas EatonHillsborough District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17761783BG Thomas PersonCaswell County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17771783Col James SaundersChatham County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17751783Col Ambrose RamseyGranville County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17751783Col. Joseph Taylor, Lt. Col. John TaylorMounted Volunteers RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17801780Col Philip TaylorNorthern Orange County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17761777Col James Saunders Orange County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17751783Col John HoganRandolph County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17791783Col Andrew BalfourWake County RegimentHillsborough District Brigade17751783Col John Hinton, Col. Thomas Wooten, The North Carolina Booklet, Vol. XIV, No. 4, pp 225–236, April 1915, The North Carolina Society Daughters of the Revolution, Publisher, Commercial Printing Company, RaleighNew Bern District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17761783BG Richard CaswellBeaufort County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col James BonnerCarteret County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col William ThompsonCraven County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col Joseph LeechDobbs County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col Abraham SheppardHyde County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col Rotheas LathamJohnston County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col Needham BryanJones County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17791783Col John BryanPitt County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17751783Col John SimpsonWayne County RegimentNew Bern District Brigade17791783Col Benjamin ExumMorgan District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17821783BG Charles McDowellDavidson County RegimentMorgan District Brigade17831783Col Anthony BledsoeGreene County RegimentMorgan District Brigade17831783Col Joseph HardenSalisbury District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17761783BG Griffith RutherfordAnson County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751783Col Samuel SpencerBurke County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17771782Lieutenant Colonel (LTC) William ArmstrongGuilford County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751783Col Ransom SutherlandLincoln County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17791783Col William Graham1st Mecklenburg County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751783Col Thomas Polk2nd Mecklenburg County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17791780Col Caleb Phifer Polk's Regiment of Light DragoonsMecklenburg County Regiment,State Troops Command (1781)17801781LTC William Polk, WilliamIndependent Corps of Light HorseIndependent17801780Maj William Richardson DavieMontgomery County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17791783Col John LittleRichmond County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17791783Colonel Henry William HarringtonRowan County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751783Col Griffith Rutherford2nd Rowan County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751777Col Adlai Osborne2nd Rowan County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17821783Col James BrandonRutherford County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17791783Col Andrew HamptonSullivan County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17791783Col Isaac ShelbySurry County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751783Col Martin ArmstrongTryon County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17751779Col William GrahamWashington District RegimentSalisbury District Brigade17761777Col John CarterWashington County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17771783Col Evan ShelbyWilkes County RegimentSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17771783Col Benjamin ClevelandWilmington District BrigadeNorth Carolina Militia Command17761783BG John Ashe, Sr.1st Battalion of MilitiaWilmington District Brigade17761776Col Thomas Brown2nd Battalion of MilitiaWilmington District Brigade17761776Colonel Peter DozierBladen County RegimentWilmington District Brigade17751783Col Thomas Robeson, Jr.Brunswick County RegimentWilmington District Brigade17751783Col Robert HoweCumberland County RegimentWilmington District Brigade17751783Col Thomas RutherfordDuplin County RegimentWilmington District Brigade17751783Col James KenanNew Hanover County RegimentWilmington District Brigade17751783Col James MooreOnslow County RegimentWilmington District Brigade17751783Col William CrayOvermountain MenSalisbury District Brigade, Morgan District Brigade17761783Col Isaac Shelby
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References
Bibliography Despite a requirement by the early government of North Carolina to keep muster roles of the militia, very few of these have survived. However, efforts of both amateur and professional historians, such as William S. Powell, William T. Graves, and J.D. Lewis, the composition and history of the North Carolina militia has been reconstructed from thousands of individual records and compiled in reference works such as those listed below.
, Volume I – NC Continental Line, 2012, ; Volume II – The Provincial and State Troops(Part 1), ; Volume III – The Provincial and State Troops (Part 2), , Vol I: , 2016; Vol II: ; Vol III: , Vol IV: , Vol V: , Vol VI:
See also List of United States militia units in the American Revolutionary War List of military leaders in the American Revolutionary War List of British units in the American Revolutionary War Southern Campaigns: Pension Transactions for a description of the transcription effort by Will Graves Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War North Carolina Line North Carolina State Navy Militia (United States) Category for North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution