A HISTORY OF THE BRUNSWICK

TOWN-FORT ANDERSON SITE IN

BR UNSWICK CO UNTY, NORTH CAROLIN A

By

Wilson Angley - 1998 ..

A History of the Brunswick

Town-Fort Anderson Site in

Brunswick County. North Carolina

by

Wilson Angley 1998

Research Branch Division of Archives and History • North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources •

TO THE RESEARCHER

This report was compiled from the published sources indicated

and from original records held by the North Carolina state Archives. unauthorized reproduction of the entire report is

expressly prohibited. Permission is hereby granted to publish

brief extracts from this work. This authorization is not to be construed as a surrender of copyright, literary right, ou any other property right that is or may be vested in the state of

North Carolina .

• The lower coastline of present-day North Carolina appears to have been the first • portion of America's eastern seaboard to be seen and investigated by a European explorer. This initial contact occurred in 1524, when the Florentine voyager Giovanni da

Verrazzano, on an expedition sponsored by Francis I of France, came within view of land

several miles above the point of Cape Fear at approximately 34° of latitude. Anchoring

his ship, the Dauohine, just offshore, Verrazzano dispatched a landing party that was

greeted by a curious and friendly group of Native Americans. In a subsequent letter to

Francis I, Verrazzano gave a glowing account of both the land and its inhabitants.!

The first entry of Europeans into the Cape Fear River itself may possibly have

occurred during the 1526 voyage of the Spanish explorer, Lucas Vasquez de Ayllon,

although tbe evidence is now regarded as inconclusive. Having set sail from Hispaniola

for an intended destination along the coast of present-day South Caro~ AyDon entered

the mouth of a river, possibly the Cape Fear, which he referred to as the River Jordan.

From his base on the lower portion of this stream, Ayllon dispatched parties of men to

explore the interior of the region and the adjacent coastline. Soon, however, he relocated

his expedition southward, where he founded the town of San Miguel de Gualdape, the first

white settlement in what is now the United States of America.2

Unaffected by England's failed attempts to colonize Roanoke Island in the 1580s,

and by the beginnings of white settlement along Albemarle Sound some seventy years

later, the lower Cape Fear region long remained the exclusive domain of its Native

American inhabitants, largely undisturbed by the incursions of whites. This began to

change, however, in the ] 6605, when the area seemed to beckon to prospective settlers • from both New England and the West Indies. 2

In March of 1663 King Charles II of England granted the vast area of Carolina to a • group of eight loyal supporters known as the Lords Proprietors. During the following year. these owners of the province proposed the establishment of three separate areas of

settlement to be called Albemarle, Craven, and Clarendon Counties. The last of these

counties. Clarendon., was named in honor of the Earl of Clarendon., the most prominent of

the Lords Proprietors, and was to be centered on the lower Cape Fear.}

Even before the establishment of Clarendon., and indeed before the granting of the

Carolina Charter, the lower Cape Fear had become an area ofpotentiaJ settlement. In

August of 1662 the New Englander William Hilton set sail for the area aboard the ship

Adventure. finally entering the mouth of the Cape Fear in early October. For more than

three weeks he and his associates explored the region, taking the Adventure as far

upstream as present-day Wtlmington. Representing a group of prospective Massachusetts

Bay colonists, Hilton's primary purpose in coming to the Cape Fear was to gauge the

feasibility of establishing a settlement aJong its banks. All indications are that he came

away from these initial explorations with a favorable impression."

Encouraged by Hilton's positive report, a group of hopeful New England colonists

sailed down the Atlantic coastline and entered the mouth ofthe Cape Fear during the

winter of 1662-1663. These prospective colonists soon departed from the region,

however. having made little effort to establish a viable settlement. Behind them they left a

quantity oflivestock and possibly other possessions as well. The reason for their early

abandonment of the region is not entirely clear; but they are said to have left a public • notice intended to discourage other prospective settlers in the future.j 3

In October of 1663 Hilton returned aboard the Adventure to conduct a more • extensive reconnaissance of the lower Cape Fear. On this occasion he had sailed from Barbados rather thao New England, and primarily on behalf of prospective Barbadian

colonists. For more than two months he and his men explored the region, and again they

were favorably impressed by their discoveries there.6

Enticed by the contents of Hilton's more detailed account, a group of Barbadians

soon set sail underthe leadership of John Vassal!. Arriving in May of 1664, they began a

concerted effort to establish the pennanent colony and governmental entity envisioned by

the Lords Proprietors. Vassall' s group was subsequently joined by other colonists from

Barbados. New England, and elsewhere. Their combined activities soon gave birth to the

projected Clarendon County and to the settlement called Charles Town, which was

located on the west bank of the Cape Fear, just above the mouth of Town Creek.

Although Charles Town was the commercial and political center of Clarendon, colonists

took up lands and established homesites along a rather lengthy section of the lower Cape

Fear, quite possibly including locations near the site where Brunswick Town would be

established some six decades later.'

As events unfolded, the Clarendon settlement was soon brought to an end by a

combination of inadequate external support, internal dissension, and increasingly hostile

relations with local Indians. Despite John Vassall's manful endeavors to hold the

beleaguered colony together, even he was forced to acknowledge at length the

hopelessness of the enterprise. By early autumn of 1667 the colony was completely • deserted. Following the failure of the Clarendon settlement, the lower Cape Fear region 4

returned to its Native American inhabitants. It would be theirs exclusively for nearly a half • century to come.' Little is known of the Cape Fear Indians, who preceded the Clarendon settlement

and who reclaimed their lands when the settlement disbanded. These Indians are thought,

however, to have represented the wide-ranging Siouan stock or language group. It has

been estimated that the Cape Fear numbered about 1,000 persons in the early seventeenth

century. and that quite a number of towns must have existed at that time in the lower Cape

Fear region.9

The Cape Fear Indians lived in relative isolation from each other. in open towns or

farm communities scattered along the banks of the Cape Fear River and its major

tributaries. By 1715 they had only five towns remaining, their combined populations

comprising merely seventy-six men and 130 women and children. 10

The Cape Fears' numbers were still further reduced during the Yamassee War of

1715-1716, when they joined with the Waccamaws, Cheraws, and other Siouan groups

against white settlers in South Carolina. Many of the Cape Fear were kiUed and their

remaining towns laid waste when Colonel Maurice Moore led his troops on a line of

march which passed directly through the lower Cape Fear region. It was probably during

this march that Moore familiarized himself with the area and began to lay plans for its

future development. II

The few Indians who survived Moore's campaign soon filtered westward and

southward to join the Waccamaws and Winyaws. By 1730, if not long before, the Cape • Fear lndians had completely vanished from the area of their former habitation. 12 5

The settlement of Carolina under the Lords Proprietors built upon a small existing • base along the shoreline of Albemarle Sound in present-day North Carolina. and then took hold along the lower coastline of present-day South Carolina, where the city of Charles

Town (now Charleston) was soon to develop. Between these two areas of permanent

settlement was the failed Clarendon effort. From the Albemarle region and Charles Town

area. settlement then spread to the south and north respectively in the late seventeenth and

early eighteenth centuries, especially along the lower reaches of navigable streams. By the

early J 720s, this expansion along the coastline had created several fledgling towns and had

resulted in the wide-spread proliferation of farms, plantations, and commercial enterprises.

The lower Cape Fear region remained a vast wilderness, however, unapproached by

settlers from either the north or the south. 13

In large measure, the delayed settlement of the lower Cape Fear region resulted

from the fact that it was long an area of disputed jurisdiction between the evolving

colonies of North Carolina and South Carolina. The eventual separation of Carolina into

two distinct colonies was foreshadowed in 1689 when the Lords Proprietors

commissioned Philip LudweU governor over that portion of the province lying «north and

east of Cape feare." In 1691 , however, the Lords Proprietors again united their colony

under a single government in Charles Town, with a deputy governor presiding in the

Albemarle region. Finally, in 1712, the northern and southern portions of the province

were placed under governors of equal status and emerged as separate colonies. 14

Even after the separation of Carolina into distinct colonies, there remained for • many years uncertainty and controversy as to where the boundary between them lay. [n 6

general, South Carolina officials persisted in regarding the Cape Fear River as the • boundary line near the coast, therefore regarding the west bank of that stream as within their jurisdiction. For their part, North Carolina officials periodically asserted their claim

over the same area. For many years, settlement in the lower Cape Fear region'was simply

prohibited due to unresolved questions regarding its status. When the dividing line

between the two colonies was finally established near the coast in 1735, the area feU well

within the bounds of North Carolina. Settlement begun a decade earlier, under a cloud of

uncertainty. could now proceed on a finner footing. IS

The initial opening of the lower Cape Fear to pennanent white settlement was

largely due to the initiatives and actual presence of proprietary and later royal governor

George Burrington, who assumed office initially in January of 1724. Detying South

Carolina's territorial claims, Burrington actively encouraged settlement of the area,

making the land available for purchase and working to establish arteries of commerce and

transportation. Most important of all, perhaps, he established a pioneer plantation of his

own on the disputed west bank of the Cape Fear, only a short distance downstream from

the site where Brunswick Town would soon develop. 16

Taking advantage of recent developments on the lower Cape Fear, Maurice Moore

of North Carolina's Albemarle region soon resolved to establish himselfin the area and to

profit from the potentials offered there for land, wealth, and influence. Indeed, there is

reason to believe that Moore had long contemplated development of the region, having

ancestral connections with the failed Clarendon enterprise and having passed directly • through the area during the Yamassee War. 11 7

Maurice Moore had been born in the Goose Creek section of South Carolina in the • 16805, the scion of a prominent family whose progenitor had arrived in that colony from Barbados about 1675. Both his father and his paternal grandfather had served as

governors of South Carolina, and had led the well known "Goose Creek Faction" through

periods of political turmoil. Moore had entered North Carolina in 171 2 during the

Tuscarora War, serving under the command of his elder brother James. Remaining in

North Carolina when his tour of duty ended, he had established himself in the Albemarle

region, married well, and begun his ascent to political prominence. 18

Maurice Moore's move to the lower Cape Fear and his ambitious plans for its

development encouraged well-connected residents of both South Carolina and the

Albemarle section to likewise seek their fortunes in the newly opened Cape Fear country.

From South Carolina came Maurice Moore's brothers Roger and Nathaniel Moore,

together with Eleazer Allen, William Dry, and others. From the Albemarle came kinsmen

Edward Moseley, John Baptista Ashe, Cornelius Harnett the Elder, John Porter, and

others. 19

Almost at once, there began to emerge a pattern of vast land holdings in the

possession of relatively few men of weaJth and influence. Between 1725 and 1731 , some

115,000 acres of Cape Fear land were acquired by a closely associated group of about

three dozen men. The concentration of land in the hands of a relative few was even more

apparent with respect to Maurice Moore and his brother Roger, who amassed nearly

25,000 acres each. Nathaniel Moore, a third brother, also received considerable acreage. • Generally related to each other by blood or maniage, the Moores and their closest 8

associates in the Cape Fear enterprise soon came to be known as "the Family" . They also • emerged, quite clearly, as a force to be reckoned with in North Carolina politics.20 Governor Burrington was well acquainted with those who comprised ''the Family",

both personally and by reputation. Moreover, though he himself had helped the group to

become established, he soon expressed misgivings in a letter to the Board of Trade:

About twenty men are settled at Cape Fear from South Carolina, among them are three brothers of a noted family whose name is Moore, they are all of the sett known there by the name Goose Creek Faction, these People were always very troublesome in that Government and will without doubt be so in this? '

Unlike the early settlers of most areas in the two Carolinas, those who established

themselves on the lower Cape Fear were generally men accustomed to wealth and

prestige, who were now pursuing even greater opportunities in a virgin land. Many came

already with large numbers of slaves to their new homes, acquiring still more slaves as

their endeavors in the region prospered. The backbone of the lower Cape Fear economy,

from the very outset, was the production ofnavaJ stores (tar. pitch, rosin, and turpentine),

an enterprise that required vast tracts of longleaf pine forests and large numbers of slave

laborers. Numerous bondsmen were aJso employed in the production of lumber and wood

products and in the growth of various agriculturaJ commodities for export. As a result,

the concentration of slaves in the lower Cape Fear region soon exceeded that of any other

area of North Carolina.22

To serve as the urban center of the lower Cape Fear settlement, Maurice Moore

carefully selected an elevated site on the river's west bank, some twelve miles from the • ocean bar and five miles below "the Flats," a shoal area that impeded the passage of deep- 9

draft vessels upstream. Located on a bluff overlooking the river, where the main channel • swung close to the shoreline, the chosen site was carved almost entirely from a tract of 1,500 acres that Maurice Moore had received on 3 June 1725. A small portion of the site

also came from an adjacent tract owned by Roger Moore.23

By late June of 1726 a map of the proposed town had been completed and filed

with the provincial secretary. The town was eventually to develop on a tract 0[360 acres,

and would be called Brunswick Town in honor of the reigning British monarch George I,

member of the German House ofBrunswick-Lunehurg.24 Regrettably. neither the original

town plan nor a later one of 1745 appears to have survived among existing records.

Fortunately, however. details of the town's arrangement were painstakingly worked out

by the late Lawrence Lee, foremost historian of Brunswick Town and of the lower Cape

Fear region as a whole:

A portion of the town was set aside as a town commons and the balance was divided into 336 half-acre lots. Each lot was 82 112 feet (5 poles) wide and 264 feet (16 poles) deep. The town «squares" were 7 lots across and 2 deep. There were 24 squares, 6 along the river and 4 deep. In later years, an additional square was laid off on the river to the north, and possibly another to the west of that, on land belonging to Roger Moore. About 150 to 200 feet from the shore the Front Street, or Street on the Bay. ran parallel to the river, and almost due north-south. All other streets of the town ran parallel or at right angles to Front Street, but their names are not known except for the next street to the west called the Second Street from the Bay, or Second Street. Certain lots were reserved for a church, cemetery, and for various public buildings such as a courthouse and gaol, or jail. The land between the river and Front Street was generally transferred with the lot it fronted . 2~ • 10

The first recorded sales of Brunswick Town lots by Maurice Moore occurred on • 30 June 1726, soon after completion of the town plan, when he conveyed lots 22 and 23 to "Victualer" Cornelius Harnett the Elder fori:.2 each. These lots were located on Front

Street, roughly mid-way the length of the town and near the water. In accordance with

standard requirements. they were to be improved within eight months by the construction

of two "habitable houses" not less than 16' x 20' in size. By 1769, these lots would

contain some thirteen separate structures.26

Harnett was the first of several fonner residents of North Carolina' s Albemarle

region to purchase property in Brunswick Town; others soon followed. An even larger

contingent began to arrive from the South Carolina Low Country. Many of these early

arrivals purchased lots along the waterfront, which offered the greatest potential for

capital appreciation and commercial development.27

Less than a year after purchasing his Brunswick Town lots, Cornelius Harnett

received pennission to operate a feny from the fledgling settlement to the Cape Fear's

opposite shore. This action may perhaps be seen as a recognition of the area's growing

importance in the affairs of the colony as a whole.:n

The Brunswick feny formed a vital link in what was soon to become the King's

Highway along the Atlantic seaboard from the northern colonies to Charles Town and

beyond. In the years to follow, other roads would connect this principal north-south route

with the proliferating settlements of the Cape Fear basin and other backcountry areas of

North Carolina. From its initial establishment in 1727, the Brunswick ferry would operate • almost continuously until the eve of the American Revolution.29 II

Despite the establishment of the ferry and other favorable developments • • Brunswick Town experienced only modest growth in the early years of its existence. In 173 J the Philadelphia traveler Hugh Meredith rendered the following rather unflattering

account ofthe fledgling settlement:

The only town they as yet have is Brunswick. seated on the River Clarendon [i.e., Cape Fear], about 18 or 20 Miles from the mouth of it; having a commodious place for Ships to lie safe in all Weathers, and is likely to be a Place of Trade, and the Seat ofGovemment ~ tho' at present hut a poor, hungry, unprovided Place, consisting of not above 10 or 12 scattering mean Houses, hardly worth the name of a Village; but the Platform is good and convenient, and the Ground high, considering the Country. 30

Only two years after Meredith's vlsit, Brunswick Town attracted the attention of

Captain George Anson of the Royal Navy. Anson entered the Cape Fear in July of 1733

in command of the HMS SguirreU. Though he did not proceed upstream as far as the

town itself, he gathered infonnation that it contained "about five and twenty houses," and

that the area provided "much the best harbour in this part of America:')1 Only seven years

later, Anson would attain the rank of commodore and begin his celebrated circumnavi-

gation of the globe. Intriguingly. Anson at some point actually acquired property in

Brunswick Town, although when the purchase was made and for what purpose remain

unknown.32

From its very inception. Brunswick Town was promoted by ''the Family" and

others as a place of potential importance politically in the lower Cape Fear and, perhaps, in

the colony as a whole. Their efforts were rewarded to some extent in 1729, with the • colonial assembly's creation of New Hanover Precinct (later County). The new precinct 12

was to have two members in the assembly; and Brunswick Town was to be the seat of • precinct government. By virtue ortbis status, Brunswick Town would be the scene of elections, sessions of court, and other important functions. To provide accommodations

for these activities, the assembly authorized the taxation of precinct residents for the

construction of a courthouse and jail. 33

As it happened, Brunswick Town's status as the seat of New Hanover County

endured for only eleven years. In 1740, after much rivalry and factionalism, the colonial

assembly designated the newly incorporated town of Wilmington as the county seat.

Brunswick Town would not finally regain its former status until 1764, with the creation of

Brunswick County and the designation of Brunswick Town as its seat ofgovemment.34

Beyond political importance on the county level, there was some hope on the part

of its promoters that Brunswick Town might playa prominent role in the governance of

North Carolina as a whole. This hope came nearest to fulfillment during the years 1758 to

1770, when Governors Arthur Dobbs and William Tryon maintained their official

residences there. For these twelve years, Brunswick Town was the defacto seat of royal

authority in North Carolina, except during periods when chief executives were absent. 35

Because of its prominence, and the presence of two royal governors, Brunswick

Town hosted numerous meetings of North Carolina's executive council. It is significant to

note, however, that the colonial assembly convened there only once, even though it did so

in Wilmington on four separate occasions.36

From its very inception, Brunswick Town was envisioned as an integral • component of the British Empire's vast trans-Atlantic network of trade and commerce . 13

Especially obvious were its untapped potentials for the shipment of naval stores, wood • products, and various agricultural commodities. Indeed, Great Britain soon developed a heavy and increasing reliance on the lower Cape Fear region as a source of the naval

stores so vital to the construction and maintenance of its navy and merchant marine. The

huge profits to be derived from the boundless pine forests and rich soils of southeastern

North Carolina were almost certainly uppermost in the minds of Maurice Moore, George

Burrington, and others instrumental in opening the area to settlement and in establishing

Brunswick Town as its initial center of trade, government, and commerce.

The crucial designation of Brunswick Town as an official port of entry came by the

end of March 1731, only five years after its founding. Henceforth, all vessels entering or

leaving the Cape Fear would be required to clear with customs officials stationed there:17

Within a few weeks. Governor Burrington was able to report that the lower Cape Fear

region had become ''the place of the greatest trade in the whole province .•,3 11

Though Brunswick Town was its administrative center. Port Brunswick actually

encompassed a vast area of southeastem North Carolina, including the entire Cape Fear

drainage basin. Naval stores. lumber. and other bulky commodities destined for export

made their way to Brunswick Town from considerable distances inland. borne along by

raft or flatboat along the several rivers of the area and their many tributaries. Imported

articles, in tum., were borne inland along the same routes. although more slowly and with

much greater effort.39

As anticipated. the prinicpal exports of Port Brunswick were naval stores and • wood products. Naval stores consisted oftar, pitch., rosin, and turpentine. all derived 14

primarily from the longleaf pine. Wood products included logs, ton timber, sawn lumber, • shingles, staves, and sometimes whole house frames .4O Port Brunswick easily exceeded other North Carolina ports in the export of naval

stores. Moreover, by 1772 the volume of naval stores shipments from Port Brunswick

was slightly greater than the total of all other North Carolina ports combined, with Port

Brunswick exporting some 59,000 barrels of the colony's 117,00 barrel tota1. 41 Indeed, it

should he noted with respect to naval stores that Port Brunswick exceeded not only other

North Carolina ports, but the ports of other American colonies as well. By the late

colonial period, Port Brunswick's naval stores exports constituted nearly one-third of

English America's total. Taking an even broader view, it can be said that, by the early

17705, more naval stores were being shipped to Great Britain from Brunswick Town than

from any other place in the world.42

[n the shipment of wood products, Port Brunswick also exceeded other North

Carolina ports, especially with respect to sawn lumber. In 1772 Port Brunswick exported

snme 2,864,000 feet of this product-roughly seventy percent of North Carolina's total of

4,118,377 feet. Port Brunswick's clear dominance over other North Carolina ports in the

production of sawn lumber was facilitated by the rapid proliferation of sawmills in the

Cape Fear region. By the eve of the Revolution, some fifty sawmills were in operation

there, with others planned or under construction.43

In addition to naval stores and wood products, Port Brunswick exported a wide

variety of other commodities. Chief among these were com, peas, rice, livestock, skins, • bread, flour, reeds, flax seed, and indigo" Ulustrative ofthe diversity of Port 15

Brunswick's exports were items shipped much less often and in small quantities----mint • water, apple trees, myrtle wax, oakum, and snakeroot" ~ The imports of Port Brunswick comprised a broad spectrum of commodities and

manufactured goods from throughout the British Empire. Generally speaking, these items

were those that residents of the lower Cape Fear region were unable to grow or produce

for themselves. Prominent among these were textiles, clothing, dishes and household

goods, farming implements, assorted hardware, sugar. molasses, wine, rum, and salt.

Most of the goods imported into Port Brunswick were ordinary items used in

everyday life; others, however, were distinctly unusual and were only in limited demand.

Among these latter imports were such things as essence of spruce, lignum vitae, rhubarb,

camphor, and musical instruments.47

As would be expected from the plantation economy of the lower Cape Fear region.

Port Brunswick led all other port districts in North Carolina in the importation of slaves.

Between 1768 and 1772. for example. some 293 of the 719 slaves imported into North

Carolina arrived through Port Brunswick. Most slaves entering Port Brunswick and other

North Carolina ports were shipped from the West Indies or from other American colonies~

some. however. came directly from the west coast of Africa. Even so. the number of

bondsmen imported into North Carolina paled in comparison with the much larger

numbers entering neighboring Virginia and, especially, South Carolina. 4g

The number of vessels entering and clearing through Port Brunswick grew rather

steadily throughout the colonial period. reflecting an increase in maritime activity at both • Brunswick Town and Wilmington. In 1734 Governor Gabriel Johnston reported that 16

forty-two vessels had cleared outward from the Cape Fear during the preceding year . • Twenty years later, Governor Arthur Dobbs reported that approximately 100 ships were entering Port Brunswick each year, and that he had recently seen sixteen vessels in the

river on a single occasion. During the years 1767 to 1772, more than 600 vessels entered

and cleared with port officials. with average tonnage reaching 147 by the end of that

period.49

The vessels entering and clearing through Port Brunswick comprised a wide

variety of types and sizes. Although the records are scant for the early decades, it is

probable that sloops were the vessels most commonly seen until late in the colonia1 period.

By 1765 sloops still maintained a slight dominance, foUowed closely by schooners and

brigs. By the eve of the Revolutio~ however, the use of larger vessel types had increased.

Brigs had now become the vessel type of choice. followed by sloops and schooners. Ships

(a vessel type) then followed in frequency of use. with snows appearing only on rare

occasions. so

Vessels clearing outward from Port Brunswick were involved in varied and some­

times complex patterns of trade, with an increasing involvement in trans-Atlantic trade as

the colonia1 era progressed. Of the 142 departures during the year 1772, for example,

some forty-five vessels were bound for Great Britain, one for Ireland, and two for Africa.

The average size of vessels crossing the Atlantic was ninety-two tons. Of the ninety-four

vessels remaining, sixty-three set sail for the West Indies, while thirty-one departed for

other American colonies. These sma1ler vessels, engaged in the West Indian or coasting

51 • trade, averaged only forty-six tons--exactly half the size of the trans-Atlantic vessels. 17

Specific destinations within the general areas of trade varied widely. During the single • month of May 1767, for example, vessels departed for New York, Barbados, London, Piscataqua, Philadelphia, Maryland, Gt-enada, and Glasgow."

Similarly. vessels entering Port Brunswick arrived from a wide variety of ports of

lading, usually bearing cargo but sometimes in ballast. The year 1772 saw a total of 147

entries, with thirty coming from Great Britain, five from southern Europe, and one from

Africa. Of the III remaining entries, forty-six were from the West Indies and sixty-five

from other American colonies.B As with destinations, specific ports of lading within the

general areas of trade were rich1y varied. During the month of May 1774, for instance,

vessels arrived from Philadelphia, BoSlon, Jamaica, Liverpool, Mole-St.-Nicholas, Charles

Town, Turks Island, Greenock, and Bordeaux. S4

In tenns of overall export tonnage, Port Brunswick also achieved a general

supremacy among North Carolina's colonial ports, although slightly surpassed by Port

Roanoke (Edenton) in terms of vessel numbers. This resulted from the fact that vessels

trading with Port Brunswick were gener81ly larger vessels with greater cargo capacity. In

1763. for example, Governor Dobbs reported that Port Brunswick, on average,

experienced ninety vessel entries each year out of an average tot81 of 296 for North

Carolina as a whole. Aggregate tonnage of these ninety vessels was 4,830. Port

Roanoke. on the other hand, averaged ninety-seven vessel entries each year, but with tot81

tonnage of only 3,052."

Although Port Brunswick was clearly paramount in the shipment of nav81 stores. • and exceeded other North Carolina ports in total tonnage, it should be kept in mind that 18

Port Brunswick feU far short of larger American ports to the north and south in tenns of • total volume. [n 1768-1769 total tonnage clearing from Port Brunswick was 8,608. During that same period, Charles Town shipped 31 ,551 tons; Boston 33,698; and

Philadelphia 37,424."

With the passage of time and the progessive development of Wilmington, it

appears virtually certain that most of the vessels entering Port Brunswick proceeded to

that destination rather than Brunswick Town to discharge and take on their cargoes,

risking passage over the intervening «Flats" to do so. Many vessels, however, continued

to stop at Brunswick Town, especially the largest vessels engaged in the trans-Atlantic

trade. By the end of the colonial period. most vessels anchoring at Brunswick Town were

probably large vessels engaged in trade with Great Britain. The vessels anchored at

Wilmington, on the other hand, were likely smaller vessels engaged in trade with other

American colonies or the West Indies.S7

In 1761 a violent storm opened New Inlet several miles downstream from

Brunswick Town, creating a second passage for vessels entering and clearing through Port

Brunswick. This inlet was most suitable, however, for small vessels of relatively shallow

draft ~ and most vessels continued to use the more accommodating Old Inlet at the mouth

of the Cape Fear.sl

Although Brunswick Town teemed with maritime and related activities, and was

the home of several prominent merchants and shipowners, there are on1y fleeting

references to the actual construction of ships there. The diminutive ten-ton sloop First • Adventure was built as early as 1727 at some point on the lower Cape Fear, only one year 19

after the founding of Brunswick Town. The exact location. however, is not known.S9 • Shipbuilding at Brunswick Town in later years can reasonably be inferred by the residence there of Christopher Wotten, "sailmaker" ; Thomas Payne, "shipwright"~ and David

Smeath, "ship carpenter"."

More easily documented than ship construction is the ownership of vessels by

residents of Brunswick Town. Resident Thomas ,Mulford , for example, followed a regular

pattern of trade between Brunswick Town and Philadelphia in the 17605. He was,

moreover, the owner or part owner of at least two appropriately named vessels--the sloop

Cape Fear Packet and the schooner Brunswick Packet.61 The most prominent of

Brunswick Town's shipowners was the merchant and planter Richard Quince, a native of

Ramsgate. England. During the 1760s and early 17705, Quince was the owner of at least

a dozen vessels, sometimes in partnership with his sons. Among these vessels, trading

regularly at Brunswick Town, were the sloop Dobbs, the brig Tryon, the sloop Cape Fear

Planter. and the brig Orton.62

From the earliest days of its existence. Brunswick Town was continually at risk of

becoming involved in the long-standing rivalry between England and Spain for hegemony

in the Western Hemisphere. Governor Burrington was himself responsible for creating a

good deal of apprehension along these lines by assuming ownership of slaves reportedly

stolen from their Spanish owners at St. Augustine. and by refusing to relinquish those

slaves to a Spanish agent who came northward from Florida to reclaim them.63

Fears of a possible Spanish attack on the lower Cape Fear region increased • dramatically during the War ofJenkins Ear (1739-1744) and the expanded conflict known 20

as King George's War (1744-1748). In November 1740 a company of Cape Fear men • sailed southward to take part eventually in the ill-fated attack on the Spanish fortress of Cartagena, on the coast of South America. Two years later, amy twenty-five survivors of

the debacle returned to their Cape Fear homes. The English failure at Cartagena greatly

exacerbated the growing fear ofa Spanish attack among residents of the Brunswick Town

area ,64

It was because of the fear ofa Spanish attack that the colonial assembly in 1745

initiated construction of a fortification inside the mouth of the Cape Fear at present-day

Southport. It would be called Fort Johnston in honor ofGovemor Gabriel Johnston, and

would playa significant role in the course of future events at Brunswick Town and in the

lower Cape Fear region in general.6S

Late in the summer of 1748, when Fort Johnston was in the early stages of

construction, the long-feared Spanish incursion into the lower Cape Fear became a reality.

On the morning of September 4 two Spanish privateers and a captive sloop crossed over

the Cape Fear bar and sailed upriver, with the immediate objective of seizing the slaves at

work on the installation. Thwarted in that initial aim, the Spaniards continued upstream

and attacked Brunswick Town. For two days they occupied the nearly deserted town,

looting its shops and homes. taking some hostages, and plundering the merchant vessels at

its docks. Driven aboard their own vessels on the third day by Captain William 01)' and

his local militia troops, the Spaniards continued to shell Brunswick Town from the river.

Suddenly, and for reasons unknown, a fire broke out aboard the largest of the Spanish • vessels, the Fortuna, under the command of Captain Vincente Lopez. Shortly thereafter • 21

the Fortuna was shattered by a violent explosion, and sank to the bottom of the Cape • Fear. The loss of the Fortuna effectively ended the Spanish attack on Brunswick Town. On the afternoon of September 8, their remaining vessels crossed over the bar at Old Inlet,

and hove away in pursuit of a passing merchantman.66

From the time of its establishment in the early 1730s, Wilmington had begun a

slow but inexorable ascendancy over Brunswick Town as a center of trade and commerce.

Located on the east bank of the Cape Fear River, at the confluence of that stream with the

Northeast Cape Fear, Wilmington had been planned and laid out in 1733, with the sale of

lots following soon thereafter. Known in its early days as New Carthage and then New

Liverpool, it soon acquired the name New Town or Newton to distinguish it from the

older settlement founded by Maurice Moore. Many of its early residents were merchants.

eager to compete for the growing trade of the Cape Fear basin. By virtue of its location,

the newer settlement had easier access to the network of interior streams, and provided

safer harbor to the small and utilitarian craft borne upon their waters.67

The early development of the future Wilmington was given some encouragement

by Governor George Burrington, who had experienced bitter disagreements with Maurice

M.oore and various members of «the Family"~ but it was Burrington's successor, Gabriel

Johnston, who showered the new settlement most lavishly with his personal favoritism and

political largess. Johnston, too, fell out with "the Family" soon after taking office in the

fall of 1734, and by the following spring he had begun to focus his attention on the

community that was slowly emerging as Brunswick Town' s rival. In 1735 Johnston • exercised executive authority to open a land office and hold various courts in Newton. 22

He also acquired land in and near Newton and, as a crowning blow. arranged for meetings • afhis council to be held there rather than in Brunswick Town.61 The efforts of Governor Johnston and others to promote the rival community

culminated in February of 1740 when ' ~he Village called Newton" was fonnally

incorporated as "the town ... of Wilmington," named in honor of Johnston's political

patron, Spencer Compton, the Earl of Wilmington. In the wake of Wilmington's

incorporation would follow a series of developments deleterious to Brunswick Town. As

mentioned earlier, Wilmington now replaced Brunswick Town as the seat of New

Hanover County, drawing away governmental functions and their remunerative related

activities.69

Although the incorporation of Wilmington marked the beginning of the end for

Brunswick Town, the older town yet retained considerable support and vitality. In 1745,

persistent advocates in the colonial assembly secured passage of "an Act to encourage

Persons to settle in the Town of Brunswick on the Southwest Side of the Cape Fear

River." Named as town commissioners in this act were Richard Quince, Edward Moseley,

William Dry, John Wright, and Roger Moore-men keenly interested in promoting the

commercial and political welfare of the older settlement in the face of growing competition

from Wilmington. The legislation of 1745 was intended to encourage the sale of town

lots, provide for orderly regulation, and stimulate maritime and commercial activity in

general.70 • 23

As was the case with other colonial towns in North Carolina. Brunswick Town • was a relatively small place which in many ways reflected its rural surroundings. Despite their importance as centers of trade. commerce, politics, and culture, these urban centers

were, after all, decided anomalies on the landscape in general Even on the eve of the

American Revolution, town residents represented amy about two percent of the colony's

total population.71 It is not surprising, therefore, that these towns were not altogether

places of cleanliness and refinement:

Towns in colonial North Carolina were urban centers in a rural Jandscape ... . The pace of life was slow. Poultry flitted about ~ livestock ran loose in the streets. The distinction between town and country was in many ways insignificant. n

Never a large town, even by North Carolina standards, Brunswick Town

experienced only a gradual growth in population during the half century of its existence.

In 1754 it was said to contain only about twenty families or about 150 people. Even by

the time of the Revolution, it is probable that the town's population did not exceed 200. 73

Although the planters of the lower Cape Fear region were men of unusual wealth

and influence, Brunswick Town's small population represented a broad spectrum of

classes, occupations, and economic status. As with other North Carolina towns, its upper

crust residents were generally wealthy planters, large-scale merchants, and professional

men. Distinctly unlike most other North Carolina towns, however, Brunswick Town also

numbered two governors among its elite residents. Constituting much larger segments of

the town's population were the middle and lower classes. The middle class comprised less • successful merchants, craftsmen, and assorted artisans. Comprising the lower classes were 24

apprentices, day laborers, indentured servants, free blacks, and slaves, the last group • almost totally dependent upon their owners for employment and subsistence. 74 Because Brunswick Town was a port of entry and center of maritime activity, its

residept and transient populations contained large components of seafaring

men--shipowners, ships captains, naval officers, sailors, and ordinary merchant seamen.

Added to these were the several customs officials and the many men who provided

cargoes and logistical support to mariners----shipwrights, sail makers, carpenters,

provisioners, and watennen.7S

The frequent arrivals of vessels and seamen from other colonies. the West [ndies,

and from overseas must certainly have created an atmosphere of excitement and

cosmopolitan vigor along the waterfront at Brunswick Town and in its streets and taverns.

On numerous occasions the resident population must have been considerably outnumbered

by the sailors and seamen who had arrived in port with appetites whetted by weeks or

months of toil and isolation upon the face of the deep. The rowdy behavior of Brunswick

Town's transient population was a source ofconcem and outrage to the Reverend James

Moir. who in 1745 described the settlement's taverns as "the very worst upon the face of

the Earth in more respects than one.,,76

The historical records of Brunswick Town shed precious little light upon the lives

of its women, except as they related to their husbands and others in various legal

transactions. It can be safely assumed. however. that the women of Brunswick Town

spent the majority of their time caring for the household, rearing children, supplementing • family incomes in various ways. and in general following domestic pursuits. The better-off 25

women of the town almost certainly shared in the supervision of indentured servants and • household slaves. n Because of her association with a particularly interesting property, Margaret

McCorkall has come to be viewed as an exemplification of Brunswick Town's largely

unsung women; and, yet, little is known even about her. Known only is that she owned a

newly constructed house on lot 71 during the early 17605, and that she willed the house to

her son-in-law and daughter, Dr. and Mrs. John Fergus. Archaeological evidence

indicates that her house stood for only a few years, and that it may well have been

destroyed by the devastating hurricane of 1769.18

Though most women in Brunswick Town followed domestic pursuits that left few

traces in the historical records, others led conspicuously public lives. One of these was

Elizabeth Egan, wife of Darby Egan, who assisted her husband in his tavern and in the

operation of the Brunswick ferry. Indeed. a Wilmington newspaper of June 1765 reveals

that she had recently stationed herself on the opposite shore for the convenience of

travelers:

Brunswick Ferry, June 25th 1765. Whereas Elizabeth Eagen [sic], in order that Gentlemen and Others, travelling to and from Brunswick may be properly accomodated at and speedily transported over the Ferry at Brunswick, has removed fr[ om] Brunswick to the Fenyhouse herself . . 79

Nor were all the women engaged in domestic pursuits at Brunswick Town entirely

satisfied to remain so engaged. Such was the case with Mrs. Morris Connor, whose flight

from hearth and home in 1773 provoked a public notice of disavowal from her husband:

My Wife Mary Connor[,] having eloped from my Bed and • Board and otherwise treated me ill, this is to give Notice 26

that I will not pay any Debts of her contracting after the Date hereof. Morris Connor. Brunswick, Dec. 11. 80

• It has been estimated that African Americans comprised approximately twenty

percent of Brunswick Town's population by the end of the colonial period.sl The vast

majority of these would have been slaves, though some free blacks may have been present

as well. Ironically. the blacks of Brunswick Town constituted a distinct minority of the

urban population, while all around them slaves greatly outnumbered whites on the vast

plantations afthe lower Cape Fear in general. The few free blacks in Brunswick Town

would have been employed as laborers, craftsmen, and perhaps small shopkeepers. The

much more numerous bondsmen were undoubtedly laborers, house servants, craftsmen,

dock workers, and watermen. Significant numbers of slaves are thought to have been

associated in some way with transporting commodities to and from Brunswick Town,

preparing them for shipment. and the loading and unloading of cargoes.8 2

The use of slave labor in connection with merchant and maritime activity is

reDected at least fleetingly in the records. The prominent Brunswick Town merchant

William Hill. for example. owned half a dozen slaves in the I 760s and 17705, even though

S he apparently was not yet engaged in agriculture. ) By 1772 the prosperous merchant and

planter Richard Quince was the owner of 155 slaves, nearly double the number held by his

nearest rival in Brunswick County. William Dry. Most of these were field hands at Orton

and at Quince' s other plantation holdings ~ but others were surely employed at Brunswick

Town in connection with Quince's naval stores operation and his Deet of twelve merchant

vessels. 84 • 27

Slaves were even among the possessions of at least two of the Anglican clergymen • of Brunswick Town, though their overall worldly possessions were relatively few. In 1745 the Reverend James Moir complained that his slave was forced to cook "for himself

in the open air," so meager were their accommodations'" Nearly twenty years later, the

Reverend John McDowell was so sorely pressed financially that he was obliged to sell four

of the seven slaves in his possession. It is interesting to speculate that the two black

communicants known to have been at 51. Philips in 1762 may have received the Eucharist

not only from their priest, but from their owner as well.86

From its earliest days as a center of commerce and political activity, Brunswick

Town attracted men of considerable distinction and influence, notwithstanding the ultimate

ascendancy of its upriver rival, Wilmington. Some of these men had large plantations in

the lower Cape Fear region, while maintaining secondary residences or places of business

in Brunswick Town itself Among the most politically prominent residents of Brunswick

Town and the immediate vicinity were William Dry, Roger Moore, town founder Maurice

Moore, and Edward Moseley.

William Dry came to Brunswick Town in 1736, established himself as a merchant,

and began the acquisition of land and wea1th. Like many of Brunswick Town's inner

circle, he was related to Maurice and Roger Moore and to other members of the former

"Goose Creek Faction" of South Carolina. Entering politics, Dry served in the colonial

assembly, as a member of the executive council, and as collector of customs for Port

Brunswick.11 • 28

Roger Moore, son and grandson of governors of South Carolina, came to the • lower Cape Fear country with his brothers Maurice and Nathaniel in the mid-l 720s. Working closely with the fonner to establish Brunswick Town, he contributed land to

enlarge its boundaries and fought to protect it against the final supremacy of Wilmington.

Moore held a number of important political offices and was a longtime member of the

executive council. Through wealth and prestige, he came to be called

contemporaries. By 1748 he had begun construction of the mansion house at Orton

Plantation, which ever since has had a history closely intertwined with those of Brunswick

Town and the Brunswick Town site.ss

Some discussion has already been devoted to Maurice Moore's early political

career as a resident of the Albemarle region ~ but Moore's role in politics entered a second,

somewhat less prominent, phase following his removaJ to the Cape Fear. From 1734 until

his death in 1743, he served in the coloniaJ assembly as a representative of New Hanover

County.89

FinaJly. among those associated with Brunswick Town, few could claim greater

standing in public affairs than Edward Moseley. Indeed. one coloniaJ historian has

described Moseley as perhaps "the single most important politicaJ figure in the first haJf of

the eighteenth century in North Carolina.,.90 As early as 1718 Moseley was engaged in

politicaJ intrigue in the Albemarle region with Maurice Moore, who was his brother-in­

law ~ and their close association probably accounts for Moseley's later remova1 to

Brunswick Town. At various times, Moseley served as surveyor generaJ, as longtime • member of the executive council, speaker of the colonia1 assembly, treasurer, and chief 29

justice of the General Court. Though Moseley owned upwards of30,ooO acres in North • Carolina and lived in various places. Brunswick Town was his usual "place of habitation" during the years preceding his death in 1749."

Of course, the most politically prominent of all the citizens of Brunswick Town

were Governors Arthur Dobbs and William Tryon., who resided at Russellborough just

north of the town. As the domicile of these two men. RusselJborough was, in a very real

sense, the locus of royal authority in North Carolina for a period of twelve years. Indeed,

it has been aptly described as «The most historic orall early Cape Fear dwellings."n The

excavated ruins of this colonial mansion are easily among the most impressive in the area.

RusseUborough derived its name from Captain John Russell, master of the H.M.S.

Scorpion, then stationed at Brunswick Town. Russell purchased the land in 1751 and

began constructing the residence, but died before its completion. The property and

unfinished house passed initially to Russell's widow, but later reverted to the executors of

the estate of William Moore of Orton Plantation, son of Roger Moore.93

Eager to entice Governor Dobbs from New Bern to take up residence at

Brunswick Town, William Moore's executors offered the Russellborough property to him

for the sum of five shillings and the symbolic payment of one peppercorn per annum.

Dobbs proved receptive to the offer, having felt for some time that the rent he was paying

at New Bern was too high and that the "aguish" climate there was injurious to his already

failing health. Finally persuaded, he accepted the proposition and moved to Brunswick

Town in 1758.94 • 30

Soon after his removal to Brunswick Town, Dobbs completed the house begun by • Captain Russell and added several outbuildings. At some point early in his residence, he renamed the house "Castle Dobbs," in remembrance of his ancestral home in Ireland. In

1762, the seventy-three-year-old Dobbs married the fifteen-year-old Justina Davis, taking

his bride to reside with him at the fonner «Russell borough" . There they lived until his

death on the 28th of March 1765."

Dobbs' successor, William Tryon, had been residing in North Carolina for

approximately three months at the time of Dobbs' death, having entered Port Brunswick

aboard the snow Friendship in late December of 1764.96 Soon after succeeding to the

governorship. Tryon himself moved into the former RusseJiborough with his family,

renting the property from the late governor's son, Edward Brice Dobbs. Two years later

he purchased the estate outright. renaming it Bellfont.97 Not long after moving in, Tryon

took the trouble to set down a detailed description of his new residence while writing to a

friend. As the only known contemporary account of a Brunswick Town residence. it is of

considerable vaJue to both historians and archaeologists:

This House ... is of an oblong Square Built of Wood. It measures on the out Side Faces forty five feet by thirty five feet and is Divided into two Stories. exclusive of the Cellars the Parlour Floor is about five feet above the Surface of the Earth. Each Story has four Rooms and three light Closets. The Parlour below & the drawing Room are 20 x 15 feet each ~ Ceilings low. There is a Piaza Runs Round the House both Stories of ten feet Wide with a BaIlustrade of four feet high. which is a great Security for my little girl. There is a good Stable and Coach Houses and some other Out Houses . . .. I shaIl and must build a good Kitchen, which I can do for forty Pounds Sterling ofJOr x 40'" • 31

When cartographer C. J. Sauthier drew his detailed map of Brunswick Town in • 1769, «His Excellency Governor Tryon's House and Plantation" were featured quite prominently. In addition to the main residence, there were now eleven outbuildings,

including the kitchen that Tryon had earlier planned to build. In addition, Sauthier

recorded a garden and a series of irrigation cana1s between the house and the nearby

shoreline.99

Tryon moved from Brunswick Town to New Bern in 1770 to take up residence in

the recently completed '

Town estate to William Dry. Dry retained the name Bellfont for his new residence, and

continued to reside there through the early days of the Revolution. Unfortunately. Dry

and his family were to be the last occupants of the house. Early in 1776, it was reduced to

ashes by British troops during one of several raids in the lower Cape Fear area. 100

As agents of royal authority in the colony. Dobbs, Tryon. and their feUow chief

executives were responsible for the spiritual as well as the secular well-being of North

Carolina's scattered and disparate residents. At the core of this responsibility was their

duty to defend and promote the Anglican Church or Church of England, which had been

recognized as the established church since the colony's very inception. Almost certainly.

most of the prominent citizens of Brunswick Town and the lower Cape Fear area adhered

to Anglican doctrines and forms of worship; and yet, in Brunswick Town, as elsewhere in

North Carolina. the officially sanctioned faith endured a troubled and sometimes

precarious existence. • 32

The basic ecclesiastical framework for Anglican worship in the lower Cape Fear • area was put in place in 1729 with the establishment of St. James Parish, the boundaries of which were coterminous with those of New Hanover Precinct. The act creating the parish

also stipulated that the parish church would be erected at Brunswick Town, at that time

the only settlement within the boundaries. A similar legislative mandate came in 1741 .

when St. Philips Parish was created out of that portion of New Hanover County lying

west of the Cape Fear River. As before, this act directed that a church be built at

Brunswick Town. 10 1

Despite these enactments. however. it is apparent that no effectual efforts were

made during these early years to construct a church at Brunswick Town as called for,

though services were held there by successive ministers in temporary locations. In 1743

the Reverend James Moir reported that the settlement had ''neither Church nor

Chappel. .. 102 It was perhaps at his insistence that the parish vestry finally provided a small

frame building for worship in 1744. MOlr was permitted to occupy the garret as his living

quarters. By the following year, this small chapel is known to have housed a school, with

Moir presumably its teacher.IOJ It was in 1745. as well, that the colonial assembly again

attempted to bring about the construction ofa proper house of worship at Brunswick

I04 Town ~ yet nothing was done to carry this legislation into effec1.

In 175 I the colonial assembly passed yet another act relating to the construction of

a church at Brunswick Town. This legislation directed Richard Quince, Matthew Rowan.

William Dry, and three other prominent men ''to receive, collect, and apply subscriptions" • for the long-delayed project.'" 33

Actual construction of St Philips finally began in 1754, and within a few months • the walls of the edifice had risen above the tops of the windows. Then, however, the work ground to a halt. In 1759 the legislature authorized a lottery to finance further

construction, and during the roUowing year directed that proceeds from the sale of

materials salvaged from the Spanish ship Fortuna be allocated for the project. Governor

Dobbs announced that the completed structure would be designated His Majesty's Chapel

in North Carolina, and that, accordingly, it would be provided with appropriate

furnishings, communion plate. and other essentiaJ materials for worship. He further

announced that a pew would be provided for himself and members of his council. By July

of 1760 the church was on the verge of completion, but its roof was then destroyed during

a severe stonn of wind and rain. Faced with this discouragement, work again came to a

standstiU. When Governor Dobbs was laid to rest within its walls in late March of 1765,

the building still had not been finished. 106

Like Governor Dobbs before him, Governor William Tryon lent his important

support to the completion ofS1. Philips Church. Tryon took an active role in. encouraging

subscriptions to the project, and made sizable donations himself. He also provided

window sashes and gJass, imported from EngJand at considerable expense. 107

Finally, and at long last, the nearly completed 51. Philips Church was consecrated

on 24 May 1768. Ceremonies were conducted by the rector, the Reverend John Barnett,

with assistance from the Reverend John WiUs of St. James, Wilmington. The imposing

structure was slightly more than seventy-six feet long and fifty-three feet wide. Both the

windows and interior ceiling were gracefully arched. Though only the ruins now survive, • 34

there are indications that St. Philips was a building of considerable architectural • distinction. 108 Throughout the half century preceding the American Revolution, a number of

clergymen strove with varying success to foster worship in the lower Cape Fear in

accordance with the rites and doctrines of the Church of England. Most of these were

assisted in their work by the Society for the Propagation of the Gospel in Foreign Parts

(S.P.G.), an organization within the Church of England that provided financial and other

support to missionaries stationed abroad.

The first Anglican minister to serve Brunswick Town and the lower Cape Fear

area was the Reverend Jean LaPierre, a Frenchman who arrived from South Carolina in

1728. Though a godly and well-intentioned man, LaPierre labored under severa1

hardships, especially the inability to support himself and his family financially. In 1733,

after five difficult years, he left the lower Cape Fear in frustration.I09

The last Anglican minister of record at Brunswick Town was the Reverend

Nicholas Christian, who arrived late in 1774. Though young and filled with enthusiasm

for his work, Christian hardly had time to prove himself in his mission post. He departed

the lower Cape Fear in 1775. on the very eve of the American Revolution-a struggle that

would sever both the ecclesiastica1 and political bonds between England and her fonner

colonies. 110

During the long period between Jean LaPierre and Nicholas Christian. Brunswick

Town and the surrounding area were under the pastora1 care of six other clergymen of • varying ability and dedication: Richard Marsden, James Moir. Christopher Bevis. John 35

McDowell, John Barnett, and one 1. Cramp. During this same period, there were at least • three intervals when parishioners were without the services of a clergyman altogether, and were obliged instead to recruit lay readers from within their own ranks. III

The ministers at Brunswick Town, like those elsewhere in colonial North Carolina,

were greatly hampered by the lack of a resident bishop in America, by the extent and

remoteness of their parishes, by chronic poor health, and by inadequate financial support.

Moreover. there were recurring disputes regarding their duties and a general lack of

enthusiasm for organized religion. In many ways their jobs were thankless, grueling, and

frustrating; and there is little wonder that their achievements, at best, were limited.' 12

By the middle of the eighteenth century, Brunswick Town had developed modestly

in terms of size and population, but already was being overshadowed by the rise of

Wilmington upstream. In 1754 the older town was reported to contain some twenty

families or approximately 150 total inhabitants. 11 3 A visitor in 1762 observed that

Brunswick Town made Wilmington appear "a large city for this country" by

comparison. 114 A 1773 traveler likewise commented on Brunswick Town' s limited

development, though complementary of the site on which it stood: «The little town of

Brunswick stands in an exceedingly pleasant situation, but is very inconsiderable; nor does

it contain more than fifty or sixty houses.,,1U

The mention of "fifty or sixty houses" in 1773 may well have referred to shops

and other buildings as wen as residences, or so it would appear from the later observations

of Janet Schaw, the Scottish "Lady of Quality." Schaw came to Brunswick Town in

February of 1775, arriving aboard the fifty-ton brig Rebecca, owned by Richard Quince . • 36

Indeed, it was also to Quince's residence that she was first escorted upon her arrival. Her • description paints a rather unflattering picture of Brunswick Town's size and appearance, but bears witness to its bustling maritime activity:

We got safe on shore, and tho' quite dark landed from the bo.t with little trouble, and proceeded thro' rows of tar and pitch to the house of a merchant, to whom we had been recommended [Quince] .... This place is called Brunswick, and tho' the best sea port in the province, the town is very poor--a few scattered houses on the edge of the woods, without street or regularity. These are inhabited by merchants. of whom Mr. Quense [Quince] our host is the first in consequence. 11 6

Far more favorable than the various written descriptions of Brunswick Town is the

detailed map of the settlement prepared by C. 1. Sauthier in 1769, one often such maps

prepared of North Carolina towns at the request of Governor William Tryon. The

arrangement and appearance of the town, as depicted by Sauthier's map, were briefly

described by historian Lawrence Lee, who made a detailed study of the features shown:

The buildings of the town. with few exceptions, were confined to the northwest quarter of the site originally reserved . . . . The area was about the same as that occupied by Wilmington. Also like Wilmington, there were a few fine and even pretentious dwellings among the more numerous smaller ones. The homes of Brunswick, however, were more dispersed, and sand streets and alleys meandered in an irregular fashion that only vaguely followed the courses intended for them. The result was a more rustic appearance. But the spaciousness combined with shade trees and attractive gardens to create an atmosphere of great charm.117

Marked for special prominence on Sauthier's map were St. Philips Church, the courthouse

and gaol, and ''His Excellency Governor Tryon's House and Plantation.,,118 • 37

Sauthier's map was drawn in April of 1769, and therefore did not record the • extensive damage wrought by a hurricane later that same year. Without doubt, the pleasant vista of gardens, trees, and waterfront structures must have been drastically

transformed by that storm. Tryon himself left a brief account of the extensive damage:

On Thursday the 7th instant [7 September 1we had a tremendous gale of wind here . . . . The gale became a perfect hurricane between twelve and two o'clock on Friday the 8th instant. The fury of its influence was so violent as to throw down thousands ... of trees . . .. Many houses blown down with the Court House of Brunswick County.119

As mentioned earlier. archaeological evidence indicates that one of the houses destroyed

by the 1769 storm may have been the McCorkall-Fergus House at the comer of Second

and Cross Streets, the residence erDr. John Fergus. "chirurgion."I20

Following the great stonn of 1769. life gradually returned to normal in Brunswick

Town. though the Brunswick County courthouse was apparently never rebuilt. 12 1 The

coming of the Revolution, however. would soon preclude any further growth and

development. Indeed. it would draw the curtain on Brunswick Town's very existence.

Among the many events leading to the eventual outbreak: of the American

Revolution, none perhaps was more seminal than the Stamp Act crisis of 1765-1766. This

crisis created a very different turbulence than that experienced during the stonn of

I 769----0ne that was felt at Brunswick Town and throughout the American colonies.

During the years just foUowing the French and Indian War, the British government

instituted a "new colonial policy" to relieve its mountainous debts and reduce the costs of

colonial administration and defense. As one means of raising needed revenues, Parliament • enacted legislation imposing on the colonies a stamp tax similar to one that had existed in 38

England since early in the eighteenth century. This tax, to be levied on newspapers, tavern • licenses. ships papers, legal documents, and numerous other items, was scheduled to become effective on November 1, 1765. From the colonists' point of view, the stamp

duty seemed especially burdensome and oppressive because it was payable only in rare

specie and because it was perceived as an abridgment of their constitutional rights as

Englishmen. Moreover, violations of the Stamp Act were to be tried only in vice­

admiralty courts, without the protections normally provided by juries. 122

Judge Maurice Moore of Brunswick Town was one of several American writers to

argue that the levy on stamps was a fonn of "taxation without representation," a view

that came to be widely held in American political circles. A distinguished jurist, Moore

was the son of Brunswick Town' s founder, one of its most prominent residents, and a

longtime representative of the town in the colonial assembly. In his 1765 pamphlet.

entitled The Justice and Policy of Taxing the American Colonies ill Great Britain

Considered, he denounced the stamp tax as burdensome and unjustified, denied

Parliament's authority to impose it. and rejected the doctrine that American colonists

enjoyed virtual (albeit not direct) representation in the House of Commons. Moore's

brother, James Moore, was later to serve as a patriot general during the American

Revolution; and his son, Alfred Moore, would one day become an associate justice of the

United States Supreme Court. In

As the effective date of the Stamp Act drew near, a firestorm ofresistance spread

throughout the American colonies. Nowhere, perhaps. was this resistance more strident

than in the lower Cape Fear area. Angry mobs gathered in Wilmington to bum officia1s in • 39

effigy and to drink boisterous toasts to "Liberty, Property and no Stamp-Duty." • Somewhat later, an unruly mob accosted the man appointed stamp receiver for the Cape Fear region, Dr. William Houston, and forced him to resign. 124

The actual and somewhat belated arrival of the stamped papers in late November

occasioned relatively little resistance, but for nearly two months thereafter the commerce

of Port Brunswick was held in paralysis. Moreover, two British warships lay menacingly

at anchor off the Brunswick Town waterfront: the Diligence, under Captain Constantine

Phipps; and the Viper, under Captain Jacob Lobb. In January 1766 Captain Lobb

precipitated a crisis by seizing three ships attempting to enter the Cape Fear without the

requisite stamps affixed to their papers. For nearly a month uncertainty prevailed as to the

fate of those vessels, with prominent Cape Fear merchants and others vigorously opposed

to the attorney general's ruling that they be taken to Nova Scotia for appropriate legal

· l2S proceed mgs.

On the morning of February 19, an angry and resolute mob of several hundred

citizens marched on Brunswick Town., confronting Governor Tryon at his home and

threatening the seizure of Fort Johnston. Fearing very much for the fort' s safety, and

especially that its guns might be turned on British warships, Tryon instructed both Captain

Phipps and Captain Lobb to assist commandant John Dalrymple in every possible way. As

events transpired, the mob at Brunswick Town did not attempt the seizure of Fort

Johnston as feared, although the installation' s meager garrison could have offered no

effective resistance. 126 • 40

Meanwhile. back in Brunswick Town, the mob of protesters grew ever larger as • men continued to filter in from surrounding counties. Frustrated in their demands to meet with Captain Lobb, the mob broke into the home of Customs Collector William Dry,

seizing the ships papers they found there. During the following day, February 20th, the

mob forced the release of the captive vessels and received assurances that Port Brunswick

would be reopened to trade. Finally. on 21 February, events culminated at Brunswick

Town in the seizure of Dry and Comptroller William Pennington, and in the extraction

from them of a promise that they would henceforth make no effort to enforce the Stamp

Act. 127

From the very inception of the Stamp Act in North Carolina., Governor William

Tryon had demonstrated a willingness to work with its opponents to find ways to

ameliorate its effects. Nevertheless, it had been his responsibility as governor to see that it

was enforced so long as it remained on the statute books. On June 25. 1766. then. he was

perhaps relieved to be able to announce by proclamation that Parliament had seen fit to

repeal the legislation. News of the repeal met with widespread sentiments of exuberance

and gratification. in the lower Cape Fear and throughout colonial America.128

Repeal of the Stamp Act. however. was by no means tantamount to an

acknowledgment of colonial sovereignty with respect to taxation. Indeed. its repeal was

soon followed by passage of the Declaratory Act, which strongly reaffirmed Parliament's

authority to tax and otherwise govern the American colonies. During the decade that

fo llowed. a massive contest of wills. interests. and political ideologies led inexorably to • armed conflict and a final dissolution of trans-Atlantic allegiances. Throughout these 41

turbulent years, Brunswick Town and the lower Cape Fear region played conspicuous • roles in shaping the course of future events. 129 On the afternoon of 8 May 1775, Cornelius Harnett of Wilmington received the

momentous news that the Battle of Lexington had been fought nearly three weeks before.

QuickJy he hastened the news onward to Richard Quince at Brunswick Town, the urgency

of the message apparent in its wording:

Dir Sir: I take the liberty to forward by express the enclosed papers which were received at 3 O'clock this afternoon. If you should be at a loss for a man and horse the bearer will proceed as far as the Boundary House. You will please direct Mr. Marion or any other gentleman to forward the packet immediately to the Southward with the greatest possible dispatch ....

P.S. For God' s sake send the man on without the least delay and write to Mr. Marion to forward it by night and day. 1)0

Little less urgency was reflected in the message that Quince dispatched to Isaac

Marion at the South Carolina line:

Brunswick, May 8th, 9 O'clock in the Evening-Sir: I take the liberty to forward by express the enclosed Papers which I just received from Wilmington and I must entreat you to forward them to your community at Georgetown to be conveyed to Charlestown from yours with all speed. Enclosed is the Newspaper giving an account of the beginning of the battIe and a letter of what happened after. Pray don't neglect a moment in forwarding.13 1

Harnett and Quince were integral parts of a network of Patriots who spread the word

southward along the Atlantic seaboard that the American Revolution had begun. 132

It is of significance to note that Cornelius Harnett also had a close connection with • Brunswick Town., though he lived for most of his life near Wilmington. It was his father, 42

Cornelius Harnett the Elder, who made the first recorded purchases of Brunswick Town • lots from Maurice Moore, and who continued to live there until his death in 1742. The younger Harnett moved from Brunswick Town to the Wilmington area about 1750, later

to lead the Cape Fear region in the struggle for independence from Great Britain. 133

When news of events in Massachusetts reached New Bern, Governor Josiah

Martin realized full well that the patriotic zeal along the coast and elsewhere in North

Carolina could no longer be contained. Indeed, he had reason to fear that he and his

family might be seized and taken captive if they remained in the palace at New Bern.

Ultimately, Martin made the fateful decision to send his family by ship to New York. while

he himself fled southward by land. Traveling by way of Cross Creek on the upper Cape

Fear. he arrived safely at Fort Johnston on June 2, there to establish the last seat of royal

government on North Carolina soiL 134

Fort Johnston, however, was not to prove so safe a haven as Governor Martin

might have wished. Since the end of 1774 the commander of the installation, Captain

John Collet, had been "harassed by every means the Americans could devise," the latter

having been made increasingly anxious that the fort was to become the staging area for

attempts to seize private property and to incite slaves against their masters in the lower

Cape Fear region.13S

By no means were the patriots's suspicions regarding Fort Johnston entirely

misplaced. Even before his flight from New Bern, Governor Martin had conceived and

begun to promote a plan to regain control of North Carolina through the combined use of • British troops and Scottish HigbJanders and other loyalists of the upper Cape Fear and 43

backcountry regions. Once ensconced at Fort Johnston, Martin redoubled his efforts to • carry this plan into effect, gather a large force about him, and reassert both the Crown's authority and his own. 136

Finally, on 15 July 1775, Cornelius Hamen, Colonel Robert Howe, and Colonel

John Ashe assembled a force of between 300 and 500 armed men for an attack against

Fort Johnston, where Martin had been hole up for nearly two months. Gathering first at

Brunswick Town. the troops then proceeded southward to lay siege to the fort. Collet

and Martin, however, realizing the futility of attempting the installation's defense.

removed or destroyed all arms and supplies before taking refuge in the harbor aboard the

British man-of-war Cmizer. On 19 July the two men looked on in impotent rage from the

deck of the Cruizer. as Fort Johnston and its ancillary structures were laid waste. 137

For many months following the destruction of Fort Johnston, the prevailing

situation along the lower Cape Fear was one of extreme tension and uncertainty. Patriot

troops encamped near Brunswick Town and Wilmington strengthened their positions

against possible attacks by British and loyalists forces, and steps were taken to impede the

approach of hostile vessels up the Cape Fear. Maritime trade, on which the economy of

the region so heavily depended, came to a virtual standstill, and related agricultural

activity was dramatically reduced as well. III

By the winter of 1775- I 776, the decision had been made at the highest levels of

British government to send seven regiments of regular troops and two artillery companies

to the Cape Fear area, there to remain offshore while the commander in chief of the • expedition conferred with Governor Martin as to what further steps were advisable . 44

Contingent upon conditions at that time, sufficient British troops might then he made • available to attempt the restoration of royal government in North Carolina. 139 Governor Martin. for his part, was confident that Scottish Highlanders and other

loyalists would flock to the royal standard, and. in concert with the British force. sweep all

opposition before them. On 10 January 1776, he issued a proclamation to all loyalists in

the colony to come together in force at Brunswick Town no later than February 15, there

to join British regulars in "restoring the just rights of His Majesty's crown and

government. ,.140

By mid-February 1776 some sixteen hundred Scottish Highlanders had

rendezvoused at Cross Creek and begun their fateful march southeastward to join Martin

and the promised force of British regulars. Between Cross Creek and their destination,

however, stood a hastily assembled but determined patriot force under Colonel James

Moore's leadership. After months of mounting tensions, events now moved inexorably

toward a decisive clash ofanns. This came early in the morning of February 27 at the

Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, when the Scottish Highlanders were badly beaten and put

to flight by a numerically inferior force of approximately eleven hundred men. Although it

was but a brief battle, involving relatively few men, the patriot victory at Moores Creek

Bridge would have a profound impact on the future course of the American Revolution.

Governor Martin's much vaunted Cape Fear strategy had been effectively crushed, and

major fighting in the South was forestalled for several years.141

Even after this stunning victory, however, British warships remained firm1y in • control on the lower Cape Fear. For civilian residents and patriot military forces in the 45

region. the threat of a British invasion lingered throughout the late winter and early spring . • On March 12 the first vessel of Sir Henry Clinton's approaching fleet entered the Cape Fear to join the British vessels already at anchor there. Clinton himself arrived two days

later. By the end ofthe month, some twenty British vessels were present in the area.

along with several hundred troops and considerable quantities of arms and ammunition.

Keeping watch over the assembled fleet and the movement of British soldiers were James

Moore (now a general) and a force of approximately eighteen hundred. By mid-May the

British presence in the lower Cape Fear was vastly augmented and rendered still more

ominous by the anival of General Charles Cornwallis, a fleet of fourteen vessels under

Commodore Sir Peter Parker, and an additional four to five thousand men.142

From their encampments and the decks of their warships. the British carried out

sporadic raids along the banks of the Cape Fear. One of the largest of those raids

occurred on the morning of May II. when Generals Clinton and Cornwallis led a force of

about nine hundred men against the home of General Robert Howe. just upstream from

Orton. Similar raids were carried out against William Hooper's residence near

Wilmington and against other patriot properties. It was during one of these raids that the

British burned William Dry's elegant home Bellfont (formerly Russellborough), located on

the very outskirts of Brunswick Town. 143

In fact. a near contemporary account of recent raids in the Virginia Gazette of 17

April indicates that British troops had occasionally made their presence felt in Brunswick

Town itself, which had apparently been abandoned in response to the enemy threat:

The ships of war and transports, now in the [Cape Fear] river. have on board a vast quantity of warlike stores and • military apparatus, which were to be put into the hands of 46

the insurgengents [loyalists] .... The town Brunswick is totally deserted, and the enemy frequently land in small parties, to pillage and carry off negroes .... Mr. Quince • had 18 slaves lately stolen from him. 144 With respect to slaves, it is tempting to speculate that some of those taken on the

lower Cape Fear in the spring and summer of 1776 might have been employed to

advantage by the British upon their later return to the area. Several blacks from the lower

Cape Fear are known to have been under the command of Captain George Martin in the

British regiment of Guides and Pioneers and to have served during the second British

attack on Charles Town in 1780. Significant to note. three of these men had fonnerly

belonged to Richard Quince. 14'

In late May of 1776 Generals Clinton and Cornwallis departed from the Cape Fear

along with Governor Josiah Martin. Their destination was Charles Town, which the

British had decided to attack following the collapse of their plan to join forces with Cape

Fear loyalists. Remaining behind, however, were sufficient British warships to keep Port

Brunswick closed. Those vessels did not finally depart until the following October, long

after the political ties between Great Britain and her former American colonies had been

severed by the Declaration of Independence. 146

For several years the lower Cape Fear region was relatively free of hostilities,

although coastal trade continued to suffer and a lingering threat remained that the British

would eventually return. In 1779, with trade at a standstill, the seat of Brunswick County

government was shifted from the abandoned and moribund Brunswick Town to a less

exposed site near Lockwoods Folly bridge. Having formerly lost its status as the county • 47

seat of New Hanover County, the once thriving Brunswick Town had now lost that same • standing in Brunswick County as well. 147 British forces returned to the lower Cape Fear in late January of 1781, at which

time Major James H. Craig's troops sailed up the river aboard three vessels and easily

occupied the nearly defenseless town of Wilmington. The initial purpose of Craig' s

expedition was to fonn a base of supply for General Charles Cornwallis, who was

expected to march eastward across North Carolina with the Cross Creek area as his

destination. A series of defeats and costly victories, however, greatly delayed Cornwallis'

arrival in the Cape Fear region, and thus prolonged Craig's occupation of Wilmington, 148

At length, Corwallis and his battered army of 2,000 did proceed belatedly through

Cross Creek and on to Wilmington, joining Craig there on April 9. There he remained for

nearly three weeks, contemplating his next move. When he marched northward from the

Cape Fear on April 25, Craig was ordered to remain in Wilmington with his force until

after Cornwallis' safe arrival in Virginia. His continued presence in the Wilmington area

inspired continued loyalist support throughout the Cape Fear region and the Carolina

backcountry as well. It was not until mid-November, with the approach of patriot troops

under Genera1 Griffith Rutherford. that Craig and his troops departed southward to

Charles Town. A1though there would be continued tension between loyalist and patriot

factions. armed conflict on the lower Cape Fear was at an end. 149

The Revolution had dealt a devastating, indeed marta]. blow to Brunswick Town.

By the close of hostilities, it had been at least partially burned and destroyed, and now lay • abandoned and in ruins. And yet, the chronology and the means through which it came to 48

ruin are by no means clear. Sources are inconclusive, for example, as to whether • Brunswick Town was the scene of military confrontation; but it is virtually certain that a small defensive battery was thrown up at or near the town early on in the conflict. ISO This

"Old Brunswick Battery," in fact, would become an outlying feature of Fort Anderson

nearly a century later. during the Civil War.15I

Though patriot forces undoubtedly occupied Brunswick Town at various times

during the Revolution, it was probably during the early months of 1776 that the town was

pennanently abandoned by the vast majority of its erstwhile residents. The Virginia

Gazette of 17 April of that year reported that the settlement was '~otally deserted," and

thus vu1nerable to sporadic British raids. m By the following summer. its only occupants

appear to have been patriot militiamen, at least some of whom were from Chowan

County.1S3

It is apparent from both the historical record and from archaeological investiga­

tions that the abandoned Brunswick Town was plundered and at least partially bumed ~ but

the culprits yet resist all efforts at positive identification. Already by the spring of 1776 it

appears from the Virginia Gazette that William Dry's home, the former RusseUborough,

had been burned and that nearby Brunswick Town had been looted on several occasions.

There was no indication, however. that the town had so far been destroyed in any way. iS4

The earliest evidence of actual destruction at Brunswick Town. in fact, implicates

patriot forces rather than British troops. In August of 1776 Captain Aaron Hill of the

Chowan County militia was formally court-martialed at Wilmington for "Plundering the • Houses in Brunswick of the Glass from the Windows." Nor was this any small-scale 49

operation. Hill and two accomplices from his company were convicted of stealing roughly • sixty panes of glass from Brunswick Town's abandoned houses and attempting to convey them to Edenton for sale. ISS

When Elkanah Watson visited Brunswick Town in late October of 1777, he

observed that «nearly all the houses had been deserted from apprehension of the enemy."

He gave no indication, however, that any portion of the town had been burned. l S6

In September of 1780 there was a futile attempt in North Carolina's Revolutionary

legislature to restore Brunswick Town as a county seat. This legislation provided that

courts would be held there regularly "unless there is reason to apprehend danger from an

invasion of the enemy," Furthennore, monies collected for a courthouse at Lockwoods

FoUy were instead to «be applied in renting or repairing any house ... in the town of

Brunswick" to serve in the same capacity.1S7

It appears, in fact, that the general destruction of Brunswick Town did not occur

before 1781 . In late April of that year, a detachment of Cornwallis' anny was reportedly

stationed at Brunswick Town, although its occupation of the town could only have been a

brief one. Cornwallis' anny had arrived in the area less than two weeks before, and would

be leaving only three days later. It is tempting to speculate that these British troops might

have put the torch to portions of Brunswick Town as they prepared to march northward

to Virginia and, ultimately. Yorktown. 158

Not to be excluded, finally. from those who may have been responsible for the

partial burning of Brunswick Town are the various Tory or loyalist bands which • committed widespread depredations in the lower Cape Fear region, especially during the 50

British occupation of Wilmington. The reader will recall that Major James Craig's force • continued to occupy Wilmington for some three weeks after Cornwallis' departure. inciting widespread acts afTory resistance through his presence there. Even as late as

March 1782, General Alexander Lillington warned Governor Thomas Burke ofTory

activity in the area, urging him to station a small patriot force at Brunswick Town to

guard the river entrances at Old and New Inlets and "to prevent sma11 Parties [of Tories]

from landing."IS9

Taken together, then, the available evidence indicates that the abandoned

Brunswick Town was at least partially destroyed by fire in either 1781 or 1782 by parties

unknown. British troops under Lord Charles Cornwallis or Major James Craig are

perhaps the most likely suspects in this historical mystery~ but clouds of suspicion hang

over other parties as well. In any event, the destruction had apparently taken place by the

time of the Treaty of Paris. When Gennan traveler Johann David Schoepf passed through

the area soon after the Revolution, he reported that Brunswick Town was now «almost

wholly demolished and deserted."'''' That same year the visiting South American

revolutionary Francisco de Miranda observed that the erstwhile settlement had been

"completely ruined and demolished by the late war. ,,161

Adding to the desolation of Brunswick Town at the end of the Revolution were

the almost total diversion of maritime activity to Wilmington and the town's complete loss

ofpolitica1 importance. As early as 1776 the office of the customs collector for Port

Brunswick was relocated to Wilmington, never to retum.162 Earlier that same year, the • state constitution eliminated the borough representation in the legislature that Brunswick 51

Town had enjoyed since 1757.163 Removal of the county seat of Brunswick County to • Lockwoods Folly in 1779 was merely the final blow. 1M In truth, Brunswick Town had little further reason to exist, and slowly returned to the wilderness from which it had

sprung a half century before.

Sources provide only fleeting glimpses of activity at Brunswick Town between the

American R~olution and the Civil War. For all intents and purposes, the town was

simply a thing of the past. And yet, there is intriguing evidence that at least a few

structures remained in use during severa] decades of this period, salvaged from the ruins of

the former town or erected anew on the site.

Among the earliest post-Revolutionary observations on Brunswick Town were

those of the young English merchant Robert Hunter in 1786. Those observations indicate

that the cause of its destruction may already have become the subject of speculation.

Moreover, Hunter's observations are of particular interest in being the earliest to state that

Brunswick Town had been deliberately burned by his countrymen. "the British," with

some possible assistance from area slaves. Of interest, too, is Hunter's statement that at

least some construction had taken place amidst the ruins of the fonnerly abandoned town:

About ten o'clock we passed Brunswick, which was burned partly by the British in the time of the war, though some suppose the American General How's [Howe's] Negroes were concerned in it . . . . Brunswick was fonnerly a more capital port than Wilmington but only the ruins, with two or three houses that have been since built, are now to be seen.lCi5

It may weD be that the houses observed by Hunter were those of Cape Fear River • pilots. By 1791 several pilots are known to have been residing there, serving the vessels 52

that entered and cleared through New Inlet. I" It is also possible that at least a few blacks • resided in or near Brunswick Town during roughly this same period. In 1799 a Wilmington resident advertised for the return of a runaway slave named Michael, giving

Brunswick Town as the bondsman' s likely destination: "It is supposed he will make for

Brunswick OJd-T own., at which place he has a wife, formerly belonging to the estate of

Hezikiah Davis. named Nancy. ..167

During the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries, Bishop Francis Asbury

passed through Brunswick County on several occasions. preaching in various locations

there. On at least one occasion, in 1804, he preached in Brunswick Town itself Asbury

observed that the once thriving port now consisted of «demolished houses, and the noble

walls of a brick church." There remained "but four houses entire" in the town. 161

Twelve years tater, in 1816, a similar description of Brunswick Town appeared in

the National Register as part of an account of Brunswick County in general. In this

description. however>one structure was specifically identified as a tavern: "Here a town

was established, and called Brunswick .... Two or three old wooden houses are all that

remain. one of which is kept in repair as a tavern.,,169 This tavern, in fact, was presumably

the one being operated by Linton Dudley, who in 1813 had been licensed to operate a

tavern "at his old house in Brunswick."I70 Indeed. a tavern may have been operating

continuously at Brunswick Town since the later years of the eighteenth century. serving

not only area residents but ships' passengers as well. In February of 1804, for example,

the passengers and crew of the schooner Liberty "went on shore to procure refreshments" • at Brunswick Town, while the vessel lay at anchor offshore. 171 S3

As late as 1824, one of the few houses standing at Brunswick Town belonged to • fonner governor of North Carolina Benjamin Smith. Once the proud owner of nearby Orton Plantation, Smith was now reduced to abject poverty. His winter home at

Brunswick Town was described as "an old pitiful dwelling ... , scarcely habitable."m

Ironically, Smith's shanty at Brunswick Town was destroyed by fire not long afterward,

while he himself lay dying in nearby Smithville (now Southport). 173

AdditionaJ evidence of continuing activity at Brunswick Town appears very

sparingly among the records of real estate transactions. In 1819, for example, Ann

Morton of Smithville conveyed three lots in Brunswick Town to her fellow townsman

Robert Potter, at least one of which still contained a house. One ofthe lots, moreover,

Morton herself had purchased some five years earlier. 174 In all, at least seven transactions

involving Brunswick Town lots are known to have taken place between 1800 and 1820. 175

[ndeed, as late as 1841 an estate settlement not only involved ownership of a lot in

Brunswick Town, but also perpetuated the name of one of its most prominent colonial-era

mariners, Thomas Mu1ford. Among the modest bequests of Sarah Bowdish of

Wilmington was "a Water Lot situated in Brunswick known by the name of Mulford's

wharf.,, 176

By far the most impressive of Brunswick Town's ruins were those of St. Philips

Church. Almost without fail, the imposing walls of the structure evoked feelings of awe

and reverence in those who viewed them. Doubtless, many persons remained alive who

once had worshipped there. In 1828 an actual service was held within the stately walls, • conducted by the Reverend T. S. W. Mott, rector ofSt. James Church in Wilmington. In 54

Only five years later, in 1833, Bishop Levi Silliman Ives visited tbe ruins of St Philips, and • expressed the fond wish that the edifice might one day be restored as a house of worship:

and repaired, would still furnish a commodious place of public worship to the inhabitants

of the neighboring sett1ement."tn

One of the most affecting aspects of the Brunswick Town story is the way in

which the cemetery at old St. Philips continued to be used for upwards of a half-century

after the church itself and the surrounding community lay in ruins. Time and again, fonner

parishioners and those with ancestral ties to Brunswick Town were borne to St. Philips for

intenneDt, presumably in keeping with their own wishes. Among those so interred were

Alfred Moore, grandson of Maurice Moore and an associate justice of the United States

Supreme Court (1810); prominent Cape Fear merchant Peter Maxwell (1812)~ Wilmington

merchant John Lord (1831); Mrs. Mary Bacot (1838); and, lastly, Elizabeth Lord of

Wilmington, widow of John Lord (1847). Governor Benjamin Smith was initially buried

at Smithville in 1826, but is believed to have been reinterred at S1. Philips at some point in

the nineteenth century. The monument to him there was erected by the Masons of North

Carolina in 1929.179

On 27 April 1842, the State of North Carolina conveyed the site ofS!. Philips and

the surrounding ruins of Brunswick Town to the prominent Brunswick County planter and

physician, Frederick J. Hill. The recited consideration for the historic tract of eighty acres

was a mere $4.25. Hill had earlier purchased Orton Plantation and the old RusseUborough

180 • tract in 1826. In 1854 Hill conveyed these same properties to Thomas C. Miller, who 55

had married Hill's niece. The Millers would retain ownership until just after the Civil • War----a. conflict that would soon bring dramatic changes to the locallandscape.181 As the nation as a whole approached ever closer to the precipice of civil war,

residents of the lower Cape Fear and of North Carolina in general continued to hope that

mounting sectional differences might somehow be resolved and military conflict averted.

Although Tar Heels were dismayed and alarmed by Abraham Lincoln's election to the

presidency in November of 1860. popular sentiment in the state remained overwhelmingly

in favor of preserving the Union ifat all possible. On the whole, North Carolinians were

content to ''watch and wait" while events unfolded. 182

As they bided their time, however, apprehensions arose that the Federal

government might garrison Forts Johnston and Caswell near the mouth of the Cape Fear,

and thereby gain a decisive advantage in the event war was declared. Those

apprehensions were greatly heightened soon after Christmas of 1860, when, less than ten

days after South Carolina's secession from the Union, a contingent of Federal troops

occupied Fort Sumter at Charleston. 183

On January I, 1861 , John Willis Ellis was inaugurated governor of North Carolina

for a second tenn. Scarcely had he completed his oath of office, however, before a

delegation from Wilmington appealed to him for pennission to seize the two lower Cape

Fear forts. Because North Carolina still remained in the Union, Ellis withheld his consent

for such an undertaking. Ellis' refusal notwithstanding, a resolute group of ''Cape Fear

Minute Men" took it upon themselves to seize Forts Caswell and Johnston only a few days • afterward. 184 56

When infonned that the two Cape Fear fortifications had been seized against his • wishes. a concerned but sympathetic Governor Ellis immediately ordered that they be returned to Federal authorities. The local volunteers and militiamen who occupied the

two installations soon evacuated them as ordered, but were not inclined to revert

completely and pennanently to civilian status. Warlike preparations continued in the area,

and the «Minute Men" of Wilmington fonnally organized themselves as the «Cape Fear

Light Artillery.nl8S

On April 14, 1861, the electrifying news that Fort Sumter had fallen to

Confederate forces at Charleston spread throughout North Carolina. On the following

day, the secretary of war called upon Governor Ellis to furnish two regiments of North

Carolinians for Federal military service----a request that Ellis defiantly refused. At the

same time, Ellis seized the opportunity to reoccupy Forts Johnston and Caswell, ordering

Colonel John L. Cantwell of Wilmington to take the two forts "without delay" and to

"hold them until further notice against all comers."I86 The die was now cast.

From the very beginning of the Civil War, it was felt very strongly that Wilmington

and the lower reaches of the Cape Fear River would have to be protected ifat all possible.

Moreover, as the War progressed, Wilmington's link with the sea assumed paramount

importance as a vital artery of supply for the Confederate cause. Overall responsibility for

the defeose of Wilmington and the lower Cape Fear fell initially to Major William H. C.

Whiting, who had participated in the recent siege of Fort Sumter. Whiting was well

qualified for the command, having served with the Corps of Engineers and with the Coast • Survey. He had, moreover, been stationed at Smithville, and was intimately acquainted 57

with the coastline of southeastern North Carolina. Eventually. Whiting' s troops would be • stationed along the coastline as far northward as Topsail Sound, as well as in Wilmington and along the lower reaches of the Cape Fear itself. 111

When the Civil War began, Fort Caswell was already in existence at the mouth of

the Cape Fear, on the west side of Old [ruet. It was immediately apparent, however, that

no comparable defenses were in place at New [ruet, the river's second entrance some six

miles to the north. It was here that Fort Fisher would be constructed on Federal Point (or

Confederate Point, as it was renamed). In addition to Forts Caswell and Fisher, numerous

smaller fortifications were gradually developed or improved as components of the

fonnidable Cape Fear defense system. When that system was finally completed, Fort

Holmes stood opposite Fort Caswell, on the east side of Old Inlet. To the west of Fort

Caswell were Battery Shaw and Fort Campbell. Fort Johnston (or Pender) stood watch

over the river at Smithville, while Battery Lamb was situated farther upstream on the west

bank of the river. Farther still upstream on the east side of the river. Forts Meares,

Campbell, Lee, and Davis provided additional protection against enemy vessels that might

threaten Wilmington. Finally. within Wilmington itself and its immediate environs, there

developed a complex defensive network of last resort, comprised of entrenchments,

artillery batteries. rifle pits, earthworks, and existing natural features. 188

The defensive installation at the Brunswick Town site that began as Fort St. Philip

and later became Fort Anderson was envisioned to serve two primary purposes: to

intercept hostile vessels that had slipped past the lower forts; and to halt or impede the • movement of enemy troops up the west side of the Cape Fear River. 189 The immediate S8

order for its construction came from Brigadier General Samuel G. French, who had • succeeded General Joseph R. Anderson as commander of the Cape Fear District. Pursuant to French's order. the site was initially surveyed on 22 March 1862. Thick

vegetation almost completely covered the ruins of Brunswick Town at this time, and large

cedar trees grew from the tops of the walls of SI. Philips Church. ""

Actual construction, which would continue for three years, began under Lieutenant

Thomas W. Rowland of the Confederate Engineer Corps, one of the Virginians earlier

dispatched to the lower Cape Fear in Genera1 Joseph R. Anderson's retinue. His general

instructions were to '~superintend the construction of a battery and line of intrenchments"

at the site. 19 1

Rowland and his workers immediately bent to their task. Within a month they had

completed a riverside battery and line of entrenchments extending in1and nearly a mile to

Orton Pond .19'2 In accomplishing this and subsequent work, Rowland took advantage of

the building materia1s available to him from the ruins of Brunswick Town, but apparently

respected the sanctity of St. Philips Church:

Lieutenant Rowland set about his task by laying a straight line of earthworks through the middle of Brunswick Town, abutting the remains of the old courthouse, severa1 homes and St. Philips Church. Rowland intentiona1ly covered many of the buildings' foundations and crumbled chimneys with his earthworks because he feared that the brick and ba1last stones might become a hailstonn of life-threatening debris if hit by enemy artillery shells. Under Rowland (and subsequent engineers as the war progressed), laborers salvaged the stones and bricks to help build barracks for the soldiers. St. Philip's Church ... was left untouched. 193 • S9

Not surprisingly. numerous artifacts were encountered by the Confederate workers • in the course of their extensive salvaging and construction activities. Lieutenant Rowland, in fact, noted casually that " In digging away the earth for the construction of the fort the

laborers found some old coin and other relics: ·l94 Fortunately, the ruins of

Russellborough, like those of SI. Philips, appear to have been undisturbed by the massive

construction. work De arb y. '"

In early May of J 862 Major William Lamb of Virginia came to the construction

site at old Brunswick as post commandant. Rowland served as his adjutant, and was

immediately impressed by the newcomer' s character and ability. Already. Lamb had

become fascinated by the science of fortifications. and it is likely that he drew upon

Rowland's knowledge of military engineering to develop his interest further. 196

On 14 May Lamb was elected colonel of the 36th North Carolina Regiment, in

addition to being post commander at Brunswick Town. But Lamb's obvious taJents as an

engineer and leader of men soon quaJified him for even greater responsibilities in the eyes

ofrus superiors. On 4 July 1862 he was placed in charge of the critical defenses at New

Inlet. There, over time, he would transfonn a small existing installation into mighty Fort

Fisher, "largest seacoast fortification in the Confederate States,,,I97

In fact. significant similarities developed between the fortifications at Brunswick

Town and New Inlet when both were developed to their fullest potentials, This resulted

quite naturally from a variety of shared purposes, from close proximity, and, most notably,

from the fact that severaJ key men were involved in the planning and construction of • both. 198 60

While specific documentation regarding the use of forced or slave labor in the • construction of Fort Anderson is lacking. large numbers of slaves and indians are known to have augmented the massive labor force required to build the elaborate Cape Fear

defense system as a whole. The Indians were forcibly rounded up and pressed into service

in Robeson County and nearby areas, sowing the seeds of resentment later evident in the

popular support for Lumbee Indian outlaw leader Henry Berry Lowry, 199 Far more

numerous were the slaves requisitioned from their masters by Confederate authorities

throughout the Coastal Plain and Piedmont regions. with each slave owner normally

required to furnish one laborer. At the height of construction activity, as many as 5,000

bondsmen were reportedly at work in the lower Cape Fear region.200

While not referring to Fort Anderson specificaJly. Confederate soldier C. S. Powell

later described in general terms the use of slave labor on the lower Cape Fear installations

and the general methods of construction employed:

These forts made of sand were constructed by these slaves with wheelbarrows pushed and pulled on gangways. The turf was transported from the marshes the same way. It was very interesting to see two or three hundred wheelbarrows rolling in unison from the points of loading to those of dumping returning in a circle and passing the loaders who shovel in hand threw sand in the barrows as they passed without stopping.20 1

Work on the fortification at Brunswick Town continued for nearly three years, the

installation growing ever larger and more complex with the passage oftime. By February

of 1865 it was the strongest interior component of the Cape Fear defense system, with • nine heavy cannons mounted behind two massive batteries along the river front. 61

Extending the defensive line to the west was the sand curtain that ran to Orton Pond. In a • recently published monograph on the Wilmington campaign, historian Chris E. Fonvielle Jr. describes the completed insta11ation in considerable detail:

Fort Anderson, directly opposite Sugar Loaf across the Cape Fear River, was constructed much like Fort Fisher, with imposing earthen ramparts interspersed with artillery chambers and protective traverses. The fort was a mile-long L-shaped sand work, with the short end of the "L" running parallel to the Cape Fear River. Its main strength served as its eastern anchor: two massive earthen batteries overlooking the water approach to Wilmington. Battery A, an imposing 1OO-yard long, thirty-foot high (to the top of the traverses) fortification with five gun chambers. was constructed facing east about 100 yards north of the main line (at the end of the very short bottom leg ofthe "L"). A nearly identical in size Battery B--

From near Battery B, at St. Philip's Church behind the fort's walls, a thick sandy curtain extended one mile west to Orton Pond. The shank of the "L"-which faced the Federals to the south--was a crooked affair that took advantage of the rough terrain features. Confederate engineers abutted the earthworks on (and partially behind) two fresh water ponds located a few hundred yards apart about midway down the line. This sage engineering feat allowed the defenders to utilize the ponds like giant moats. Portions of the wall were also constructed behind and against a deep cypress swamp near the fort's far western end, which itself fed into Orton Pond. Abatis, epaulements, ditches, tiny ponds, swampy bogs, and rifle pits further strengthened the fort's land face, while field artille~trategica1ly emplaced along the mile-long shank---enjoyed <'full play" across the ground in front. 202 • 62

The "Old Brunswick Battery" just south of the fort, vestige of the colonial era., • was now fitted with a 32-pounder. A large wharf extended into the river in front of Battery A, providing necessary facilities for dockage, naval support, and the handling of

supplies. Additional protection against the movement of enemy vessels upstream was

provided by pilings and buoyed mines (or "torpedos") in the river itself 203

The garrison troops at Fort Anderson were housed in two rectangular blocks of

barracks located to the rear of the sand curtain and slightly northwest o[St. Philips

Church.204 Of frame construction, these barracks featured chimneys of brick and stone,

salvaged from the surrounding ruins of Brunswick Town.lOS

The fortification at the Brunswick Town site was initially named for St. Philips

Church. It was Major William Lamb who formally christened it Fort St Philip on II May

J 862, in "silent witness to the successful struggle of our fathers for liberty and

independence.,,206 Prior to this, the construction site had merely been referred to as

"Brunswick Point.,,207 The name Fort St. Philip remained in use until 1 July 1863, at

which time the ever-growing installation was renamed Fort Anderson.lOS For well over a

century, it has been assumed that Fort Anderson was named for Brigadier General Joseph

Anderson, supervisor of the Tredegar Iron Works in Richmond, and early commander of

the Cape Fear District. Indeed, a marble tablet was erected in 19 19 at the site in tribute to

Anderson's memory. Recently, however, it has been argued that Fort Anderson was ·

instead named for Brigadier General George Burgwyn Anderson, a North Carolina native

who died in October 1862 of complications from a wound received in fighting at

209 • Sharpsburg. 63

From the commencement of construction in 1862 until its strength was finally • tested nearly three years later, military duty at Fort St. Philip and later Fort Anderson consisted primarily of everyday attention to duty, with little apparent variation of routine.

For most of the war, there was no eminent threat of an enemy incursion up the Cape Fear,

though blockading squadrons of Union vessels were deployed in crescents off Old and

New Inlets only a few miles away. It was, in fact, in connection with blockade running

that the installation played an ongoing though intermittent role. Incoming blockade

runners routinely stopped there to have their cargoes and papers examined; and vessels

carrying contagious diseases were required to remain in quarantine there before

proceeding onward to Wilmington.210

Confederate veteran C. S. Powell, of the 10th North Carolina Battalion, recalled

more than half a century later that the inspection duties at Fort Anderson carried with

them occasional fringe benefits:

Yellow fever broke out and we were sent to the forts below Wilmington. My company stopped at Fort Anderson .. . We did quarantine duty here. All incoming vessels were detained a few days. 1t was a great pleasure for the inspecting officer (of which 1 was one) to board the vessels for examination. They had tropical fruits of which they were very liberal with us, as well as some refreshments that William Jennings Bryan won>t let come near him. They were as anxious for our tobacco as we were for their fruits and "sure enough" coffee. 211

By the fall of 1864, President Abraham Lincoln and his chief military leaders had

resolved to deliver a mortal blow to the Southern war effort by capturing Fort Fisher and

sealing the Cape Fear River---the last major artery of supplies for the beleaguered • Confederacy. But because of the efforts of Colonel William Lamb and others. Fort Fisher 64

had become a nearly inpregnable bastion. Its capture could now be brought about only • through the coordination of massive forces on both land and sea,212 On December 19, 1864, an unprecedentedly large Union annada under the

command of Admiral David D. Porter sailed over the horizon to within view of Fort

Fisher. The fleet's arrival sent an alann along the Wilmington waterfront and throughout

the Cape Fear defense system. Three blockade runners in port ran quickly past Fort

Anderson and through Old Inlet before the attack could beginm

Following a failed attempt to weaken Fort Fisher by detonating a powder ship

offshore in the early moming hours of December 24, Porter's huge flotilla moved into

position to attempt its reduction with naval artillery. For the better part of that day, Fort

Fisher was subjected to a furious bombardment. On the following day, Christmas, the

fleet resumed its fire in support of a large contingent of land forces. The fort withstood

the naval bombardment, however. and repulsed the advances of skirmishers who came

within yards of its outer wallS.214

When news came that Fort Fisher liad withstood the enemy's superior numbers

and firepower. a sigh of relief spread throughout the lower Cape Fear region and the

garrisons of other installations. This feeling. however. soon gave way to the realization

that a second, even stronger attack would eventually come.

The widely anticipated return of Porter's annada occurred on the evening of

January 12, 1865. The fleet was even larger and more awe-inspiring than before.

Moreover. the second attack on Fort Fisher proved from the outset to be better organized • and more closely coordinated than the first ?i5 I

6S

From January 13 to 15 the Union flotilla "kept up a ceaseless and terrific • bombardment," while thousands of troops, under General Alfred H. Terry, landed north of the fort unopposed. By the afternoon of the fifteenth. Fort Fisher had been severely

damaged, and the massive assault by land commenced against its hopelessly outnumbered

and battered ganison. The defense was valiant, however, and it was not until 10 o'clock

in the evening that the seriously wounded Colonel Lamb fina1ly surrendered.216

As on the previous occasion, the garrison at Fort Anderson observed as best they

could the combined naval and amphibious assault on Fort Fisher. This time, however, the

outcome was far more ominous. Like their counterparts in the installations farther

downstream, the troops at Fort Anderson must have watched with bitterness and dread as

celebrating Union forces filled the evening sky with "fireworks of every description.,,217

The powerful ramifications of Fort Fisher's fall soon made themselves evident

throughout the area downstream from Fort Anderson. One by one, the southernmost

components of the Cape Fear defense system were put to the torch and abandoned by

their dispirited garrisons. With Fort Fisher and New Inlet now in Union hands, a

continued Confederate presence in the lower forts would serve no further purpose.

Confederate General Braxton Bragg, overall commander in the Cape Fear area, now

decided to pull his remaining forces back to Sugar Loaf and Fort Anderson on the river's

east and west banks respectively. By staunchly defending these positions, Bragg hoped

still to protect Wilmington. He also hoped that his withdrawal to these positions would

2lS prevent the isolation and capture of troops fonnerly stationed near the river's mouth. • 66

Within three days of Fort Fisher's fall, Union troops moved into the town of • Smithville (present-day Southport). By January 19 both Admiral Porter and General Terry had established themselves in the town, accompanied by as many as five thousand

Federal troops. Smithville, in fact, was soon to become a major staging area and base of

operations for Union troops in the lower Cape Fear area and throughout southeastern

North Carolina. Their first objective, however, would be to confront and overcome the

strong Confederate position now developing upstream at Fort Anderson.219

Barely ahead of the approach}ng Federals, evacuating Confederate troops had

moved rapidly through Smithville and up the west bank of the Cape Fear to Fort

Anderson. There they hoped to protect Wilmington against an attack that was virtually

certain to come in the near future. In their haste, vast quantities of vital munitions and

supplies were destroyed or left behind.220

The attack on Wilmington, though, did not come as quickly as the Confederates on

both sides of the Cape Fear might well have expected. General Teny was eager to press

on to Wilmington and to maintain the momentum so amply provided by the victory at Fort

Fisher. Admiral Porter, however. advised patience and restraint, seeking more time to

resupply his forces and to secure firmer control over the lower reaches of the Cape Fear.

He also wished to obviate any possibility that Fort Fisher might become the object of a

counterattack.221 And so, the opposing forces below Wilmington engaged in a tedious

stalemate from late January until mid-February of 1865. Advanced pickets fired

sporadically on each other on both sides of the river, and Union gunboats fired regularly • 67

on both Sugar Loaf and Fort Anderson. Neither side, however. mounted a serious attack • against the other; and the troops restlessly bided their time.222 Newly insta1Jed as commander at Fort Anderson was Brigadier General Johnson

Hagood of South Carolina. A successful lawyer and planter before the war, Hagood had

commanded the I st South Carolina [nfantry Regiment at Fort Sumter and had later served

as a brigade conunander through numerous campaigns in Virginia. During these

campaigns he had become generally known as a competent and conscientious leader, but

one without conspicuous initiative or daring. 223

Hagood's force at Fort Anderson had now increased to approximately 2,300 men.

Some 1,200 of these comprised the men ofms own brigade; the remainder consisted of the

installation's former garrison and the newly arrived garrisons from the abandoned works

downstream.224

As the stalemate between the opposing troops continued, Hagood's men occupied

themselves in the improvement of defensive lines, the deployment of munitions and

supplies, and in the tedious activities of everyday routine. As is so often the case in the

lives of ordinary soldiers, there was much to be endured and little to be enjoyed.

Conditions at Fort Anderson and throughout the lower Cape Fear region were

harsh, the weather unusually cold and wet?2S One Confederate officer, Lieutenant

William Calder, wrote from Fort Anderson that the winter temperatures were as cold as he

had ever experienced. One especially memorable night, he struggled for sleep while lying

in a pool offiigid water: ''Tried to lay there & sleep it out but couldn't do it . .. Got up • and built a large fire around which we stood until morning, altogether a miserable 68

night.,iJ2fJ Compounding the soldiers' misery from the weather were the shortage offood • and the ravages of illness and disease. 227 Finally, the unrelieved monotony of anxious waiting bore heavily on the men's

spirits and psyches. Lieutenant Calder noted that the sheer boredom of everyday life was

in some ways less bearable than actual combat:

In my experience in the field there was always something to keep up a pleasant state of excitement . But here. there is neither the march nor the anticipation of a fight to cause our blood to move hurriedly through our veins. while at the same time we are experiencing as rough a time as troops in the field ever do.228

[n early February, the numerical superiority of the Union forces below Wilmington

increased stiU further with the arrival of troops from the 23rd Anny Corps under General

John M. Schofield. who now assumed command in the area and over the entire

Department of North Carolina. Unwilling to wait for the ba1ance of his corps to arrive,

Schofield decided to test the Confederate defenses at Sugar Loaf, now under the

command of General Robert F. Hoke, while simultaneously shelling the works at Fort

Anderson. This plan came to fiuition on February II, with a combined operation

involving Terry' s infantry and a flotilla of Porter's gunboats. After five hours of fighting,

the Confederate line at Sugar Loaf still held. Across the river, Fort Anderson had endured

a sustained long-range bombardment, but had suffered only moderate damage and few

casualties. At the end of the day, the status of the opposing forces remained essentia11y

unchanged.229

Schofield now decided to move his forces up the west side of the Cape Fear, while • maintaining his position below Sugar Loaf to the east. In preparing for this advance on 69

Fort Anderson., he transported additional troops from Federal Point to Smithville on • February 16th. By the end of that day, he had assembled a force of approximately 6,000 men for the operation soon to come. placing them under the immediate command of

General Jacob D. Cox. Upstream at Fort Anderson, Hagood awaited the coming assault

with his force of2.300. outnumbered nearty three to one by his approaching adversary.no

Early on the morning of February 17, Cox's Union forces broke camp near

Smithville and began their advance northward to Fort Anderson. Along the way they

were guided by local blacks familiar with the area, and as they marched they were greeted

enthusiastically by slaves who were now set free. The Union force had advanced only

three miles, however, before Confederate horsemen began the hit-and-run attacks that

would persist throughout the day.23 1

In concert with the overland advance on Fort Anderson, a flotilla afUnion

gunboats moved upriver, led by the shallow-draft monitor Montauk. By early afternoon

the Montauk had reached a position roughly 1,000 yards offshore from the Confederate

installation, and had begun a punishing and sustained bombardment. At a safer distance

from the Confederate artillery, eight other Union vessels took up positions and joined in

the shelling as welt."~12 From early afternoon until dusk, this array of Union vessels off

Fort Anderson subjected the installation to a thunderous barrage. But Fort Anderson itself

was far from silent. When the exchange of fire finally ended, neither Fort Anderson nor the

Union gunboats had sustained significant damage. Only one man, a Union sailor, was

killed in the engagement, though several men on each side were wounded .233 • 70

Despite the bombardment from Admiral Porter' s gunboats. General Hagood was • not unaware that Federal forces were advancing upon him by land. By the end of the day. Cox's troops were entrenched less than two miles below the fort. That evening, as their

soldiers slept on their anns, Cox and Schofield laid careful plans for the coordinated land 234 and naval attack that would come on the following mOrning.

Soon after daybreak on February 18th, Cox's troops resumed their advance on

Fort Anderson. Once there, following careful observations, it would be detennined

whether a direct frontal assault on the installation was feasible. If the fort ' s defenses had

not been sufficiently weakened by resumed naval bombardment, alternative plans would be

employed.

Cox's advance proceeded only a short distance before encountering Confederate

pickets, and skirmishing developed along a broad front. Soon, however, the outposted

defenders of Fort Anderson were driven back to rifle pits that lay within view of the

installation' s outer walls. At length, these defenders retreated into the fort itself, unable to

endure the sustained fire along their front and the gunboat barrage from the river. 23S

With much depending on the effectiveness of the naval bombardment, Cox and

Schofield watched anxiously as Porter's flotilla commenced and continued its shelling of

Fort Anderson. Again the monitor Montauk led the way, supported this day by fourteen

other vessels----roughly half of Porter's total armada. For nine hours the Federals

bombarded Fort Anderson from the river. General Hagood estimated that Porter's

gunboats fired in excess of 2.700 rounds, with most of these striking the outer walls or • , 71

landing within the fort itself.ll6 One of Hagood's officers, Lieutenant Calder, reported • that the "fire was tremendous and the fall and bursting of shells was almost continuous. ,,231 Fort Anderson replied only modestly to Porter's fusillade, firing just fifty-tiuee

times during the day. Hagood had concluded that his antiquated smoothbore pieces and

even his rifled 32-pounders were virtually useless against the Federal gunboats at long

range. The fort's 12-pounder Whitworth was of far greater effectiveness against such

targets. but its ammunition had been completely used up during the previous day. Hagood

himself acknowledged that the fort's infrequent firing was "more in defiance than in hopes

of injuring the enemy.,,238

By early afternoon of the 18th, Cox and Schofield had concluded that the most

promising means of attacking Fort Anderson would be a flanking movement around Orton

Pond. [fsuccessful. such a movement would skirt Fort Anderson's westernmost defenses

and put large numbers of blue-clad soldiers in a position to attack the bastion's

unprotected rear. Hagood himself was well aware of the fort's fatal vulnerability to a

flanking maneuver~ yet, with the limited resources at his disposal, made only a token and

belated attempt to protect against it .239

As Cox readied two of his brigades for the decisive flanking maneuver, he ordered

his two other brigades to entrench some 600 yards from Fort Anderson's walls and to

threaten a frontal assault. This, hopefully, would occupy the besieged garrison while the

flanking movement took place unobserved. To further ensure that result, the entrenched

brigades sent forth lines of skirmishers to demonstrate along Hagood's front. For hours on • end there was a vigorous exchange of musketry and artillery fire between the Union troops 72

and Fort Anderson's defenders. All the while, the barrage from Porter's gunboats • continued. 24O The two brigades chosen for the critical flanking operation departed the Fort

Anderson vicinity about two o'clock in the afternoon and began the long march that would

bring them around the west end or Orton Pond. Once there, the way would then be open

for a devastating assault on Fort Anderson's unguarded rear. Hagood dispatched a token

force of 100 horsemen to the west end of Orton Pond to provide some resistance in case

such a maneuver took place ~ yet, he appears to have been unaware of the actual maneuver

until it had been accomplished. By that time, the loss of Fort Anderson was virtually

assured.241

The overall actions of February 18 exacted surprisingly few losses on either side.

The Federals suffered only about twenty casualties, mostly along the skirmish line south of

Fort Anderson. The Confederates sustained just twelve casualties. primarily as a result of

the naval bombardment. The losses aboard Porter's gunboats were also light, with

accidental drownings claiming more lives than Fort Anderson's fire.242

Fort Anderson itself did not come off so lightly. The sustained naval bombardment

did extensive damage to the outer earthworks and interior walls. One of its haggard

defenders remarked that "The fort was knocked out of shape." Despite this damage,

however. the artillery pieces remained upon their mountings and. under other

circumstances. might have served another day.243

As night fell over Fort Anderson. its defenders endeavored as best they could to

repair the damage wrought by the days shelling and prepare the installation for further • 73

onslaught. Meanwhile, the Federal gunboats on the river commenced a monotonous • bombardment of several shots per hour to obviate any possibility that the garrison might benefit from a night's rest.244 Lieutenant William Calder recalled that he and his exhausted

comrades passed a miserable and nerve-racking night in the improvised shelters they had

thrown up within the fort's battered walls: "I was in fear and trembling lest a sheD might

penetrate it and blow it to atoms. I don't think I ever passed such a night. ,, 24S

During the evening of February 18, a South Carolina horseman galloped into Fort

Anderson from the west end of Orton Pond with news that his unit of 100 men was now

dug in against the steady approach of Cox's vastly superior flanking force. Unaccount-

ably. Hagood dispatched only a single artillery piece to strengthen their imperiled position.

Even before it arrived, the position had been overrun, its erstwhile defenders in full retreat.

Apprised of this situation, Hagood now realized that Fon Anderson could not be defended

with the 2,300 men at his disposal . A hostile force of 3,000 still threatened a frontal

assault on the installation, while a second force of3,ooo now advanced with all speed on

his unprotected rear.246

With abandonment of Fort Anderson now the only practicable course open to him,

Hagood telegraphed General Roben F. Hoke near Sugar Loaf, informing him of the

gravity ofms situation and that orms command . Not wishing to act prematurely. Hoke

dispatched a staff officer to confer with Hagood, requesting through this intennediary a

more detailed assessment of his increasingly desperate situation. The response returned by

Hagood was anything but encouraging:

I . The enemy are on my right and rear, in point of time less than three (3) hours' march . . .. It will take me • three-quarters of an hour to hear of their advance, which 74

reduces the time to two and a quarter hours. It is impossible for me to strengthen the small force opposed to • them .. .. 2. I have a very much Jarger force than my own 600 yards in my front, in full view by daylight, and with the fleet to co-operate. Therefore, when the force on my right rear moves, I must abandon this position, or sacrifice my command.247

Still Hoke procrastinated. keeping Hagood on tenterhooks. Shortly before two

o'clock on the morning of January 19. he replied to his subordinate as follows: "Dispatch

received .... What do you think: be5t?" 248 Possibly at his wits' end, Hagood composed a

response noteworthy for its economy oflanguage: "I think this place ought to be

evacuated and the movement commenced in half an hour. • 249 Nearly an hour later, at 2:48

A.M., Hagood received Hoke's anxiously-awaited reply. granting him permission to

evacuate Fort Anderson and assume a new position at Town Creek.2S0

With permission to withdraw finally in hand, Hagood quickly organized his

command for the retreat to Town Creek. Ordnance wagons, ambulances, and supply

wagons were among the earliest departures, along with field artillery pieces and such

provisions as could be hastily gathered together. No attempt was made to destroy the

po.wder magazine or disable the fort's heavy ordnance. The garrison troops themselves

remained in the battered bastion until just before dawn, leaving at that time only a line of

pickets at their posts to present a facade of normaJcy.2!! I

Though the protracted siege of Fort Anderson had claimed mercifully few lives

from the ranks of its gamson, those few who had fallen were perforce left behind in the • haste of the evacuation. One of the last Confederates to withdraw. Captain E. S. Martin, 75

recalled how some of the slain remained at their battle stations. while others had been • placed within the waJls o[St. Philips Church: "Some of the dead were still in the gun chambers and along the lines while some had been carried into that sacred edifice and lay

there with their pale faces turned towards the silent stars above them ... ll2

At daybreak of the 19th, the last remaining Confederate troops abandoned their

picket duty and began a hasty retreat northward to join those who had gone before them.

Hard on their heels came Union soldiers from the 63rd Indiana Infantry. the first Federals

to scale the parapets and enter the installation. Indeed. the Union soldiers swarmed

forward so quickly that some fifty of Hagood's rear guardsmen were taken prisoner.:m

The Hoosiers were soon foUawed into the fallen Fort Anderson by soldiers from

other units and by sailors from Porter's gunboats. Later that morning. Porter and

Schofield arrived on the scene to conduct a personal inspection of the bastion so recently

taken by the men under their commands. Word of the Federal victory soon reached

General Terry's troops near Sugar Loaf as well, giving rise to a general celebration among

Federal troops in the lower Cape Fear area. Meanwhile, the retreating Confederates on

both sides of the river steeled themselves for the difficult days to come.254

Hagood's abandonment of Fort Anderson resulted almost immediately in Hoke's

withdrawal from Sugar Loaf as well. Clearly, neither defensive position could be held

without the support of the other. Accordingly, the early morning hours of February 19

found weary Confederate forces withdrawing northward on both sides of the Cape Fear

River---Hagood's to the upper side of Town Creek, and Hoke's to a fresh line of • entrenchments only three miles shy of Wilmington. In the wakes of these retreating 76

troops, Union forces followed in quick pursuit, supported by a simultaneous movement of • Porters gunboats upriver. WIlmington, the last major port open to the Confederacy. was now in mortal jeopardy.~'

On the very next day, February 20th, Hagood's beleaguered and outnumbered

Confederates again attempted to halt the forward movement of Cox's superior force. As

at Fort Anderson. however. the position behind Town Creek was soon outflanked and

overrun, forcing the retreat of Hagood's troops northward into Wilmington itself General

Teny's simultaneous advance up the east side of the Cape Fear forced the retreat of

Hoke's Confederates into Wilmington as well. Meanwhile, Porters gunboats moved

cautiously upriver. careful to avoid the obstructions and torpedoes laid in their path.2j6

Confronted by an enemy force of overwhelming superiority, the Confederates

gathered in Wilmington could only conclude that its defense was now clearly hopeless.

During the night of February 21-22. they reluctantly evacuated northward. and on the

following day victorious Union forces swept into the port city virtually unopposed.:m

With the loss of Wilmington, the fate of the Confederacy was all but sealed. The

remaining troops in the field had grown almost totally dependent on supplies received

through the Union blockade~ and the last and ultimately most important of the South' s

ports was now securely in enemy hands. On 9 April 1865, well less than two months after

Wilmington' s fall, General Robert E. Lee surrendered to General Ulysses S. Grant at

Appomattox Courthouse, Virginia. Only seventeen days later, General Joseph E.

Johnston surrendered his amy to General William T. Shennan near Durham, North • Carolina. These two events brought a virtual end to the Civil War, though scattered 77

resistance would continue for a hriefperiod. Fort Anderson' s active involvement in the • military conflict had been brief but influential. Its faIl, and that of the Cape Fear defense system in general. had opened the way to Wilmington and hastened the coming of peace.

In March of 1866, more than a year afterthe fall of Fort Anderson, two seamen

from the United States Revenue Cutter NQrtherner ventured ashore to investigate the

former Confederate installation at old Brunswick Town. Entering a darkened powder

room, the two curiosity seekers struck a match to better see their way. The resulting

explosion blew both men through the chamber doorway and inflicted serious injuries. One

of the men died two days later. Thus, ironically. Fort Anderson claimed a life long after

hostilities and the war itself had ended.1$1

Between the Civil War and the close of the nineteenth century, the site of

Brunswick Town and Fort Anderson went through several changes of ownership, as did

the adjoining Orton Plantation property. Thomas Miller and his wife. the former Annie M.

Davis. held ownership of these lands until just after the Civil War, at which time they

reverted to the estate of Frederick 1. Hill. The lands then passed through a protracted and

complex series of legal transactions, finally being acquired by David and Kenneth

Murchison in the late 1870s?j9

In May of 1880 the Murchison brothers donated the ruins of St. Philips Church,

the cemetery, and approximately four acres of land to the Episcopal Diocese of North

Carolina, the diocese for some time having expressed an interest in acquiring the historic

property. Three years afterward. the newly formed Diocese of East Carolina assumed • juris

In the late summer of 1880. only a few months after the St. Philips property was • acquired by the Diocese of North Carolina, several clergymen and interested laymen undertook a pilgrimage to Brunswick Town to investigate the ruins of the edifice. More

specifically. they wished. if possible, to locate the cornerstone of the building. Reportedly.

the cornerstone and its contents had been removed by Union troops during the last days of

the Civil War.26 1

The description rendered by these visitors conveys a powerful impression of the

site's long abandonment and neglect:

Owing to the density of the woods and the thickness of the undergrowth, some little time elapsed before we couJd find the churc h ~ but we succeeded after a while and with reverential feelings soon stood within its consecrated precincts. It has long been a neglected ruin. Trees of a larger size than the surrounding forest have grown up within its roofless walJs ~ the ivy clings to its cornices and fattens upon the decay on which it feeds, while around it and in close proximity are the crumbling tombs of those who once worshi pped at -Its a1 tar .... '62

By the tum of the twentieth century, it had become the practice of the North

Carolina Society of the Colonial Dames of America to hold a picnic and conduct

commemorative ceremonies at the ruins of St. Philips on an annua1 basis. Especia1ly

memorable were the ceremonies of May 1st, 1900, when a religious service was

conducted within the ruins and severa1 historical papers were presented on various aspects

oflower Cape Fear history. Leading the worship service of that day was the Reverend

Robert Strange, rector of St. James Church in Wilmington. Five years later, he would

become bishop of the Diocese of East Carolina'" Strange paid tribute to the work of the • Colonia1 Dames at the site, and prayerfully expressed the hope that their continuing efforts 79

would "change this ruin into a monument ,,0264 Not content with ceremonial observances • • the Colonial Dames in North Carolina set to work at St. Philips, restoring and repairing its walls and many of the tombstones in the cemetery.26~

It was about this same time that James Sprunt, owner of nearby Orton Plantation,

was able to locate the ruins of RusseUborough, the nearly forgotten home of Governors

Dobbs and Tryon at Brunswick Town. Sprunt, in fact, was directed to the ruins by an

elderly black man, who had formerly been a slave in the area. Sprunt subsequently

worked in conjunction with the Colonial Dames at Russellborough. constructing an access

road to the site and erecting a monument there in 1909. Recognizing the site's

archaeological potential. however. Sprunt took steps to prevent future damage by relic

and treasure hunters.266

Finally. the Colonial Dames were largely responsible for the construction of "a

substantial wharf' at the Brunswick Town site. Completed by 1900, this wharf was made

possible by the donation of materials and the use of James Sprunt's pile driver. It was

presumably this wharf that served the river steamers of the early twentieth century.

During the 1910s and 1920s , curiosity seekers and excursioni sts could arrange visits to the

Brunswick Town site on board vessels such as the Wilmington and City ofSouthport.267

One such visitor to the Brunswick Town site was the young E. Lawrence Lee Jr.

of Wilmington. Lee was intrigued from his boyhood with tales of the old colonial town;

and many years later he was to playa crucial role in rescuing it from both scholarly neglect

and the dense vegetation that had covered it for nearly two hundred years. • 80

Following a successful career in an unrelated field, Lawrence Lee rekindled his • fascination with history in the late 19405, focusing special attention on the history of Brunswick Town and the lower Cape Fear region. In 1951 he earned his M.A. in history

at the University of North Carolina, working under the guidance of Professor Hugh T.

Lefler. His thesis was a detailed history of Brunswick Town. As part of his thesis

research, Lee carefully investigated virtually every aspect of the town's long-forgotten

story, including the way in which it had been laid out and the manner in which its many

lots had been developed through time and under various owners. Thus, the way was

prepared for Lee to expand his work beyond the rea1m of history into that of

archaeology.268

Broadening his crusade for Brunswick Town beyond the walls of academe, Lee

made various talks on behalf of the site and began to win the support of influential

backers. In December of 1951 he presented a paper on Brunswick Town at the annual

meeting of the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association in Ra1eigb, a paper

published during the following year in the North Carolina Historical Review. In this

paper. Lee summarized the history of Brunswick Town and issued a clarion call for its

rescue from undeserved obscurity:

It is obvious from this paper that there are many things not known about the town of Brunswick. This is especially true of its physical aspects. Some of these gaps might be filled by later documentation; others by archaeological investigation. Brunswick is an ideal location for a project of this nature. It has not been occupied to any significant extent since the time it was a thriving colonial seaport. Today it is covered with wild growth and surface deposits accumulated over a period of almost two centuries .... Brunswick could well be the North Carolina counterpart of • the Jamestown excavations.269 81

Though himself not a trained archaeologist, Lee nevertheless began a preliminary • examination of the Brunswick Town site in the early 19505. This initial work, though limited in scope, uncovered several important structural remains and gave further

indications of the site's vast potential270

The urgency with which Lee pursued his work was given further impetus by the

federal government's planned construction of the Sunny Point Army Terminal, a sprawling

14,000 acre facility that posed a serious threat to the adjacent Brunswick Town site.

Faced with this threat, Lee convinced the owner of Orton Plantation, James Laurence

Sprunt, to donate the site of Brunswick Town to the state of North Carolina in 1952,

anticipating correctly that this step might prove its salvation. The Episcopal Diocese of

East Carolina similarly donated the site of St. Philips Church to the state during the

following year, the two properties together fonning a tract of approximately 120 acres? 71

In 1955, this tract, with its potentials still largely untapped, became officially the

Brunswick Town State Historic Site, administered by the North Carolina Department of

Archives and History.272 Though saved from inclusion within the Sunny Point Tenninal

boundaries, it was necessary to forge an agreement with the federal government in 1957

regarding mutual land usage. This agreement granted restrictive controls to the federal

government over the southern portion of the Brunswick Town site, limiting archaeological

273 excavation there and placing the area off limits for public visitation.

[n early June of 1958, Lawrence Lee returned to the Brunswick Town site to begin

its large-scale reclamation and study. Working under the general direction of William S. • Tarlton, superintendent of North Carolina's State Historic Sites, Lee supervised the 82

removal of vegetation and the location and identification of ruins within the area • designated for development as an historical park. As a part of this phase of the project, Lee mapped as many of the foundation remains as possible, investigated the locations of

streets, and correlated his findings both with his own documentary research and the

features delineated on the Sauthier map of 1769. Laboring tirelessly with only two

assistants, he was able to record some thirty-four above-ground features during the brief

course of his work.274

On I August 1958, archaeologist Stanley A. South arrived at Brunswick Town to

continue the work so ably begun by Lee. For the preceding two years, South had served

as site manager and archaeologist at Town Creek Indian Mound near Mount Gilead.

Initially, he and Lawrence Lee worked together to conduct a systematic survey of all

recorded features and produce a detailed base map of the site with aU known properties

located and identified. Then, on 15 August 1958, Lee officially stepped aside to make

way for his successor. As events unfolded, South would work almost continuously at

Brunswick Town for the next ten years.27S

With his training and experience as a professional archaeologist. Stanley South was

able to build upon and greatly expand the work already accomplished at Brunswick Town,

always keeping in mind the primary goal of developing an historical park for public

visitation. Between his arrival in 1958 and his departure in 1968, South increased the

number of identified colonial-period features to sixty. Some twenty-three of these were

fully excavated and preserved for the viewing public. In 1959 alone he supervised the

excavation of nine such features. including the Roger Moore House, the Hepburn- • 83

Reonalds House, and the McCorkall-Fergus House. He also conducted limited • investigations of the ruins of Fort Anderson, taking care to preserve or reconstruct the massive earthworks in keeping with the overa11 interpretive plan.I16

Under both Lawrence Lee and Stanley South, certain findings proved crucial to the

advancement of archaeological research. Especially important among these findings was

the discovery in 1960 of a rather unusual stone wall around the front and sides of lot 27.

the "Publick House" lot. Comparison of this wall with the Sauthier map eventuaJly made

it possible to locate various other features on the map. identify the owners of specific lots,

and, finally. reconstruct the original Brunswick Town plan.2n Important, too, was the

role o[St. Philips Church. From the very beginning offield investigation and

archaeological research, the northeast comer of St. Philips served as a crucial reference

point in surveying and mapping the study area. For purposes of identification, all

structural ruins were initially located cartographica1ly either north or south of a line

projected from this point to the bank of the Cape Fear River?"

Through the years, archaeological research at Brunswick Town unearthed an

impressive array of artifacts and led finally to several important conclusions with regard to

colonial-era structures. residents. social structure. and economic activity. Virtually all of

the excavated domestic buildings were of frame construction and rested upon foundations

of ballast stones. Bricks were often employed in the building of chimneys. To some

extent. bricks were also used as floor pavers. although there was some use of cobblestone

and wooden flooring. Glass windows. tiled fireplaces. and plastered walls were also • features common to many of the residences. Numerous manufactured articles had 84

obviously been imported from England or elsewhere, reflecting the tively trans-Atlantic • trade in which Brunswick Town had so long beeo a participant. Other findings indicated that many of the town's dwellings were associated with ancillary buildings of various kinds

and, often, with gardens. Finally. there was abundant evidence that many residences and

other structures had been abandoned and later burned, reflecting the ruinous sequence of

events that befell Brunswick Town during the American Revolution.279

Archaeological research in recent years at Brunswick Town has been very limited

in scope. Moreover, the southern portion of the town has never been cleared or

investigated to any significant extent. Enonnous strides have been taken, however, in

preserving the known ruins and in presenting the histories of both Brunswick Town and

Fort Anderson to the visiting public. Funding for a visitors center was provided in 1963,

and the facility was formally opened some four years later. Major stabilization of the ruins

of St. Philips Church was completed in the mid-I 970s, and funding was also provided for

protecting the massive earthworks of Fort Anderson. Outreach programs of recent years

have increasingly fostered public interest and support. Each year, an average of 30,000

visitors are drawn to this North Carolina State Historic Site, one which uniquely combines

the features of a colonial-period seaport and Civil War fortification-a remote and

beautiful site that embodies nearly three centuries of lower Cape Fear history.l8O

• • FOOTNOTES I Lawrence C. Wroth, ed., The Voyages a/Giovanni da Ve"QZZQ110 (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1970), 133-135.

lLawrence Lee, The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press., 1965), 11 . For further discussion of the problems in identifying Ayllon's River Jordan and settlement site, see Paul E. Hoffinan. Spain and lhe Roanoke Voyages (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1987),3-9; and William P. Cumming, Mapping the North Carolina Coast: Sixteenth Cenhlry Cartography and the Roanoke Voyages (Raleigh; North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1988), 11-13 and 66, n. 28,

3For a general discussion oftbe Lords Proprietors and their plans for Clarendon County, see William S. Powell, North Carolina through Four Centuries (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1989), 53-57. The Earl of Clarendon was Edward Hyde (1609-1674).

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 27-32.

'Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 33-34.

'Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 37-40.

7Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 40-42.

' Lee, Lawer Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 45-54.

'Lee, Lawer Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 61 and 69-70.

l°Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 73-74.

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colollial Days, 73-74.

12Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 80-83.

13For brief discussions of settlement aJong the coasts of the two Carolinas, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 65 - 68 ~ Lawrence Lee, The His/Dry ofBnmswi ck County, North Carolina (N.p.: Brunswick County American Revolution Bicentennial Committee, 1978), 21 ; and Alan D. Watson, Wilmington: Port of North Carolina • (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1992), 5 . 86

14Lee, Lower Cape FeaT in Colonial Days, 64; and PoweU, North Carolina through Four Centuries, 68-75 and 578. • "Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 64, 79, !O I, and 115-116.

16For general accounts of Burrington's activities with regard to settlement, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 92-95; and William S. Powell, ed., Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 vols. (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1979-1996), 1, 283-284.

17Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 73-74, 80-81 , and 91~ and Powell, Dictionary ofNorth Carolina Biography, IV, 303-304.

IgLee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 63 , 78, and 92; and Powell, Dictionary a/North Carolina Biography, IV, 303-304.

''-ee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days. 99; Lawrence Lee, "Old Brunswick, the Story ora Colonial Town," North Carolina His/orical Review, XXIX (April 1952), 231 ; Janet Schaw, Jaurnal ofa Lady of Quality, edited by Evangeline W. Andrews and Charles M. Andrews (New Haven: Yale University Press, 1921). 313; and Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, IV, 303-304.

~ , Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 94 and 102.

21William L. Saunders, ed. The C%llial Records of North Carolina, 10 vols. (Raleigh: State of North Carolina, 1886-1890), ill, 338. Also quoted in Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 103 .

22Lee• Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 60; and Alan D. Watson, Society in Colonial North Carolina, revised edition (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1996. First published 1975.), 6, 7, 12, 14 and 20.

" Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 117-118; and Stanley A South, Colonial Bnmswick, 1726-1776 (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1960), 2. See also Walter Clark, ed., The State Records of North Carolina, 16 vols. (Winston and Goldsboro: State of North Carolina, 1895-1906), XXIII, 239.

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 100-101.

" Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 118.

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 118; New Hanover County Deeds, Book AB, pp. 71-72, North Carolina State Archives, Raleigh; and South, Colonial • BnlfJJwick, 4 . 87

" Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 101-102; and Lee, ''Old Brunswick," 239. See also Brunswick County research file, North Carolina Division of Archives and • History, Research Branch. " Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolilla, n, 698. See also Alan D. Watson, Dennis R. Lawson, and Donald R. Lennon, Hornell, Hooper, alld Howe: Revoluliollary Leaders of Ihe Lower Cape Fear (Wdmington: Lower Cape Fear Historical Society, 1979), 4; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 118.

~e. Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 171 ~ Alan D. Watson, <<"[he Ferry in Colonial North Carolina," North Carolina His/orical Review, LI (Summer 1974), 247~ and Watson, SOCiety jn Colonial North CarD/ina, 101 and 109. For evidence of the ferry's operation as late as 1775, see Schaw, Journal of a Lady o/Quality. 279-280.

''Hugh Meredith, All Acco,ml oflhe Cape Fear Country, 1731, edited by Earl G. Swern (perth Amboy, New Jersey: Charles F. Heartman, 1922), 14-15 .,

" British Records, ADM 111438, North Carolina State Archives.

" Stanley A. South, "Archaeological Base Map of the Site of Brunswick Town," list of property owners compiled by Lawrence Lee. Copy on file in Research Branch, North Carolina Division of Archives and History. Anson's lot in Brunswick Town was sold in 1753 .

" Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 109-110 and 119. See also Lee, His/Dry of Bnmswick County, 31-33.

34Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial /Jays, 124-125 and 139 ~ and Lee, History of Brunswick County, 34-35.

" Lee, ''Old Brunswick," 234-235.

*For examples of the executive council's meetings in Brunswick Town, see Saunders, Colollial Records ofNorlh Carolillo, IV, 1-5; VI, 1007-1008 and 1076-1077; VII:, 750-752 and 784-785; and VllI, 25-27, 160-164, 191-1 93, and 199-201. For locations of meetings of the colonial assembly, see Powell, North Carolina. through Four Centuries, 574.

" Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 11 9 and 188-190.

" Saunders, Colonial Records of Nonh Carolilla, ill, 259. See also Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 161. • 88

39 See Harry Roy Merrens, Colonial North Carolina in the Eighteenth Cenhlry: A Stlldy in Historical Geography (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1964), • 86-87 and 90-91; and Watson, Wilmington, 3-4 and 9. 4OTreasurer's and Comptroller's Papers, Port Brunswick Records, North Carolina State Archives, hereinafter cited as Port Brunswick Records; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 60 and 149.

41Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 155; Merrens, Colonial North Carolina, 9O-91 ~ and Lee, History of Bnmswick County, 41.

42Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colollial Days, 15S; and Lee, History of Bnmswick COllnty, 41-43 .

° Merrens, C% nial North Carolina, 94-97; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 149-150.

" Port Brunswick Records. See also Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 149; and Watson, Wilmington, 12-14.

4Sport Brunswick Records.

46port Brunswick Records. See also Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 138, 149, and 163; and Watson, Wilmington, 10 .

47port Brunswick Records. See a1so Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 163.

"Walter E. Minchinton, "The Seaborne Slave Trade of North Carolina," North Carolina Historical Review, LXXI (January 1994), 10-11.

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 161-162 and 171 ; Lee, History of BrunlWick County, 42; and Watson, Wilmington, 16. See also Port Brunswick Records.

50port Brunswick Records. See also Watson, Wilmington, 16 .

" Lee, History of Brunswick County, 42; Watson, Wilmington, 11; and Port Brunswick Records.

52port Brunswick Records .

53Lee, History ofBnmswick County, 42; Watson, Wilmington, 10-11; and Port Brunswick Records . • ~4 port Brunswick Records. 89

• " Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 161-163; Lee, History of Bnmswick County, 42; and Watson, Wilmington, 9-10.

~atson, Wilmington, 11 .

S7Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 164-165; and Watson, Wilmington. 7- 10.

n Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 5 and 240-241 ; and Watson, Wilmington, 4.

"Claude V. Jackson ill, Glen C. Overton, and Richard W. Lawrence, The Cape Fear-Northeast Cape Fear Rivers Comprehensive Shldy: A Maritime History and Survey of the Cape Fear and Northeast Cape Fear Rivers, Wilmington Harbor, North Carolina, 2 vols. (Wilmington: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1996), I, 209-210; and Watson, Wilmington, 16.

"Jackson and others, The Cape Fear-Northeast Cape Fear Rivers, I, 209-210.

6l port Brunswick Records.

62 port Brunswick Records.

6lSee Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, m. 362-363.

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 229-230; and Alfred Moore Waddell, A History of New Hanover County and the Lower Cape Fear Region, 1723-1800, Vol. I (N.p.: [1909]),21-22.

65For infonnation relating to the early phases ofFon Johnston's construction, see Mattie Erma Edwards Parker, William S. Price Jr., and Robert 1. Cain, eds., The Colonial Records of North Carolina [Second Series], 9 vols. to date (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1963- ), vm, 64, 175-177, and 423; Clark, State Records ofNorth Carolilla, XXIII, 229-23 I; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 230-23 I.

"Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 232-234.

67Watson, Wilmington, 6-7 ~ Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 166 ~ and Lee, History of Brullswick County, 33-34.

61Lee. Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 121-123 ~ and Watson, Wilmington, 7 . • ~ee. Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days. 124-125 ~ and Watson, Wilmington, 7. 90

"Clark, State Records of North Carolina, XXIII, 239-243. See also Lee, Lower • Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 137-139. 71 For a fuller discussion of North Carolina's colonial towns, see Watson, Society in Colonial North Carolina, 112-127.

nWatson, Society in Colonial North Carolina, 127 .

73Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 140.

74For a general discussion of social classes in colonial North Carolina, see Watson, Society in Colonial North Carolina, 1-18.

75See Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 141 ; and Lee, ''Old Brunswick," 241 . See also Schaw, Journal ofa Lody of Quality, 278.

" Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, IV, 755. See also Lee, "Old Brunswick," 241 -242; and Schaw, Journal ofa Lody of Quality, 278.

nFor a general discussion of North Carolina women during the colonial period, see Watson, Society ill Colonial North Carolina, 19-30 and passim.

7SSouth, Colonial Bnmswick, 35-36; and Brunswick County research file.

~ymond P. Fouts, comp ., Abstracts from Newspapers of Wilmington, North Carolina, 1765-1816, 5 vols. (Cocoa, Florida: Gen Rec Books, 1984-1987), I, 2.

"'Fouts, Abstractsfrom Newspapers of Wilmington, I, 14.

"Lee, "Old Brunswick," 240.

32See Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 191 ~ and Watson, Wilmington, 15 .

" New Hanover County tax records for 1762 and 1763; and Brunswick County tax records for 1769 and 1772, North Carolina State Archives.

84See Brunswick County tax records for 1772 ~ and Port Brunswick Records.

" Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, IV, 755 . See also South, Colonial Brunswick, 55.

86See Lawrence Foushee London and Sarah McCulloh Lemmon, eds., The Episcopal Church in North Carolina, 1701-1959 (Raleigh: Episcopal Diocese of North • Carolina, 1987), 38-39. 91

"Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, n, 109-110. • "Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, IV, 308. "'powell, Dictionary of North Carolilla Biography, IV, 303-304.

"'powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, IV, 332-333. Author quoted is William S. Price Jr., who wrote the sketch on Moseley.

9lPoweIl, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, IV, 332-333. See also New Hanover County loose wills, will of Edward Moseley, North Carolina State Archives; and Lee, "Old Brunswick," 241.

92Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 188 .

93Stanley A. South, '''RusseUborough ': Two Royal Governors' Mansion at Brunswick Town," North Carolina Historical Review, XLIV (Autumn 1967),360-361 ; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 188-189.

94South, '''RusselJborough','' 360-361~ and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 188-189.

" South, '''Russellborough','' 361-362; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 189.

%Port Brunswick Records.

" South, "'Russellborough'," 362; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 189.

"Quoted in South, '''Russellborough''', 362-363. Also quoted in Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 189-190.

99See Sauthier map of 1769, Research Branch and North Carolina State Archives. See also South, '''Russellborough','' 363.

lOOSouth, '''Russellborough','' 363-365; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 190.

IOlLee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 109-110, 209, and 213; and Lee, History ofBrunswick County, 34 and 58. • I02Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 213 . 92

'OlLee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 195, 210, 213, and 215; Lee, History ofBnmswick County, 58; and Jerry L. Cross, ''Historical Research Report: St. Philips Church, Brunswick County, North Carolina," unpublished report (Research Branch, North • Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1975), I. '''Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 138 and 214.

"'Clark, State Records of North Carolina, XXV, 244-245.

'~ , Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 189, 214, and 235; Lee, History of Bnmswick County. 58-59 ~ and Cross, "St. Philips," 6.

I07Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 215; and Lee, History of Bnmswick County, 59.

"'Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 213-215; Cross, "St. Philips," 10; and Lee, History of Bnmswick Cmmty, 59. See also Lee, "Old Brunswick," 238.

I09Lee. Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 221 ; and Brunswick County research file.

11'1.ee. Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 221 ; and Brunswick County research file.

l11For more detailed accounts of the various ministers at Brunswick Town, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 206-220; and Brunswick County research fi le.

11 2For general infonnation on the lower Cape Fear clergymen, and on the church in colonial North Carolina in general, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 206-220; and Watson, Society in Colonial North Carolina, 84-85. See also London and Lemmon, The Episcopal Church in North Carolina, 1701-1959, 1-60.

"'Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 140.

1l4Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 140.

"'Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colollial Days, 140. See also Brunswick County research file.

" ' Schaw, Joumal ofa Lady of Quality, 144- 145 and 281-282. See also Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colollial Days, 140. • 117Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 140 . 93

IllS .. Sauthier map of 1769; and South, "Archaeological Base Map ofthe Site of Brunswick Town,» copies of both in the Research Branch map collection. • 119Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina. vrn, 71 . ''''South, Colonial Brunswick, 23; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 140.

121S0uth, Colonial Brunswick, 23 ~ and Lee, Lower Cape Fear i" Colonial Days, 140.

Il2For a fuller discussion of the Stamp Act, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 242-245.

I13For detailed information on Maurice Moore and his opposition to the Stamp Act, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 244-245; and Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, IV, 304-305.

'''Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 245.

i2S Lee. Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 246-247.

"'Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, VU, 170 and 179-180; The Correspondence of William Tryon and Other Selected Papers, edited by William S. PoweU, 2 vols. (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1980), I, 247 and 254-255; and Paul David Nelson, William Tryon and the COllrse of Empire: A Life in Imperial Service (Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 1990), 44-45.

I27Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 249-250.

"'Nelson, William Tryon, 49.

I~or a fuller discussion of the events leading up to the Revolution and of various related events in the lower Cape Fear region, see Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 250-258.

"oSaunders, ColO11ial Records of North Carolina, IX, 1238.

I3ISaunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, DC, 1238.

J32Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 257 • "'Watson, Lawson, and Lennon, Hamell, Hooper, mId Howe, 3-6 . 94

134Saunders. Colonial Records of North Carolina, IX, iv. and X, 12; and Vernon O. Stumpf, Josiah Martin: The Last Royal Govemor ofNorth Carolina (Durham, North • Carolina: Carolina Academic Press, 1986), 112-115. 13SLee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 264-265. Collet quote from Powell, DictiollOlJ' ofNorth Carolina Biography, J, 403 .

'36Stumpf, Josiah Martin, 121-122 and 148-151 ; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 264-265. See also Saunders, Colonial Records ofNorth Carolina, IX, 1167.

13'Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, X, X, 108-109, and I 13-114; Virginia Gazel/e, 10 and II August 1775; Stumpf, Josiah Martin, 137-139; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 265-266.

138Lee, Lawer Cape Fear ill C% nial Days, 265-266 and 275; and Stumpf,. Josiah Martin, 139 .

13~. Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 264; and Stumpf, Josiah Marlill, 151- 153 .

I40Quoted in Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 266. See also Stumpf, Josiah Marlin, 158-159.

141For fuUer discussions of the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, see Hugh F. Rankin, «The Moores Creek Bridge Campaign," North Carolina Historical Review, XXX (January 1953), 23-60; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 266-269.

'''Virginia Gazette, 5 April 1776; Clark, State Records of North Carolina, XI, x­ xi; Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colonial Days, 271 ; and Stumpf, Josiah Marlin, 171-173 .

143 Virginia Gazette, 5 April 1776; Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 272 ~ and Powell, Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, I, 403.

"'Virginia Gazelle, 17 April 1776.

145Prancis Russell, "Black Loyalists in the American Revolution," Timeline, IV (April-May 1987), 5.

"'Saunders, Colonial Records of North Carolina, IX, iv; Clark, State Records of North Carolina, XI. x - xi ~ Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 271-272~ and Stumpf,. Josiah Martin, 172-173.

'''Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 273-275; and Lee, History of • Brunswick COlillty, 75-76. 95

'''Gregory De Van Massey, "The British Expedition to Wilmington, January­ November 1781 ," North Carolina His/orical Review, LXVI (October 1989), 390-397; • and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 277-280. '''Massey, "The British Expedition to Wilntington," 396-410; and Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 277-280.

"" General Assembly Session Records, April-May 1777, North Carolina State Archives.

U1See map of Fort Anderson in Chris E. Fonvielle Jr., The Wilmington Campaign: Los/ Rays of Depar/ing Hope (Campbell, California: Savas Publishing Co., 1997), 364.

IS2Virginia Gazette, 17 April 1776.

"'Military Collection, War of the Revolution, Miscellaneous Papers, 1776-1789, Box 5, " 1776 - Court Martial of Capt. Aaron Hill" folder, North Carotioa State Archives. Hereinafter cited as "Court Martial of Capt. Aaron Hill ."

I ~Virgillia Gazelle, 17 April 1776.

"~'Court Martial of Capt. Aaron Hill."

1YlMen and Times of the Revolution; or, Memoirs of ElkaJJah Watson . . .. , edited by Winslow C. Watson (New York: Dana and Company, 1856), 41.

U7General Assembly Session Records, 1780-1781 sessions.

mFor the British presence at Brunswick Town, see Clark, Stale Records of North Carolilla, XV, 445. See also South, Colonial Bnlmwick, 89; and Cross, "S!. Philips," 13 .

159Clark, Stale Records ofNorth Caro.lina, XVI, 569. See also Cross, "St. Philips," 14; and South, Colonial BrunSWick, 89.

""Johann David Schoepf, Travels in/he Confederation [I 783-1 784J, 2 vols. Edited and translated by Alfred J. Morrison (philadelphia: William 1. Campbell, 1911), n, 145. See also Lee, "Old Brunswick.," 244.

" 'Quoted in Lee, His/ory of BrullSWick County, 86.

" ' Lee, "Old Brunswick.," 244.

" ' Lee, Lower Cape Fear ill Colollial Days, 273 and 282; and Lee, ''Old • • Brunswick," 234. 96

I6'Lee, Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days, 275 and 282. • 161Quebec to Carolina in 1785-1786, Being the Travel Diary and Observations of Robert Hunter, Jr., a Young Merclumt oj London, edited by Louis B. Wright and Marion Tinling (San Morino, California: The Huntington Library, J 943), 287.

'''Lee, History oj Brnnswick County, 86; and Watson, Wilmington, 30.

167Fouts, Abstracts from Newspapers of Wilmington, 11, 26.

168 1he Journal and Letters of Francis Asbury, edited by Elmer T. Clark, 3 vots. (London: Epworth Press, 1958), n, 425.

I69QUoted in Eugene L. Schwaab, ed., Travels in the Old South, Selected from Periodicals of the Times, 2 vols. (Lexington: University of Kentucky Press, 1973), 1. 168.

I70Lee, History ofBnlnswi ck County, 86.

l7lCharies/olJ Courier, 8 February 1804.

lnLee, History ofBnmswi ck County, 141 .

173 Lee, His/Dry of Bnmswick County, 141 .

'''Brunswick County Deeds, Book H, pp. 127-128, North Carolina State Archives.

"'See South, "Archaeological Base Map ofthe Site of Brunswick Town," list of Brunswick Town property owners compiled by Lawrence Lee.

l7~ew Hanover County loose wills, will of Sarah Bowdish, North Carolina State Archives.

1TIChurchMessellger. 28 September 1880.

17SQuoted in Cross. "St. Philips," 15 .

''''For a list of identifiable graves at St. Philips as compiled in 1937, see Works Progress Administration, Cemetery Records, St. Philips Church, North Carolina State Archives. For further discussion of Govemor Benjamin Smith's grave site, see Bill Reaves, comp., SOlJthport (SmithVille): A Chronology, 3 vols. (Southport: Southport Historical Society, 1978-1 996), I, 30-3 1; Lee, History oj Brunswick County, 140-142; and • ChlJrch M essenger, 28 September 1880 . 97

"OCross, "SI. Philips," 15-16 and chain of title appendix; and James L. Sprunt, The Slory ofOr 1011 Plantatioll (WIlmington: N.p. , 1958. Revised and reprinted 1980.), 12-13. • 18ICross, "St. Philips," 15-16 and chain of title appendix; and Sprunt, Story of Orton Pla1llatioll, 12-13 .

I8'2For more detailed discussions of North Carolina on the eve of the Civil War, see John G. Barrett, The Civil War ill North Carolioo (Chapel HiU: University of North Carolina Press, 1963), 3-6; and William C. Harris, North Carolina ood the Comillg of the Civil War (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1988),35-39.

183For further discussion of these events and their context, see Barren, The Civil War in North Carolina, 3 - 7 ~ and Harris, North Carolina and the Coming of the Civil War, 35-38.

l84The Papers ofJohn Willis Ellis, edited by Nobel J. Tolbert, 2 vols. (Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Archives and History, 1964), I, xcvi-xcvii; Walter Clark, ed., Histories of the Several Regiments and Battalions from North Carolina in the Greal War, 1861- '65, 5 vols. (Raleigh and Goldsboro: State of North Carolina , 1901), Y, 24- 25; and Barrett, The Civil War in North Carolina, 6-8 .

I8SClark, Histories of the Several Regiments, V, 25-27.

I"Tolbert, Papers ofJohll Willis Ellis, I, c and II, 608-609; and Clark, Histories ofthe Several Regiments, V, 27.

'I7Stephen R. Wise, Lifeline of the Confederacy: Blockade Running During the Civil War (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 1988), 129-131 ; James Sprunt, Chrollic/es ofthe Cape Fear River, 1660-1916, 2nd edition (Raleigh: Edwards and Broughton, 1916), 272, 276, 279-281 , and 284; Reaves, Southport: A Chrollology, I, 43; and Lee, History of Brunswick COl/lily, 151 .

188For further discussion of the Cape Fear defense system, see Fonvielle. The Wilmillgton Campoigll, 26-31 ; WiUiam Lamb, "Defense of Fort Fisher, North Carolina," Papers oflhe Military His/orical Sociely ofMassachusetts , IX (1912), 349-354; Sprunt, Chrollicles of Ihe Cape Fear, map facing p. 412; and Lee, His/ory of Brunswick Coullly, 151-152. There were two Fort CampbeUs in the Cape Fear defense system----one near the mouth of the Cape Fear and a second near Wilmington.

l89ponvielle. Wilmington Campaign. 29 ~ Lee. His/ory of Brunswick County. 152 .

19Oponvielle. Wilmington Campaign. 29 . • 98

"'''Letters of Major Thomas Rowland, C.SA From North Carolina, 1861 and 1862," William and Mary Quarterly, XXVI (April 1917), 230. See also FonvieUe, • Wilmington Campaign, 29. " '''Letters of Major Thomas Rowland," 231. For a map of Fort SI. Philip, c. 1862, see FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 28 .

1 9J Fonvielle~ Wilming/on Campaign. 29-30.

I94Quoted in South, Colonial Bnmswick, 103 .

" ' South, "'Russellborough'," 365.

196FonvieLle, Wilmington Campaign, 41 ; and "Letters of Major Thomas Rowland," 231-232.

I91Lamb, «Defense of Fort Fisher," 349-350; and Fonvietle, Wilmington Campaigtl,41.

'9IPonvieUe. Wilmington Campaign, 365.

'''w. McKee Evans, To Die Game: The Story of the Lowry Band, Indian Guerillas of Reconstruction (Baton Rouge: Louisiana State University Press, 1971), 3-4 and 34.

200Civil War <"Reminiscences" orc. S. Powell, William S. Powell Collection, North Carolina State Archives; Clark, Histories of the Several Regiments, IV, 409 and 417-4 I 8; Evans, To Die Game, 3-4 and 34; and Reaves, Southport: A Chronology, 1, 45.

20 ICivii War «Reminiscences" ofC. S. Powell, William S. Powell Collection.

2O' FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 365-366. See also the maps of Fort Anderson facing p. 26 and on p. 364 .

2O' FonvieUe, Wilmil/gtol/ Campaigl/, 30 and 366. See also maps facing p. 26 and on p. 364.

""See FonvieUe, Wilmil/gtol/ Campaigtl, maps facing p. 26 and on p. 364.

2OS South, Colonial Bnmswick, 104.

206FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 30. See also "Letters of Major Thomas Rowland," 230-232 . • 2O'See, for example, "Letters of Major Thomas Rowland," 230-232. 99

lOlFonvielJe, Wilmington Campaign, 30.

• ~or a fuller discussion of the naming of Fort Anderson., see FonvieUe. Wilmillgtoll Campaigll, 30 and, more especially, p. 492, n. II.

11~onvieUe. Wilmington Campaign, 30.

2I IQuoted in the Mumillg Star (Wilmington), 9 September 1917.

212Wise, Lifeline of the Confederacy. 205-206.

213Wise. Lifeline of the Confederac.y. 206.

114Lamb, «Defense of Fort Fisher," 362-368; and E. M. Eller and others, eds., Civil War Naval Chrollology, 6 parts (Washington: Navy Department, Naval History Division, 1961-1965), IV, 149-150.

"'Wise, Lijefille ufthe CUllfederacy, 207-208; and Eller and others, Civil War Naval Chrollology, IV, 10.

'''Lamb, "Defense ofFort Fisher," 370-382; and Eller and others, Civil War Naval Chrollology, IV, 11 - 16.

117Walter Gilman Curtis, Reminiscences by Dr. W. G. Curlis. /848-1900. For Thirty Years Slate Quarantine Surgeon for the Pori of Wilmington (Southport: Herald Job Office [c. 1905]),32.

"'Fonvielle, Wilmillgtull Campaign, 302.

2 1~chard Rush and others, eds., Official Records of the Union and Confederate Navies in the War of the Rebellion, 30 vols. (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1894-1914), Series I. Vol. Xl, 628-629 and 740; and Curtis, Reminiscences, 33.

22OFonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 309-312.

22 IFonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 319.

222Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 323.

223Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign. 318-319.

nAFonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 319~ and Memoirs of the War of Secession • from the Origtl1Q/ MallUscripts ofJohllSOn Hagcxxi, Brigadier..(]eneral, C.S.A . 100

(Columbia, South Carolina: The State Co., 1910), 334. Hereinafter cited as Hagood, Memoirs of the War of Secession. • 'WFonvieUe, Wilming/oll Campaign, 327. 2'26Quoted in Fonvielle, Wilmillgtoll Campaign_327.

227Fonvielle, Wi/ming/on Campaign, 327-328 .

22iQuoted in FonvieUe, Wilming/oll Campaign, 328.

~onviell e, Wilming/on Campaign, 340-341 and 344-346; and Barrett, Civil War in North Carolina, 281 .

23()FonvieUe, Wilming/on Campaign, 319, 358-359, and 377; and Hagood, Memoirs of the War of Secession, 334-335.

23 IFonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 359-360.

232FonvieLle. Wilming/on Campaign, 359-360.

233Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 360-361 .

234Fonvielle, Wilmingtoll Campaign, 361-362.

23S FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 362-363 .

23 ~onviene , Wilmington Campaign, 368-370.

231QUoted in Fonvielle, Wi/miIlK/oll Campaign_368 .

23 8Hagood, Memoirs of 'he War of SeceSSion, 336; and Fonvielle, Wilming/on Campaign, 370.

'''FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 362 and 366-367.

""FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 366-367.

241Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 366-367 and 371 .

142Fonvielle. Wilmington Campaign, 367-368.

14l Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 370; and Hagood, Memoirs uf the War of • Secessioll, 337-338 . 101

244Fonvielle. Wilmington Campaign, 374; and Hagood, Memoirs of the War of Secession, 338. • 24 ~ QUoted in Fonviel1e, Wilmington Campaign, 374 . ' '"FonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 371-373 and 377.

247Hagood, Memoirs of the War of Secession, 338-339.

2411Hagood, Memoirs of lhe War of Secession, 339.

24~agood. Memoirs of the War of Secession, 339.

230Hagood, Memoirs of the War of Secession, 339 ~ and Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 377-378.

I 2!l FonvielJe, Wilmington Campaign, 378; and Hagood, Memoirs of the War of SeceSSion, 340.

1j2Hislorical Addresses Delivered allhe Ruins of SainI Philips Church (N.p.: North Carolina Society of the Colonial Darnes of America, 1901), 42.

~3 Fonviel1e , Wilmington Campaign, 379.

254Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign. 379-381 .

2SjFonvieUe, Wilmington Campaign, 380 and 386-387.

2S6Fonvielle, Wilmington Campaign, 391-413; and Hagood, Memoirs o/the War of Secession, 340-348.

U7FonvieUe, Wilminglon Campaign, 421-429. See a1so Sprunt, Chronicles of the Cape Fear, 495-499.

2J3Lee, History of Brunswick County, 164 .

"'Cross, "S!. Philips," 16-17 and chain of title appendix. See also Sprunt, Siory of Orloll, I3-15 .

260Cross, "St. Philips," 18.

21i1Clrnrch Messenger, 28 September 1880. • 1fI2Church Messenger, 28 September 1880 . 102

""Historical Addresses Delivered at the Ruins of St. Philips Church, 7; 1. R. B. Hathaway. ed .~ The North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, Vol. I (Edenton: N.p., 1900), 460; Cross, "S!. Philips," 18; and Powell, Dictionary of North • Carolilla Biography, V, 460.

264QUoted in Cross, "St. Philips," 18.

26 ~athaway. North Carolina His/orical and Genealogical Register, 459 ~ and Cross, "S1. Philips," 18.

"'South, '''Russellborough','' 365-366.

267Hathaway, North Carolina Historical and Genealogical Register, 459.

268Thomas E. Beaman Jr., Linda F. Carnes-McNaughton. and others, "'Without Street or Regularity:' Understanding the Evolution of Brunswick Town, North Carolina" (paper presented at meeting of the Society for Historical Archaeology, 1998), 2.

~ "Old Bruoswick," 245. See also Beaman, Carnes-McNaughton, and others, <<< Without Street or Regularity',.. I. Lee further developed his work on Brunswick Town and the lower Cape Fear area in his Ph.D. dissertation in 1955 and in 1965 with publication of his The Lower Cape Fear in Colonial Days.

270South, Colonial Bnmswick. vii-viii; and Lee, History of Bnmswick County, 208.

271Richard F. Knapp, ed., North Carolina 's State Historic Sites: A Brief History and Status Report (Raleigh: North Carolina Division of Archives and History, 1995), 17; South, "'RusseUborough' ," 31; Lee, History of Bnmswick County, 208; and Cross, "St. Philips," 18 and chain of title appendix.

2nKnapp, North Carolina's State Historic Sites, 17; Beaman, Carnes­ McNaughton, and others, '''Without Street or Regularity'," 3; and South, Colonial Bnmswick, vii.

273Knapp, North Carolina 's State Historic Sites, 17. For additional information on the Sunny Point Terminal, see the State magazine, 16 January 1954, 3-4; Bill Sharpe, A New Geography ofNorth Carolina, Vol. n (Raleigh: Sharpe Publishiog Co., 1958), 603- 604; and Lee, History of BnI/lSWick COllllly, 229.

V'Beaman, Carnes-McNaughton, and others, '''Without Street or Regularity'," 3; South, Colonial Bnmlwick, viii; Lee, History of Bnmswick County, 208; and Knapp, North Carolina's State Historic Sites, 17.

27$Seaman, Cames-McNaughton, and others, "'Without Street or Regularity'," 3; • and Knapp, North Carolina's State Historic Sites, 17 . 103

:!"Beaman, Carnes-McNaughton, and others, '''Without Street or Regularity'," 3, • 4, and 1O~ and Knapp, North Carolina's Slate His/oric Sites. 17. 277South. Colonial Brunswick, 2 and 1O ~ and Beaman, Carnes-McNaughton, and others, '''Without Street or Regularity· ... 3.

""Beaman, Carnes-McNaughton, and others, '''Without Street or Regularity'," 3.

~or general discussions of the archaeological findings at Brunswick Town, see Beaman, Cames-McNaughton, and others. '''Without Street or Regularity'," 8-9; South, Colonial Bnmswick, 33, 42, and 49-50; and Brunswick County research file.

'""Knapp, North Carolina's State Historic Sites, 18; and Beaman, Cames­ McNaughton, and others, '''Without Street or Regularity'," 2 and 4-5 .

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•