USA > North Carolina > History of North Carolina: The Colonial and Revolutionary Periods 1584 1783, Volume I > Part 25
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premacy in America and was aimed at all the British Amer- ican dominions.
Even more serious than these wars, because if successful more permanent in their results, were the French plans in the Mississippi Valley. In a memorial to the Board of Trade, in 1716, Richard Beresford, of South Carolina, called atten- tion to the fact that the French along the Mississippi River had already encroached ""very far within the bounds of the Charter of Carolina" and had "settled themselves on the back of the improved part of that Province." If permitted to remain there they would become a permanent obstacle to the westward march of English settlements, confining them to the narrow region between the Atlantic and the Alleghanies. Yet all efforts to arouse the home authorities to a realization of the danger were vain. The Lords Proprietors could not, and as long as the Carolinas remained proprietary colonies, the Crown would not lift a hand in their defence. It was not until after South Carolina, in 1719, had thrown off the rule of the Lords Proprietors, largely because of their inability to aid in the defence of the colony, that the Board of Trade manifested any interest in the situation. In 1720 it advised the king that considering that the people of South Carolina "have lately shaken off the Proprietors Government, as in- capable of affording them protection, [and] that the In- habitants are exposed to incursions of the Barbarous Indians, [and] to the encroachments of their European neighbours," he should forthwith send a force for the defence of that colony. But this advice, like the repeated appeals of the colonies, went unheeded and the Carolinas were left to their own resources.
The home government, however, finally awaked to a reali- zation of the stakes at issue and in the third of the series of wars for supremacy in America undertook to co-operate with the colonies on a large scale. The war really began in 1739 when England declared war on Spain, though France did not formally enter the struggle until five years later. In attack- ing Spain, England's purpose was to break down the Spanish colonial system and open Spanish-American ports to English commerce. The government accordingly planned to strike a blow at some vital point in Spain's American colonies with a combined force of British and American troops. In the sum- mer of 1740, therefore, the king called upon the colonies for their contingents of men and money. This was the first call ever made upon them as a whole for co-operation in an im-
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perial enterprise, and the colonies responded with enthusiasm. Throughout the summer preparations were actively pushed forward both in England and in America, and in October a fleet of thirty ships of the line and ninety transports, carry- ing 15,000 sailors and 12,000 soldiers sailed from Spithead, England, for Jamaica, where they were joined by American troops from all the colonies except New Hampshire, Delaware, South Carolina, and Georgia. Delaware's contingent was probably counted in that of Pennsylvania, while those from South Carolina and Georgia were probably kept at home to protect their frontiers from attack by the Spaniards of Flor- ida. The other nine colonies sent thirty-six companies of 100 men each. Of these Massachusetts contributed six, Rhode Island two, Connecticut two, New York five, New Jersey two, Pennsylvania eight, Maryland three, Virginia four, and North Carolina four.
In July, 1740,' Governor Gabriel Johnston received in- structions from the king directing him to convene the Assem- bly and inform it of the government's plans. The king de- clared that he "had not thought fit to fix any particular quota" for the colony as he did not want to place any limitation on its zeal, but he expected it to exert itself in the common cause as much as its circumstances would allow. In reply to the governor's message, the Assembly promised to "contribute to the utmost" of its power and assured him that "no Colony hath with more chearfullness contributed than we shall to forward the intended descent upon some of the Spanish Colo- nies." This promise was promptly made good. The Assem- bly passed an act levying a tax of three shillings on each poll in the colony, payable, owing to the scarcity of money among the people, in "commodities of the country" at fixed rates, provided adequate machinery for its prompt collection, and directed that warehouses be erected for storing the proceeds. The governor expressed the "highest satisfaction" at the As- sembly's action, saying: "You have now given evident proof of your unfeigned zeal for his Majesty's service and consider- ing the circumstances of the country contributed as liberally as any of our neighbouring colonies." He estimated the levy authorized by the Assembly at £1,200 sterling, which was suffi- cient to equip and subsist four companies of 100 men each until they could join the army at Jamaica when they would be put on the payroll of the Crown.
The governor's call for recruits brought a prompt re- sponse. Four companies containing a total of 400 men, a force
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in proportion to population equivalent to 25,000 at the pres- ent time, were quickly enrolled. "I have good reason to be- lieve," wrote the governor to the Duke of Newcastle, "that we could easily have raised 200 more if it had been possible to negotiate the bills of exchange in this part of the continent ; but as that was impracticable, we were obliged to rest sat- isfyed with four companies." Three of these companies were recruited in the Albemarle section, the other at Cape Fear. The Albemarle companies were under command of Captains Halton, Coletrain, and Pratt, the Cape Fear company under Captain James Innes. The former embarked at Edenton early in November, 1740, and sailed for Wilmington where they were joined by Captain Innes' company. Says the Wilmington correspondent of the South Carolina Gazette, November 24, 1740: "The 15th Inst. Capt. James Innes, with his compleat Company of Men, went on board the Transport to proceed for the General Rendezvous. They were in general brisk and hearty, and long for Nothing so much as a favorable Wind, that they may be among the first in Action. Capt. Innes has taken out Letters of Marque and Reprisal, and if any Spanish Ship is to be met with, he doubts not of giving a proper ac- count of them. * The Governor and Assembly of this Province proceeded with great Spirit on this Occasion, the lower House chearfully granted an Aid to his Majesty of £1500 Sterling, to assist in Victualling and Transporting their Quota of Troops. When so poor a Province gives such Testimony of their Zeal and Spirit against our haughty En- emy, it is to be hoped the Ministry at Home will be convinced that it is the Voice of all his Majesty's Subjects, both at home and abroad, Humble the proud Spaniard, bring down his haughty Looks."
From Wilmington the North Carolina companies sailed directly for Jamaica where they joined the united British and colonial forces. The squadron was under the command of Admiral Edward Vernon; the army was first under Lord Cathcart, and after his death under General Wentworth. Sir William Gooch, then governor of Virginia, was in immediate command of the "American Regiments." In February, 1741, the fleet sailed to attack Cartagena on the coast of Venezuela. From the first the expedition was doomed to failure. Ill-feel- ing and rivalry between the land forces and the naval forces thwarted every movement. The only successful effort made throughout the campaign was the assault on Boca-Chica (little mouth), the entrance to the harbor of Cartagena. North Caro-
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lina troops participated in this attack. The forts were car- ried, the fleet entered the harbor, and troops were landed to attack the forts defending the town. This attack on the forts was repulsed with severe losses, heavy rains set in, an epi- demic of fever broke out among the troops, and within less than two days half of them were dead or otherwise incapaci- tated for service. Nothing was left but acknowledgment of defeat, re-embarkation and return to Jamaica. The lives of 20,000 men had been sacrificed to the incompetency and jeal- ousy of the commanding officers. Of the North Carolina con- tingent but few survived. The Cape Fear company, originally 100 strong, reached Wilmington in January, 1743, reduced to 25 men.
North Carolina's losses on this expedition, however, were not comparable to those she suffered at home. For eight years Spanish and French privateers infested her waters, captured her ships, ravaged her coasts, plundered her towns, and levied tribute upon her inhabitants almost with impunity. In May, 1741, they captured two merchantmen out of Edenton "be- fore they had been half an hour at sea," while the owner of one of them "had the Mortification to see his Vessel and Cargo taken before his face as he stood on the shore." With- in the next ten days, four other ships fell victims to the same privateers. On May 12th, a sloop bound from North Caro- lina to Hull, England, was captured off Cape Fear. In July another merchantman was taken "within the Bar of Ocra- coke;" the owner estimated his loss at £700 sterling. The same privateer had already taken six other prizes. In August reports from Wilmington mentioned the capture of a schooner and a sloop besides "many other vessels" bound for that port. The Indian Queen, North Carolina to Bristol, was taken in October. Similar reports run through the succeeding years. In June, 1747, it was reported "that there are now no less than 9 Spanish Privateers cruizing on this coast." The Molly, from Cape Fear to Barbados; the Rebecca, from Charleston to Cape Fear; the John and Mary, from Cape Fear to Bristol, "with a Cargo of Pitch, Tar and Turpen- tine;" and an unnamed vessel from London to Cape Fear, were but a few of their prizes. In July, 1748, three ships were "cut out of Ocracoke Inlet" by Spanish privateers. Of the great majority of captures no reports are now available, but some idea of the havoc wrought in colonial commerce may be gathered from the shipping reports of the South Carolina Gazette. That periodical reported as clearing between Charles-
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ton and North Carolina ports during the five years before the declaration of war, 1735-1739, inclusive, eighty vessels; dur- ing the five years, 1744 to 1748 inclusive, the same paper re- ported as clearing between the same ports only twenty-one vessels.
It is not without interest to note that as the privateersmen revived memories of the deeds of "Blackbeard," so also they made skillful use of the same inlets and harbors that had so often sheltered the famous pirate. "The Spaniards," it was reported, in 1741, "have built themselves Tents on Ocracoke Island; Two of the Sloops lie in Teache's Hole," where they found shelter from the British men-of-war. After cruising about Chesapeake Bay and ravaging the Virginia coast, says a report in July, 1741, they sought safety from the Hector, a 40-gun man-of-war, "in Teache's Hole in North Carolina where they landed, killed as many Cattle as they wanted, and tallowed their Vessels' Bottoms." Another favorite rendez- vous was Lookout harbor "where they wood, water, kill Cat- tle, and carry their Prizes till they are ready to go (with them) to their respective Homes." Men-of-war were afraid to seek them in Lookout harbor because of their "Want of Knowledge of it."
Resistance to the Spaniards was feeble and spasmodic. The Assembly made appropriations for the erection of forts at Ocracoke, Core Sound, Bear Inlet, and Cape Fear, but none of them proved of any service. Fort Johnston, named in honor of the governor, afterwards played an important part in the history of the Cape Fear region, but during the Spanish War was ineffective as a defence against the enemy. In June, 1739, before the declaration of war and in anticipa- tion of it, the king authorized Governor Johnston to issue letters of marque and reprisal against Spanish shipping, and a few privateers were fitted out at Wilmington, but the results of their work were negligible. For instance, in July, 1741, Wilmington merchants fitted out two privateers, one of twen- ty-four guns, Captain George Walker, the other a small sloop, Captain Daniel Dunbibin, "to go in quest of the Span- ish Privateers which infest this Coast," but as late as Sep- tember no news had been received of them. British men-of- war also patrolled the coast. There were the Hector, forty guns, Captain Sir Yelverton Peyton, the Tartar, Captain George Townsend, the Swift, Captain Bladwell, the Cruizer, and another, name not mentioned, under command of Cap- tain Peacock. . But the merchants found grounds for
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complaining of the lack of vigilance even among the men-of- war, and it was openly charged that "the Spaniards were so encouraged by the Indolence, if not the C-ce [cowardice] of Sir Y-n" [Yelverton], that they ravaged the coast with impunity. Other British commanders, however, were more active. In July, 1741, Captain Peacock compelled the Span- iards to abandon their shelter at Ocracoke and to burn "the Tents they had built on Ocracoke Island." May 26, 1742, the Swift after an all day chase overtook a privateer off Ocra- coke Inlet and engaged her in battle. The privateer, however, got the best of the fight, shot away the mainstays and fore- stays of the Swift, compelling her to put back into Wil- mington for repairs, and then escaped in the darkness. A few months later the Swift had better luck, capturing a large Spanish sloop which she brought into Wilmington and con- verted into a British privateer.
Emboldened by their successes, the Spaniards became am- bitious. In 1747 they attacked and captured the town of Beau- fort which they held for several days and plundered before being driven out. The next year their audacity reached its climax in an attack on Brunswick. September 3, 1748, three Spanish privateers, the Fortune, a sloop of 130 tons, car- rying ten 6-pounders and fourteen swivels, Captain Vincent Lopez, the Loretta, carrying four 4-pounders, four 6-pound- ers, and twelve swivels, Captain Joseph Leon Munroe, and a converted merchantman, appeared off the Cape Fear bar. Two days later they dropped anchor off Brunswick and opened fire upon the shipping there. At the same time a force which they had landed below the town attacked from the land side. Taken by surprise, the inhabitants fled in confusion. The enemy thereupon seized five ships "and several small craft" that were in the harbor, captured the collector of the port and several other men, and "plundered and destroyed everything without fear of being disturbed."
But the inhabitants quickly recovering from their surprise organized a force of eighty men, under command of Captain William Dry, and returned to the attack. They in turn sur- prised their enemy in the midst of their plundering, killed or captured many of them, drove the others to the shelter of their ships, and were vigorously "pursuing their good for- tunes till they were saluted with a very hot fire from the com- modore sloop's great guns, which, * however, did not prevent their killing or taking all the stragglers." The For- tune continued the bombardment till suddenly "to our great
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amazement and (it may be believed) joy, she blew up." Most of her crew, including her commander and all of his officers, perished in the explosion or were drowned. Thereupon, the Loretta, which had gone up the river in pursuit of a prize, "hoisted bloody colours," dropped down the river again, and opened fire "pretty smartly" on the town. But this turned out to be mere bluster. Soon lowering her "bloody colours," she "hoisted white in her shroud" and sent a flag of truce ashore "desiring to have liberty to go off with all the vessels, and promising on that condition to do no further damage." But Captain Dry boldly replied "that they might think them- selves well off to get away with their own vessel, that he could not consent to their carrying away any other, and would take care they should do no more damage; but he proposed to let them go without interruption if they would deliver up all the English prisoners they had, with everything belonging to the place." The Spaniard's only answer to this defiance was to abandon all of his prizes except the Nancy, which he had armed and manned with a Spanish crew, and to slip quietly down the river under a white flag. He anchored off Bald-Head and let it be known that he was ready to negotiate for an ex- change of prisoners. This was soon effected through a com- mission sent by Major John Swann who had arrived from Wilmington with 130 men and taken command. The Span- iard then put to sea and disappeared.
In this attack, the Carolinians escaped without the loss of a man. They had two slightly wounded, none killed. Their property losses, however, were heavy for what the Spaniards "did not carry away they broke or cut to pieces." Nevertheless the Carolinians won a great triumph, for as they justly boasted, "notwithstanding our ignorance in military affairs, our want of arms and ammunition (having but 3 charges per man when we attacked them), the delay of our friends in coming to our assistance, and the small num- ber [we] were composed of (many of which were negroes)," they had beaten off a much superior enemy consisting of 220 men and three armed ships, compelling them to abandon their prizes, and causing them a loss of 140 men, more than one- half of their force, including their commanding officer.
The attack on Brunswick was made more than two months after peace had been declared. On June 17, 1748, the Board of Trade wrote Governor Johnston, "Preliminaries for a Peace have been signed at Aix-la-Chapelle by the Ministers of all the Powers engaged in the war." This treaty, however,
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settled none of the questions at issue between the rivals in America; it merely afforded them a breathing spell in which to prepare for a greater struggle yet to come. The French, much more alive to the situation than their rivals, began at once to take advantage of this lull in the contest. Realizing that something more than mere assertion of title was neces- sary to secure to them the territory along the Ohio and the Mississippi, which formed so large a part of New France, they built a series of strong forts to connect the two distant heads of their empire. By the middle of the eighteenth cen- tury, therefore, the long frontier between Montreal and New Orleans was defended by more than sixty forts. Many of these forts stood on land claimed by New York, Pennsylvania, Vir- ginia, and the Carolinas, yet in these colonies, only a few people clearly appreciated the significance of the French move- ments, or understood how to check them. The most significant of the English counter-movements was the organization in London and Virginia of the Ohio Land Company for planting English settlements on the east bank of the Ohio River. But this region was also claimed by the French and it was here that the first clash came. In 1753 Governor Robert Dinwiddie of Virginia learning that the French were encroaching upon this territory sent Major George Washington on his famous mission to demand their withdrawal. Upon their refusal, Din- widdie ordered Washington to seize and fortify the point where the Alleghany. and Monongahela rivers unite to form the Ohio. But Washington had scarcely begun his work when a superior force of Frenchmen appeared, drove him away and erected on the site he had chosen a strong fortress which they called Fort Duquesne. Thus began the great war which was to decide the mastery of North America.
In this contest the English had the advantage of numerical strength and interior lines, but these advantages were fully offset by the unity of command and purpose which prevailed with the French. From Quebec to New Orleans, all New France moved in obedience to a single autocratic will. The English on the other hand were divided into thirteen separate governments, politically independent of each other, and largely self-governing. Not a soldier could be enrolled, not a shilling levied in any English colony until a popular as- sembly had been persuaded of its wisdom; and no concerted movement could be undertaken until many different executives had been consulted and many different legislative bodies, jeal- ous of their authority and hostile to every suggestion that
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conflicted with their local interests, had given consent. The French of course were aware of this situation and counted it as one of the strong elements in their favor. "The French," observed Governor Dinwiddie, in 1754, "too justly observe this want of connection in the Colonies, and from thence conclude (as they declare without reserve) that although we are vastly superior to them in Numbers, yet they can take and secure the Country before we can agree to hinder them." He thought that an act of Parliament might be necessary to cure the evil. The necessity for co-operation was clearly understood in Eng- land and the government urged it upon the colonies in almost every dispatch that crossed the Atlantic. In July, 1754, Presi- dent Rowan of North Carolina received a rebuke from the government because of his "total Silence upon that part of His Majesty's orders which relate to a concert with the other Colonies." But except among a few far-sighted leaders no sentiment existed in any of the English colonies in favor of a closer union. In 1754, at the beginning of the great war, the colonies rejected with scant ceremony the Albany Plan of Union which, especially as a war measure, had many excellent features to recommend it.
The attitude of North Carolina toward the Albany Plan was typical of the attitude of the other colonies. Governor Dobbs laid it before the Assembly at its December session in 1754 and asked for its consideration saying that the king had instructed him "to promote a happy union among the prov- inces for their General Union and Defence." But the Assem- bly was not interested in it. It merely ordered the plan to be printed and distributed among its members "for their Mature Consideration," but postponed discussion to the next session and then forgot it. Other colonies gave it even less consideration. The colonies had to drink deep of the cup of bitter experience, of suffering and disaster, before they were ready for a real union.
In another respect, too, the French had an advantage over the English. The French settlements were little more than military outposts, garrisoned by trained soldiers, fully equipped with the best arms, and commanded by experienced officers. The English colonies on the other hand were indus- trial and agricultural communities, thoroughly non-militaris- tic and almost wholly unprepared for war. Here again the situ- ation in North Carolina was typical. Although that colony had just gone through the Spanish War in which its troops had been defeated, its coasts ravaged and its towns plundered,
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the lessons of that experience had been lost upon both gov- ernor and people. Not a fort protected its long frontier, and the money appropriated for defences along the coast had been largely unspent. No fortifications had been erected at Ocra- coke, Lookout, or Topsail Inlet. At Cape Fear, Fort Johnston was still unfinished and almost totally unmanned. Though the plan called for sixteen 9-pounders and thirty swivels, the fort contained only five 6-pounders and four 2-pounders, and had no regular garrison.
Preparations for offense were no better. On paper the militia numbered more than 15,000 infantry and 400 cavalry, but long neglect had destroyed its organization. President Rowan complained in 1753, that from the indolence of Gover- nor Johnston, the militia had fallen into decay. One of the first acts of Governor Dobbs upon assuming the administra- tion in 1754 was to call for a militia return. The result was alarming. There were twenty-two counties each of which was supposed to have a fully organized regiment. The returns showed that in most of them there were organizations in name only, and in many not even that. Beaufort had no colonel. In Bertie County eight companies were "without offi- cers." Five of Edgecombe's fourteen companies reported their captains "removed, laid down, or dead." Every one of Granville's eight companies was without a captain. In New Hanover the major had "thrown up" his commission. In Orange the colonel had resigned, five captains had left the county or refused to serve, fourteen lieutenancies and ensign- cies were vacant. Tyrrell reported: "The Coll. dead, the Lieut. Coll. and Major have neglected to act." Four counties made no returns.
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