Revolutionary+War+Battles

//﻿The Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge //

John Harvey's death in 1775 gave way to leaders such as Cornelius Harnett and Richard Caswell to lead the province of North Carolina. The Provincial congress fortified their defences, enlisted soldiers, and required everyone to sign a loyalty oath. Two squads of soldiers had been sent to General George Washington's Continental Army. James Moore and Robert Howe gave these two squads their orders. North Carolina's militia soon deployed to fight Tories holed up in South Carolina. By 1776, North Carolinians were fighting each other over the war with Britian. Governor Martin fled to Cape Fear to escape pursuers who where attacking him for his Toryism. He met newly arrived Highland Scots and encouraged them to join a British invasion in the Carolina colonies. The Highland Scots had already signed a loyalty oath to Britain's king, and so they kept their promises and joined the invasion. The Highland Scots final destination was at Wilmington but they were cut off at Cross Creek by militiamen, ordered by Colonel James Moore. The militiamen had preplanned this attack, and so removed the planks of the bridge and greased the support beams. The miltiamen shot 50 helpless Tories as they tried to desperatly cross the sabotaged bridge. The Tories found this worthless trying to do and retreated from Cross Creek. Colonel Moore and his men chaised the Tories and captured them, seized their weaponry, and seized their money.