The Cape Fear Region was the scene of rebellious conflict a decade before the Revolution broke out. After the war began, the royal governor fled to Fort Johnston at the river’s mouth. He arranged for British forces to arrive by ship, only to see them sail off due to rebel resistance and a major Patriot victory at Widow Moore’s Creek.

Then after years of relative calm in N.C., Redcoats occupied Wilmington, from which they raided farms for supplies and repressed Patriot activity. The city briefly hosted the largest British army in the South as that recovered from a damaging “victory,” before heading to eventual surrender in Virginia.

A late fight at the home of a Supreme Court justice, two more at a drawbridge, and the wit of a visiting Scottish woman feature in this tour as well.