Imagine the Scene

Loyalists Land in Jail

Cross the street from the parking lot to the Visitor Center, and turn left—or if you are in the center, use the back exit. Walk to the picnic area near the next street, the gravel Market Street.

One of at least a half-dozen taverns in town stands near this spot as the war begins, owned by Christopher Dudley. That makes the location convenient for his public job, warden of the nearby jail, since his duties includes supplying food to the prisoners!

Walk to the front of the nearest brick building to the right of Market Street, the 1838 jail. Face its front.

Where the later jail now stands, in 1776 there was a wooden one approximately the same size, built 12 years earlier. February brings unexpected residents.

Royal Gov. Josiah Martin planned to retake the state using British troops aided by Loyalist (“Tory”) volunteers in late February. Patriot (“Whig”) part-time units known as “militia” foiled him by defeating around 1,500 Tories heading to join him, at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. Maj. Allan and Col. Donald MacDonald, unrelated Loyalist leaders, are brought up today’s King Street from the south (to your left) and led into the jail here. Donald was the commander of the Tories, though not present at the battle due to illness. Allan is the husband of one of the most famous women in the colonies, Flora Macdonald.

They are not alone in the small jail. The local militia have been capturing fleeing Loyalists throughout the area. As of Friday, April 5, 71 are reported in the jail (including Allan),[a] though it’s possible some are actually housed elsewhere. The Macdonalds and other leaders are given some freedom of movement, as is typical for imprisoned officers at the time. However they are among the 26 considered the most dangerous[b] and are later transferred to Philadelphia for the Continental Congress to manage. Some prisoners may have been released to the care of Patriot friends[1], and eventually the rest were paroled on condition of not fighting for the British again.

Throughout the war Tory prisoners are held here in crowded conditions alongside arrestees awaiting trial. The general in command of militia in the Halifax District in June 1779 “said that he was compelled to give the prisoners all the liberty possible because of the crowded condition of the jail and because he feared an epidemic might break out among them.”[2]

Rebellion and Resolves

Go right, across Market Street, to the stone marker for the Courthouse site, partway up Market. Walk halfway across the front of the raised rectangle.

Archaeologists have not confirmed that this empty space was the site of the courthouse.[3] Among other evidence, it aligns with a 1769 map by a well-regarded map-maker shown below. That map indicates you would have been standing before the front door of the wooden, T-shaped building pointing towards you—and in Market Street! Apparently the road ran here and went around the building, which was not unusual for courthouses in colonial times.

The rebellious Provincial Congress meets in the courthouse here about six weeks later, starting on Thursday, April 4, 1776. A representative the congress elected to the Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Joseph Hewes of Edenton, had sent a letter asking what position to take on whether the colonies should declare independence from Great Britain. The delegates here agree in general that the time has come, their confidence boosted by the result at Moore’s Creek. Seven men are elected to a “Select Committee” to write an answer.

A week later they present a draft resolution to the entire body. It complains in part that “pursuant to the Plan concerted by the British Ministry for subjugating America, the King and Parliament of Great Britain have usurped a power over the persons and properties of the people unlimited and uncontrolled… The British fleets and armies have been, and still are daily employed in destroying the People and committing the most horrid devastations on the Country… (and) Governors in different Colonies have declared protection to slaves, who should imbrue their hands in the blood of their masters.”

After listing other complaints, the committee recommends that the Provincial Congress declare:

“Resolved that the delegates for this Colony in the Continental Congress be impowered (sic) to concur with the other delegates of the other Colonies in declaring Independency, and forming foreign Alliances, resolving to this Colony the Sole, and Exclusive right of forming a Constitution and Laws for this Colony, and of appointing delegates from time to time… to meet the delegates of the other Colonies…”

The draft was adopted unanimously that day, Friday, April 12, 1776, which is why that date appears on the modern state flag. Now called the “Halifax Resolves,” this was the first formal declaration of support for independence from England by any American colony.[c] By the end of the month, the Congress authorized the printing of North Carolina money; reorganized the militia for defense of the province; and created a temporary state constitution.[d]

Hewes read the resolves to the Continental Congress, spurring support for a U.S. Declaration of Independence. He became one of its signers after its approval on July 4.

Halifax learned about that 18 days later, and the Provincial Congress set up a celebration. A platform is built right in front of you, before the courthouse door. The chairman of the congress, Cornelius Harnett, climbs up on the platform at noon, holding a rolled-up “broadside” (print) of the declaration.[4] As he starts to unroll it, the crowd filling the road and spreading behind you into the open space across the street, Market Green, begins to cheer. He quiets the people and reads the declaration. When he reaches the names of the three North Carolina signers, the crowd roars. People push past you and lift Harnett on their shoulders to carry him into the streets.[5]

In November, the Fifth Provincial Congress meets here to adopt the first state constitution. Notably, it passes a Bill of Rights first on Tuesday, December 17. Thus it symbolically emphasizes personal rights (of property owners) over the powers of the government outlined in the constitution, which is approved the next day. All free males who own property or pay taxes gain the right to vote—including African-Americans.

A Belated British Response

Turn around and walk past the 1833 clerk’s office to King Street. Look at Market Green across the street.

In the war Market Green serves as a military center for the entire brand-new “state” of North Carolina. The open area is used for mustering and training of part-time militia soldiers and (probably) new regular troops for the Continental Army. Surrounding it are barracks for the troops, a powder magazine, and a supply depot. Here, too, was the gun factory likely used to fulfill the town’s contract to produce muskets for the Continental soldiers.[6]

Six years after the Resolves, in the first week of May 1781, most of the district’s militia regiments march out of town to the north (left) past you. Their officers realize they are no match for an approaching British army. On the afternoon of Monday, May 7, a troop of green-coated British cavalry come by you after an encounter with the remaining militia (described below). Three days later, on Friday the 10^th, most of Cornwallis’ army occupies Halifax. More than 2,000 troops and followers including escaping slaves and refugees center on a campsite south of town, but some were probably here as well. The officers force residents to take them into homes all over town. The Patriot militia failed to destroy all of the supplies, so the British capture “rum, whiskey, bacon, tobacco and corn,” and at least 300 muskets.[7]

Finally on the 13th, a regiment of Hessian (German) mercenaries Cornwallis was waiting for marches into town. Tarleton’s force leaves the next day, scouting ahead into Virginia. The rest of the army decamps to the left the day after.

Tarleton’s Headquarters

Turn left and follow them on King Street. Pause by the closed Andrew Jackson School, across the next street on the left.

By 1774, a home facing the side road around its highest point, where the school building is now, has become a tavern called “The Sign of the Thistle.”[8] It is a center for the refined social life for which Halifax is noted. A traveling merchant writes in 1778, “the society in this vicinity is considered among the most polished and cultivated in the State.” Given the tavern’s proximity to the courthouse, many political discussions are surely held over ale here among delegates.[9]

On the day they arrive, Tarleton and company continue up King from where they passed you before and turn left. They pull up in the road in front of the tavern, and the officers dismount. Tarleton leads them in, where they take rooms. The rest, 160 cavalry troopers and 60 infantry mounted on horses, set up camp nearby. The next day the cavalry begins scouring the countryside. Many are sent to patrol throughout the area watching for militia, or worse, a Continental Army known to be somewhere across the border in Virginia. Others forage for supplies. They also search for more boats to get the army across the river just downhill to the north, helped by Tory refugees and runaway slaves.

According to a 1918 source quoting an earlier publication, it is in the cavalry camp nearby that a young woman who lives a mile away appears Monday night. The story claims she demands to see Tarleton, and he complies. The exact words are no doubt fiction, though the basic facts seem possible. “‘I have come to you, sir, to demand restoration of my property, which your knavish fellows stole from my father’s yard,’” she supposedly says. She tells the tale, including the fact they have taken her favorite pony, which she then spots nearby in the firelight. “‘There, sir, is my horse. I shall mount him and ride peaceably home; and if you have any of the gentlemanly feeling within you of which your men are totally destitute, or if you have any regard for their safety, you will see, sir, that I am not interrupted.’” She then insults him for letting his men act as they did, mounts her pony, and rides off unmolested.[10]

Concerned prior to the full army’s arrival that he cannot hold Halifax with so few men, Tarleton sends to Cornwallis for more troops and some cannons. Learning through an exchange of couriers that this request would not be honored, he pulls most of his force back to the skirmish- and campsite visited later, south of town.[11]

A Long Crossing of a Narrow River

Continue down King Street as it turns into a drivable trail. Note the markers about the brave people who used this route to escape slavery in the next century, making this part of the series of safe houses called the “Underground Railroad.”

At the bottom of the trail, walk to the top of the riverbank across the clearing. Face the river.

No visible signs remain today, but in Revolutionary times the road to Virginia (with a branch towards Edenton) continues from directly across the river. It climbs to the left and uphill. Various buildings related to shipping, such as warehouses and docks, crowd the riverbank on this side.

After their skirmish to the south, Tarleton’s men arrive here in search of Whig militia. They see an entrenchment and some militia behind it, who open fire. In the river on that side is a line of boats the Patriots have wisely collected to slow the British crossing. Tarleton sees a good location for cannons, either here at the seating area or more likely behind you, and decides to let those do the work when they arrive.[12]

One source says a cannon was eventually sent from the main army but could not dislodge the militia, so the cavalry had to.[13] Tarleton says the militia left on their own after damaging the boats.[14] (Given his usual willingness to take credit, whether due or not, this seems the more likely story.) Regardless, after the Patriots are gone, he sends a detachment across to guard the road while the boats are repaired. He can’t do anything about others moved to a distant ferry by Whig forces.[i]

Cornwallis, as soon as he arrives, sends Tarleton forward along with some infantry on horseback to scout locations for their next river crossing. Soon after they cross here, you see Cornwallis and some guards arrive down the hill and follow them. They catch up to Tarleton within four miles and stop him. When some “country people” arrive, Cornwallis orders him to have the men dismount. Tarleton writes, “A serjeant (sic) and one private dragoon were pointed out and accused of rape and robbery: They were conduced to Halifax, where they were condemned to death by martial law… (with) immediate infliction of the sentence…”[14]

Much of Tuesday, May 15^th, 1781, this area and the road behind you is filled with impatient soldiers, slavery escapees, refugees, camp followers, and horses waiting for their turns, as boats shuttle to-and-fro across the river. When done, the British continue north and leave North Carolina after four fateful months. (See the Race to the Dan and Guilford Battle tours.)

Sacred Waters and Other Beverages

Return to town past the Market Green. Before getting to the first building on the left near the road, go downhill to the left and follow the short trail to a small pool of water. (People with mobility issues may have trouble on the slope.)

This convenient freshwater source received the name Magazine Spring during the war, but it was a key reason the Tuscaroras, Halifax founders, North Carolina officials, manufacturers, and soldiers congregated in this area. All of the famous names on this page likely drank water drawn here. It is considered sacred by the Haliwa-Saponi tribe.

Return uphill and/or continue to the so-called Tap Room on the left side of King Street. It existed at the time, most likely as a tavern with an inn upstairs.

Cross King and stop at the Eagle Hotel on the right.

This building, probably built around 1790 after the war, was part of a complex including the old Sign of the Thistle that was renamed Eagle Tavern. This building is believed to be what people called the “Long Room,” used as an inn and ballroom and later moved here. If it is open, consider a stop inside to learn about games and other aspects of everyday life in Revolutionary days. (Also see the “Historical Tidbits” below about its most famous visitors.)

Father of a University

If you are walking, go back to your vehicle. Turn right from the parking lot onto—or if you were driving, continue down—Saint David Street. Pull over at the first house on the left facing the street after the lot.

Though not here during the war, this was the home of Col. John Bradford, commander of the Halifax County militia. Bradford was elected to the colonial legislature and later attended most of the revolutionary provincial congresses. The house was built around 1760 near Enfield, south of here.

The Owens House on the right dates to the war period in Halifax, but not at the current site.

Take the next left at the large white house on that side, and either park in front or pull into the driveway just past it. If you wish, walk to the marker in front.

This home was built for William Davie around or shortly after the end of the war in 1783. Best known as “The Father of the University of North Carolina,” he was a Patriot militia officer during the Revolution. He had a starring role in the Battle of Charlotte, and was badly wounded at the Battle of Stono Ferry (S.C.). Read a short biography.

The Grove

Continue down the street and:

1. At the end of the block, turn right at Pittsylvania Street.
2. Cross 301 Bypass, and turn left just past the railroad tracks, onto Owen Mill Road.
3. Drive 0.7 mi. to the end of the pavement, and park.

You may remain in your vehicle. Look left across the farm field.

In the distant woods, covered in overgrowth and inaccessible, is the site of “The Grove,” Willie and Mary Jones’ home. Built by 1765, during the Revolution it is a large house with a central two-story section and two single-story wings, probably the first in the state of this “tripartite” type.[e] The main building materials are well traveled. First brought from England in 1740 by Jones’ father for his home in the area, Jones reused them in this house.

In 1781, it is surrounded by a grove of white oaks, hence the name. Behind it is a garden and what is reputed to be the largest racetrack in the state, perhaps extending into the field near you. In the back wall of the house, facing you, is an unusual and expensive, semi-circular “bow” window, out of which Jones can watch his horses being exercised.

In the room on the other side of the window, a famous American may have gained his last name. According to the story, before Jones married, he came across a bereft young man outside a tavern in town, who said he had no name and no home. Jones offered to take him in, and he moved into the Grove for several months. A ship’s captain, he had killed a mutinous sailor while in port in the West Indies, and his friends convinced him to flee. During his stay the sailor received a commission in the new U.S. Navy through the efforts of Joseph Hewes. When he is ready to leave, Jones offers him money, but he refuses and asks instead for the right to adopt Jones’ last name in appreciation for his help. Willie agrees, and the man becomes John Paul Jones—one of the greatest heroes in American naval history.[iv]

Cornwallis uses The Grove as his headquarters while his army is here.[15] Its camp probably lines lower King Street and then runs along the creek below the right side of the modern fields. The 1918 source again repeats a story from an earlier one, in which Patriot women again get the best of Tarleton.[16] As before, believe the dialog with caution.

Mary has been forced to host the British officers for dinner one night, joined by her sister Mrs. John Ashe, no first name given. (Willie, an N.C. delegate to the Continental Congress, is presumably in Philadelphia.) Tarleton makes a crack about Continental cavalry officer Col. William Washington being illiterate. A distant cousin of George, Col. Washington was a key player in Tarleton’s defeat at the Battle of the Cowpens (S.C.). Tarleton also received a sword wound to his hand from Washington, and was forced to make a rapid retreat. Mary supposedly retorts, looking at his scarred hand: “‘Colonel Tarleton, you know very well that Colonel Washington, if he can’t write as well as some men, knows how to make his mark.’”

Tarleton was known for his temper, but held it, snapping only that he would “‘be happy to see Col. Washington.’”

Mrs. Ashe comments, “‘If you had looked behind you at the Battle of Cowpens, Col. Tarleton, you would have enjoyed that pleasure.’”

Historians have said Willie Jones “‘really controlled public affairs in North Carolina’” during the state’s first decade.[17] As the Revolution began, he was named by the Continental Congress as N.C.’s representative to its commission for Native American affairs. The commission only managed one meeting with some of the Cherokee leaders, in April 1776. That failed to prevent them from raiding the frontier starting the next month, as he predicted.

Besides serving in the Provincial Congress during the war, Jones led opposition to the U.S. Constitution in 1787, refused a seat in the U.S. Constitutional Convention, and opposed the first version at the state convention in Hillsborough. (It was approved by that convention the next year—after the Bill of Rights he was demanding had been promised.)

Near the homesite is a small cemetery with only one grave marked. In it lies another Mary, the daughter of the Joneses, who died in 1791 at age three.

The house collapsed from neglect in the early 1900s. Archaeologists dug out the foundation and removed artifacts you can see at the Historic Site Visitor Center.

Resisting Tarleton

Turn your vehicle around and:

1. Return to the start of Owen Mill Road, and turn right.
2. At 301 Bypass, turn right.
3. Drive 0.9 mi., and as soon as you have crossed the bridge over Quankey Creek, pull off to the right.

Across 301 along the creek[18] is Camp Quankey, the base for the Deputy Quarter Master General (DQMG) for the Southern Department. “This department was created to provide material, equipment, horses, and wagons for the North Carolina Continental Line as each regiment was being mustered, and as each regiment traveled to/from the state.”[19] Nicholas Long, former commander of the Halifax minutemen, becomes the DQMG in May 1776, a month after the state endorsed independence. He holds the post throughout the war. An unknown number of buildings are here, but at minimum there are at least a warehouse and horse pens. Presumably there are a tannery and leather-working building as well, given that this camp produced cartridge boxes and harnesses.[20] Among the soldiers is a free African-American, Joseph Hawkins, employed as a saddlemaker.[f] Continental Army recruits often passed through Camp Quankey—briefly, because their terms of service (nine months in 1778-9) started the minute they arrived at the camp.[ii]

Long has weeks of warning about the approach of Cornwallis. He packs up the camp’s stores onto wagons that carry them off in different directions, some as far as New Bern. The British never find them.

This camp’s location likely explains why, on the day of Tarleton’s arrival, at least two companies of the Halifax County Patriot militia muster here—on the wrong side of the creek! Tarleton notes the far heights “afforded a strong position… but (the Patriots) were surprised on the wrong side of the bridge over a deep ravine, and were routed with confusion and loss…”[21]

The Whig militia get shots off, wounding three of the British, before running across the wooden bridge or disappearing into the woods. They reunite across the Roanoke as described earlier.

When Tarleton feels unsure about holding the town uphill, he leaves pickets there during the daytime, but pulls most of his troops back to a better defensive position—now this side of the ravine, since potential attacks would come from the north!

The depot was back in operation by June. An invoice from the assistant quarter master gives an idea of the items stored here: “7 large Barrels Gun Powder (the size of a common Pork Barrel),” plus 50 smaller ones; 500 pounds of lead for making bullets; papers for wrapping “cartridges” of bullets and gunpowder to load in muskets; sheets and bars of iron, salt, sugar, wine, rum, coffee, some clothing supplies, different fabrics, and “Coloured sewing Silk”; and 358 pairs of shoes.[iii]