Moore’s Plantation

Blood at Buchoi

Location


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Coordinates: 34.2214, -77.9827.

Type: Sight
Tour: Cape Fear
County: Brunswick

Access LogoFull

Park in the lot near the entrance of the Brunswick Riverwalk off NC 133.

This tour visits a grassy area and sandy trail that are relatively flat, and the latter is wheelchair accessible. Some people with mobility issues may need assistance, however. You can also just remain in your vehicle.

Context

A British corps of 300 under Maj. James Craig occupied Wilmington in January 1781.

Situation

Loyalist

Loyalist or “Tory” supporters of the king formed militia companies of part-time soldiers to regain control of Southeastern North Carolina for the British and gather supplies for Craig’s force.

Patriot

In October, North Carolina sent Brig. Gen. Griffith Rutherford and 1,000 men or more from the western part of the state to suppress the Loyalists and remove Craig. The main force moved around to the north, ending up at Heron’s Bridge nine miles above town. Maj. Joseph Graham’s unit was one of several detached under Col. Robert Smith to approach Wilmington directly from the west.

Date

Wednesday, November 14, 1781.

Timeline

Imagine the Scene

Buchoi

Walk toward the playground and turn right inside the rail fence. Continue toward the road and stop somewhere between the playground and the driveway.

You are standing on Buchoi Plantation, owned by Alfred Moore during the American Revolution. A 1970s archaeology study found “a house structure, including ballast stone foundations, brick rubble, and a brick cistern” about 200 feet east of the highway. The plantation had “a separate kitchen building… a barn, slave quarters, and other outbuildings.”1

A sign you’ll see later suggests the main house was in this area, but a 2016 archaeology dig found no structures.2 Given the 200-foot measure, and that plantation homes normally were built at the highest poin