Were the first shots of the American Revolution fired at Lexington and Concord or did they actually occur a few years earlier in North Carolina?

Some may say yes, but I am not so sure. It would be easy to make generalizations but such conclusions have so many exceptions which makes the statement invalid. Dissident colonist did raise arms against the British Colonial Governor but many other factors would have to also be considered.

The origins of the Regulator movement revolved around the traditional conflict between the interests of the coastal colonists and those living on the frontier. The frontier area was actually separated from the coastal region by a thick forest belt. Many of the frontiersmen had migrated from Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania rather than from the coast which contributed to an even more diverse cultural difference between them and the coastal residents. The frontiersmen lived in a culture of an independent, few rules, society where the economy was based on barter rather than using coinage.

The frontiersmen resented being told by the "Proclamation of 1763" that they could not move further west. Another problem was that the barter economy made paying the government's taxes difficult. In addition most of the administrative offices (sheriff, judges, tax treasurers and clerks) were filled by Tidewater Colonist rather than by local men. All of these grievances festered from 1764 until the final battle at Alamance on May 16, 1771.

The Regulator movement consisted primarily of protests and riots with beatings and tar-featherings being more common than armed 'killing' attacks. Even on the day prior to the day of the final battle, two government officers were captured and 'whipped' which caused some Regulators to leave the camp in protest to the treatment of the officers. It's key leaders including Husband attempted to settle the conflict without armed actions up until the day of the battle. There was only one formal battle with a second almost occurring near Yadkins River. Most of the other confrontations were regarded as incidents with few if any injuries.

The heartland of the Regulator movement consisted of the western counties of Anson, Granville, Rowan and to a lessor extent Orange. However these counties actually provided a significant number of troops to both sides. The Regulator movement was seriously hampered by a lack of leadership. No man was capable of unifying the various bands which ensured the movements failure. The independent nature of the movement and its various groups prevented any storing of arms or even any basic training of its troops.

After serious incidents in 1768, there was a lull in confrontations but the tension remained.

The Year of Decision: 1771

In late 1770 the Colonial Legislature feared being overwhelmed by Regulator mobs and asked the Governor to raise the militia (referred to in some sources as Royalist or Loyalists, I will use the term Royalist for government militia troops) and stop the Regulator force. From March until April 1771, the Governor raised units, though an enlistment bounty had to be offered to increase the number of volunteers. These troops drilled until the first of May when the campaign began.

Unlike the Regulators, Royalist troops did not lack in leaders. Governor Tryon's command include 151 officers out of 1068 men (about 12%) and General Waddell's command included 48 officers out of 284 men (18%). While these numbers are out of proportion, due to the unreliable nature of the enlisted recruits, it was fortunate for them that the ratio was so low. The Royalist forces marched out on campaign with a drilled well-officered organization to fight a virtually untrained, leaderless mob. The issue as to which side would win was never in doubt.

General Hugh Waddell's Cape Fear Militia command included Bladen and Cumberland counties. It was well equipped with arms from the Fort Johnston armory and consisted of 236 enlisted men plus 48 officers divided into units based on their location of enlistment. Their mission was to move through Rowan county, considered the Regulator's main base and meet with Governor Tryon's command at Hillsborough. Shortly after beginning their march, the Royalist force crossed the Yadkin River and encountered a larger blocking force of Regulators (2000 men) including Captain Merrill's 300 men. General Waddell meet with his officers and after being informed about the lack of dependability within his ranks, he elected to retreat and establish defense positions on the other side of the river near Salisbury. This situation provides a good 'What If' scenario and a second battle for the gamer.

Governor Tryon's command included units from several counties (Carteret under Thompson, Orange under Fanning, Beufort under Bryan, New Hanover under Ashe and Dobbs under Caswell, Onslow under Craig, Craven under Leech, some Rangers under Neale and Duplin Light Horse under Bullock) which totaled about 917 enlisted men and 151 officers plus five (some sources list only three) small cannon under Moore. It should be noted that several garrisons with more officers than normal (two Orange county companies) were left at Hillsboro and at the main pre-battle camp site (Wake detachment ?) which lowered slightly the officer ratio for the actual battle.

The units of varying sizes were comprised of men from the same county with Dobbs and Orange counties providing more than one company.

After spending the night of the 15th along the Alamance Creek, Governor Tryon deployed his force into two lines about 100 yards apart and advanced toward the Regulator camp. In the first rank (best as I can tell from left to right) were deployed units from Carteret, Orange, Beufort, New Hanover and Dobbs counties plus the two pieces of artillery in the center along with a Light Horse troop from Orange county which was acting as Tyron's escort. The second reserve rank included companies from Onslow, Johnston and Dobbs ?? counties plus the Duplin Light Horse troop. Neale's Rangers operated on each flank as independent platoons. Governor Tryon was positioned in the center of the front rank with the artillery. Col Caswell commanded the right wing of the first rank while Col Fanning commanded the Left Wing. The second rank had Col Thompson commanding the Right Wing and Col Leech commanding the Left Wing.

The undisciplined nature of the Regulators was reflected in their lack of sentries, so they were unprepared when the Royalist troops arrived. Only the Tryon's truce of one hour to allow the regulators to disperse allowed them time to organize and form ranks. Some formations began the battle as close as 25 yards with most at about 100 yards. At the end of the truce Royalist troops, only after bitter prodding by Tryon himself, finally opened fire. The coordinated leadership, training, though limited, and use of cannon provided government troops with tremendous advantages. Regulators had 2000 men but Governor Tryon estimated that only 1000 men had weapons. The cannon using both round and grape shot proved very effective against the Regulators.

The Royalist forces used primarily volley-platoon fire while the Regulators most effective troops were sharpshooters using "Indian warfare" skirmish tactics. Some of the troops in skirmish order advanced toward the guns and actually occupied them but the Regulators failed to send formed troops to secure the gains which allowed the Royalists to retake the guns. The Regulators continued to march and counter-march on the battlefield in an independent manner with no coordination or clear objectives.

The Regulator formations withered away after key leaders including Cpt Montgomery (viewed by some as the most capable Regulator officer) were shot or fled. Of course pro-Regulator writers indicate that they fled only after they ran out of ammunition. The battle lasted about two hours before Royalist troops began to round up prisoners. Royalist troops set fire to the surrounded woods in an effort to drive out any Regulator snipers which remained in the area.

While official reports had as few as nine men killed per side, these numbers are suspect. With initial volleys as close as 25 yards, several hits could be expected with each volley. Other local reports had fifteen casualties listed for the Beaufort Militia Royalist company alone. Also Regulator Riflemen Pugh was later hung in part because it was said that he shot fifteen men by himself. It was reported by several sources that several regulators were "toasted" or "roasted " in the surrounded woods which had been burned.

As another "What If" scenario for gamers is to include Captain Merrill's 300 man command in the Regulator OB. He was regarded as one of the more capable officers. His force was part of the force that had halted General Waddell at the Yadkin River. This would give the Regulators two capable field commanders and more armed men than the Royalist forces.

The aftermath of the Regulator movement can be felt even throughout the American Revolution. It clearly showed that American colonists were willing to take up arms to defend their rights and beliefs regardless of which side they joined. Did all Regulators fight for the Patriots and pro-government troops become Loyalists ? No, several prominent North Carolina Patriots fought along side of Governor Tryon in 1771. The new North Carolina governor felt that the Regulator's Loyalty oath would ensure that they flocked to the Loyalist banner which also did not happen.

Also by 1772 as many as 1,500 Regulators had migrated to Kentucky with more following during the next few years. However, bad blood did exist and fester between families that remained in the North Carolina frontier. The feuds caused families to offer support to a cause not because of any strong convictions but rather due to the fact that a rival family supported the other side. Many of the non-Tidewater settlers from the northern colonies did tend to support the Patriot cause later. It also appears that many of the settlers of Scottish decent had fought for Tryon and continued to remain pro-government Loyalists in 1775.

Notes on Uniforms

Being independent groups, the Regulator troops did not wear uniforms. There may have been the occasional uniform worn by a veteran of the French and Indian Wars but that would have been rare. Their basic clothing would have been worn which would have been the same as those worn by various militia and volunteer units of the later American Revolution. Frontier dress commonly included hunting frocks and buckskins but store bought clothing was also worn. While most men brought their own personal rifle or musket not every man had a gun. In addition there was a shortage of powder and shot. I am not sure that any field recognition signs were used by the Regulators.

Since most of the Royalist troops were newly recruited militia, there was also a lack of uniforms among their units. Most of the officers would have worn the blue regimental coat with red facings which was associated with American Provincial troops. The only items of note in regards to uniforms in Tryon's 'notices' was that each man would be issued a haversack, ammunition box and a cockade for their hat. Yellow cockades are noted for officers as "mark of authority" but I am not certain whether the enlisted men's cockade was white as in some examples or yellow like the officers. Governor Tryon was mounted on a large white horse. In regards to flags or colors, there is a comment to government troops having "red silk colours flying".

Short Selected Bibliography

Fitch, W.E. Neglected History of North Carolina. 1905.
Foote, William H. Sketches of North Carolina. 1846.
Powell, W.S., Farnham and Huhta (editors). The Regulators of North Carolina.