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Photos by BladenOnline.com, Rod Fritz and Andrew Finkler
Contributed by Terry Smith
Edited by Sheila Calloway
Bagpipes and cannon fire burst through the serenity of a sunlit Sabbath as a few 18th Century-clad history enthusiasts hosted a gathering at Tory Hole Park August 26th to commemorate the 237th stage.
Following an opening blast from an 18th Century style cannon by Moore’s Creek Battlefield volunteers, bagpiper Walker Wilkins, son of Andrew and Shari Finkler of Hope Mills, drew visitors’ attention to the amphitheater stage. There Sunday Allen, a Bladen County history teacher, captured the attention of an audience of young and old, setting the stage with primary source-based spotlights on real local people who were impacted by the American Revolution. Ms. Allen is also a volunteer at Harmony Hall Plantation Village and member of the Battle of Elizabethtown Chapter of Daughters of the American Revolution.
Key players from both sides were featured such as infamous Loyalist Colonels David Fanning and John Slingsby and the Patriot trio of “Colonel Thomases” – Brown, Owen and Robeson. Details from lesser known figures set the local scene including the account of Josiah Singletary, a young participant in the battle and the “receipt” for Indian corn from Col. Slingsby to eighty-year old William Cain of Tar Heel, whose property was “visited” at least twice in 1781 by the enemy who plundered, burned and stole at will. Other neighbors lost their homes as revealed by documents from two harangued militia captains, Peter Robeson and James Shipman. Targeted for death, their homes were the scenes of more violence and property destruction. Each man also had a brother whose property suffered as well. Similar unlawful acts were committed during the conflict by both sides in that brutal year of deprivation as the war wound down.
Ms. Allen provided an overview of the battle and read of the names of Bladen and Duplin Militia Whigs believed to have been participants; she also included known Loyalists. The Patriots, thought to number about 70 desperate men, crossed the Cape Fear in pre-dawn darkness a mile below Elizabethtown and raided the Tory-held village, fatally wounding Slingsby and several others, ridding Elizabethtown of some 300 loyal subjects of King George. The rout complete, all Whig Patriot militia soldiers re-crossed the Cape Fear in the light of day, victorious in their daring feat, having suffered but two slight injuries.
The presentation concluded with the laying of a wreath by the DAR Battle of Elizabethtown Chapter which had several members in attendance. Two Children of the American Revolution members, Addison and Tucker Bordeaux, attended with their mother and grandmother who are both DAR members. As the skirl of bagpipes resumed, guests dispersed downhill to visit the living historians for a lesson on camp life in the 18th Century. The event was planned by Elizabethtown Town Hall under the direction of Rodney Fritz with support from coordinators Sunday Allen, Matthew Woods, and representatives from the Moore’s Creek National Battlefield, local DAR chapter and Harmony Hall volunteers.
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