In 1776, America was a country at war with itself. British soldiers had shot colonial militia at Lexington and Concord, only to be shot in return by Massachusetts farmers and Minutemen on the long march back to Boston. In North Carolina, people were divided between those who wanted to remain loyal to King George III, and those who were ready to break away from Great Britain to form their own nation. North Carolina's Royal Governor, Josiah Martin, had fled from New Bern's Tryon Palace to the safety of a British warship anchored in the Cape Fear River. From there, he made a plan to put down the rebellion in the South with an army of Highlanders. Patriots who wanted a break with England wanted to stop that army. In February 1776, the two sides came together in a brief, fierce clash at a small creek in modern Pender County. It would be the first patriot victory against the British in the South, and the battle's outcome would shake governments on both sides of the Atlantic Ocean. This is the story of that clash.

Author: Jack E. Fryar, Jr.