Program to Highlight Cape Fear Campaign of 1776

While the Battle of Moore’s Creek is well known, the events in the months after North Carolina’s first clash in the war for independence are rarely remembered – especially the fighting throughout the lower Cape Fear.

Jim McKee will present the program “Independence is the Word Most Used: The 1776 Cape Fear Campaign” Saturday at the meeting of the Southeastern North Carolina Genealogical Society in Whiteville.

The presentation will highlight the 1776 Cape Fear Campaign after the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge.

This was the first true British Invasion of the South and it will be the first taste of a new type of warfare not experienced by several major British officers who will become prominent during the American Revolution. Generals Sir Henry Clinton and Charles Cornwallis will get their first experience fighting in America against North Carolina Patriots. Brunswick Town will meet its demise and the Royal Navy will reign dominant on the river until October of 1776. The British will conduct raids on Brunswick; fight a skirmish at Orton; and face an amphibious operation on Bald Head Island.

McKee is the Site Manager at Brunswick Town/Fort Anderson State Historic Site in Winnabow. He is a native North Carolinian and still a student of North Carolina history. His current research includes 18th century naval stores and rice industries; Port Brunswick; 1776 Cape Fear Campaign; Fort Anderson/Wilmington Campaign; and the 1865 Refugee Crisis, as well as several other topics of interest.

The society meets this month at the First Presbyterian Church Fellowship Hall, located at 511 North Thompson St., Whiteville at 2 p.m. Some members and visitors arrive early to share family histories.

This event is free and the public is invited to attend.