The Regulators of North Carolina
Vigilante Groups Take Neglect of Justice Into Their Own Hands!
Many colonists residing in the back country of North Carolina, between the piedmont and the Proclamation Line of 1763, lost their hard won homes because they were unable to pay their property tax. Generally they had worked hard enough that the produce of the land held plenty of value to pay the tax. The problem was that converting it to hard specie in these unpopulated areas was next to impossible. There just wasn’t enough in circulation. Corrupt government officials began to take advantage of this by seizing the affected property to auction it off to pay the tax bill. These same officials were finding their names on hundreds of deeds throughout the Colony.
Regulator Leadership
While there was never a strong sense of leadership in the regulator movement, two men would stand out above the rest. One, a Quaker who was removed from his Monthly Meeting for the activity was Herman Husband. He generally agreed that violence was not the best course and busied himself printing pamphlets to support the cause. However, in the end, he felt that justice would only be established by force. One of the leading military minds was William Butler. His influence was instrumental in whipping the vigilante groups to an emotional fighting peak but his leadership skills did not translate into an effectively unified military effort.
Law Abiding Regulators or Vigilante Mobs?
Early confrontations between the Regulators and government officials were seen by the Royal Governor, William Tryon, as mob violence. Most of the wealthier citizens in the populated areas supported his tactics in quelling these riots. In many of the actions, the crowd would get out of control and even innocent bystanders were injured. Because of no effective central control, the individual vigilante groups irreparably marred the reputation of the movement as a whole. The various skirmishes, riots and general insurrection have been called The War of the Regulation by many historians. Finally, Governor Tryon called out the North Carolina Militia to put down the rebellion.
The Battle of Alamance Creek
On that slightly humid spring morning in 1771, William Tryon sent a message for the “rebels” to lay down their arms and surrender. It went unheeded. Battle lines were formed as 1000 North Carolina Militia, armed to the teeth went up against a more spartanly armed group of about 2000 Regulators. The battle was never in question. With no effective command, the regulators dispersed into small pockets of resistance that were easily overpowered. After just a couple of hours, 9 men had fallen on each side and by 2:30 the battle was over. By that evening 6 of 15 prisoners taken were sentenced to hang and the rest were exiled to the rugged and inhospitable mountains on the other side of the Proclamation line. Interestingly enough, it would be a contingent of these “over the mountain men” that were to be instrumental in the defeat of Loyalist troops at the pivotal Battle of Kings Mountain in the Revolutionary War.
Sources
The Unknown American Revolution by Gary B. Nash, 2006, Penguin Books
The Real History of the American Revolution by Alan Axelrod, 2007, Sterling Publishing
Governor William Tryon
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