Moments In History That "Make Us"
This battle was a turning point in American history that soon led to widespread rebellion against England's rule and the American Revolution.
This lens gives some of the history of both the Battle of Alamance and Captain Benjamin Merrill.
Captain Benjamin Merrell
Governor Tryon in May of 1771 set out with his military forces to put down the rebellious Regulators. This led to the "Battle of Alamance", which William Fitch in his book "Some Neglected History of North Carolina" (1905), described as the ". . .First battle of the American Revolution". Of course, the Regulators, without ammunition, not organized, and without military training, were soundly defeated by Governor Tryon's British soldiers. The bloodthirsty nature of Tryon was demonstrated when he ordered fire set to the woods on which the dead and wounded soldiers lay.
Unfortunately, Captain Merrill, who was on his way to join the Regulators at Alamance with a company of more than three hundred men, was within one day's march of reaching Alamance when he heard of the battle and the defeat of the Regulators by the Governor's army. On his way to Alamance he had intercepted General Hugh Waddell with his soldiers, forced him to flee and took most of the soldiers prisoner. Had he reached Alamance the day before the battle, it is likely that history may have recorded a totally different result. Upon hearing of the defeat at Alamance, he disbanded his men and returned home. A few days later, on Saturday, June 1, 1771, he was taken prisoner, and along with other prisoners, dragged off to Hillsborough.
Was This The First Battle Of The American Revolution?
The Battle of Alamance at a Glance
The Battle of Alamance ended the so-called War of the Regulation, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control. Some historians consider it the opening salvo of the American Revolution, although the rebellion was against local government, and not against the king or crown. Named for nearby Great Alamance Creek, the battle took place in the central Piedmont about eight miles south of present-day Burlington, North Carolina.
In the spring of 1771, Governor William Tryon left his lavish palace in New Bern, marching militia troops west to quell a rebellion that had been brewing in western counties for many years. Up to that point, the "war" had included only minor, scattered acts of violence. The Regulators, with approximately 2000 men to Tryon's 1000, hoped to gain concessions from the governor by intimidating him with a show of superior force. On May 16, 1771, the Regulators, led by men such as Maryland native Hermon Husband, rejected Tryon's command to disperse peacefully. Tryon marched his troops south from their campsite on Alamance Creek, confronting the Regulators in formation along the road. It is said that Tryon himself fired the first, fatal shot of the battle. The Regulators lacked leadership, organization, and adequate munitions. Many, including Husband, fled the field. Delays prevented approximately 300 reinforcements under Captain Benjamin Merrill from arriving in time to help the rebel cause.
The Regulators lost and their rebellion failed. Losses for Tryon included nine dead and 61 wounded; although the Regulators are said to have fallen in much greater numbers, with historians averaging the estimated injuries at 100, there were somewhere between 10 and 15 or so killed. Tryon took 13 prisoners, one of them (James Few) being executed at the camp, and six executed later in nearby Hillsborough. Many Regulators traveled on to frontier areas beyond North Carolina. The governor pardoned others and allowed them to stay on condition they pledge an oath of allegiance to the royal government.
The battle took place in what was then Orange County. During the American Revolution a decade later, the same section of Orange County (subdivided into Alamance County in 1849) hosted several minor skirmishes, including the infamous Pyle's Hacking Match in 1781.
Tried For Treason!
Tried For Treason!
"That the prisoner should be carried to the place from whence he came; that he should be drawn from thence to the place of execution and hanged by the neck; that he should be cut down while yet alive; that his bowels should be taken out and burned before his face; that his head should be cut off, and that his body should be divided into four quarters, which were to be placed at the King's disposal, and may the Lord have mercy on your soul." (Colonial Records of N.C., Vol. 8, p. 643).
It is not recorded as to whether his sentence was carried out in the gory manner described above, but one account states the following:
"We are not told whether the execution was carried out in all of its details according to the English form or not, but does the reader for one instant doubt that one of Tryon's bloodthirsty nature would let an opportunity pass to make the execution as horrifying as he possibly could to the miserable wretches; and thereby lose his first opportunity to carry into effect his newly created act, wherein riot was made treason. A general who would order fire set to the woods on a battle-field covered with dead and wounded soldiers, as Tryon did at Alamance, would not hesitate very long about carrying out the letter of the law governing the trial and exectution of prisoners indicted for high treason."
Memorial To Hanging of Regulators
Check Out These Books For More Info On Benjamin Merrill
Supplement to Captain Benjamin Merrill and the Merrill family of North Carolina
Amazon Price: (as of 07/10/2009) 
The battle of Alamance: (the first battle of the American revolution)
Amazon Price: (as of 07/10/2009)
List of participants in the Battle of Alamance: From The war of the Regulators, it's place in history, an unpublished thesis
Amazon Price: (as of 07/10/2009)
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dc64 wrote...
Thanks for doing a lens on this piece of history. I knew a little about the Regulators, but not in much detail. Hopefully, these men were not hung as the English law of treason described.
Posted November 18, 2008
by anthropos
Hello, My name is Lamar
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