During the first few months of America’s war for independence, the British redcoats occupying the rebellious city of Boston won one major battle (for Bunker Hill and nearby Breed’s Hill, on June 17, 1775) as well as several minor skirmishes. But the Continental Army, under its new commander George Washington, kept the occupiers bottled up in the city. If the Americans ever managed to place cannons onto the heights overlooking the harbor, the British authorities realized, their position in Boston would become untenable.
So, they came up with a bold new plan: attack North Carolina! Once it was safely back under Loyalist control, the other Southern provinces would soon follow. Without their manpower and resources, the American cause was doomed — or so the British figured.
Perhaps they figured right. We’ll never know, because 250 years ago this week, Britain’s Southern Strategy sustained what proved to be a fatal wound, in what is now Pender County…