As revolution broke out among the colonies in the new world, North Carolina was divided between the hopes of a new, free nation and the stability of English rule.
Governor Martin, loyal to the crown, began to gather an army of about 1,600 men present: Highlanders, other loyalists, and some 130 ex-Regulators. They were placed under the command of MacDonald. Their plan was to supply loyalist troops coming by sea, gather weapons for their own men, and join the campaign to reclaim the colony of North Carolina for the King.
The patriots met 1,000 men under the control of Col. Richard Caswell of the patriot militia near Moore's Creek Bridge.
Caswell mislead MacDonald's Army by luring the loyalist to attack a small camp of 150 men near the bridges crossing. But when they attacked in the pre-dawn, they found an abandoned camp and were under fire from across the bridge. The Loyalist chose to fight on, MacDonald ordered poorly armed Scottish men, mainly armed with broadswords and pikes, to cross the bridge and engage the enemy. CaswellÂ’s militia had removed the struts and greased the supports of the bridge, making it a death trap for the Scottish highlanders. Although only 30 of the King's supporters lost their lives, the patriots only lost one man and were able to prevent the loyalist from landing in Wilmington. Within a month that MacDonald's men and supplies were under the control of the Patriot's Militia and the Loyalist movement to seize North Carolina was lost.
