An escape artist who slipped free of Patriot shackles a total of fourteen times, Loyalist Colonel David Fanning was a master of partisan warfare who became one of the most feared champions of the British cause. His dominance over North Carolina in 1781 led to the capture of the state capitol. This included Governor Butler and his legislature, and the defeat of an American force that sought to rescue the governor. The ensuing action proved in size and severity in North Carolina only to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Samuel A. Ashe (North Carolina soldier, superior court judge, statesman, and governor) wrote of Fanning that he was “one of the most extraordinary men evolved by the Revolutionary War.”
Mark the perfect man and behold the upright! For the end of that man is peace.
David Fanning, July 24, 1790. From Psalm 37
Fanning’s life was engulfed by conflict and controversy, much of it he had himself to blame. Multiple arrests by neighboring patriots and weeks chained naked to jail floors, hunted in forests where he spent months living like a wild animal; after seven years of constant warfare, his conversion from docile farmer to what was labeled a ‘vengeful demon’ was complete. As a warrior, he exacted a terrible and savage revenge on his perceived enemies. Towards the end of the war, after having torched patriot homes, he chased down the fleeing men and ruthlessly cut them “into pieces with his own sword.” But Fanning was not alone. The level of brutality perpetrated by southern loyalists can only be matched by the cold-blooded atrocities practiced by southern patriots. In the Carolinas, the American Revolution forced friends and neighbors to take sides in a vicious civil war that was both merciless and unforgiving. At the conclusion of the war, when loyalists throughout the state of North Carolina were offered pardons to return to their homes, Fanning was one of only three who were never offered absolution.
Some years later, Fanning narrated his war “adventures” in a memoir. The frankness of Fanning’s narrative spoke of the ferocious murders committed on fellow citizens by both sides of the conflict; an unleashed violence that increased in intensity in the last year of the war. His actions were often spurred by revenge from deemed wrongs he had suffered prior to and during the struggle. So too, his many captivities, including the brutal treatment of fellow loyalists suffered at the hands of partisan patriots. His ruthlessness was equaled by his chilling self-satisfaction years later in the telling of his horrendous deeds, showing no remorse for his many victims. Referencing Psalm 37, he resolved unto himself all acts of violence and brutality writing: “Mark the perfect man, and behold the upright! For the end of that man is peace.”
What transpired in David Fanning’s life prior to the war and during the first years of conflict that eventually morphed a ‘backwoods’ farmer into a horrific killer? Reading through his narrative, one is taken aback by the sheer number of violent encounters he had with neighboring patriots. It was non-stop throughout the entire bloody conflict. Was he impelled to carve a trail of death after years of constant harassment, continual imprisonments, theft, starvation, while forced to ‘lay-out’ in the woods, pursued and living like a wild animal? Did witnessing the ruthless destruction of men who fought alongside launch him on a merciless killing spree? Or was he simply just a “bad man,” as he often described his patriotic foes? Whatever the reason, one can assume that at the core of Fanning’s bloodthirsty propensity, was a well-nourished hatred towards those he considered his enemies. As Ray Raphael stated in his People’s History of the American Revolution, “…it is unlikely that Fanning was driven to such extremes by a profound fondness for ‘his Majesty’s good Government’…his violent acts were much more personal.”
Early Life
David Fanning (October 35, 1755 – March 14, 1825 – Edited Narration gives c1754 as birth) was born in Beech Swamp, Amelia County, Virginia, a small, frontier settlement. A short time later, his father, senior David Fanning, moved the family to Johnston County, now Wake County, North Carolina (the edited portion of Fanning’s narration gave this location as his birth). Shortly after arrival, the elder Fanning drowned in the Deep River, NC. By 1764, both David and his older sister Elizabeth were orphaned after the death of their mother and lived with separate foster parents. David was bound to Needham Bryan, Jr., Wake County Justice of the Peace.
From an early age, Fanning had suffered from ‘scald head’, a skin disease that resulted in severe hair loss and caused open sores. The condition was so bad that Fanning’s memoir stated he always ate alone and wore a red silk cap, even among his closest friends. According to the edited introduction to Fanning’s narration, his time with Mr. Bryan was miserable; “…on account of harsh treatment, he ran away [from Bryan] about sixteen or seventeen years of age.” Fanning found shelter and food where he could and with his skin disease, “…His miserable condition excited compassion, and secured for him a temporary refuge at the house of John O’Deniell (O’Daniel), of the Haw Fields, in Orange County.”
Fanning’s life improved during his time with the O’Deniells’. He learned to read and write and so too was cured of his skin infection, though it left him bald to which he continued to wear a silk cap. Fanning’s briefly mentions his early years, stating only that he was “farm bred.” During the time he was with the O’Deniells’, approximately aged sixteen to eighteen, he was apprenticed to Thomas Leech, a loom mechanic. He also acquired a skill in training horses. In 1773, at age eighteen, Fanning left for western South Carolina and settled with Joseph Keller on Raeburn’s Creek, “a branch of the Reedy River, in Laurens district” [Henry Laurens – ship merchant and owner of several plantations, was one of the wealthiest men in America] Fanning acquired some property which he began to farm. While at Raeburn’s Creek, at age nineteen, Fanning initiated trade with the Cherokee and the Catawba Native Americans. He came to call this region home and during the war, would return to Raeburn’s Creek time and again after having escaped or been released from captivity by local patriots, or after his many raids against local ‘rebels’.
Early Conflicts as War Looms Over America
According to Fanning’s memoir, “On his return from a trading excursion, at the beginning of the difficulties with the mother country [England], he was met by a party of lawless fellows who called themselves Whigs, and robbed by them of everything he had. Previously to this he had preferred to be a Whig but, exasperated at the outrage perpetrated by these desperadoes, he changed sides…”
Once hostilities erupted at Lexington and Concord, Massachusetts, in April, 1775, southern militias attached their alliance to either the loyalist or patriot factions. In South Carolina, most coastal residents claimed neutrality or favored the patriot cause while significant numbers of backcountry colonials, mainly German and Scottish immigrants, remained loyal to the British crown. Colonel Richard Richardson led militia forces in the Charleston region who actively joined the rebellion against England. Backcountry loyalist militias were championed by influential planter Colonel Thomas Fletchall. While the Whigs gathered forces along the coast, Colonel Fletchall moved to retain a strong inland gathering for the king. On July 13, 1775, he used his influence to coerce any waverers towards the patriot cause from signing the Association of the Revolutionary party, an oath of allegiance put forth by South Carolina’s Committee of Safety which denounced England. Promoted to sergeant, David Fanning detailed this event in his memoir. The articles, which insured loyalty to the rebellion, was read by Major Terry to Fletchall’s regiment at Fletchall’s Fair Forest planation. Not one man signed it to which Fletchall expressed his approval. The men then agreed to sign an association of their own expressing loyalty to the king. By August of 1775, both sides had raised sizable militia forces to which a showdown of partisan forces was imminent.
Events moved rapidly towards open hostilities between the two militia forces. On September 15, 1775, patriot militia under Richardson seized Fort Johnson, the primary fortification on Charleston harbor. Around this same time, Royal Governor William Campbell dissolved the provincial assembly; however, fearing for his safety, he left Charleston for the Royal Navy sloop of war HMS Tamar, anchored in the harbor. [Governing from British ships-of-war were repeated by royal governors in other provinces, particularly Virginia and New York]. This left the Whig Committee of Safety in charge of coastal defenses who immediately began to improve the fortifications. In early November, loyalists, under the command of Major Patrick Cunningham, seized a large shipment of gunpowder and ammunition intended for the Cherokee who were aligned with the British. On November 8th, the Committee of Safety sent Colonel Richardson to recover the shipment and arrest opposition (loyalist) leaders.
Meanwhile, Major Andrew Williamson, who had been recruiting patriots in the backcountry, arrived at Ninety-Six (about 170 miles north west of Charleston) with 560 men. He found the small town indefensible and established an improvised stockade at the John Savage planation. Ninety-Six, about sixty miles south of present day Greenville, S. Carolina, was a thriving town of one hundred residents at the time of the American Revolution. At first it was believed named by early trappers who upon reaching that point, estimated ninety-six miles remained to the Cherokee village, Keowee, further up in the South Carolina foothills, [the actual mileage is seventy-eight]. A more recent study claims that “the nine and six,” is a reference to two sets of southerly flowing streams—nine tributaries of Marion and Henley creeks, and six tributaries of Thompsons Creek.
The loyalists had been far more successful in recruiting those faithful to the crown and converged on Fort Ninety-Six with around 1,900 men; Sergeant David Fanning was among them. After a three day siege with modest casualties, the two sides parleyed and the patriots agreed to depart; the rebels toward Charleston and the loyalists across the Saluda River. Once across the river, the loyalist militia were given an eighteen day leave, to reassemble at Hendrick’s Mill, about twenty miles north of Ninety-Six.
Snow Campaign – Battle of Great Cane Brake and Escape to the Cherokee – Fanning’s First of Fourteen Captures
By the time the local patriot militia gave up Ninety-Six, Whig leader Colonel Richardson had begun his march from Charleston into the backcountry. On November 27th, he reached the Congaree River with about 1,000 men. He waited for several days while more militia companies from the region joined his force. By December 2nd, it swelled to around 1,500 men upon which Richardson broke camp and marched upon the loyalists. He soon captured several of Fletchall’s officers which lead to the loyalist’s disorganization and large scale desertion. What remained of the crown militia retreated toward Cherokee lands at the headwaters of the Saluda River. Richardson issued a proclamation calling for the continued arrest of loyalist officers and on the 12th, resumed his march, with now 3,000 men under his command. He quickly captured Colonel Fletchall, who had been hiding in a cave along with several other loyalist leaders. Soon after, Richardson was joined by patriot militia under Colonel Williamson, as well as additional men from North Carolina under Colonels Griffith Rutherford and William Graham. This swelled his force to just under five thousand men.
Richardson spread his men out over the backcountry and located approximately three hundred loyalists on the Reedy River at the Big Cane Break, led by Major Patrick Cunningham. He sent Colonel William Thomson with 1,300 volunteer militia troops to attack. On December 22nd the patriot force, after an all-night march of twenty-five miles, surprised the loyalists at dawn in what became known as the Battle of Great Cane Brake. David Fanning was part of this collection of loyalist militia camped out several miles inside Cherokee territory. In his narration, he briefly described what took place: “The Rebels being informed of our situation, marched unexpectedly upon us, and made prisoners of 130 of men [the official count was 136]; the remainder fled into the woods and continued there, with the Cherokee Indians…” Cunningham narrowly escaped capture, having jumped out of bed, mounting his horse bareback, he shouted to his men to ‘shift’ for themselves, as he rode into the forest.
In the unusually cold weather, the loyalists had been burning cane to stay warm which crackled loudly. This allowed the patriots to sneak up and overwhelm their prey. Only five or six loyalists were killed as Colonel Thompson was able to control his men to avoid a slaughter, capturing many. The patriots suffered only one wounded. Of the loyalist captives, most were forced to sign an oath of alliance and released, while some were taken to Charlestown in chains. The next day, December 23, 1775, it began to snow. The patriot forces immediately departed for the coast. The march home was difficult because the militia was unprepared for the weather. Once back at Charleston, Richardson’s army was dissolved and most of the patriots returned home.
Of loyalist leader Thomas Fletchall, he was imprisoned at Charleston, S. Carolina until July, 1776. After release, he remained in the Charleston. Though not taking an active part against the Whigs, he continued to support his king. Pleased that the British captured Charleston in May of 1780, he continued his residence in Charleston, entertaining the British and other loyalists. After the war’s outcome was certain, Fletchall, along with many other loyalists in the south, was evacuated. He and his family relocated in Jamaica where he died in 1789; his entire estate in S. Carolina having been confiscated.
Fanning and the remainder loyalists who escaped to the forest lived in the wild without food or shelter. The weather turned colder with an unusually heavy snowfall. Both local pursuing patriots and escaped loyalists suffered frostbite and other extreme hardships as they were without cold weather clothing or tents. This became what was later labeled the Snow Campaign. Fanning stated in his memoir that he and some of his fellow loyalists had taken refuge among nearby Cherokee Native Americans, some of whom he had trapped with prior to the war.
Fanning wrote that he remained in the woods until January 18th, when he and others were captured: “I was made a prisoner by a party of Rebels commanded by a Captain John Burns; who after detaining me four days, repeatedly urging me to take the oath of alliance to the United States, stripped me of everything, and made me give security, for my future good behavior, by which means I got clear. On the 10th of May 1776, hearing the Rebels had issued a proclamation to all the friends of government [Fanning’s reference to loyalists like himself], offering them pardon and protection, provided they would return to their respective habitations and remain neutral, this induced me for to return to my home, [Raeburn’s Creek, S. Carolina] where I arrived on the 15th of June” [1776.]
Prisoner, Escapes, Acquittal, and More Captures
Throughout the war, Fanning was captured an incredible number of fourteen times. In each occurrence, he was either pardoned after signing an oath to remain neutral, tried and confined for treason, or most often, escaped both jail and military escorts shortly after capture.
After his first capture and pardon, Fanning returned home to Raeburn Creek, as stated in his narrative, arriving on June 15, 1776. A mere ten days lapsed before he was arrested again. Rumors of an impending Native American attack along with an uncertainty over the large number of former loyalists alarmed the patriot Whigs. On June 24th they arrested many including Fanning. The Native American attack did occur on July 1st, having “come down into the back country in South Carolina”. In the confusion, Fanning was able to escape. He returned home to Raeburn’s Creek for a few days, but true to the rumors, he led a company of loyalists to join the Cherokees. After an attack on a patriot fort, he set out for North Carolina. During the next nine months in North Carolina, he had been captured, imprisoned, and rescued three times before returning home yet again to Raeburn’s Creek on March 10, 1777.
This time he only lasted one day, having been made a prisoner on March 11, 1777. He was tied and led towards prison. Twelve miles from his capture, while the company of patriots slept, he cut the ropes and made good his escape. He hid in the woods and after help from Quakers and Cherokee, was able to return to Raeburn’s Creek. Like a yo-yo that continually snaps back after escaping the palm, Fanning returned home to Raeburn’s Creek and joined another company of loyalists who plagued the patriots. He was eventually captured on Aug. 5th. This time he did not escape. He was taken to Fort Ninety-Six and in November, was tried for treason and high crimes. However, he was acquitted and again, returned home to Raeburn Creek, this for a longer stay.
Fanning’s neutrality lasted four months before on March 1, 1778, Fanning joined loyalist Captain John Tork of East Florida. He travelled to the Georgia Florida border, (about 2 miles above present Augusta, Georgia) with his new company. Along the way he ravaged and captured prisoners. When Tork became discouraged and left his command for Florida, Fanning and the others returned home, having traveled over a hundred miles of “patriot territory.’ Pursued by over three hundred patriot ‘rebels’, Fanning once more hid in the woods. Arriving home, he and fellow loyalist, Samuel Brown, spent the next three months as Fanning had done after the Battle of Great Canes, hiding in the wilderness and surviving of wild forage and food he was able to beg from supporters and the Cherokee. On June 1, 1778, Fanning wrote that he arrived at Tiger river, North Carolina and shortly after made a prisoner by a company of patriots under the command of Captain Goiry. But two nights later, the intuitive loyalist bribed his sentry and made good his escape.
Escape Artist: Houdini of the American Revolution
After this latest escape, Fanning stole a horse and yet again, the yo-yo snapped back to the palm and he returned home to Raeburn’s Creek. He was pursued by the horse’s owner, and, according to Fanning, he agreed to exchange the stolen horse for one of the rebel’s other horses; this to satisfy Fanning’s accusation of a horse having been previously stolen from him by patriots. But as the deal was struck, he was tricked by those who proved to be rebel militia and taken in custody. Fanning wrote, “On my arrival at the Fort [Ninety-Six], I was stript of my clothes, and confined close till morning, when they tied my legs under a horse’s belly, and took me before a magistrate, to commit me to goal.” The local magistrate allowed bail, as Fanning wrote “for good behavior.” But Fanning was not let go. He was taken to another magistrate who ordered him transported to jail. No doubt cognizant of Fanning’s skill at escaping, the officer in charge tied Fanning to a “stout fellow who was one of them”. Fanning wrote that he had spotted a knife, or as he calls it, a “horse fleames” in the road and that night, while the man he was roped to slept, cut himself loose and “took to the mountains for shelter.”
Fanning remained at large during which time, on several occasions, he met with loyalist Colonel Ambrose Mills. [Mills would later be captured at the partisan battle, Kings Mountain, and subsequently hanged]. According to him memoir, he helped Mills raise a company of five hundred loyalists. While heading towards St. Augustine to hazard patriot settlements and forces, “one of the company proved faithless, and gave information to the rebels.” The patriot forces attacked and scattered the loyalists, but not before Mills, along with sixteen of his followers were captured. Fanning, with fourteen of his men, followed the rebels twenty miles, hoping to free their comrades. Finding themselves heavily outnumbered, Fanning and his men turned back, but were pursued. A skirmish erupted and once more the loyalists scattered. Fanning traveled forty miles before he was approached by a past friend, who, along with three others, proved to be rebels; once more the elusive loyalist was made a prisoner.
Again, Fanning was tied under the belly of a horse and taken to Ninety-Six Jail. He wrote that he was confined for seventeen days. During this time, he became acquainted with one of the guards who in turn, “furnished me with two rifles and a knife, by which means I cut through the iron bars and escaped.” He returned to Raeburn’s Creek and, as the pattern continued, hid in the woods, seeking to join with loyalist forces. He wrote that he was convinced by friends to make peace with the patriots writing that he met “with Capt. Gillian, who commanded a company of Rebels on the Indian lines.” In the next month, they met cordially several times until Fanning recorded that, no doubt under pressure from Gillian’s company, he was taken captive during the last of these meetings.
Fanning wrote, “…they carried me again to my old quarters at Ninety-Six, where we arrived on the 11th of October, 1778. I was stripped entirely naked, thrown into irons, and chained to the floor. I remained in that situation until the 20th of December following, when I again made shift, for to get my irons off, and having sawed one of the grates some time before, I again escaped by means of a fellow prisoner, who supplied me with some old clothes, of which I made a rope to let me down…” He wrote that he fell from the rope, but was not injured, but during the pursuit, he tripped and was hurt. And yet again, he made his way home to Raeburn’s Creek, only to be recaptured just three days later.
Wounded During Escape – Suffers Greatly in the Wilderness – Agrees to Pardon in Exchange for Aiding the Patriot Cause
He suffered great hardship while confined at Ninety-six, writing that he had been chained as before, in the center of a large room, with snow “beating in, through the roof, with four grates open night and day.” He remained in this state for eleven days when once more, the illusive loyalist managed to remove his chains on February 12th, 1779. The next evening, he pried a bar loose. Then one of the floor planks before scurrying to a breach he had made in the chimney during one of his previous captures. He and a fellow prisoner happened upon several horses grazing in the field. They stole two and rode to a farm where they clothed themselves, stealing food, a rifle, and pair of pistols. The next day, Fanning’s fellow inmate was captured, but Fanning was able to outrun his pursuit.
Frustrated by Fanning’s ability to continually escape capture, a bounty was put on his head. “An advertisement was, then, made public, for apprehending me; and a reward of Seventy silver dollars, and Three Hundred paper ones, was offered to take me.” Soon after, he was discovered and shot. “I received two bullets in my back; one of which is not extracted. I luckily kept my seat in the saddle, and rode off.” Yet, shortly after, his horse fell forcing him to lose his mount and rifle. He spent the next week in the woods, wondering without rations, while the wounds became infected. He made his way to an old friend to seek help writing that, “I looked so much like a rack of nothing but skin and bones, and my wounds had not been dressed, and my clothes all bloody. My misery and situation was beyond explanation…” He recovered with the aid of his friend and several others. However, pressure was put upon Fanning to turn himself in, unless, as Fanning wrote, his friend’s homes would be confiscated and the families banished from South Carolina.
A master of Partisan Warfare, Fanning was one of the most extraordinary men evolved by the Revolutionary War. Samuel A Ashe
Samuel A. Ashe
Fanning penned a letter to Governor John Rutledge in Charleston, offering his surrender. He recorded, “about a week after his [Rutledge] answer came back with a conditional pardon for that which I had done, should be forgotten, and that I should live quietly and peacefully at home; and be obliged to pilot parties through the woods as occasion might require. Fanning agreed, and in his narrative wrote that he spent the next year and twelve days living quietly at home in Raeburn’s Creek. He occasionally scouted for the rebel militia and claims that he was asked to join the Continental army, which he refused. His time assisting the American cause ended abruptly when the British invaded the south.
Joined Loyalist Force After British Southern Invasion
British Commander-in-Chief in America, General Sir Henry Clinton, commanding a large invasion force from New York, captured Charleston, South Carolina on May 12, 1780. So too, an entire American Army, over five thousand men under Continental Army commander General Benjamin Lincoln, surrendered and ceased to exist. This opened the Carolinas to British subjugation and allowed loyalists like Fanning to freely organize.
From May, 1780 to June of 1782, Fanning would accompany and later lead loyalist forces in guerrilla tactics that scorched the Carolinas in ruthless bloodshed. Revenge for what he considered past wrongs and the suffering he had endured in the both the wilderness and during captivity, exploded in bloody retribution upon the heads of his fellow patriot neighbors; actions that often proved to be heated and brutal in what became a general civil war.
Fanning lost no time in recruiting fellow loyalists. He wrote, “We now found ourselves growing strong, and numbers flocking daily to us.” He wrote that he joined a company of loyalists under Captain Parish and marched to Ninety-Six where they took over the abandoned fort. They immediately continued a further twelve miles and also, without firing a shot, captured the patriot fort at Whitehall, scattering two companies of Provisional troops under General Andrew Williamson. Williamson later took parole from the British in June of 1780, spending the rest of the war spying for the Americans. Soon after, Rebel Colonel Andrew Pickens and three hundred of his men laid down their arms and were paroled (Pickens assuming his former command after his exchange). General Robert Cunningham took command of the growing number of loyalists and established his camp in the region of Ninety-Six. For the next several weeks, Fanning and his fellow loyalists scouted the region and continually skirmished with local patriot militia, receiving and inflicting casualties.
Tide Began to Turn Back for the Americans/ King’s Mountain, Cowpens, and Pyle’s Massacre
Throughout the fall and winter months of 1780-1781, Fanning and his men ranged throughout South Carolina to Georgia and north into North Carolina. On one expedition in early October, 1780, Fanning wrote, “I fell in with Major Forgesson’s party, which was defeated, five days afterwards.” This was no doubt Major Patrick Fergusson’s Loyalist Provincial troops. The defeat Fanning mentioned would have been the Battle of King’s Mountain, S. Carolina, on October 7, 1780. This defeat of a strong loyalist force that had been heavily recruited throughout the Carolinas, and the death of it’s British leader, Major Fergusson, is considered the pivotal point in which the tide began to turn against the British and their loyalist allies. Fanning noted this in his narration: “The Rebels after that, began to be numerous and troublesome; and little or no regulation amongst us.”
Though Fanning wrote that he fell in with Fergusson five days before his defeat at King’s Mountain, he makes no mention of being present during the battle. Nor does he write that he was present during the other major event in the southern war that continued to turn the tide for the Americans; the Battle of Cowpens, S. Carolina, January 17, 1781, where American General Daniel Morgan defeated a force under Colonel Banastre Tarleton. After King’s Mountain, Fanning and his men continued to patrol the Carolinas and by February, was in North Carolina writing, “I made the best of my way to Deep River, North Carolina [his home as a youth prior to moving to South Carolina], where I remained until the month of February, 1781.”
Fanning wrote that after British General Charles Cornwallis pursued American General Nathanael Greene to Hillsborough, he was present during what has later been termed Pyle’s Massacre, February 24, 1781. [we] “…embodied about 300 men under the command of Colonel Pyles.” Patriot troops under Continental Dragoon leader Colonel Henry “Lighthorse Harry” Lee and militia Colonel Andrew Pickens, attacked Loyalist militia horsemen under Doctor Colonel John Pyle. Fanning wrote that “He [Pyle] fell in with a party of Rebels (Col. Lee s dragoons) and lost 20 men killed, besides the wounded, that died afterwards.” Fanning was nearby in Deep River during the massacre, but wrote that he was marching to join Pyle when “…came within a little distance of the Dragoons [Lee’s Continentals], that had cut him [Pyle] up, when I was informed of his misfortune by some of his party that had fled; we then separated into small parties and took to the woods for some time.”
Note, Pyle’s Massacre was a disaster for the loyalists; ninety seven were killed with multiple wounded, the rest were scattered. Lee suffered only one casualty. Worse for the British cause, the resulting ‘massacre’ went far beyond this loyalist defeat. The sheer fierceness in which Pyle’s men were cut down by Lee’s troopers discouraged many future loyalists from joining the British.
After Battle of Guilford Courthouse, Cornwallis Turns North for Virginia and Fanning Remains in the Carolinas
Fanning and his men, mainly in small groups, continued to clash with American militias and troops from Greene’s forces. Shortly after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, N. Carolina, March 18, 1781, Fanning’s loyalists had a fierce skirmish with partisan Light Dragoons; “I was surprised by a Captain Duck, [Jacob Duckworth aka Jacob Duck – served under Col. Francois DeMalmedy (NC Light Dragoons)] with a company of Rebels [Chatham County Regiment], where I sustained a loss of all our Horses, and arms; we had one man killed on each side.” After which, Fanning regrouped and stated he chased down the rebels, to their homes, fired upon one, wounding him, stating they had retrieved their horses.
Fanning mentions that he met with General Cornwallis on more than one occasion prior to Guilford Courthouse and after to share his knowledge of the terrain and intelligence on the enemy’s whereabouts. Fanning remained with the British army in the Hillsborough and Deep River region until Cornwallis, soon after his March 15th draining victory at Guilford Courthouse that cost twenty percent of his men, turned southeast for Wilmington, on the North Carolina coast. Fanning stayed in the Deep River region and continued to recruit new loyalist recruits (writing having one time brought in seventy men), while clashing with American troops, mainly light dragoons.
During this period, Fanning reported that he and his men had nearly daily encounters with the enemy writing, “The Rebels…kept a constant scouting, and their numbers was so great, that we had to lay still for some time.” He and his men would hide in the woods after each skirmish, only to follow up and attack directly or by ambush. He also made frequent mention of rebel troops capturing and killing his men in cold blood, either by gun shot or hanging. He often followed this up with a loyalist pursuit that lists Americans killed, never claiming that he and his men exacted an eye for an eye by killing their captives. Partisan bloodshed in which the murder of those captured eventually became the norm. Towards the end of the war, this must have had an impact on Fanning’s future savage treatment of those he pursued as he more often than not, put them to the sword.
On April 25, 1781, British Lt. General Cornwallis left Wilmington, NC and marched most of his army north into Virginia, leaving a garrison at Wilmington. Loyalist enthusiasm had waned even while Cornwallis was pursuing Greene through the Carolinas. However, men continued to rally to ‘the renegade’ Fanning. Accompanied by small groups of followers, Fanning never let up in his battle with local rebel militia and American dragoon forces, who were also mainly in smaller numbers. Both sides would receive information of plundered homes and rush to confront the men doing so. These heated skirmishes amounted to a few dead and wounded with either side pursing the other into the forest. Local spies would report back and the men would regroup. Fanning wrote that on May 11, 1781, “…we killed their captain, and one private, on the spot…took two prisoners besides eight of their horses…The same day we pursued another party of rebels and came up with them the morning following; we attacked them smartly and killed four of them…” This pattern of attack, withdraw, and pursue, while keeping ears open for enemy movements went on for week after week. These desperate clashes of arms advanced the ‘citizen soldier’s’ guerilla skills till both rebel and loyalist became numb to the violent encounters that described their daily lives.
Fanning was “one of the boldest men, most fertile in expedients, and quick in execution, that ever lived in North Carolina.”
Samuel A. Ashe
Fanning proved so good in his passionate appeals for recruits to the “friends of government” forces, as he described his loyalist followers, that, according to him, he was able to gather larger forces when needed. He was a constant nuisance forcing both militia and Continental dragoons to patrol the fields in larger numbers. He wrote that on June 8, 1781, the Rebels embodied 160 men to attack me, under the command of Cols. Collyer [John Collier led the NC Randolph County Militia] and Balfour [Andrew Balfour led the NC Randolph County Militia]. I determined to get the advantage by attacking them, which I did with 49 men in the night, after marching 10 miles to their encampment.” Fanning’s men were discovered by a sentinel, and hurriedly made their escape after a short, heated exchange with few casualties. As he had done at Raeburn’s Creek in South Carolina, Fanning and his men returned each time to Deep River and Cox’s Mill, Randolph County, North Carolina. He had established a stronghold at the mill after Cornwallis had left, building a fortified base. They regrouped, nursed their wounds, and freely ranged the surrounding counties, as before, frequently plundering patriot farms and sparring with patriot militias, capturing their supplies and taking prisoners.
Commissioned a Colonel to Lead a Regiment of Loyalist Militia
With the absence of the British Army, but for a post remaining at Wilmington, Fanning wrote that “The Rebels then kept a constant scouting, and their numbers was so great, that we had to lay still for some time.” Fanning noted that the patriot forces began to scatter by early summer, 1781, and he became more emboldened. Returning from a scout, he wrote that the men had become disillusioned. He felt strongly that a ‘field officer’ should be appointed. A general meeting of the loyalists was called and Fanning wrote that he was chosen to be that person. He rode the hundred and sixty miles to the British garrison that remained in Wilmington and presented a petition to lead a regiment. On July 5, 1781, Fanning was appointed colonel of the Loyal Militia of Randolph and Chatham counties by British Major James Henry Craig. He rode back to Cox’s Mill and called for a general muster of the loyalist militia units. On July 12th, he recommissioned officers for twenty-two companies in the counties of Randolph, Chatham, Orange, Cumberland, and Anson.
For much of the rest of 1781, after Continental Army General Nathanael’s force marched south to battle the remaining British regular forces in South Carolina, Fanning’s regiment of loyalists dominated central North Carolina. In patriot Governor Samuel A. Ashe’s biographical sketch of the war, he stated that Fanning’s courage and resourcefulness were unsurpassed, writing that he was “one of the boldest men, most fertile in expedients, and quick in execution, that ever lived in North Carolina.” Often riding with only a small unit of men, he continually attacked his enemy whenever possible; capturing and destroying supplies, racking up rebel casualties, while paroling numerous Whig prisoners. In all, he fought thirty-six skirmishes and battles leading his newly formed regiment. Hundreds of Americans, both militia and Continental light dragoons, were assigned to find and destroy the evasive loyalist commander, each time facing frustration as Fanning eluded defeat or capture.
One of the more memorable raids occurred in July, shortly after he had organized his newly formed regiment. A patriot court-martial had been set at the seat of Chatham County to try several men who refused to bear arms in the patriot cause, with the probable execution of those brought before the court. Fanning led his regiment in a raid that released the prisoners and took fifty-three of their own prisoners that included most of the court officials, militia and continental army officers present, and many of the state’s General Assembly. Another notable raid began on August 11th, when he plundered the Cape Fear valley while traveling to Wilmington for ammunition and supplies, arriving on the 24th.
Battle of Bettis’s Bridge or Battle of McPhaul’s Mill
On his return to Chatham County and his stronghold at Cox’s Mill, Fanning teamed up with Colonel Hector McNeil, commanding a loyalist regiment from Bladen County. Bladen, with only 70 militiamen, was running from a force of four hundred and fifty militiamen led by Colonel Thomas Wade. Wade had spent the past month successfully ravaging loyalist settlements throughout the region. Fanning decided to attack McNeil’s pursuers to put a halt to Wade’s plundering. This resulted in what has been termed The Battle of Bettis’s Bridge or Battle of McPhaul’s Mill. On September 1, 1781, near McPhaul’s Mill on Drowning Creek (present day Lumber River), Fanning’s combined troops of 225 men attacked and routed Wade’s militia of nearly twice his size. Wade, in his haste to attack McNeil’s much smaller regiment, crossed the Bettis Bridge that morning. He ran headlong into Fanning’s and McNeil’s combined forces.
No sooner than the patriot force under Wade crossed the Bettis Bridge, than Fanning’s brilliant plan of ambush took effect. After crossing a narrow causeway through Raft Swamp, Fanning dispatched McNeil to the right flank to block the bridge and prevent Wade’s force from escaping his attack. Fanning moved his men to the left flank of his enemy; however, an accidental discharge of a musket gave Wade warning; it was 11 AM. Fanning’s men, outnumbered two to one, attacked vigorously. Over the next ninety minutes, the unnerved patriots broke their line and fled in a headlong flight for the bridge. Had McNeil blocked the bridge as planned, the rout would have resulted in the total destruction of Wade’s force. Wade’s men streamed over the bridge with Fanning’s men hot on their heels. In the seven mile pursuit, Fanning took fifty prisoners and two hundred and fifty horses. Twenty three of Wade’s men were killed with many others wounded. Fanning lost but one man killed and four wounded.
But his greatest exploit was yet to come. The victory at Bettis’s Bridge suppressed the patriot militia in southeastern North Carolina which emboldened the loyalists. Twelve days after the battle, Fanning would lead his largest force of the war and capture the temporary state capitol at Hillsborough, including the governor and legislation. And the next day, would be victorious in what was to be one of the largest battles of the war in North Carolina, establishing Fanning’s brilliance as a military leader.
Captures North Carolina State Capitol, Governor and Legislature
After the victory at Bettis’s Bridge, Fanning was at the height of his strength. His regiment numbered nine hundred and fifty while loyalists continued to flock to his banner. He returned to Cox’s Mill and issued a proclamation throughout the region; all [assuming armed men] who did not come to his camp, would have their homes confiscated and persons marched to Wilmington as prisoners. Fanning wrote that on September 9, 1781, he was reinforced writing, “I was joined by Col McDugald [Archibald McDougald – emigrated Scotsman] of the Loyal Militia of Cumberland County, with 200 men; and Col. Hector McNiel, [McNeill – emigrated Scotsman] 15 with his party from Bladen of 70 men; and in consequence of my advertisement [proclamation] I had also 435, who came in; and many found me afterwards.” He had by all accounts approximately one thousand eight hundred men. This compared to just over five hundred of his main patriot foe in North Carolina, Brigadier General John Butler.
General Butler, prior to the war, had been the sheriff of Orange County, NC. He led North Carolina militia at the battles of Stono Ferry (S. Carolina), Camden (S. Carolina), and Guilford Court House (N. Carolina). When Maj. General Greene left North Carolina for South Carolina, Brigadier Butler was ordered to rein in loyalists throughout North Carolina. Considered a cautious man, his men’s record at Camden, having never faced British bayonets before, was dismal, turning tail and did not stop running until they reached Hillsborough, N. Carolina. Butler’s men, under a better General in Greene, did far better at Guilford Court House. Though Butler had been ineffective in curtailing Fanning’s loyalist activities in North Carolina, his men displayed the same tenacity as they had at Guilford Courthouse when confronted with Fanning’s superior numbers.
Fanning wrote that he had previously discussed capturing the North Carolina rebel governor, Thomas Burke, with the British commander at Wilmington, Major Craigg. He and his officers learned that General Butler’s force, that included a militia commanded by Colonel Robert Maybin, was within forty miles of his encampment, on the Cape Fear River. Plans were made to attack this force. After marching sixteen miles, Fanning decided to change course and capture Hillsborough; temporary capitol of North Carolina, and its governor, Thomas Burke.
Thomas Burke, immigrant from Ireland, had been elected to serve in the Second Congress in Philadelphia. When General Howe approached the city in 1777, Burke joined the North Carolina troops during the Battle of Brandywine Creek before rejoining Congress that had abandoned the city. He returned to North Carolina earlier in 1781 to assume the governorship of his state.
On a foggy morning, and with complete surprise, Fanning’s men rode into Hillsborough. He wrote of this raid: “I pushed all that day [September 11] and the following night; At 7 o’clock on the morning of the 12th, we entered the town in three divisions, and received several shots from different houses.” These were aides and close associates of Governor Burke who refused to give up without a fight. Fanning continued, “however, we lost none and suffered no damage, except one man wounded. We killed, fifteen, of the Rebels, and wounded twenty; and took upwards of two hundred prisoners; amongst them was the Governor, his Council, and part of the Continental Colonels, several captains and subalterns, and seventy one continental soldiers out of a church. We proceeded to the Goal, and released thirty Loyalists, and British soldiers; one of which, was to have been hanged on that day.”
Battle of Lindley’s Mill
Brigadier General Alexander Mebane, Commissary General of North Carolina Militia, managed to escape from Hillsborough and spread the word of Governor Burke’s capture. When Butler learned of this, he assumed that Fanning would be taking his prisoners directly to the British post at Wilmington. He raced his army to try and cut Fanning off. Arriving at Thomas Lindley’s mill on Cane Creek, Butler set up an ambush on the high ground near the ford that overlooked the road to the creek.
After a successful raid, Fanning set off for Cox’s Mill. He wrote that, “About 12 o’clock, I left Hillsboro [sp]; and proceeded Eighteen miles that night towards Coxe’s Mill; in the morning I persued [sp] my march about Eight miles further, to Lindsey’s Mill on Cane Creek…” At this important junction, Fanning did not know that General Butler’s men had marched to intercept him and were nearby. The loyalists had crossed Woody’s Ford on the Haw River without incident; however, Fanning learned from Captain “Sober John” McLean that there were no scouts sent out to front their column. Fanning wrote, “Col McNeal, who had the advanced guard, had neglected to take the necessary precautions for our safety…” At 9:30 AM, on the 13th, Fanning rode forward to find Col. McNeill and confront him as to why he’d been so lapse in security. He found the colonel at Stafford’s Branch on Cane Creek and just as McNeill spoke, all hell broke out. Fanning wrote, “…before he could answer, we were fired upon by the rebels. [A volley] killed Eight men, among them was Col. McNeill, who received three balls through him, and five through his horse.”
McNeill’s men held the creek, but began to draw away when Fanning ordered them back to where he secured the prisoners. That done, he ordered McDougald’s men to attack Stafford Branch while Fanning positioned his regiment across the creek to flank the patriots so to hit them in the rear. Fanning was successful in this and the battle raged for nearly four hours. Caught between two fronts, the stubborn patriots held their ground until Butler, outnumbered and realizing he would not be able to rescue Fanning’s captives, withdrew, leaving behind his dead and wounded. Between the two forces there were approximately 250 killed, wounded, or captured. Fanning reported that he lost 27 killed, 60 so badly wounded that they could not be moved, 30 slightly wounded, but none lost to capture. Of Butler’s forces, Fanning reported they “…had buried 24, and that the wounded they had left were 90, besides those that went off and that my party had taken 10 prisoners.” Fanning did not escape the carnage. He wrote that, “At the conclusion of this action, I received a shot in my left arm, which broke the bone in several pieces; my loss of blood was so great…” The shot that broke his arm also severed an artery which incapacitated Fanning and kept him bed ridden for the next twenty-four days.
Beginning of the End
Col. McDougald escorted Hillsborough’s captives to Maj. Craigg at Wilmington. Governor Butler was given parole, but confined on a nearby island in poor conditions. He would escape in January, 1782, and sever his parole prior to exchange so to resume North Carolina’s governorship. This break with honor did not sit well with both patriot and loyalists. He soon was replaced as governor and having never recovered from the harsh conditions he suffered as captive of the British, died the following year.
It took nearly a month before Fanning could sit up in bed. Unable to take full command in the field, he ordered his captains to continue patrols, including excursions to Wilmington for ammunition and supplies. The patriot partisan forces grew in numbers and continued to plague Fanning’s loyalists, capturing men and materials has they diminished Fanning’s forces. The writing was on the wall when Fanning discovered the news from Yorktown. He wrote, “I intercepted an express bound for Gen. Greene’s Camp, which was at that time near the lines not far from Charleston [SC]; amongst which was Lord Cornwallis’s capitulation [October 19, 1781].” A month later, Fanning received word that Major Craig had abandoned Wilmington, NC on November 18, 1781. He had lost his only source of ammunition and supplies.
With his forces dwindling and patriot numbers growing, particularly those who had traveled the hundred and sixty miles to Wilmington to keep an eye on the British, returned home, Fanning refused to give up the fight. He noted several actions in his narration that detailed skirmishes, attacks on patriot homes and small forces, and near escapes as he refused to accept defeat. Reports of his atrocities against both militiamen and citizens became numerous, which patriot accounts tended to exaggerate, this while leaving out similar rebel aggression on loyalist settlements.
Pardons Issued
By December, 1781, Fanning was down to about a dozen men under his command. He wrote that “On the 10th of Dec., Colo. [Elijah] Isaacs came down from the mountains, with a party of Three Hundred men; and formed his camp at Coxe’s Mill, in the settlement I had formerly ranged in; in order to take me…” On December 25, 1781, Colonel Isaacs offered a proclamation of pardon. He stated that those who had, “…been betrayed by false hopes, supported by deceit, and now find themselves deserted by our feeble and despairing enemy and left unprotected to the vengeance of the State…[those] who are willing to return, and to stay the hand of execution… of citizens who may be reclaimed, I have thought fit to issue this my proclamation of pardon to such of the above persons, who may surrender themselves before the 10th day of march next.” Excluded from this pardon were, “All Officers finding men of this class, guilty of murder, robbery, and house breaking, to be precluded, from the above, notwithstanding…” This offer of pardon often turned into capture and subsequent execution for several former loyalists. However, there would be no offer of pardon for Colonel Fanning.
Fanning wrote that he could do nothing for those ‘friends of government’ who came to him seeking advice, having not the means to offer protection. Many accepted Colonel Isaac’s proclamation of neutrality. After Fanning’s former stronghold, Cox’s Mill was burned and destroyed, Isaac set out to round up loyalists. By Fanning’s account, tricking them to lay down their weapons, whereas they were taken captive, some hanged. Fanning wrote of the winter of 1781 -1782 in which he hid in the woods with his few followers. He lists many skirmishes with rebel pursuers, detailing their atrocities, while justifying his own. As Fanning learned of individuals or small groups of patriots who attacked loyalists, he took it upon himself to hunt them down and inflict his vindictive punishment, as judge and executioner.
Fanning Petitions for Parole – Deceit Turns Deadly & Brutal Violence Erupts
By January, 1782, Fanning appeared ready to sheath his sword. On Jan. 7, 1782, he sent a letter to Governor Burke by way of “Lawyer Williams, and Capt. Ramsay, of 1st battalion of North Carolina Continentals.” He listed his terms to surrender. Fanning remained neutral and received a reply on January 15th from Captain John Ramsey basically stating that his terms had been accepted. That Fanning was to meet with Light Dragoon troops to offer his surrender. Fanning soon after got word that one of his fellow loyalists who attempted to surrender was murdered. He in turn took matters into his own hands. He wrote, “In the course of this correspondence, endeavoring to make peace, I had reason to believe they did not intend to be as good as their words; as three of their people followed Capt. Linley; and cut him to pieces with their swords. I was immediately informed of it, and kept a look out for them. Five days after their return, I took two them and hung them, by way of retaliation, both on the limb of the same tree; the third made his escape.” Fanning remained a renegade.
At this stage of the war, Fanning wrote page upon page in his narration, detailing all the failed correspondence to enact his parole. Over the next five months, truce after truce was arranged and violated by both sides; often shots were fired, with persons ambushed and killed. A crescendo of violence, murder, and destruction, like none before, broke out over the central counties in these early months of 1782. Barely a day in March and April went by whereas Fanning was riding from plantation to plantation, destroying rebel property, killing those who resisted, looking for ‘bad men’, and hanging rebels in retribution for atrocities patriots had committed.
One of many examples occurred on March 12, 1782, whereas Fanning and his loyalists burned patriot commander Colonel Andrew Balfour’s plantation. Fanning wrote that the colonel was trying to escape, they shot and, “…The first ball he received was through one of his arms, and ranged through his body; the other through his neck; which put an end to his committing any more ill deeds.” Those present during this attack wrote differently of events, claiming that the colonel, who was home on leave, had been murdered by Fanning on the front porch of his residence in the presence of his sister and daughter. Accordingly Frederick Smith of Randolph County, who witnesses said was with Fanning during the raid, was charged with the murder and hanged in 1783.
After the destruction of Balfour’s farm and the colonel’s death, Fanning wasn’t through. He “then proceeded to their Colonel’s ( John Collier,) belonging to said county of Randolph; on our way we burnt several rebel houses…” Not finding Colonel Collier, they burned his plantation and carried onto the home of another rebel militia officer, Capt. John Bryan. They told him to come out of his house. When he refused, they set it on fire. Bryan called out for the safety of his wife and children. Fanning told him to come out and he would be paroled. As so often, this was a ruse used by both factions. Bryan came out and as Fanning wrote, “When he came out, he said; ‘Here, damn, you, here I am’, armed with pistol and sword; with that he received two balls through his body…” Fanning even describes a wedding where he and his men crashed the ceremony, ordering everyone to stand for inspection, and shooting and killing one who Fanning recognized as a ‘bad man.’
Marriage
By the end of April, 1782, Fanning had been constantly at war for seven years, from its very opening shots. He wrote “that it was better for me to try and settle myself, being weary of the disagreeable mode of living…” He wrote that a gentleman in Deep River induced him “to pay my addresses to his daughter, a young lady of sixteen years of age.” She was Sarah Carr, sister of one of Fanning’s officers, Captain William Carr. Fanning, along with two of his officers, William Carr and Captain William Hooker, all decided to marry the same day. As Carr and Hooker rode to bring their future wives to the ceremony, they were attacked by a patrol of patriots. Carr escaped, but Hooker was captured and killed by a William Dowdy. When Fanning found out, he arranged a party and took off after the rebels. He cornered them at Dowdy’s house. When Fanning yelled for the patriots to come out, all complied but Dowdy, knowing he’d be killed. Dowdy jumped from the house and ran into the nearby woods. He was fired upon and wounded in the shoulder. Fanning rode up to him, pointed both his pistols at his chest, and fired, killing Dowdy instantly. Fanning then rode to his wedding. Right after the service, Fanning and Carr, and his new wives, learned that a large party of rebels were enroute and hid into the woods.
Escapes to Charleston, Florida, then Canada
By June of 1782, after further adventures and violent skirmishes with settlers and militia, Fanning made his way to Charleston, South Carolina, that was still in British hands. He immediately applied to American General Marion for a flag for his wife and belongings to join him at Charlestown. When his wife arrived, she did so without their baggage, as this Marion had refused. Fanning wrote, “He would not let her have any of our property, not even a negro to wait on her.”
By the fall of 1782, Fanning and other loyalists finding refuge among the British in one of their last strongholds, were aware that the King’s soldiers would be evacuating Charleston before the end of the year. They did so on December 14, 1782. Prior to that, on September 28th, Fanning and his wife left for Saint Augustine, East Florida. In an Act of Pardon and Oblivion passed in North Carolina in May 1783, David Fanning was one of three men specifically exempted. Fanning knew he had no future in the new United States. He and his wife remained in Florida until a year later, when they embarked for Canada, arriving New Brunswick on September 23, 1784.
David Fanning lived the rest of his life in the provinces of New Brunswick and Nova Scotia. He settled at Long Reach, King’s County, New Brunswick, eventually acquiring land and two mills. He represented King’s County in the Provincial Assembly from 1791 until January 25, 1801, when he was expelled. A few months earlier he had been convicted of the rape of Sarah London and sentenced to death. Protesting that he had been falsely accused, he appealed his conviction and was pardoned by the provincial governor. Ordered to leave the province, Fanning moved to Annapolis County, Nova Scotia. In Nova Scotia he undertook shipbuilding and was the part owner of two merchant vessels. His last home was in Digby where he died and was buried at Holy Trinity Church. He had one daughter, Ferebee, and two sons, Ross Currie Carr (1791–1871) and David William (1793–1810). Fanning made his mark on history as one of the bravest and fiercest warriors of the American Revolution, yet so too, one of its most ruthless.
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RESOURCES
Butler, Lindley S. The Narrative of Col. David Fanning 1981: Briarpatch Press, Davidson, NC.
Demond, Robert O. The Loyalists in North Carolina During the Revolution. 1940 reprint 2019: Southern Historical Press, Greenville, South Carolina.
Fanning, David, ed. Wayne, Thomas H. The Narrative of Colonel David Fanning …Giving an Account of His Adventures in North Carolina from 1775-1783…As Written by Himself. 1865: Reprinted for Joseph Sabin, Alvord Printer, New York, NY.
Harrell, Isaac S. “North Carolina Loyalists.” The Noreth Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 3, No. 4 (October, 1926), pp 575-590, Published by North Carolina Office of Archives and History.
Jasanoff, Maya. Liberty’s Exiles, American Loyalists in the Revolutionary World. 2011: Vintage Books, New York, NY.
Raphael, Ray. A People’s History of the American Revolution: How Common People Shaped the Fight for Independence. 2002: Harper Perennial, New York, NY.
Russell, David Lee. The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies. 1943: McFarland & Co., Jefferson, North Carolina.
Wilson, David K. The Southern Strategy Britain’s Conquest of South Carolina and Georgia, 1775-1780. 2005: University of South Carolina Press, Columbia, South Carolina.
WEB
Dictionary of North Carolina Biography, 6 volumes, edited by William S. Powell. Copyright ©1979-1996 by the University of North Carolina Press.
The American Revolution in North Carolina/List of Loyalists
The American Revolution in North Carolina/David Fanning