Mike Parker: Skirmishes focused on Fort Johnson in 1775
In the second half of 1775, Fort Johnson, North Carolina, was the scene of two major skirmishes between Continental and British soldiers and sailors. But the story of Fort Johnson began much earlier.
In 1745 Royal Governor Gabriel Johnston ordered that construction begin on a fort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. The purpose of the fort was to protect the lower Cape Fear and the town of Brunswick. At the time, the area was known as Smithville. Today, we know the area as Southport.
Although construction began in 1748, Fort Johnston was not deemed officially complete until 1764. The fort was designed to respond to threats from both Spanish and French forces along the coastline of North Carolina. The real threat would come from a different European power.
Fort Johnston was threatened in 1766 by armed Colonial resisters to the Stamp Act, who were responding to the British seizure of two mercantile ships. From 1766 until 1775, the fort existed peacefully, providing protection to the lower Cape Fear River basin.
With the growing animosity between American colonists and the British Crown in the early 1770’s, the Fort came under attack again. In May 1775, Royal Governor Josiah Martin fled his palace to seek protection at Fort Johnston. He learned of a plot to take over Fort Johnson, so he escaped the attempted takeover.
We need to remember that the tensions during the Colonial period in North Carolina was not just the American Patriots versus British Redcoats. The conflict pitted neighbor against neighbor. Many colonists called themselves Whigs, inspired by anti-monarchy thinkers in Britain. Others stayed loyal to the crown and were known as Tories.
After Gov. Martin’s escape, a group of Whigs, led by John Ashe and Cornelius Harnett, seized Fort Johnston in July 1775 and burned it to the ground. The torching marked the first active violence against the British in North Carolina. When Great Britian ordered the outraged citizens of Wilmington to accept the Stamp Act, Ashe took a strong stand in opposition. He resigned his royal commission, was elected to the same rank by the people of New Hanover County, becoming the first colonial officer to accept a military commission at the hands of the people.
In November of 1775, British sloops-of-war HMS Cruizer and HMS Scorpion were ordered to retrieve the heavy guns and ammunition that had been removed from Fort Johnston earlier in July and placed along the nearby shore.
As British sailors put the cannons onto a transport, the HMS Cruizer fired upon the Patriot militiamen in the nearby woods around the abandoned fort. Forty British sailors and marines remained in the burned-down fort with swivel guns while the sloops anchored just offshore.
The retrieval operation took five days until all the guns from the fort had been removed from the shoreline. Afterwards, HMS Cruizer and HMS Scorpion sailed back to their previous positions at the Cape Fear Harbor.
Between 1794 and 1809, the new federal government of the United States rebuilt Fort Johnston. The fort soon was passed in importance by a new fort, Fort Caswell. This new fort was built in 1825 on nearby Oak Island. During the Civil War, Fort Johnston was part of the Cape Fear Defense System and contributed to the Confederate protection of Fort Fisher. Following the war, the fort fell into disrepair, but eventually the officers’ quarters were revitalized.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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