Alamance Battleground is a North Carolina State Historic Site commemorating the Battle of Alamance. The state historic site belongs to the North Carolina Department of Natural and Cultural Resources and was established to preserve part of the battleground and provide historical interpretation of the lifestyle of the settlers in 1770s north central North Carolina. Alamance Battleground State Historic Site also includes the John Allen House, which family sources suggest was constructed around 1780.
SITE FEATURES
Reconstructions, Tours, Exhibits
On this site...
The Orange County seat of Hillsborough was founded in 1754 on land where the Great Indian Trading Path crossed the Eno River. In 1766, it was named Hillsborough, after Wills Hill, then the Earl of Hillsborough, the British secretary of state for the colonies, and a relative of royal Governor William Tryon.
CROSSING
EST. 1754
BATTLEFIELD
May 16, 1771
In the spring of 1771, North Carolina Governor William Tryon left New Bern, mustering and marching approximately 1,000 militia troops westwards to address a rebellion that had been brewing in western counties for several years. It had up to this point included only minor, scattered acts of violence, followed by refusals to pay fees, disruptions of court proceedings, and continued harassment of government officials.
About 2,000 so-called "regulators" had gathered, hoping to gain concessions from Tryon by intimidating him with a show of superior force. Funded £6,000 by council member and wealthy merchant Samuel Cornell, on May 11, Tryon left the county seat of Hillsborough with his militia to confront the Regulators, who had made camp south of Great Alamance Creek in western Orange County.
The Battle of Alamance, which took place on May 16, 1771, was the final battle of the Regulator Movement, a rebellion in colonial North Carolina over issues of taxation and local control.
HISTORIC PEOPLE
William Tryon
Major General