Battle of Alamance
Alamance County, Alamance County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Battle Of Alamance. The militia under royal Governor Tryon defeated the Regulators at this point, May 16, 1771.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
On May 16, 1771, militia loyal to Royal Governor William Tryon met the Regulators — backcountry farmers rebelling against corrupt officials and unfair taxes — and defeated them at this spot. The clash ended the War of the Regulation and scattered the movement. Some have seen this frontier uprising as a prelude to the American Revolution that would follow within the decade.
Why it matters
The Battle of Alamance was one of the earliest armed confrontations between colonists and colonial government, a spark of organized resistance that foreshadowed the coming break with Britain.
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Related people
- · William Tryon
Related events
- · Battle of Alamance
- · War of the Regulation
Themes & tags
Nearby & related markers
James Hunter, Regulator Leader
Guilford County, NC
James Hunter was a leader of the Regulators, backcountry farmers who rose in the 1760s and early 1770s against corrupt local officials and unfair taxes. After the movement was crushed at the Battle of Alamance in 1771, Hunter was declared an outlaw, and Governor William Tryon's troops burned a nearby house in the reprisals that followed.
Herman Husband, Regulator
Randolph County, NC
Herman Husband was a Quaker reformer and pamphleteer who became a guiding voice of the War of the Regulation (1768–1771), rallying backcountry farmers against corrupt colonial officials. Fleeing North Carolina after the movement collapsed, he later resurfaced in Pennsylvania, where he took part in the Whiskey Rebellion of the 1790s.
Rednap Howell, Regulator Poet
Franklinville, NC
Rednap Howell was the balladeer of the Regulator movement, writing satirical songs that mocked corrupt officials and rallied backcountry farmers to their cause in the years before 1771. He fought at the Battle of Alamance, where the Regulators were defeated, and lived near this spot until his death in 1787.
Edmund Fanning
Hillsborough, NC
Edmund Fanning was a judge and colonial official in Hillsborough who became a lightning rod for backcountry anger. In 1770 the Regulators — farmers protesting corruption and unfair taxes — ransacked and destroyed his nearby home. His story sits at the heart of the unrest that shook North Carolina in the years just before the Revolution.