Fight at Colson's
Stanly County, Stanly County, North Carolina
Marker Inscription
Fight At Colson's. Colonel William Lee Davidson's Whig militia defeated Colonel Samuel Bryan's Tories, in July, 1780, a few miles S.E.
Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources
The Story
In July 1780, Patriot militia under Colonel William Lee Davidson defeated a Loyalist force led by Colonel Samuel Bryan a few miles southeast of here, at Colson's on the Pee Dee. The clash was part of the bitter civil war between Whig and Tory neighbors that raged across the Carolina backcountry during the Revolution. Such small, savage fights did much to determine who controlled the region.
Why it matters
Skirmishes like Colson's reveal the Revolution in the South as a brutal neighbor-against-neighbor conflict that ultimately turned the backcountry against the Crown.
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Related people
- · William Lee Davidson
- · Samuel Bryan
Related events
- · Fight at Colson's
Themes & tags
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