HistoricSiteMarkers
American Revolution

General Francis Nash

Hillsborough, Orange County, North Carolina

Marker Inscription

Francis Nash. Patriot general in American Revolution, was mortally wounded at Germantown, 1777. His home is 150 yds. W.

Erected by North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources

The Story

Francis Nash of Hillsborough rose to become a patriot general in the American Revolution, leading North Carolina Continentals in the fight for independence. He was mortally wounded at the Battle of Germantown in 1777 and died of his wounds days later. His home stood just west of here, grounding a Revolutionary hero in the streets of this small town.

Why it matters

Nash's sacrifice β€” and the city of Nashville later named in his honor β€” shows how local men gave their lives to the Continental cause and left their names on the map of the growing nation.

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Related people

  • Β· Francis Nash

Related events

  • Β· Battle of Germantown

Themes & tags

Nearby & related markers

William Hooper, Declaration Signer

Hillsborough, NC

William Hooper made his home in Hillsborough, and from this town helped launch a nation. One of North Carolina's three signers of the Declaration of Independence, he pledged his name to the break with Britain in 1776. His house still stands just to the west, and he was buried only steps away, tying this ground directly to the founding generation.

Governor Thomas Burke

Hillsborough, NC

In the turbulent final years of the Revolution, North Carolina's Governor Thomas Burke was seized in Hillsborough by the Loyalist raider David Fanning and his Tories on September 12, 1781. Carried off as a prisoner to Charleston, Burke's capture showed how fiercely the backcountry civil war between Whigs and Tories still raged even as the wider Revolution neared its end.