The Scottish Defenders at Moores Creek Bridge

I don’t have too much to say about the past week of research, other than not much has been done. I have been adding tidbits of information to the grid I have been working on. I am trying to have a ten page paper written by next Thursday for my advisor to go over. I have been reading Bernard Bailyn books as well, since he has done probably the most substantial research on Atlantic immigration. His and Duane Meyer’s works are going to play a prominent role in my introductory chapter. The ten page paper I am working on is going to introduce the reasons for the Highland Scot immigration to the Cape Fear region. I will also discuss the reasons they actually chose that region of the colonies…economic opportunities, agricultural diversity, etc.

After the introductory chapter, I am going to work on having a rough draft of a chapter on the details of Moore’s Creek Bridge. Hopefully that will be done before Thanksgiving break.

My research is finally coming along. The main project that I had been promising and hoping to complete is finally actually complete. I began with a list of approximately three hundred and fifty names of men who were known to have fought at Moore’s Creek Bridge. By comparing this large list with the known names of Highlander Scots from Meyer’s assessment of the land grant records of North Carolina, the emigration lists and voyage records of the known Highlanders, and a directory of Scots from a historian named Dobson, I have narrowed the list down to 147 names. After narrowing the list, I researched each name and tried to find information on each of the following categories:

-         Place of Origin

-         Date of immigration

-         Known trade or employment

-         Possessions and land holdings

-         Family history (name of wife and children, etc.)

-         Military service history

-         Position in the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge

-         Place and term of imprisonment

-         Military service after the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge

-         Final residence/ place of death

I also color/number coded the names of the men based on reliability of their being a true Highlander, and entered all of this information into excel to create a document of least to most reliable names of Highlanders. From this document I hope to find trends such as:

-         date of immigration and likelihood of remaining loyalists after Moore’s Creek Bridge

-         any correlation between date of immigration and rank in the army

-         intermarriage between the elite highlanders

-         trends in persecution based on land and rank

My original intent for this project was going to be to discuss why the Scots remained loyal to the British. However, while I still intend to answer this question throughout the thesis, I no longer find it to be my main thesis. I am going to define the role of the Highland Scots in fighting the rebels in the American Revolution. I am going to use my statistical analysis of the information of the Scots as part of the evidence of my conclusions. I won’t have completed statistical analysis until after Christmas break, unfortunately. Many of the records I hope to access are in the archives in Raleigh, NC and the University Library at Chapel Hill. My next step will be to look through the Colonial Records of North Carolina by name and index to find any more known information about these men. After the Colonial Records I will be looking through the court records, and the Loyalist claims of losses.

All of this of course will be happening while I work on my chapter due for research methods. I have decided to write the beginning chapter on the historical background of the this group from 1745 – 1775, essentially the Battle of Culloden to right before the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. In this chapters (or smaller, relating chapters) I will address the religious and social practices of this group and the reasons for their immigration to America. I will also discuss the lifestyle they led once actually in the Cape Fear region. Depending on how much time I have between now and finals, I will be writing either two or three fifteen page papers addressing three chapter topics within my research. 

Despite having had two papers due today, I am actually really glad that we were assigned the book review for this class. It is a project that I have been meaning to do for ages, but yet kept pushing aside for other research. The author I wrote the review on, Duane Meyer is perhaps the most influential scholar in the field of eighteenth century Scottish immigration history, and I really need to have a firm background in his ideas and theories if I am going to aptly defend my project at the end of next semester. Last week I mentioned that going to the lecture helped prepare me for some of the questions I might be asked. The following questions are questions that the panel asked of the P.H.D. candidate last week.

• Did you find in your study that the objects of material culture had the same importance for both Loyalists and Rebels?
• Did you find it interesting that the silver used to produce the objects owned by the loyalists was originally obtained through illegal sources?
• How are you going to reconcile the fact that your project focuses only on the wealthy loyalists, when your project is entitled American Loyalists and the Meaning of Things? Your title suggests the importance of material culture for all loyalists.

These are only a few, but basically, they asked her some very detailed questions, which she was not exactly prepared for. Although she obviously knew her stuff, the angles of the questions and her unprepared-ness for anything that veered away from what she discussed in the lecture made her appear unknowledgeable about some aspects of her project. That experience has made me aware of the types of questions I should prepare answers to for questions on my own project.

I am going to meet with my advisor this Thursday to discuss my concrete list of men that I am going to use as examples of soldiers who fought at the battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. My goal for next week is to do research with Some Eighteenth Century Tracts Concerning North Carolina. I also decided after last week’s meeting with my advisor that I am going to try to create the same type of list for the Battle of Ramsour’s Mill. I am going to cross reference the final data gathered about that list of soldiers to create an image of change over time, in what attracted which Scottish to remain loyalists.

On an exciting note, a book I ordered, which I have been waiting for for a while finally came in, and now I can do some more research on the logistics of the actual battles themselves. I have also recently done some work on the Journal of a Lady of Quality which provides some excellent details about everyday life in North Carolina.

This entry is two days late, but better late than never, I suppose. Fall break theoretically gives students a time to catch up on their homework, but I found no real time to sit down and study or do any substantial research. I did attend an interesting lecture yesterday, however, at the Rockefeller library in Colonial Williamsburg. Katherine Rieder, a Ph.D. Candidate from Harvard University came to give a short presentation of her project, entitled The Remainder of Our Effects We Must Leave Behind’: American Loyalists and the Meaning of Things, 1765-1800. Professor Whittenburg thought that her project might be of some interest to me. While Ms. Rieder’s presentation was interesting from a purely historical perspective, there was not much in the way of content that I could glean for my own project. There was a discussion after her presentation in which professors and informal historians asked her questions about the direction and content of her research. This session was extremely helpful in preparing me for the types of questions I might be asked during the defense of my project in the spring.

Last week I mentioned the possibility of using the battle of Ramsour’s Mill for my project. The book I requested concerning this battle has finally arrived and I will probably be able to make a decision about whether or not I want to include this battle by the end of the week. By looking at the similarities and differences between the actual Battles of Moore’s Creek Bridge and Ramsour’s Mill, and the Highland Scots who fought in the battles, I will be able to create an image of change over time in what motivated these men to remain loyal to the crown. For now my research still revolves around trying to finish up the primary research of the background of the men involved in Moore’s Creek. After I finish going through the roster I will be working with church and court records to bolster the information I already have about the men. I also can’t wait to get into the claims of losses filed by the loyalists after the rebels won the revolution.

I have gotten quite a bit done in the past week. Although I have not finished the chart I planned out last week, I have made a big dent. It turned out to be a larger project than anticipated. On this chart, I am listing all of the men who are known to have fought at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge. Unfortunately, however, not all of the known men who fought the battle were Highland Scots. My next step will be to then cross check the roster surnames with all of the known Highland Scot surnames of eighteenth century North Carolina. Once I have secured my concrete list of Highland Scots, I am going to use that list to cross check against church and court records to see what else I can possibly learn about these men. I am hoping to find out their economic status and all wealth they had prior to and after the war. The court records will help in showing what property the Whigs confiscated from the Tories. Unfortunately, I have quite a bit of tedious cross-referencing in my future. After all is said and done, however, I will have a solid core from which I will develop my thesis.

In my research, I also found out quite a bit of information about the Battle of Ramsour’s Mill, in which the Scots comprised a large number of the Loyalist troops. I have to do a bit more research first, but I am considering adding this battle to my thesis. The Battle of Ramsour’s Mill took place in 1780, near the end of the War. It might be good for my project to compare the profiles of the Scots who fought in this battle, to the profiles of those who fought in 1776 at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge.

I am finding that a thesis is much more expensive than anticipated, and I can’t wait for the scholarship that I am hoping for. I caved in and bought a book that I really would like to write in. I calculated that it would be cheaper to buy it than to copy the whole thing. Alas…

On a personal note,  in the past few weeks I  made a huge life decision regarding my future. I have decided to wait at least one year before going to graduate school. My life circumstances have shifted severely, and I have decided that I am going to go do volunteer work abroad for one to two years, probably doing something similar to the Peace Corp. After my time abroad I may decide that I want to apply to graduate school. At least now I will be able to show potential graduate  schools my complete thesis and all of my course grades from all of senior year.

So, I am really annoyed with the blog site, because I posted this blog on Monday, I saw it posted successfully, and then it was gone when I looked for it tonight. ??? Any ideas on why that might have happened? Anyways…here goes a second try at my post.

The past week has been about continuing research with the roster list of men at Moores Creek Bridge. My advisor turned the entire book into a PDF file for me, which has proven infinitely beneficial to my note taking habits. After printing it out, I can now make notes in the margins about my thoughts, issues I may need to research further, and little questions about each of the men and what the broader implications of their service may have meant to the Revolutionary War. I am working on creating a cell-based Word Document (or maybe excel) to categorize the men, their jobs and economic status before the battle, whether or not they were imprisoned afterwards, and their economic status after the battle. I have to look to records in Nova Scotia to see what claims the Highlanders filed to the British for goods seized by the Rebels after the battle.

I finally made my way over to CW Rockefeller and got my hands on six of the books that I have needed for a while. One of these is The Journal of a Lady of Quality which mentions North Carolina and the markets in and out of Cape Fear. Over the next week I hope to have completed the cell-based document as well as complete research with The Journal of a Lady of Quality. Unfortunately, CW Rockefeller Library has several books that I need which are in the reference section, meaning that I will have to set aside yet more time for my research. All is well, so far though, and I feel like the train has finally left the platform. I am on my way to some serious historical developments.

My blog entry for this week is ashamedly short due to the fact that I am taking the GRE approximately seven and one half hours from this post. Vocabulary refreshing, math equation cramming and overall GRE preparation has consumed my life for the past week.

The only real thing to say concerning my thesis is that I have had to be careful when writing down names of men involved in the military efforts in North Carolina. Unfortunately, the extreme differences in culture between the Scots-Irish and the Scots are not reflected in their names, which remain painfully similar. Other than this little bump which is slowing me down, I am hoping to have a concrete list of men involved in Moores Creek and their economic statuses by next Monday. I absolutely must get myself accustomed to a regular research schedule…this is my goal for this week and the rest of the semester. I do not know how everyone else is handling their research, but I for one have felt a bit like I am juggling swords.

The severe confusion I experienced last week concerning the direction my project should take, has, I believe, subsided. The meeting with my advisor, as I discussed in class, really helped my project re-focus. I spent the hour with Professor Whittenburg discussing the various sources I found and why it was that they were sending my project in two directions. The sources concerning the transplantation of Scottish culture in the North American colonies would no doubt make for the foundation of a great project. In discussing why I might want to take that direction, I came to a different realization. Pride in Scottish heritage seems to be a relatively recent historical phenomenon. The most ironic part of modern pride in Scottish culture is that most people who have pride in their “Scottish past” are most likely Scotch-Irish. A comparatively low number of people emigrated from the actual Highlands. Highlanders had a special dynamic, their own distinct way of life, culture, politics, and ideas. The true ancestors of the Highlanders have looked to the past, to sources like those I found, to give the highlanders the respect that they deserve and should have has as a distinct people a long time ago. I am going to try to incorporate these ideas and studies into the latter half of my project, or even the epilogue.

            Studying the transplantation of culture will be essential not only for my epilogue, but also for discovering reasons for Scottish loyalty to the British. Professor Whittenburg helped me to see where I can reconcile the two ideas. First, however, I need to refocus on the original intent of my project…to find to the reasons behind Scottish loyalty during the American Revolution. For the next few weeks I will be focusing on researching everything possible about the men directly and indirectly involved in the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge in North Carolina. These men were defeated by the revolutionaries in a few decisive minutes of battle which would ultimately decide the actions of loyalists all through the South for the rest of the Revolutionary War. By looking at the lives of these men before the battle, and their subsequent actions (presuming they survived), I might be able to discover the range of reasons for their involvement in the battle. Economic range of the soldiers involved will be a key to unlocking perhaps one of the major reasons for Scottish rallying to the King’s standard. B. G. Moss’ Roster of the Loyalists at the Battle of Moores Creek Bridge, The State Records of North Carolina, The Colonial Records of North Carolina, and David Dobson’s Directory of Scots in the Carolinas: 1680-1830 will be my close companions for the next few weeks as I root out the actual wording of my thesis. I hope to have a hypothesis after studying the lives of the key men involved. Also, William K. Boyd’s Some Eighteenth Century Tracts Concerning North Carolina has an advertisement which will help my understanding of what attracted men to the loyalist cause.

This past week has proven the volatility of historical research. Original intent means nothing once you get down to the archives and see what is actually available. My original intent was to focus on the reasons for why the Scottish colonists in North Carolina remained loyal to the British during the Revolutionary War, despite their rocky history with their southern rulers of Great Britain. While I still intend to research this topic, I believe my research may be expanding, or otherwise taking a new or slightly different direction.My pursuit for evidence concerning Scottish loyalties led me to some intriguing primary sources about the transplantation of Scottish culture into the colonies of British North America. I found documents concerning the change of Scottish music once it reached the colonies. This document sparked my interest in other such sources. How did the structure of the Scottish home change from Great Britain to North America (thank you Michael)? How did their farming methods and diets change once in the colonies? Did they look to sustain the memory of the clans by looking to the Tacksmen as their leaders? Did the family members take on new roles in the home? These questions would lead my thesis in a terrifyingly different direction, one which I am not quite sure I will be able to handle. My head is spinning with questions concerning the direction I want my research to take. Perhaps I will find stability within my project after speaking with my advisor this afternoon.

Immigration has been, and always will be, a topic near and dear to my heart. My great grandmother, Anna Yustik, immigrated to New York from Czechoslovakia right after World War I. Although she left her home and family, she brought her culture with her, and established herself within a Slovak community in upstate New York. The community in which she lived helped to keep the traditions of her homeland alive in a new country. Without that support system, without the continuation of Slavic culture, rituals, and religious tradition in her everyday life, it would have been extremely difficult for Anna to pass her culture on to her children.

Whatever does Post WWI Slovak immigration have to do with inspiration for a Scottish themed research project? The survivability of culture across the Atlantic, despite the physical and emotional turmoil of those transporting it, helped inspire my project. The ignorance of late nineteenth to mid twentieth century historians led the scholarly community to believe in some seriously flawed ideas about Trans Atlantic immigration. For example, the most well known fallacy of immigration history is the notion that African Americans have no culture, since it was lost in the middle passage. Though this idea has long since been invalidated, more such infuriatingly obscure ideas about trans-Atlantic culture still exist. People who were brought to North America by force or who immigrated here by choice never simply abandoned their culture or lifestyles once they arrived here or lost it in transit. As humans, we strive to maintain an identity with our family, our culture, or a larger group, which is why culture survives across oceans, as well as generations.

Painfully little research has been conducted on the culture and life of Scottish immigrants to North America in the eighteenth Century. What research I have thus far delved into presents the North American Scottish communities as communities which emigrated here from Scotland with individuals who no longer associated themselves with the culture which in effect makes a Scottish person a Scot. Historians such as Duane Meyer and Bernard Bailyn argue in defense of this theory. For them, the reason why the Scottish immigrants remained loyal to the crown in the American Revolution remains simply that they no longer affiliated themselves with the Scottish culture alone, but that they saw themselves as British. This theory rejects the proof presented through colonial documents that these people brought with them their own customs, traditions, and means of living unique to the Scottish tradition. Since these people did indeed mark themselves as Scottish, there remains an evident flaw with the foundation of Bailyn and Meyer’s arguments. Through my thesis, I hope to discover the true reasons behind Scottish loyalty to the British during the American Revolution.

The Battle of Culloden in 1745 and the subsequent defeat and exile of “Bonnie” Prince Charlie depressed all hopes for a glorious restoration of the House of Stuart to the Throne. The battle of the Jacobites against the House of Hanover left the ancient clans of the Highlands in tatters, and broke apart the notorious leadership of the Highland clans. Voyages from Scotland to the British colonies of North America have recorded the expulsion of Jacobite rebel prisoners following the Battle of Culloden. Scottish immigrants formed sizeable colonies both in South and North Carolina. The most intriguing part of the history of this influx of Scottish immigration was their defense of the English in the Revolutionary War. Why did these people, who the English cast out of their country, not defend the British Colonists instead of the English officials? Why would these proud Scotts defend the very men of the country which had so mercilessly destroyed their livelihoods in the Highlands, and who had even made it illegal to bare their clan’s tartans? It seems to be one of the greatest ironies of history that the Scotts defended their enemy only two decades after a battle which, even today, has left bitter resentment toward the English. How did these people affect the Revolution? How did their defense of the English affect the British Colonies? I hope to gain insight into why these men fought on the side of the English. Did the destruction of clan leadership lead the Scots to look to the English, or were the Scots pressured by English to fight for them for economic, religious, or personal reasons? The main goal at the start of my research will be to discover why the Scottish immigrants did not use the Revolutionary War as their opportunity for revenge against the English for their defeat at Culloden. What advantage could the Scots possibly have in defending the men who attempted to completely destroy and outlaw their culture?