On July 19, 2025, I had the exciting opportunity to travel to Southport, North Carolina to commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Burning of Fort Johnston, a pivotal moment in North Carolina’s Revolutionary War history. I felt as if I had traveled back to 1775, when Patriot Militiamen Cornelius Harnett, John Ashe, and Robert Howe forced Royal Governor Josiah Martin to flee the strategic fort at the mouth of the Cape Fear River. Martin escaped to the British warship HMS Cruzier, but in a bold act of defiance, the patriots burned the fort to the ground—the first open armed conflict in North Carolina against the British forces.
To commemorate the 250th anniversary of the Burning of Fort Johnston, the NC Maritime Museum at Southport hosted a living history day with a full schedule of history lectures, Revolutionary War exhibitions, and artillery demonstrations.
Located just 45 minutes south of Wilmington, Southport sits on the banks of the Cape Fear as it empties into the Atlantic. This charming town, which has witnessed over 250 years of American history. At the center of its downtown waterfront, you’ll discover the NC Maritime Museum at Southport.
The NC Maritime Museum and Visitor Center now stands on the very grounds of this where this fiery event occurred. The museum is housed in officer quarters from the latter fort, which was built atop of the original Fort Johnston that burned in 1775.
As a descendant of the Moore and Smith families, who helped found the area and fought as patriots in the Revolutionary War, I feel a deep personal connection to this history. Southport was originally called Smithville and was named after my 5th Great Uncle Benjamin Smith. Smith was a patriot who served as an aide-de-camp for Washington and later was a Governor of North Carolina.
The museum’s exhibits provide a wonderful look into the history of Southport and the Cape Fear River region. The exhibits include countless artifacts including a 2000 year old Indian Canoe, as well as weapons and relics from the Revolutionary War and Civil War.
Fort Johnston was first ordered built in 1744-45 by Governor Gabriel Johnston to defend against potential Spanish and French naval attacks. While the fort wasn’t completed in time to fend off a Spanish attack on nearby Brunswick Town in 1748, the bustling port city went on to become a hotbed of revolutionary sentiment.
In November 1765, Brunswick Town was one of the first cities in America to protest the Stamp Act with the threat of armed force.
After Lord Tryon was reassigned to New York in 1771, Governor Josiah Martin inherited a colony at a boiling point. The Boston Tea Party and the subsequent Intolerable Acts sparked major concerns among colonists, who feared the Crown could shut down commerce without their proper representation. With his authority in New Bern completely eroded and his personal safety at risk, Josiah Martin fled in the night on May 29, 1775, taking refuge on the HMS Cruiser before relocating to Fort Johnston.
Martin had made additions to Fort Johnston during his time as governor, hoping the fortifications would be strong enough to serve as a temporary gubernatorial headquarters until the hostilities passed. Unfortunately for him, he had gone from the frying pan into the fire. Communities along the Cape Fear, including Wilmington and Brunswick Town, were patriot strongholds. When Martin arrived at Fort Johnston on June 2, 1775, he quickly realized the fort offered little protection. By June 25, more than half of the twenty-five troops stationed there to protect him had deserted, and there was not enough gunpowder to defend the fort.
On July 13, 1775, with neither enough ammunition nor manpower to fight off a Patriot attack, Martin abandoned Fort Johnston, taking all of the fort’s valuable weapons with him aboard the Cruzier, the British warship that had been protecting him. From the Cruzier, Martin continued to communicate with British leaders. Fort Johnston was burned early on the morning of July 19, 1775, with Governor Martin and the Cruzier’s crew watching from aboard the ship. We’ll hear more about the fiery event from Governor Martin himself in a bit…
Fires of Liberty at Fort Johnston:
This immersive event truly brought to life the story of the fort’s burning. I had the unique opportunity to speak with none other than Governor Josiah Martin himself, as well as both patriot militiamen and British regulars. While I consider myself a patriot, I enjoyed hearing his perspective as a beleaguered governor determined to stop the “patriotic frenzy” and restore British order to the colony. The patriots, on the other hand, felt their rights had been eroded by British taxation and local government mismanagement. Tensions had been rising since the Stamp Act arrived in nearby Brunswick Town in November 1765. With the burning of Fort Johnston ten years later, war had officially come to North Carolina.
The Governor explained that after fleeing Fort Johnston, he stayed aboard the HMS Cruiser, a governor without a colony, working to plan a counterattack in the coming months. Through numerous letters to Parliament, he desperately begged for military assistance to stop the Patriot militia and regain control of North Carolina.
Locally, Governor Martin found allies in the Scottish Highlanders, many of whom had settled in the Cross Creek (Fayetteville) area. He worked with prominent Loyalists like the MacDonalds to create a Loyalist militia. Many of these Highlanders had arrived in North Carolina after their traditional way of life in Scotland was dismantled following the Battle of Culloden in 1746. Having received land grants from the British Crown, they had sworn an oath of allegiance to the King. Their loyalty was a matter of honor and a desire to protect the prosperity and new home they had found in North Carolina.
The plan of using the loyal militia along with British regulars fell apart at Moore’s Creek Bridge near Wilmington in February 1776. The Patriot victory was so decisive that it not only foiled Martin’s plans but also solidified North Carolina’s commitment to the cause of independence, paving the way for the Halifax Resolves in April 1776. Martin would later move up to New York to be with former North Carolina Royal Governor Lord Tryon, and he eventually returned to England, never to regain control of the colony he had once governed.
After interviewing Gov. Martin, I spoke with a member of the North Carolina militia that attacked Fort Johnston in July 1775. This living reenactor detailed the life of a militiaman in the Carolinas throughout the Revolutionary War.
These militiamen were mustered from the region and had little formal military training, but they did have keen shooting abilities with their rifles. Each militiaman would use their own rifle, one of their most important possessions used for hunting and protection, especially in frontier communities. A typical rifle could cost three months of wages or more. Militiamen were not regular enlistees and would typically serve one weekend or week a month, or for specific battles and skirmishes like the one at Fort Johnston. Their rifles typically took about a minute to load between shots, a stark contrast to the British musket’s loading time of about thirty seconds. This slower rate of fire put them at a disadvantage in a line-battle situation. British regulars were issued a standard musket, like the Brown Bess, with a bayonet attached. Militiamen did not have bayonets, which put them at a serious disadvantage in close-quarters combat. A militiaman would fire until the British bayonets came, at which point they’d be forced to disperse and retreat. This made guerrilla warfare a popular and effective mode of fighting in the backcountry.
The British Regular I spoke with explained he was a member of the Royal Fusiliers and had initially started his service in Canada, helping fight in the Battles in Montreal and Quebec before eventually being moved to the Carolinas to help with the Siege of Charleston in May 1780. The idea was these professional British soldiers would help train the Loyalist supporters in the Carolina backcountry to maintain strategic military posts to maintain royal order in the Carolinas. Once trained, the regulars would be able to move back to New York and other critical areas to help support the larger campaign. However, conquering the Carolina backcountry turned into a hornets’ nest, especially after the disastrous Battle of Waxhaws, where Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton’s men didn’t offer quarter to Virginia Continentals who were fleeing Charleston, which had already fallen to the British. Over 200 skirmishes and major battles would take place from 1780 to 1781 in the Carolinas.
This regular likely participated in the disastrous British defeat at the Battle of Cowpens in January 1781, a Patriot victory that all but kicked the British out of South Carolina. This regular then helped Cornwallis in campaigns along the Race to the Dan to Guilford Courthouse and Yorktown before surrendering to the patriot forces in October 1781.
The living historians also detailed camp life, including their daily food rations and clothing. The British had a more standardized uniform, with their iconic red coats, which reflected their status as a professional army. This was a stark contrast to the militia, who typically wore their own clothing. Whereas members of the Continental Army, the professional force raised by the colonies, also had uniforms, though these were often in short supply, especially in the early years of the war. They eventually adopted a standardized blue coat, but the militia’s lack of uniform was a constant challenge and a sign of their less-disciplined, non-professional status. The clothing differences underscored the different military tactics of the time: the professional, highly visible British line-soldiers versus the often-unseen, regional militia.
Also part of the Living History demonstrations, I got to learn about popular Colonial games and witness authentic artillery demonstrations, including cannon fire on the banks of the Cape Fear. The artillery experts explained that rain made it almost impossible to load artillery and the British would pray for rain as they could use their bayonets in the rain, but the patriots were left on the run. It was extremely windy the day I was at Southport and it took several tries to get the cannon to fire. The ground shook and the fiery of Revolution rumbled on the grounds of Fort Johnston.
The day’s festivities also included several lectures by historians Jim McKee (The Construction of Fort Johnston), Stephen Atkinson (HMS Cruizer and British Naval Activity in the Lower Cape Fear), Jack Fryar (When the British Came: Revolution in the Cape Fear) and Chris Fonvielle (With Such Great Alacrity: The Burning of Fort Johnston)
Education curator at the museum, Shannon Walker said “This program is about bringing awareness to what happened in July of 1775.“The people of southeastern North Carolina stood up to the Crown, sparking the colony’s entry into the American Revolution.” Source
Fort Johnston was eventually rebuilt between 1794-1809. During the Civil War it served as a Confederate fort used for recruitment and training and providing some production for blockade runners. Ultimately it was seized by the Union in January 1865. All that remains are the Officers Quarters, which is where the Maritime Museum and Visitor are located today.
Join the Revolution:
July 4, 2026, commemorates the 250th Anniversary of the Declaration of Independence. As we approach America 250, let’s engage with history as a living story, not a distant past. The events of our past directly shaped the present we inhabit, and by truly understanding them, we can learn how to build a better future.
Events like the one at Fort Johnston help to bring this history to life in a fun and educational way. To connect with America 250 events in your area, I recommend checking your state and county’s local America 250 committee pages. North Carolina, for instance, has many wonderful events planned, including the 250th anniversary of the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge near Wilmington in February 2026.
American Nomad will continue to feature historic sites and travel to America 250 events to help keep the flames of liberty alive!
Our next blog post will be dedicated to the charming riverfront town of Southport. Its streets are lined with history, centuries-old Spanish moss-laden live oaks, cool local shops, coffee hotspots, and delicious restaurants.
During my most recent visit, I enjoyed relaxing on the town pier and strolling through the downtown shops before grabbing a delicious coffee and smoothie from the Southport Coffee Company. This town is a true hidden gem on the Carolina coast, a place that allows you to slow down and enjoy the “salubrious sea breezes,” as the old Southport motto goes. Stay tuned for our next post dedicated to Southport…
Southport Resources:
NC Maritime Museum at Southport Website
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Hi, I’m Adele Lassiter, the travel enthusiast behind American Nomad Traveler. This is where I share my love for history, cool museums, art, and travel tips. When I’m not writing, I’m a singer-songwriter with a passion for Americana music. You can find my new album here: adelelassiter.bandcamp.com
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