The War of the Regulation Part Six The skirmish near Salisbury May 10th, 1771? by Jim Curran

Jim Curran Admin 05/10/21

The War of the Regulation Part Six The skirmish near Salisbury May 10th, 1771?

The Battle at Alamance is often regarded as the only battle of the War but that is not entirely true. There was another skirmish that occurred near Salisbury NC. on the 14th. A force had been raised by Captain Benjamin Merrill who was a deacon at the Jersey Baptist Church from those in the area around the church which was almost wholly a Baptist settlement. More that 300 strong they would encounter the troops of Gen Hugh Wadell near Salisbury and force their retreat. Per History of the Liberty Baptist Association by Elder Henry Sheets, 1907 (page 158): “Capt. Benjamin Merrill, of the Jersey settlements near Salisbury…was on his way to join the Regulators at Alamance, with a company of more than three hundred men, when he intercepted Gen. Hugh Waddell and forced him to flee to Salisbury, after taking most of his command prisoners. Captain Merrill was within one day’s march of the Alamance when he heard the cannonading, and soon afterwards heard of the victory of the Governor’s army. He is said to have regretted that he was not present with his men to have bled with those who fought for liberty. There has been comparatively little written about this battle we do not even have recorded if there were any casualties (To be fair for Alamance the amounts vary widely.) One ponders what would have happened had this encounter happened differently. Indeed what happened in this skirmish varies widely. (Even the date appears to vary) (from sketches of North Carolina by Foote) Having crossed the Yadkin, Waddel found a large company of Regulators assembled to prevent his advance; his own men were many of them averse to violence, and others strongly in favor of the insurgents, and were falling away from his ranks. Upon receiving threats of violence if he continued to advance, in a council of officers, he determined to retreat across the Yadkin.GENERAL WADDEL’S CAMP, Pott’s Creek, 10th May, 1771. By a Council of Officers of the Western Detachment: “Considering the great superiority of the insurgents in number, and the resolution of a great part of their own men not to fight, it was resolved that they should retreat across the Yadkin. William Lindsay, Griffith Rutherford, Ad’ Alexander, Saml. Spencer, Thos. Neel, Robert Harris, Fr. Ross, Saml. Snead, Robt. Schaw, Win. Luckie. This account seems inconsistent with what some of the docents have said at Alamance- describing it as more of a skirmish. We will probably never know the whole story. Regardless of all Merrill prevented an even greater force from the battle at Alamance from arriving. Had Merrill been at Alamance and not delayed, the Regulators however, would have had much more competent military leadership. Merrill had shown that by the defeat of Waddell here. However for any show of strength they were still outgunned by the cannons and faced by a much better trained force. Waddell would later show that he did not agree with the governor’s course of actions.

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