Battle of Charlotte

Who Fought

History & Significance

The Battle of Charlotte was fought on September 26, 1780 during the American Revolutionary War. It took place at what was then the Mecklenburg County courthouse; which is now the site of the Bank of America tower at Trade and Tryon Streets in uptown Charlotte, North Carolina. An advance guard of General Charles Cornwallis' army rode into town and encountered a well-prepared American militia under the command of William R. Davie in front of the court house. A skirmish ensued in which George Hanger, leading British cavalry, was wounded. The small American force, which had not intended more than token resistance, withdrew north toward Salisbury, North Carolina upon the arrival of Cornwallis and the main army.

Pursuant to the British "southern strategy" for winning the American Revolutionary War, British forces had captured Charleston, South Carolina early in 1780, and had driven Continental Army forces from South Carolina. Following his rout of the Continental Army at Camden in August 1780, British General Lord Cornwallis paused with his army in the Waxhaws region of northern South Carolina. Believing British and Loyalist forces to be in control of Georgia and South Carolina, he decided to turn north and address the threat posed by the Continental Army remnants in North Carolina. In mid-September he began moving north toward Charlotte, North Carolina.

Cornwallis' movements were shadowed by militia companies from North and South Carolina. One force under Thomas Sumter stayed back and harassed British and Loyalist outposts in the South Carolina backcountry, while another, led by Major William R. Davie, maintained fairly close contact with portions of his force as Cornwallis moved northward. Davie surprised a detachment of Cornwallis' Loyalist forces at Wahab's Plantation on September 20, and then moved on to Charlotte, where he set up an ambush to harass Cornwallis' vanguard.

Charlotte was then a small town, with two main roads crossing at the town center, where the Mecklenburg County courthouse dominated the intersection. The southern facade of the courthouse had a series of pillars, between which a stone wall about 3.5 feet (1.1 m) high had been constructed to provide an area that served as the local market. Davie positioned three rows of militia at and north of the courthouse, with one behind the stone wall, and placed cavalry companies on the east and west sides of the courthouse, covering the roads leading away in those directions. Finally, he put a company of 20 men behind a house on the southern road, where he was expecting the British advance.

The ground they fought on

The site of Battle of Charlotte lies on Stratheden Group, bedrock that formed in the Late Devonian. The rock here is sandstone and conglomerate, interbedded.

Frequently Asked Questions

Scheduled Monuments near Battle of Charlotte

Cairnfield, enclosure 700m NNE of

Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~0.8 mi

Cairnfield enclosure is a post-medieval field monument situated on the Fife uplands approximately 700 metres north-north-east of Cairnfield itself. The enclosure occupies ground underlain by the Stratheden Group, a Late Devonian bedrock formation of interbedded sandstone and conglomerate that wou…

Collessie,cairn 390m NW of Collessie Mill Farm

Scheduled monument · ~1.9 mi

Collessie Cairn is a prehistoric stone monument situated 390 metres north-west of Collessie Mill Farm in Fife, Scotland. The cairn stands on bedrock composed of Silurian to Devonian extrusive rocks, specifically mafic lava and mafic tuff formed during the Devonian period. This volcanic geology, w…

Myreside, enclosure 100m S of

Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~1.9 mi

Myreside is a post-medieval enclosure located in Fife, Scotland, situated some 100 metres south of Myreside itself. The monument is protected by Historic Environment Scotland under designation SM6646. The enclosure sits upon bedrock of the Stratheden Group, a formation of sandstone and conglomera…

Glenorkie, barrows 300m SSE of

Scheduled monument · ~2.3 mi

Glenorkie, barrows 300m SSE of is a Bronze Age burial monument located in Fife, Scotland. The barrows occupy ground underlain by the Inverclyde Group, a sequence of sandstone, siltstone and mudstone formations dating to the Osagean geological period. This ancient bedrock, exposed across much of c…

Falkland Palace

Scheduled monument · ~3.1 mi

Falkland Palace is a Renaissance royal residence located in the village of Falkland in Fife, Scotland, built primarily during the sixteenth century as a hunting lodge and country seat of the Scottish monarchy. The palace was substantially developed under James IV and James V, with the south range…

Cowden Hill, enclosure and round-houses

Scheduled monument · Post-Medieval · ~3.3 mi

Cowden Hill is a post-medieval enclosure and round-houses located in Fife, Scotland, and protected by Historic Environment Scotland under reference SM11082. The site occupies bedrock belonging to the Arbuttnott-Garvock Group, a Pragian-age sandstone formation interspersed with conglomerate, silts…

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• Battle of Charlotte · Wikipedia