The Battle of Portevent’s Mill was fought between Patriot militia and Loyalist militia near present day Garland, North Carolina in Sampson County, on May 16, 1781 during the American War of Independence
Patriot scouts were combing the area and discovered Loyalist soldiers under the command of Captain Middleton Mobley encamped at Portevent’s Mill grinding corn. They returned to their commander, Colonel James Kenan, and had informed him of their discovery. The Patriots would launch a surprise attack at the Loyalist encampment and after intense fighting the Loyalists would eventually retreat into Black Swamp.
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) grew from colonial resistance to British taxation without parliamentary representation — a dispute that radicalized through the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767), and the Boston Massacre (1770). Fighting began at Lexington and Concord in April 1775; the Continental Congress declared independence on July 4, 1776. The Continental Army under George Washington faced severe shortages of supplies and troops, enduring the brutal winter at Valley Forge (1777–1778) before French alliance and French financing turned the military balance. Major engagements included Bunker Hill (1775), Trenton (1776), Saratoga (1777) — which secured French intervention — and Yorktown (1781), where British General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington. An estimated 25,000 American soldiers died in service, from combat, disease, and captivity. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded British territory east of the Mississippi, though it left unresolved questions about Indigenous land rights and the status of Loyalists.
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