CANE CREEK BAPTIST CHURCH
HISTORICAL
SKETCHES
Number 7: December 2004 www.canecreek.org 6901 Orange Grove Road, Hillsborough, NC 27278
THE
BATTLE OF KIRK’S FARM
There is a faint community memory of a revolutionary war skirmish known as the battle of Kirk’s farm that happened just south of here. There would be no way to learn more had not someone written about it. The Reverend Eli Caruthers was an amateur historian who interviewed many veterans. He also made use of the historical writings of Governor Swain. In 1854 he published Revolutionary Incidents. This book is the source of our information. It may be found at Wilson Library in the North Carolina Collection.
The war began in 1776 and the first few years were fought mostly in the north. But later much of the fighting took place in the south. The war ended with the surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown in the fall of 1781.
Early on, the colonial government of the North Carolina Colony (the Tories) removed itself to Wilmington for safety’s sake. The patriots (the Whigs) set up a provisional state government and tried to keep basic functions going. But the state sank into a dangerously lawless condition that led to the rise of various desperadoes and guerilla bands that thought, “Where there is no law, there can be no transgression.”
In the countryside, things were in an uncertain status for much of the war’s duration. The old cliché is that about one third were patriots, one-third Tories, and one third just kept quite until they could see how things were going. Locally, I think that there was probably more sympathy for the patriot’s side. But not entirely so. Our first preacher was Thomas Cate who was married to an Estridge. Such a name is, I think, associated with a Tory. I think her father’s land, located a mile or so north and east of the church, was confiscated by the State after the war. Also, there are Edwards on the Tory side mentioned in Caruthers's narrative. There were quite a few Edwards land grants located just south of Highway 54.
During much of the war there were few outright battles between armies in the state. Instead, both sides mustered local fighting groups that conducted raids from time to time. In between raids, these men tended their farms. The most notorious fighting group was mustered by David Fanning. He had a solid core of about 30 or 40 men.
Fanning was born in 1754 and was trained in carpentry and loom making. Caruthers thinks at around age 16 he stayed for several years with “John O’Deniell who lived in Orange County.” I suspect that this may actually have been John O’Daniel who had a land grant roughly in the vicinity of Apple Mill. Here he learned to read and write, became a craftsman, and picked up a reputation as a skillful breaker of wild horses. He suffered from “scald head” which cost him his hair. He always wore a silk cap to cover his baldness.
Caruthers describes him as intelligent and resourceful but adds, “His powers were developed under the influence of poverty, disease, and neglect … without any moral or religious training.” His actions earned him special notoriety “and made his name, not only from that time to the present, but for generations to come, a reproach and a byword for infamy.”
Fanning’s notorious career began in 1776. He declared himself a Whig but, on a trading venture in South Carolina, was beaten and robbed by a band who called themselves Whigs. So Fanning changed sides and joined with a South Carolina Tory by the name of McGirth. He continued with McGirth for several years before returning to this State early in 1781. For a while he lurked to the south of Deep River.
When he carried out a small but successful raid across the Deep River, his actions caught the attention of the British Major Craig who thereupon appointed him Colonel and gave him a uniform and a sword. Fanning soon acquired “Bay Doe,” a mare of such special quality that her bloodlines are still traced among the very best race horses of today.
Fanning then carried out a number of swift and daring raids. He took the courthouse at Pittsboro and carried off prisoners to Wilmington. He raided and captured Fayetteville. In between, he fought several battles against superior numbers and always came out the winner. His name struck fear in the patriot’s hearts.
In September Fanning hatched a plot to fall upon Hillsborough and capture Governor Burke. Fanning and his men joined Colonel McNeill’s 600 Scotsmen, crossed the Deep River, and headed north. Fanning received word that a party of patriots was encamped at Kirk’s farm and that this was the only obstacle to a surprise raid on Hillsborough. I have located a number of Kirk land grants and I think that the one we want was held by Lewis Kirk and was located close to where Rebecca Crawford lived on Teer Road. In those days, I think that Clover Garden-Orange Chapel Road continued on north of Highway 54 and went past where Cane Creek Meeting House was to be built in 1789.
Caruthers gives this account: “They came up just as the day was dawning and killed the sentinel, a man by the name of Couch, who had been posted at the end of the lane … then lay in ambush … The [Whig] party moved out under Captain Allen … The Tories emerged from their concealment and a severe conflict ensued in which some important lives were lost on both sides …Captains Allen and Young (Whigs) were both severely wounded, the former recovered but the latter died.” Caruthers goes on to say that three of Fanning’s men were Edwards – Richard, Edward, and Meredith. Richard was killed in the battle.
The skirmish did not deter Fanning and Colonel McNeil. They continued north, raided Hillsborough, captured the Governor, sacked the town, drank all the whiskey they could find, and headed back south to deliver Governor Burke to British authorities in Wilmington. The Whigs rallied and engaged them at the other Cane Creek south of Haw River. The battle was savage but ended in a standoff. Fanning hastened toward the coast with his prisoner.
Was the Governor rescued? What happened to Fanning? Do any traces of the battle remain in our community? I have run out of room so the rest of the story will have to await the next historical sketch.
Ed Johnson
