Formation of North Carolina’s first two continental regiments was authorized by the Provincial Congress in 1775, in response to a proposal by the Continental Congress to form a Continental Army. After the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge and later British forays in the lower Cape Fear region in the spring of 1776, the Continental Congress resolved that North Carolina could raise two additional regiments–the NC Assembly decided to raise four more regiments.

Thus, the 6th North Carolina Regiment was formed in 1776. It was formed from men from the Wilmington and Hillsborough Military Districts, which made up nearly one-half the state including much of the backcountry. They were organized at Halifax, NC, under the command of Col. Alexander Lillington, hero of the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge.

When ready to march north to join the main army, they were instead called south to defend Charleston against a suspected second assault in 1776 (after the lst attack was repulsed in June). In the meantime, Col. Lillington stepped down due to ill health. He was replaced by Col. Gideon Lamb. The British did not return in 1776. The NC Line spent a miserable winter near Charleston without the supplies promised by South Carolina.

The 6th marched north in the spring and joined the main army, brigaded under Gen. Francis Nash. They were in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown, being at the Chew House in the latter and serving as rear guard for the American withdrawal during which Gen. Nash was mortally wounded. They were noted by one diarist as having captured sixteen guns during the attack, but having had to abandon them in the retreat.

They wintered at Valley Forge in Gen. Lachlan Macintosh’s Brigade. The NC troops were noted by Washington to be the poorest supplied of all the destitute men there. Their desertion rate was 10 percent, the lowest in an Army that averaged 18 percent. It was a long way home.

In the reductions of 1778, the 6th was merged with the lst NC, assuming the lower regimental number. The supernumerary officers of the 6th were sent home to NC to recruit. All troops recruited by the 6th for the next several years were taken immediately into the other NC units. The 6th ceased to exist officially in early 1781.

In the meantime, the men of the 6th, now the lst, served at Monmouth, being engaged early and again late in the day, and in the Hudson Highlands. Some of them took part in the frontal assault by NC troops of Wayne’s Light Infantry on Stony Point. In November 1779 they were ordered south to Charleston during the worst winter of the war. They arrived in time to take part in the defense and, along with the Virginians, took part in the only sortie during the siege.

On 12 May 1780, they went into captivity with the fall of Charleston. Many of them were sent to the prison hulks in the harbor while others were imprisoned on John’s Island. The 6th disappeared from the field and on paper.

 

6th North Carolina Flag and Uniforms

The flags for the North Carolina Line were made in Philadelphia. Unfortunately, there are no records of their appearance. The return in February 1778 at Valley Forge lists only two regimental flags surviving among the ten North Carolina Regiments. None were on hand at the surrender in Charleston in 1780. The flag we carry today is conjectural, but is based on period details.

The North Carolina Line went through a progression of uniforms. First, they were issued hunting shirts and gaiters. In 1776, they were issued coats made in Philadelphia. These coats were in a wide range of color combinations, such as brown with red facings, blue with brown facings, etc.

In September 1778, after the winter at Valley Forge, the North Carolina Line received French uniforms in blue with red facings and white small clothes. Diaries note that by December these uniforms were already in poor condition. The 1780 regulations called for a blue coat with blue facings and white buttonhole lace. No records have been found of these uniforms being issued, as the NC Line was in captivity at the time.

The next NC levees in the field was a draft of the militia that had left the field at Guilford Court House. These men were intentionally not supplied with uniforms. The NC Archives does record an issue of blue wool to the officers of the NC Line at Halifax who were on parole from Charleston. Perhaps they made up the new uniforms from this material. The final uniform issued to the NC Line was the blue with red facing – 1783 regulation. The 6th NC today wears either the hunting shirt or frock, the 1776 uniform or the 1783 uniform.