John Ashe (general) - Revolutionary War

Revolutionary War

An outspoken opponent of the Stamp Act and eventually a supporter of independence from Great Britain, Ashe served in the North Carolina Provincial Congress and on both the committees of correspondence and safety as hostilities between the colonies and Great Britain began to rise.

Leading a force of 500 men, Ashe destroyed the British garrison of Fort Johnson (near present day Wilmington, North Carolina) in 1775, becoming a colonel later that year. Raising and equipping a regiment at his own expense, Ashe led his regiment in the American victory at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge. Ashe was thereafter promoted to brigadier general of the militia in April 1776.