In 1771 backcountry farmers fought against Royal Governor William Tryon over taxes, dishonest sheriffs and illegal fees. The 224th anniversary of the Battle of Alamance and Regulator resistance will be observed with free family friendly activities May 16-17, 10 a.m. to 4 p.m., at Alamance Battleground State Historic Site.
Costumed interpreters will re-enact military and domestic life, and even his excellency Royal Governor William Tryon and Regulator leader Rednap Howell will participate. Soldiers from the Guilford Militia, Johnston County Militia and the Craven County Regiment will drill and demonstrate cannon, flintlock muskets and flintlock rifle firings.
Domestic activities will include interpreters cooking over an open fire, a blacksmith working at a forge and a master horn maker engraving powder horns. Visitors can learn colonial dyeing techniques as well. A cockade-making workshop will be offered Saturday afternoon at a cost of $10. The highly ornamental ribbons or rosettes were a favorite of Gov. Tryon, who ordered them for all his troops.
A colorful Patriots' Day ceremony commemorates the Revolutionary War engagements in the region and is sponsored by the Alamance Chapter-Sons of the American Revolution. They include ones known as Pyle's Defeat, Battle of Clapp's Mill, Battle of Lindley's Mill and the 1771 Battle of Alamance. These occurred in what is now Alamance County.
An invitation is extended to the annual covered dish picnic sponsored by the Alamance County Historical Association. The 6 p.m. Saturday, May 16, event will feature speaker John Braxton, local gunsmith, presenting a program on 19th century Alamance County rifles. Examples of these one of a kind historic weapons will be on temporary display.
Alamance Battleground State Historic Site is where Royal Gov. William Tryon and 1,000 North Carolina militia defeated the backcountry farmers known as Regulators at the May 16, 1771, Battle of Alamance. The Regulators sought better regulation of government officials and more representation.
For additional information, please call (336) 227-4785, email alamance@ncdcr.gov, visit our website here or Facebook page at Alamance Battleground State Historic Site, and find us on Instagram. Located 6 miles south of I-85/I-40, exit 143, on Highway 62 in Burlington, Alamance Battleground is within the Division of State Historic Sites in the N.C. Department of Cultural Resources.