Shallow Ford State Historic Site

10/14/2025

On This Day in History, October 14, 1780, was fought the Battle of Shallow Ford.

Several companies of Virginia militia had entered NC en route to resist Patrick Ferguson's Loyalist army in the western part of the state. When news reached them of the victory at King’s Mountain (Oct. 7th,) they were ordered into Surry County to suppress the Loyalists under Gideon Wright. The Virginians united forces with Captain Andrew Carson’s small group of Surry County Militia.

About 9:30 in the morning of October 14th, the first of Col. Wright’s 300 plus Loyalists had crossed the river at the Shallow Ford and were heading northwest along the Mulberry Fields Road when they crested the hill just above a creek now called Battle Branch.
At the bottom of the hill, Maj. Joseph Cloyd’s mixed force of about 400 Virginia and North Carolina Whigs had been preparing breakfast when they heard the Tories approach and established an ambush.

Surprised and suffering numerous casualties, including local Captain James Bryan, some Loyalists fired from horseback while others dismounted and attempted to form a battle line, while others scattered back across the river, calling to their comrades who had not yet crossed that "we are whipped!"

The battle was quick but brutal. Several Loyalists were killed by the initial gunfire, and many were captured. Some of the captured men were clubbed to death. One pension application related that a Black Loyalist named Ball Turner put up a stubborn resistance and was brought down by more than a dozen musket balls.
In the end, at least 15 Loyalists were killed, with about 40 captured, including at least 10 wounded. The only Whig death was Captain Francis, who was shot in the head. 4-5 Whigs were wounded.

The Battle of Shallowford effectively eliminated what Loyalist resistance remained in western North Carolina for the rest of the war.

"North Carolina Over Mountain Man 1780" image courtesy Don Troiani.

09/08/2025

07/14/2025

06/20/2025

245 Years ago today:

“The Committee, to whom was referred the Petition and Memorial of Daniel McKissick praying an allowance to be made him in consequence of a wound received in the Service of the State in an Action with the Tories at Ramseur’s Mill on the Morning of the 20th June, 1780, …”

(Minutes of the North Carolina House of Commons. NC General Assembly. November 11, 1788. Documenting the American South: Colonial and State Records of North Carolina. UNC-Chappel Hill. Page 34. https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr21-0001l)

(J. Melius 6/2025)

When the British captured Charleston, SC in May 1780, Loyalists across the Carolinas breathed a sigh of relief. Many flocked to Charleston and volunteered to serve in Loyalist Militia formations, as well as newly formed Provincial regiments like the Royal North Carolina Regiment.

The British were aware western North Carolina had a large Loyalist population. However, they were dangerously far from British lines. North Carolina had been spared open battles since Moore’s Creek Bridge in 1776, due largely to the violent suppression of the Loyalists by Whigs. The commander of the British southern army, Lord Charles Cornwallis, ordered the NC Loyalists to remain in their homes until British forces came to their neighborhoods. Not all listened.

Lt Col. John Moore, an officer of the Royal NC Regiment and native to modern Lincoln County, snuck home from SC in June 1780. He intended to raise local Loyalists contrary to Cornwallis’s orders. He met with forty Loyalists on Indian Creek (west of modern Lincolnton) on June 10. Three days later, more than 200 men gathered on a ridge (Battleground Elementary School) near Ramsour’s Mill. By June 20, between 700 and 1,300 Loyalists gathered on the ridge. However, no more than approximately 500 of the unorganized men were armed.

Whig General Griffith Rutherford dispatched Col. Francis Locke of Rowan County to disperse the Loyalists. Locke’s 400 militiamen approached Moore’s camp on the night of June 19. The Whig force was well armed, organized, and had some training. In the pre-dawn hours of the 20th, Locke formed his men to attack. At first light, his cavalry charged the Loyalist camp, catching them off guard in the dense morning fog. The Whig infantry followed close behind.

The fighting was brutal and much of it was hand-to-hand. The two sides lacked uniforms and distinguished themselves with field signs. The Loyalists wore green sprigs in their hats while the Whigs used pieces of white paper.

After two hours of combat, nearly 70 lay dead and 200 were wounded. The Whigs held the ground, and the Loyalists were forced to flee. Many Loyalists were captured. Most had their property confiscated. Some of the Loyalists were paroled while others were held in the Salisbury jail. Many of the Loyalists agreed to serve in the Whig militia in order to receive clemency. Only 30 of the Loyalists, including Lt Col. Moore, reached British lines. Moore was nearly quart martialed by Cornwallis for disobeying his orders. Moore was blamed for inciting widespread, renewed violence against suspected Loyalists.

Rumors quickly spread that 2,700 Loyalist were marching to attack the area around Shallow Ford. In reality, the only credible reports of violence were murders and robberies of suspected Loyalists committed by Whig militia and vigilantes. Nearly 600 Loyalists under Col. Samuel Bryan gathered at the Shallow Ford and fled down the Yadkin River. Their numbers swelled to more than 1,500 by the time they reached the British at Cheraw, SC on June 30. Only about 40% of the Loyalists were armed.

The Battle of Ramsour’s Mill sparked months of Whig brutality. Many who would have remained neutral were forced to join the Loyalist cause because of the wide-spread murder and robberies at the hands of militia commanded by men like Benjamin Cleaveland. The murders did not end until late 1780 after Continental Army officers intervened.

Further Reading:

1849 Letter relating Abraham Forney’s account of the Battle of Ramsour’s Mill. https://dc.lib.unc.edu/cdm/search/collection/00ddd/searchterm/folder_1!00617-z/field/all!all/mode/exact!exact/conn/and!and/order/relatid.

Joseph Graham to Judge A. D. Murphey. https://docsouth.unc.edu/csr/index.php/document/csr19-0079.

NCpedia: https://www.ncpedia.org/ramsours-mill-battle

Photo Credit: https://docsouth.unc.edu/commland/monument/594/

04/11/2025

At 7:00am on this day in 1865, a column of mounted soldiers under General George Stoneman crossed the Yadkin River at the Shallow Ford.

Stoneman had been on the march through North Carolina and into Virginia for weeks. Having moved back into NC, via Germanton, Stoneman split his force. While one brigade headed south to capture Salem and raid towards Greensboro, two more continued southwest with the objective of crossing the Yadkin River.

Days earlier, Confederate Lt. Col. Alfred Belo had hastily assembled a force of about 230 men on the west bank of Shallow Ford in “a little breastwork.”
When word reached Belo that Stoneman had gone into Virginia, he allowed most of his force to disperse, with a handful of home guard left at the hastily constructed fortification by the river.
When thousands of enemy soldiers splashed across the ford on the morning of the 11th, the home guard fired a few shots and fled, leaving more than 100 muskets behind.

The troopers moved a mile further west to the village of Huntsville. As was a common theme on their march, they consumed any edibles they could find and then burned the White Store along with the captured weapons and a large amount of rebel government food stuffs before continuing their march south towards Salisbury with the goal of liberating the prisoner of war camp there.

Image: Detail from "Map of the Principal Marches of the 15th Pennsylvania Cavalry" courtesy the Free Library of Philadelphia.

04/03/2025

Thanks to for including us in another great blog post!

Image Caption: Looking west across the Yadkin River at the Shallow Ford. Photo Credit: Jason Melius, 2023.

03/11/2025

https://www.america250.nc.gov/blog/2025/03/11/his-majestys-most-dutiful-subjects-remaining-loyal-king-during-american-revolution?fbclid=IwY2xjawI9dWNleHRuA2FlbQIxMQABHfoFnL3uZi4muAs9ZBe0d9UTL0SA75fGuu3XOhbKadOjrucvsPEp54R89g_aem_zX1Pn1Z4ExEiIpnISeNvXw

Be sure to follow the America 250 NC blog for more research articles!

Between February and March 1775, Royal Governor Josiah Martin received pledges of loyalty to the British Crown from 493 prominent North Carolinians from Dobbs, Guilford, Rowan, and Surry Counties. These declarations were made in response to increasing tensions and the establishment of Committees of....

02/06/2025

Almost Lakefront Property.

In the 1930’s, the city of High Point initiated a plan to build a hydroelectric dam on the Yadkin River. The dam was to be built at Styers Ferry, three miles north of the modern I-40 bridge over the Yadkin. The dam would have created a 14,750 acre lake with more than 290 miles of shoreline in Davie, Forsyth, and Yadkin Counties. Much of the river bottomland needed for the project was acquired through the Federal Power Commission, along with the required permits and licenses, by 1939.

Yadkin County filed a suit to stop the project. On April 17, 1940, the NC Supreme Court handed down its decision stating High Point did not have the right to submerge public properties intended for public use. The project would destroy 25 acres of the Yadkin County Home, which housed the county’s indigent population. It would also inundate county highways in fifteen places, cutting off access to numerous homes, schools, and churches.

Yadkin County’s Register of Deeds office holds the only known surviving copy of this map, which illustrates the extent of the proposed reservoir. Were it to have gone forward, Shallow Ford would have been close to eighty feet below the lake’s surface

12/06/2024

ALL LEWISVILLE RESIDENTS!!!!

***UPDATE HIGHWAY 421 IS NOW OPEN IN BOTH DIRECTIONS ****

***Update: The Shallowford Road Bridge is closed, but the on/off ramps are open on both the North and Southbound sides.

Town of Lewisville LewisvilleClemmons.com- Community News + More for Lewisville and Clemmons

10/14/2024

Today marks the 244th anniversary of the Battle of Shallowford, fought in 1780.

Several companies of Virginia militia were on their way to resist Patrick Ferguson's Loyalist army in the western part of North Carolina. News reached them of Ferguson's defeat on Oct. 7th at King’s Mountain, so they were ordered to Surry County to suppress the Loyalists under Gideon Wright. The Virginians united forces with Captain Andrew Carson’s small group of Surry County Militia.

Around 9:30am on October 14th, the first of Colonel Wright’s 300 or more Loyalists had crossed the river at the Shallow Ford and were making their way northwest along the Mulberry Fields Road when they crested the hill just above a creek now called Battle Branch.
At the bottom of the hill, Major Joseph Cloyd’s mixed force of about 400 Virginia and North Carolina Whigs had been preparing breakfast when they heard the Tories approach and established an ambush.
Surprised and suffering numerous casualties, including Captain James Bryan, the Loyalists likely fired from horseback. Some attempted to dismount and form a battle line while others scattered back across the river, calling to their comrades who had not yet crossed that "we are whipped!"

The battle was quick but brutal. A few Loyalists were killed by the initial gunfire, and many were captured. Some of the captured men were clubbed to death with musket butts. One pension application related that a Black Loyalist named Ball Turner put up a stubborn resistance and was brought down by more than a dozen musket balls.
In the end, at least 15 Loyalists were killed and 10 wounded, with another 40 captured. The only Whig death was Captain Francis, who was shot in the head. 4-5 Whigs were wounded.

The Battle of Shallowford effectively eliminated what Loyalist resistance remained in western North Carolina for the rest of the war.

08/05/2024

A promising series from our friends at the NPS!
Maybe there will be an episode looking at the Shallow Ford.......( Overmountain Victory National Historic Trail )

Join us on a new adventure. Rangers William from Victory National Historic Trail and Adrian from Ninety Six National Historic Site have teamed up for a new podcast, Southern War. Together they are exploring the well-known and not-so-known stories from the American Revolution in the American South. You can find the first episode at https://www.nps.gov/podcasts/southern-war.htm.

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