While at Fort Macon a couple of weeks ago, I purchase a copy of "North Carolina and the War of 1812". Written by Sarah McCulloh Lemmon in 1971, it enlightens the reader to the struggles faced by North Carolinians during the War of 1812. This booklet was, however, just an appetizer as I found that if you wanted the "rest of the story" including sources for all the information, you needed to purchase Ms. Lemmon's more detailed treatment, "Frustrated Patriots: North Carolina and the War of 1812" which was published a few years later in 1973. Interesting things I discovered included:
"Parades, parades, parades.....Everyone loves a parade": To keep the locals calm, local miltia leaders would parade their troops in places such as Elizabeth City, Washington and Wilmington.
"The British...they're eveywhere": The British landed troops not only at Ocracoke but made a couple of landings in places like Currituck.
"Aaarrggghhh!...It's a pirate's life for me": Quite a few privateers sailed from our ports, raiding the ships of our enemies.
Over the next few weeks, I'll expand on these topics, so stayed tuned!
