On January 9, 1779, James Hogun of Halifax County was chosen as a brigadier general for the North Carolina Continental Line. Hogun, a native of Ireland, settled near Hobgood around 1751. He was appointed the first major of the Halifax militia in 1776. Later that year he was promoted to colonel of the Seventh North Carolina Continental Regiment. He led the Seventh to serve under George Washington at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown in 1777.
When the Continental Congress called for the creation of four new North Carolina regiments, Hogun returned home to recruit men. By August 1778, the first new brigade was full, and Hogun marched the men to meet Washington in New York. Within a few months, the Continental Congress chose Hogun as a brigadier general.
In November 1779, General Hogun marched his brigade to South Carolina to defend Charles Town. He was captured when Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered on May 12, 1780. As a prisoner of war at Haddrel’s Point on Sullivan’s Island Hogun declined parole and chose to endure the same hardships of the men of his brigade. His health failed and he died there on January 4, 1781.
Other related resources:
- The American Revolution, the Reasons Behind the Revolutionary War, and the Stamp Act on NCpedia
- The military collection of the State Archives
- North Carolina in the American Revolution from N.C. Historical Publications