NCPI Workmark
Articles in regional publications that pertain to a wide range of North Carolina-related topics.

Betsy\\'s Wild Ride

Record #:
8666
Author(s):
Abstract:
In November 1775, Lord Dunmore, Virginia's last Royal Governor, planned to invade North Carolina. After capturing Portsmouth and Norfolk, he barricaded Great Bridge on the Carolina side, blocking all shipments to the Norfolk port. A small force of Americans marched on Great Bridge. Seeking reinforcements for the outnumbered American troops, Betsy Dowdy from Currituck Banks rode her horse, Black, Bess fifty miles on the night of December 10, 1775, to alert General William Skinner and his men at Hertford. Skinner's force reached Great Bridge in time to help defeat Dunmore on December 11, 1775, and end the invasion threat. Moore discusses how people from colonial times down to the present have reacted to the ride. Some feel it actually happened; some, that the account does not jibe with the facts; and some, that it was a combination of a little truth and a little myth.
Source:
Our State (NoCar F 251 S77), Vol. 74 Issue 5, Oct 2007, p76-78, 80, il, map