The Battle of McIntyre’s Farm, Charlotte
The Battle of McIntyre’s Farm marker is a single narrow light brown boulder about 5-feet tall with a bronze plaque attached. In relief at the top of the plaque is a tree branch with hornets buzzing around their nest. Below is the inscription with the insignia of the Sons of the American Revolution at the bottom center. It was placed next to the “McIntyre Skirmish” marker dedicated in 1901 by the Daughters of the American Revolution. It’s uncertain when this monument was placed. A photo of the Daughters of the American Revolution marker from 1931 does not show it and news articles from that period describing the site make no mention of it. The marker was placed by E.L. Baxter Davidson who paid for a number of markers commemorating the Revolutionary history of Mecklenburg County. His other documented markers were all placed in the early to mid-1920’s though.
Images:
Plaque |
View of two memorials dedicated to the Battle of McIntyre’s Farm
THE BATTLE OF MCINTYRE’S FARM / OCTOBER 3, 1780 /
[Left column] AMERICAN FORCES: / MEN / COMMANDER, CAPT. JAMES THOMPSON / MEN: / GEORGE GRAHAM, LIEUT. / FRANCIS BRADLEY / JAMES HENRY / THOMAS DICKSON / JOHN LONG / ROBERT ROBINSON / GEORGE HOUSTON / HUGH HOUSTON / THOMAS MCCLURE / EDWARD SHIPLEY / GEORGE SHIPLEY / JOHN ROBINSON /
[Right column] BRITISH FORCES: / 600 MEN / COMMANDER, MAJOR JOHN DOYLE / MEN: 450 INFANTRY / 60 CALVARY / 40 WAGONS / THE BRITISH WERE / DEFEATED AND ROUTED / 8 KILLED / 12 WOUNDED
ERECTED BY / EDWARD LEE BAXTER DAVISON / OF CHARLOTTE, N.C. / VICE PRESIDENT, GENERAL / S.A.R.
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department
Circa 1935
35.311990 , -80.864700
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"When Mecklenburg Hornets Put British to Flight,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), August 10, 1930
Barefoot, Daniel W. Touring North Carolina’s Revolutionary War Sites (Winston Salem, NC: John F. Blair Publisher, 1998), 179-181
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. “McIntyre Site Report,” http://www.cmhpf.org/, (accessed August 19, 2015) Link
Norris, David A. "McIntyre's Farm, Battle of," NCPedia.org, 2006, (accessed October 31, 2015) Link
“E.L. Baxter Davidson House,” Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission, (accessed January 11, 2017) Link
“Gives Life to Preservation of Mecklenburg History,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), May 17, 1931
“S.A.R. Honor Mecklenburg Heroes,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), May 21, 1931
Yes
Stone, bronze
Edward Lee Baxter Davidson
The British Army under command of British General Charles Cornwallis occupied Charlotte in 1780. Being short on provisions they came to believe the revolutionaries had provisions stored at McIntyre’s farm. A foraging party of over 400 British troops sent to the farm was routed by 14 patriots under the command of Colonel George Graham. This skirmish is also known as the “Battle of the Bees,” as the patriots’ defense was aided by the British troops having disturbed a hornets nest.
Edward Lee Baxter Davidson was proud of his ancestry and also placed and paid for several markers in the Charlotte area to relatives who were prominent during the American Revolution including General William Lee Davidson and Major John Davidson. He was a member of the North Carolina Historical Society and served as a District Vice President of the Sons of the American Revolution.
The General William Lee Davidson Grave is located at the cemetery of Hopewell Presbyterian Church, at 10500 Beatties Ford Road
Huntersville, NC 28078.
The monument is located just off Beatties Ford Road at the intersection with McIntyre Avenue in Charlotte, NC. A separate monument commemorating the battle erected by the Daughters of The American Revolution stands a few feet away.
The marker stands on the grass under shady trees, close to the road.
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