The Regulators

The title of this post sounds as though it could be the title for a television series, or a movie about superheroes. Perhaps you thought it refers to the band of outlaws led by Billy the Kid in the movie Young Guns. Or maybe you thought it referred to those anonymous people charged with keeping the reins on businesses, utilities, or investment opportunities.

Some of you may recognize the term from an actual television series, which I confess I have not seen, called Outlander. I understand that a group called "Regulators" in North Carolina are part of the plot in season 5. I suspect they make an appearance in the books on which the series is based.

If you are an Outlander fan, then you have a bit of an outside track on today's post. 

I stumbled on the group while reading The Hussong Manuscripts, which I have referenced in the two previous posts. As a quick recap, the Hussong family lies along the branch leading to Sharon's father. They came to America from France because of religious persecution and initially settled in Pennsylvania, well before the Revolutionary War. 

Jean Henri Hussong, the grandson of that first Hussong in America, Rene Jacques, left Pennsylvania in the mid-1700s to settle in western North Carolina, along with many others. The Manuscripts state that Jean Henri's, or John Henry as he is referred to most often, involvement with the Regulators was well established, though the author provides no particular evidence of this. Family history, I suppose. 

Like many things I find in these explorations, I knew nothing about the Regulators. But the Manuscripts references a book published in 1905, Some Neglected History of North Carolina, that calls a battle that resulted from the activities of the Regulators, the Battle of the Alamance, "the first battle of the American Revolution."

I have to say that this description strikes me as a bit overblown. And many real historians agree with me.  

The Regulators began as a loose alliance of North Carolina's western settlers who believed they were receiving the raw end of the stick when compared to the longer established and more elite residents in the eastern part of the state. 

Remember that these events precede Lexington and Bunker Hill and the war itself. North Carolina was run by a governor appointed by the king and a group of leaders and officials appointed by the governor whose chief qualifications lie in knowing the governor or being proven loyalists recommended to the governor. 

The Regulators' chief complaints seem to stem from taxes and fees. Although both were set by law, sheriffs -- who often functioned as tax collectors -- attorneys, and other officials were free to charge whatever they wanted and keep the difference. The courts were little help in providing relief, and dissatisfaction grew among the western residents.

This period is contemporaneous with the general dissatisfaction with English taxation in the colonies as a whole, which was spectacularly demonstrated years later by the Sons of Liberty in Massachusetts and their infamous Tea Party. \

The western residents came to believe they needed to take action and began protesting, sometimes violently, against what they believed was unfair and corrupt treatment. As this sentiment grew a new governor, William Tryon, was appointed to the colony. 

At first Tryon exhibited some sympathy to the complaints and decreed that all the relevant fees and taxes had to be published so everyone would know whether they were being cheated. He thought that solved the problem. Uh huh. 

No surprise, the problems continued, especially after Tryon announced a new tax to build a very expensive government complex that included a new, opulent governor's mansion. The residents decided to enter into a formal association, The Regulators, whose named derived from the concept that they were capable of regulating their own affairs.

Their association had five stated purposes: first, that none of the men would pay taxes until their grievances were met according to what the law states; second, that they would pay no officers fees beyond the legally established amount; third, that meetings would be held regularly for the purpose of talking with representatives and filing grievances to the governor; fourth, that members were to pay duties in order to defray costs; and finally, that all decisions would be brought forward to the majority.

The first two would result in a decision not to pay taxes at all, which would set Tryon off, and the last one would ultimately lead to their downfall. 

The Regulators continued their protests and attacks, often physical, on local officials. Tryon decided he'd had enough and began to form a militia to deal with the association. He initially faced difficulties finding enough men because sympathies lay with the Regulators. But in time he was able to recruit some 1,400 men and used them to confront his opposition. Attempts by the Regulators to negotiate with the governor were rebuffed. 

In addition, Tryon began verbally attacking three men whom he decided were the leaders of the group, though in fact, they were really just public faces of the movement. 

Herman Husband, a Quaker, became the publisher of the movement, writing a history and publishing several pamphlets. He also advocated for peaceful engagement and decried violence. James Hunter often performed as the mediator between the group and the government and was considered the "general" of the group. Finally Rednap Howell wrote songs and poems that became the anthems of movement. 

In reality, because of the final purpose mentioned above, a number of men provided leadership, but none of them were considered to be official leaders. Instead they were chosen more as representatives of the group. Still, when you need a scapegoat, it's handy to have some well know folks to point at. 

Tryon and one of his chosen lieutenants, Edmund Fanning, identified some of these men and along with Hunter and Husband, arrested a number of them and put them on trial. A group of 3,700 Regulators showed up at the trial to be faced with Tryon's militia. Though they outnumbered the militia, a tense standoff ensued and the Regulators wound up backing down. 

In a later riot, a group of Regulators showed up at a courtroom, disrupted the proceedings and beat the daylights out of the judge, some of the attorneys, and Fanning and closed the court. This upset the colonial legislature, which passed laws allowing the attorney general to prosecute rioters and execute any rioter who failed to show up for his court date. 

From here tensions grew until Tryon decided it was time to bring things to a head. He determined he would reopen the court no matter what. He put out a call for militiamen and, leading them himself, began pursuing Regulators. The two sides met at the Alamance River in the middle of May 1771. The Regulators outnumbered Tryon's troops and thought that would cause the governor to back down. 

But he sent communiques to the Regulators, urging them to stand down because, he said, they were poorly armed and lacked field weaponry, unlike his troops who were well supplied and trained and had field weapons. They scoffed, and he attacked. 

Hunter had been asked to command the Regulators, but he refused, citing the principal of majority rule and his belief that every man should command himself. The lack of central leadership and running out of ammunition brought the battle to a swift end. 

Tryon said his forces only suffered nine deaths and 61 wounded. A similar number is sometimes cited for the Regulators, but no one seems to know for certain.

Some Regulators were put on trial, and six were hanged. Tryon offered amnesty to anyone willing to take a loyalty oath, which the majority of the Regulators did. As for his part, John Henry decided to take his family and, along with maybe a thousand others over the ensuing months, move to Tennessee, where he resided until his death. 

Cited:

Hussong, Edward Marston. 1976 (1993 Printing). The Hussong Manuscripts. Compiled by Mary Marie Glascock Brewer. Genealogical Forum of Portland Oregon, Milwaukie, Oregon

Some Neglected History of North Carolina is available online for download in a variety of formats, if you're interested.