Did the Cape Fear region play any significant role in the War of 1812?
No battles in the War of 1812 took place in North Carolina, although British naval forces did occupy Ocracoke and Portsmouth islands on the Outer Banks from July 12-16, 1813. Wilmington produced a naval hero of the War of 1812. Johnston Blakeley, commanding the U.S. Navy sloop Wasp, captured the British warship HMS Reindeer. For more about Blakeley and other military heroes of the Cape Fear region, see this related link: www.myreporter.com/?p=4515 Ship captain Otway Burns, from Onslow County, became the leading privateer during the War of 1812, plundering British ships all along the east coast. He’s buried in Beaufort, in a tomb that is topped by one of the cannons from his ship, the Snap Dragon. His desk and a model of the Snap Dragon are on display at the N.C. Maritime Museum www.ncmaritime.org Brunswick County raised a company of volunteers to serve in the North Carolina Militia. These are some links that provide genealogical information about North Carolinians who served in the arm
