McIntyre Skirmish Memorial, Charlotte
The monument is constructed of large granite stones and masonry, 6 ½ feet high and 8 feet wide, built in the form of a pylon. Attached is a bronze tablet commemorating the Revolutionary War skirmish fought at this location. In relief, in the tablet’s gable shaped top is a yew tree holding a hornet’s nest with buzzing hornets. Below this are the inscription and a logo for the Daughters of the American Revolution. At the bottom, also in relief, is a single tree branch holding a hornet’s nest with hornets in flight. The current memorial replaced one of granite from 1901 and made at I.M. Durham Marble Yard. That marker had replaced a temporary wooden marker placed at Daughters of the American Revolution picnic to the site on July 12, 1900. The granite marker had been destroyed sometime after August 1930. E.L. Baxter Davidson purchased the replacement bronze tablet, same shape and size, on behalf of the Daughters of the American Revolution.
Images:
Plaque |
View of two memorials dedicated to the Battle of McIntyre’s Farm
IN COMMEMORATION / OF THE / MCINTYRE SKIRMISH / OCT. 3 1780 / ERECTED BY MECKLENBURG CHAPTER / DAUGHTERS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION
Mecklenburg County Park and Recreation Department
1901. Rededication with bronze tablet: May 20, 1931
35.311990 , -80.864700
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"The American Revolution," Lost Charlotte, The Queen City of the South's Past Revisited, http://lostcharlotteblog.com/, (accessed October 31, 2015) Link
"When Mecklenburg Hornets Put British to Flight,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), August 10, 1930
The American Monthly Magazine, Volume 21, 1902, (accessed July 24, 2015) 237-238 Link
The Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), October 22, 1901
Charlotte-Mecklenburg Historic Landmarks Commission. “McIntyre Site Report,” http://www.cmhpf.org/, (accessed August 19, 2015) Link
Federal Writers Project. North Carolina: A Guide To The Old North State: A Guide to the Old North State (Somerset Publishers, Inc., Jan 1, 1939) 540 Link
Mecklenburg Chapter NSDAR. "From the Beginnings," Daughters of the American Revolution, (accessed October 31, 2015) Link
Norris, David A. "McIntyre's Farm, Battle of," NCPedia.org, 2006, (accessed October 31, 2015) Link
Tompkins, Daniel Augustus. History of Mecklenburg County and the City of Charlotte, from 1740 to 1903, (Charlotte, N.C.: Higginson Book Company, 1903) Link
“An Historic Work,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), February 17, 1901
“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
“Historic Stone,” The Charlotte News (Charlotte, NC), August 5, 1901
“S.A.R. Honor Mecklenburg Heroes,” Charlotte Observer (Charlotte, NC), May 21, 1931
Yes
Rough stones of native granite, bronze
Mecklenburg Chapter Daughters of the American Revolution. Bronze tablet: E.L. Baxter Davidson as gift to Daughters of the American Revolution
The rededication ceremony was one of several highlights of the 1931 national congress of Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) held in Charlotte, NC. The new bronze tablet was presented to the Mecklenburg Chapter, Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and caretakers of the battle site with DAR member Mrs. W. H. Belk presiding over the unveiling ceremony. Judge Josiah A. Van Orsdel, retiring SAR president general was the featured speaker. He said: “The nation that fails to commemorate its heroic dead is on the road to decay.” Two young girls dressed in colonial garb performed the unveiling. A second memorial paid for by Edward Lee Baxter Davidson to honor Major John Davidson was dedicated later in the day.
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 hornet nest.
The monument is located just off Beatties Ford Road at the intersection with McIntyre Avenue in Charlotte. A separate monument commemorating the battle erected by the Sons of the American Revolution stands a few feet away.
The memorial stands on the grass under shady trees, close to the road.
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