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In Honor of
Lt. Col. Henry "Hal"
Dixon,
North Carolina Line,
Continental Army.
Revolutionary War
Hero,
died 17 July
1782
of wounds received on the
battlefield
at Round O, South
Carolina. |
 |
- This page last updated 17 Nov 2005.
Table of
Contents
North Carolina flag
"None, without violence to the claims of
honor and justice, can withhold applause from Colonel Dixon and his North
Carolina Regiment...Col. Dixon had seen service, having commanded a
Continental regiment under Washington. By his precepts and example he
infused his own spirit into the breasts of his troops; who emulating the
noble ardor of their leader, demonstrated the wisdom of selecting
experienced officers to command raw
soldiers."
-- Col. Henry "Light Horse Harry"
Lee, noting Col. Dixon's
brave action at the Battle of Camden, where he and his "raw" North
Carolina militia held their ground while facing veteran British infantry. |
Physical
Characteristics
No picture is known to exist of Lt. Col. Henry
"Hal" Dixon. He was described as a "muscular man who stood six feet two inches
and weighed over 220 pounds. Also recorded is the remark that "his children were
noted for their beauty".
Monument to Col. Henry Dixon at Guildford Courthouse
National Battlefield Park
In Memoriam, Lt. Col. "Hal" Dixon,
of Caswell County, NC
3rd North Carolina Regiment, Continental
Line
-
Brandywine Sept. 11th
1777
-
Germantown Oct. 4th
1777
-
Monmouth June 20th
1778
-
Stono Ferry June 20th
1779
-
Camden Aug 16th 1779
-
Guilford Court House March 15th
1781
The Embodiment of
Chivalry. The Idol of His
Soldiers. Thrice Wounded in
Battle,
From Which He Died July 17th 1782.
(monument erected
1895)
[Above photo courtesy of Robert Crowell, St. Louis, Mo.]
Summary of Military Service
ON FEB 27, 1775, CAPT HENRY DIXON WAS
AMONG THE 1000 PATRIOTS, THAT INTERCEPTED AND DESTROYED A 800 MAN LOYALIST
FORCE, AT THE "BATTLE OF MOORE'S CREEK BRIDGE" (NEAR WILMINGTON, NC), THAT WAS
TRYING TO UNITE WITH THE BRITISH. CAPT. "HAL" DIXON WAS IN THE FIRST NORTH
CAROLINA REGIMENT, CONTINENTAL LINE, AFTER THE LEGISLATURE ACT IN HILLSBORO,
N.C., THE 21ST OF AUG 1775. IN THIS UNIT HE REINFORCED GENERAL WASHINGTON AND
FOUGHT AT BRANDYWINE, GERMANTOWN, AND MONMOUTH. HE THEN WAS PROMOTED TO MAJOR
(JULY 1777) AND ASSIGNED TO THE 3RD NORTH CAROLINA REGIMENT.. HE SUFFERED
ALONGSIDE HIS MEN AT VALLEY FORGE DURING THE WINTER OF
1777-1778.
IN TRAINING UNDER GEN. SUMNER, HE
AGAIN SAW ACTION PRIMARILY IN THE SOUTH. SUMNER SENT MAJOR "HAL" DIXON, WITH
OTHER MEN, TO ORGANIZE THE OFFICERS OF THE NORTH CAROLINA LINE IN COMPLIANCE
WITH RESOLVES OF THE CONTINENTAL CONGRESS. DURING THIS MISSION, IT IS REPORTED,
THAT HE WAS APPOINTED "INSPECTOR GENERAL OVER MILITIA BY THE NORTH CAROLINA
LEGISLATURE." IT WAS AT THIS TIME THAT HENRY DIXON WAS PROMOTED TO LT. COLONEL,
BUT THE COMMISSION WAS BACK-DATED TO 1778.
IN 1779, "HAL" DIXON WAS SEVERELY
WOUNDED AT BATTLE OF STONO FERRY. APPARENTLY BY IN 1780, HE WAS WELL ENOUGH TO
COMMAND THE NORTH CAROLINA MILITIA AT THE BATTLE OF CAMDEN. (NORTH CAROLINA
GOVERNOR RICHARD CASWELL HAD PERSUADED GEN. JETHRO SUMNER, FOR COL. DIXON TO BE
GIVEN COMMAND OF THE MILITIA). EVEN THOUGH THE BATTLE OF THE 15TH OF AUGUST,
1780 WAS A DEFEAT "IT WAS IN THIS BATTLE HE ROSE TO THE GRANDEAUR OF HIS FAME."
WHEN THE BRITISH INFANTRY "HIT WITH SUCH FORCE THAT FIRST THE VIRGINIA
MILITIAMEN, THEN THE NORTH CAROLINA MILITIAMEN, BROKE AND RAN...AMONG THE NORTH
CAROLINIANS, ONLY THAT PART OF THE BRIGADE UNDER THE COMMAND OF DIXON STOOD FAST
LONG ENOUGH TO FIRE THREE ROUNDS, AND, IT WAS SAID, 'PUSHED BAYONETS TO THE
LAST'.
DIXON WITH HIS MILITIA "GAVE US
FIRST INSTANCE WHEN MILITIA CHARGED THE BRITISH REGULARS WITH THE BAYONET AND
DROVE THEM BACK. "LT. COL. DIXON WAS IN PICKERIS COMMAND OF NORTH CAROLINIANS
WHO ANNOYED CORNWALLIS AT HILLSBORO AND WAS WITH GEN. LEE AT PYLE'S DEFEAT 1781.
HE WAS ALSO AT BATTLE OF WHITSELL'S MILL AND AT BATTLE OF GUILFORD COURT HOUSE,
1781."
----------------------------------
On Feburary 6, 1782, Lt. Col Henry Dixon was transferred
from the 3rd North Carolina Regiment to the 2nd North Carolina Regt. The
unit was sent to besiege the British in Charleston, South Carolina. It was here
that Dixon died of battlefield wounds on 17 July, 1782 in camp in Round O. Today
Round O is an extremely small town, located between Charleston and Walterboro on
Hwy 17A. Today it is not known if Dixon's body was returned to his native
Caswell County, North Carolina for burial. It is likely this was the case
but it may have been left at Round O, South Carolina.
The Battle of
Camden
IN A LETTER FROM THE GENEALOGICAL RECORDS
COMMITTEE, N.S.D.A.R., READ:
"ON MAY 12 1778, DIXON WAS PROMOTED TO
LIEUT. COL. OF THE 3RD REGIMENT (NORTH CAROLINA). IN THE BATTLE OF CAMDEN, THE
MILITIA FROM VIRGINIA BROKE IN PANIC AND EXPOSED THE LEFT FLANK OF THE NORTH
CAROLINA MILITIA TO A RAKING FIRE. THE TROOPS WERE ROUTED IN SUCCESSION BY
BRITISH BAYONETS. THE LINE BROKE UNTIL REACHING DIXON'S REGIMENT WHICH HELD
FIRM. BY HIS EXAMPLE, THE MARYLAND AND DELAWARE TROOPS REMAINED STEADY ON HIS
RIGHT. WHEN THE BRITISH BEGAN OVERWHELMING THEM IN NUMBERS, HE ORDERED HIS MEN
TO CHARGE WITH BAYONETS. SURROUNDED ON EVERY SIDE, GEN. DE KALB, WAS KILLED WITH
ELEVEN WOUNDS BUT DIXON'S MEN FOUGHT ALONGSIDE HIS BODY. AFTER ALL AMMUNITION
WAS USED, DIXON LED A SECOND CHARGE OF BAYONETS AND CUT HIS WAY THROUGH THE
BRITISH LINES."
The
Family of Lt. Col. Henry Dixon
The grandparents of Lt. Col. Henry
Dixon, Revolutionary war veteran, are Capt. Thomas
Dixon (d. abt. 1763 in Prince
George County, Va.) married Judith Wingfield in 1720.( Judith Wingfield was the
daughter of Jarvis Wingfield and Hannah Wynne.)
The children of Capt. Thomas Dixon and Judith Wingfield were:
- 1. Henry Dixon, Sr., born 1723;
died Oct 1795 Caswell Co., NC; married Elizabeth Abernathy.
(Parents of Lt. Col. Henry Dixon)
- 2. Thomas
Dixon
- 3. Martha Dixon who married James
Greenway
- 4. John Dixon, born in
Dinwiddie Va. Died in Warren Co Ky. married to Mary
???
- 5. Frederick Dixon 1747 married to
Nancy Hines. He died 1786 in Dinwiddie Va.
- 6. Mary Dixon, born 1735; married
first, Simon Samuel Seward. 2nd, Hugh Hall, b. Petersburg, Prince George
County, Va. (source: David F. Klein, not confirmed)
Lt. Col. Henry Dixon's
parents, Henry Dixon, Sr. (b. abt 1723) and Elizabeth Abernathy (d/o of Robert
Abernathy, Jr. and Mary _____). Robert Abernathy, Jr. was the son of
Robert Abernathy, Sr. (b. abt 1670 Prince George Co., Va.) and Christian Tillman
[daughter of Roger Tilghman b. abt 1650 Accomac Co., Va and Susannah
Parham b. 1647 Prince George Co., VA; d. Mar 1716 Prince George Co., VA] . The
Henry Dixon, Sr. family migrated to Caswell Co., NC, before the
Revolution. Henry Dixon, Sr. died in October 1795.
The children of Henry Dixon, Sr. and Elizabeth
Abernathy were:
1. Tabitha Dixon (1734- ) m. John
Marshall
2.
Susannah Dixon (1738- 1818, Putnam Co., GA) m. John Turner, Jr. (Descendant contact: Sarah
Sharpless: sks6"at"earthlink.net (replace "at" with @ )
3. Lt.
Col. Henry "Hal," Dixon (1740-1782) m. Martha Frances
Wynne
4. Lt.
Charles Dixon (-1806) did not marry. Buried in Caswell Co.,
NC
5. Robert
Dixon, (1748-1793) m. Ann Bacon
6. Maj. Tilman (Tilghman)
Dixon, born 26 Jan 1750, died 16 May 1816 Dixon springs, Tn; married Mary
(Maria) Don Carlos in Sussex Co., Va., 16 Nov 1789. "Appointed Lieutenant
in the first North Carolina Regiment 20 Oct. 1775. He served at the battle of
Moores Creek Bridge. He became Captain Feb 15 1777 and was taken prisoner in the
fall of Charleston. Exchanged 14 June 1781 and retired 1 Jan 1783. 1782,
elected to accompany party to explore western lands along the Cumberland River
to be given as "Bounty Lands" to war veterans. After war given title of Major.
Settled in Dixon Springs, TN.
7. Betsy Dixon, m. Mr. Williams
8. Jane Dixon, m. Joseph
Bracklin
Lt. Col. Henry "Hal" Dixon and wife,
Martha Frances Wynne. Martha was the daughter of William Wynne (b. abt 1699
Prince George Co., VA; d. bef 8 Oct 1777) and Frances Read?. "Hal" Dixon
and Martha Wynne were married
(Sep 15, 1763) in Virginia but it is believed the children were all born in
North Carolina.
The
children of Lt. Col. Henry Dixon and Martha Wynne:
1.
Wynne Dixon, born 1766 Redhouse, Caswell County, N.C.; died, Nov 24,1829
Henderson County, Kentucky; married 1. Keturah Payne 2. Rebeccah Hart. Wynne
Dixon also served in the Continental Army in his father's command. Settled in
Kentucky following the war and received a federal pension. Buried in Fernwood
cemetery, Henderson, KY. (source: David F. Klein, Wynne Dixon
descendant).
2. Roger
Dixon ( - 1795) m. Mary Jouett
3. Robert Dixon (1770-1800) m. Jenney
Brooks
4.
Elizabeth Dixon m. Nathaniel Williams
5. Frances Dixon (1775-1850) m. Armstead Brooks
Flippen
6. Henry Dixon, born 1777 Caswell County, NC; died 1858 Henderson,
KY married 1st Mary Johnston, 2nd Rhoda Hart. (James Allen Smith is a ggg grandson of
Henry and Mary Johnston Dixon. Email: smithman"at"cu-online.com (replace "at"
with @ )
7. Susannah Dixon, born 1782 Caswell Co., N.C.; died
about. 1840 Bedford County, Tennessee; married John Williams, Jr. (Scott K.
Williams is a ggg
grandson email: showmemule"at"earthlink.net (replace "at" with @ )
Williams Genealogy
IN THE NORTH CAROLINA STATE RECORDS, VOL. 22
:
"THIS DAY CHARLES DIXON CAME BEFORE ME
AND MADE OATH THAT LIEUTENANT-COLONEL HENRY DIXON, OF THE NORTH CAROLINA
CONTINENTAL LINE, DIED IN THE SERVICE AND LEFT A WIDOW AND SEVEN CHILDREN. VIZ.,
WYNNE DIXON, ROGER DIXON, ELIZABETH DIXON, ROBERT DIXON, FRANCES DIXON, HENRY
DIXON, AND SUSANNA DIXON, WHO WERE ALL ALIVE THE FIRST DAY OF THIS MONTH.
FAYETTEVILLE, 20TH DECEMBER, 1786."
SIGNED, C.D.DIXON, MARTHA. SWORNED BEFORE JOHN
INGRAM, J.P.
by James Allen Smith
There is a canopy bed listed in the inventory of the
estate of Lt. Col.
Henry "Hal" Dixon. His estate was
settled about 1806 when his youngest heir
was mature.
This was about 25 years after his death in 1782 which was the
result of wounds sustained in battle during the Revolution. I would
guess
that Hal Dixon died on this bed in Caswell
County, NC.
Each post of this bed was a cherry tree. There is a bullet hole
through the
foot board and a bullet remains in the
right head post. I'd give most
anything to know how
that happened.
Hal Dixon's wife was Martha Frances Wynne. Their son, Henry
Dixon and his
wife, Mary Johnston, brought this bed to
Henderson County, Kentucky, in
1808. The bed was passed
down from one Dixon generation to the next until
it was
about the get out of the family at a McClure dispersal sale in 1930.
My Aunt Mary - an old maid - bought the bed for $100 which was
a near
fortune at that time. She bought it to keep it
in the family.
My uncle Cameron Smith bought the bed from her in 1933.
Aunt Mary needed
money by that time and was trying to
sell the bed to the museum being
established by Henry
Ford in Michigan. He did not have any children so he
left the bed to me. I will do all that I can to see that it
remains in the
family.
We have it stored because the ceilings in our home are only
eight feet
high. If we move, you can bet the ceilings
in our next home will be at
least nine feet
high.
For more information on our early Dixon family genealogy, please visit:
The Dixon
Family, descendants of Capt. Thomas Dixon of Prince George Co.,
VA
HOT!! Important Note:
Living male descendants of any Dixon line that carries the Dixon surname, are
highly encouraged to take part in the new Dixon Surname DNA Project. This
traces the Y-Chromosome which is passed nearly unaltered from father to son,
like a surname. It is an invaluable tool for genealogy. (I have done so for my
Williams line and using this method I have been able to trace my family back to
Wales.) There is an ongoing project for all male Dixons at:
Dixon DNA Project Also see the
Dickason DNA Project (the Dixon project should be your first choice, but you
will be able to compare your results with the Dickason project.)
A swab of the inner cheek is all that is necessary (no
pain involved). Request a 25 marker and preferably a 37 marker test. The 12
marker test is not provide definitive information. It is cheaper to pay outright
for the higher marker tests than to upgrade later. In the long run, the DNA
Surname project has saved me countless wasted hours and money in libraries,
traveling, purchasing unhelpful books, and following dead-ends leads. You must
be patient as a match with another line may not be found until another Dixon
subscribes to the project.
The only advantage for the 12 marker test is if your short on
money, sometimes others in the project may pay your upgrade costs. Or if you
want to get an older member of the family in the project (while they are still
living) but are short of funds. The samples are kept frozen in vaults for future
ordered tests. No medical genetic information is obtained from these
tests, so that is kept unknown. The most respected laboratory in the
United States (they are used by The Genographic Project, sponsored by National
Geographic) is
http://www.familytreedna.com/
Contact
Information
This website was created by
Scott K. Williams, Florissant, St. Louis County, Missouri, gggg
grandson of Lt. Col. Henry Dixon.
Email: showmemule"at"earthlink.net
(remove "at" and replace with @.) Sorry
about the inconvenience. This is a countermeasure to avoid automatic email
harvesting spam programs.
Note: The grave site location of Lt. Col. Henry
Dixon is unknown. His living descendants are currently in search of it's
whereabouts. If anyone in the Caswell or Rockingham county North Carolina
vicinity has more information on Col. Dixon, his family, the location of the homesite,
or old articles about his services, please contact me.
Credits and
Sources:
-
"When the Past Refused To Die: A History of Caswell County
(1777-1977)", by William S. Powell; Caswell County Historical Association, Inc. Yanceville, North Carolina; 1977
-
"The North Carolina Continentals",
by Hugh F. Rankin; University of North Carolina Press, Chapel Hill.
-
"The American Revolution in the South",
by Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee, edited by his son, Gen. Robert E. Lee.
- "The Patriots at Moores Creek Bridge",
by Bobby Gilmer Moss; Scotia-Hibernia Press, Blacksburg, SC; 1992.
- "The Don Carlos Family", by James Robert and Elizabeth
Don Carlos, 1979.
- "Encyclopedia of Continental Army Units: Battalions, Regiments, and
Independent Corps"; by Fred Anderson Berg; Stackpole Books, 1972.
- Animated North Carolina Flag by Riad Dagher.
Links
Another Website by Scott K. Williams:
Mailing Lists
Dixon Family Mailing List ("A mailing list for the discussion and sharing of
information regarding the DIXON surname and variations (e.g., Dixson, Dickson)
in any place and at anytime.") . How to Subscribe ? "It's easy -- just
click on the list you want. When the "mail-to" window pops up, write just the
single word "subscribe" in the body of the message. That's all."
If you want to unsubscribe from a list, click on it and write just the
single word "unsubscribe" in the body of the message.
Dixon-L
(dixon-l-request@rootsweb.com) for regular mode. Postings come immediately
as separate e-mails.
Dixon-D
(DIXON-D-request@rootsweb.com) for Digest mode. Postings for that day come
alltogether as one e-mail. (My personal favorite)
To Post messages to the Dixon Family Mailing List: send posts to
ROOTS-L@rootsweb.com
Only Send "subscribe" and "unsubscribe" requests to
ROOTS-L-request@rootsweb.com or DIXON-D-request@rootsweb.com (depending if you
have regular mode or digest mode)
"If all else fails, I will retreat up the
valley of Virginia, plant my flag on the Blue Ridge, rally around the
Scotch-Irish of that region and make my last stand for liberty amongst a people
who will never submit to British tyranny whilst there is a man left to draw a
trigger."
---Gen. George Washinton, at Valley
Forge
Copyright 1998, All Rights
Reserved.
This website was created and owned by Scott K. Williams, St. Louis Co., Missouri
LE
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