Mike Parker: The Outer Banks ‘Paul Revere’
“Listen, my children, and you will hear of the midnight ride of …” Betsy Dowdy?
As we come to the close of Women’s History Month, I want to share the Outer Banks story of a midnight ride that came just a few months after Paul Revere’s ride to warn the patriots that the British were coming.
This story involves a 16-year-old heroine – Betsy Dowdy. In early December 1775, a family friend stopped at the Dowdy home on his way back from Virginia.
Lord Dunmore, the Royal Governor of Virginia, had moved south from his base in Norfolk to fortify Great Bridge, the only crossing of the Elizabeth River. That move would effectively isolate eastern North Carolina from the only port available for transporting goods.
The Dowdy family, long-time residents of the Currituck Banks, received word on December 8th that Dunmore intended to move south and seize or destroy farms and livestock to prevent rebel forces from re-supplying their troops. This destruction would also target the banker horses and Betsy’s own horse, Black Bess.
Not knowing how many troops the British had available, the Outer Banks residents believed rebel forces at Great Bridge were inadequate to stop Dunmore from advancing. General William Skinner led the only local militia unit with the strength to thwart Dunsmore’s plans.
Sadly, his camp was 50 miles away in Hertford, North Carolina. Betsy’s father and the visiting friend bemoaned the fact that it was too late to warn Skinner of the coming British troops.
Betsy overheard the conversation and disagreed. She was determined to save her family’s farm and livestock, including her beloved horse. After her parents fell asleep, she snuck out to the stable and mounted Black Bess. The horse and rider swam across Currituck Sound to the mainland. Betsy then rode 50 miles through marshes, forests, and the Great Dismal Swamp. She had nothing to protect her but a knife.
She convinced a ferry operator to take her across the Pasquotank River. She reached General Skinner’s camp by morning. British forces moved in strength against the Patriots. The redcoats were intent on seizing strategic positions. The rebels, though brave, seemed unaware of the forces rallying against them.
Betsy’s midnight excursion by horse was the only hope to warn her countrymen of the danger. When Betsy reported the situation to Skinner, the general ordered his men north. Although they arrived too late to join in the battle, the Patriots won a resounding rebel victory. The 100 troops Skinner brought with him convinced Dunmore that the rebel forces were too strong for his men. The governor and his forces evacuated to ships in the harbor.
By forcing the British to retreat, the rebels denied the British the use of one of the finest harbors on the eastern seaboard for a year. Although the British did seize Portsmouth again later in the war, the victory at Great Bridge kept northeastern North Carolina out of British hands.
Although substantial circumstantial proof exists to support the story of Betsy Dowdy, her ride has no written records to substantiate it. Ample evidence exists that word somehow reached Skinner about the British forces at Great Bridge and that the general did move his troops in response to that information.
The Dowdy family was well known on the Currituck Banks at the time, and they remained a well-known influence in the county. Betsy rode what is today considered one of the wild horses of Corolla, horses originally bred by the Spaniards for stamina and determination.
If the oral tradition is true, and many people believe that it is, Betsy’s ride is more remarkable than Paul Revere’s ride. When Revere took his famous ride, two people were riding together on the road to Concord and Lexington, Revere and William Dawes.
Their ride, although interrupted by British soldiers, totaled 16 miles in mild April weather. Sixteen-year-old Betsy and her Black Bess swam the Currituck Sound and forded numerous small streams while riding 50 miles to deliver this important warning in December.
According to legend, Betsy’s bravery earned the personal thanks of General George Washington for her commitment to the American cause of freedom.
Mike Parker is a columnist for the Neuse News. You can reach him at mparker16@gmail.com.
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