Already I have noticed many stirring events here during the earlier years of the war; it now remains for me to notice only the British occupation.
When, toward the close of 1780, Cornwallis prepared to move from his encampment at Winnsborough, toward North Carolina, he directed Colonel Balfour, at Charleston, to dispatch a sufficient force to take possession of Wilmington, that he might have a sea-port for supplies, while in that state. Major James H. Craig (who was governor general of Canada in 1807) was sent with four hundred regulars to perform
Craig at Wilmington.—His Flight.—Journey Homeward.—Arrival in New York.
that service. He took possession of the town without much resistance, toward the close of January, 1781. He immediately fortified himself, using the Episcopal church, a strong brick edifice (of the front of which the engraving is a correct view), for a citadel.
