All images copyright © by Artist Werner Willis. All rights reserved

William Richardson Davie

The plight of embattled patriots in the South was desperate. Savannah and Charleston had fallen. The remaining American army in the South had been destroyed at Camden. The British readied for the invasion of North Carolina. The cause of independence seemed hopeless.

A gallant patriot leader emerged to challenge British dominance. William Richardson Davie was barely 20 and fresh out of the College of New Jersey, today's Princeton University, when the American colonies' desire for independence exploded into open warfare.

Davie became an effective leader of partisan cavalry in the Carolina piedmont ranked by contemporaries and historians with the likes of Francis Marion, the "Swamp Fox," Thomas Sumter, the "Gamecock," and Andrew Pickens, the "Wizard Owl." Davie developed a great passion for frontier warfare and took delight in circumventing British plans for the Carolinas.

True to his character, Davie and about 150 patriots attempted to stop the British invasion of North Carolina at Charlotte on September 26, 1780. An account of the battle action was described by Colonel Davie and his cavalry leader, Major Joseph Graham.

Mecklenburg in 1780 included the area that would become the counties of Gaston, Cabarrus, and Union. The town of Charlotte was situated on rising ground and contained about twenty houses built on two streets, known today as Trade and Tryon, that crossed each other at right angles. In the intersection stood the courthouse, a frame building raised on eight brick pillars ten feet from the ground. A waist high rock wall built between the pillars enclosed an area that served as the town market.

Davie posted one company behind the rock wall under the courthouse and the other companies in advance of the courthouse on East Trade Street to wait for the invading British army led by Lord Cornwallis. At daybreak the chilly silence was shattered by the snorting horses of the advancing British cavalry which was followed by light infantry and the entire British army. The American
militia was eventually forced back to the courthouse, but not until the assaulting cavalry was repulsed three times and a "vexed"

Cornwallis was forced to admonish his troops. "Legion, remember you have everything to lose but nothing to gain." Then the reinforced Legion infantry pressed forward to rout the small band of American militia.

Outnumbered by almost ten to one, Davie's inspired soldiers kept their promise to give seasoned British regulars and charging cavalry "some earnest of what Lord Cornwallis might expect in North Carolina." This initial resistance spirited up the people and led to further attacks on occupying British forces causing them to term the area a "hornets' nest" of rebellion. The name is now a source of pride.

Davie relinquished his combat command to serve as a reluctant commissary general in which capacity he was very effective in supplying Greene's chronically destitute Southern army. He participated in the drafting of the federal constitution and entered politics where he became governor of North Carolina, the next to the 1ast state to enter the Union. He served as Grand Master of Masons in North Carolina. Davie went on to become Minister Plenipotentiary and Envoy Extraordinary to Napoleonic France. A true sportsman, the former cavalryman never lost his love for fine horses. He owned Sir Archie, the progenitor of the American thoroughbred. Davie is perhaps best known as the "Father of the University of North Carolina" for his efforts in establishing that institution.

Werner Willis' dedication to historical detail is evident in his painting, "The Hornet's Nest." The background and models were chosen and painstakingly researched to achieve the accuracy our heritage deserves. This signed limited edition print commemorates this small, but important, incident that altered the military plans of Lord Cornwallis and began the events that won the Southern Colonies' struggle for independence.

William R. Davie (1756- 1820) was a skillful military officer during the Revolution, then served in the ( situational Convention in Philadelphia and as dove (1798-99). He is regarded the "father" of the Univesity of North Carolina.