Rouse House by Andrew J. Howell  

The British Major James Henry CRAIG, of the 2nd regiment, Royal Army, was a military depot while he occupied the town of Wilmington for the larger part of the year 1781. He came I the winter and retired in the fall, after the surrender of Lord CORNWALLIS at Yorktown, Virginia. His lordship visited him in April, after the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. He found that the major was in full possession of affairs, and was competent to keep the situation in the district well in hand.

CRAIG was an inspiration to the Tories in the surrounding country, and was in constant communication with the royal forces throughout the State of North Carolina.

David FANNING was one of those who co-operated with him, and the Britisher commissioned him a colonel of the Tory militia. But FANNING was hated for his lawless and intrepid activities for the cause of the king, and his name was a synonym of everything that was despicable in the evil days of the Revolution in North Carolina. He consulted the British commander in Wilmington about is expeditions, and obtained form him an abundance of arms and ammunition whenever he needed them. These were furnished from stores supplied by the British fleet, which had free access to the harbor and the town of Wilmington. FANNING brought in many prisoners some distinguished men-Governor Thomas BURKE and other State Officials, for whose capture he secured approval from Major CRAIG. The Governor was taken form his home near Hillsboro.

It was a very bitter time, therefore, for the people of the eastern section while Major CRAIG was quartered in Wilmington.
A reign of terror was set up on all sides, and many clashes and killings took place between the British and Tories and the patriots who defended their homes and possessions. At that time a large majority of the able bodied men were away in the American army, for the most part in other States.

Prisoners taken by the British were often tortured. In this thumb screws played a dreadful part. Colonel Thomas LEONARD, of Brunswick County, was taken prisoner by the Tories, and tortured with the screws. He made his escape, however with the instruments of torture on him and with his hands powerless in their ----. This was early in the night, and he was unable to find any one who could take the cruel device off his painful hands until late in the next day. The interval was a period of the most exquisite suffering, suspense by Tories, who no doubt would have put an end to him had they found him.

It was during the CRAIG regime, also that massacre of the “ROUSE House” took place. The house was a tavern located about eight miles from Wilmington on the road to New Bern, and the name was taken form its proprietor.

The massacre left a very dark memory, and illustrates the conditions of life which struck terror to the hearts of many people in the country about Wilmington.

This is the story of the massacre.

The state of affairs brought out in the nearby counties many free rangers, or guerrillas, who formed small groups to dispute the ravages of CRAIG'S marauding soldiers and Tories. These patriot Americans, or Whigs were styled “Rebels” and treated as such. An encounter with the Tories usually meant death to men on both sides.

One of these groups was under the leadership of James LOVE, of Bladen County. They were one day cautiously making a detour toward the east from Wilmington. They reached the ROUSE House early in the evening. Little thinking of approaching danger.

It was there, however, they were to meet their doom.

LOVE was described as a companionable man, gay and facetious, who always “had his followers either in sports or adventures.” His men were strongly attached to him. ON arriving at the ROUSE House, he said they would play whist and drink cider, and have a sociable evening together.

It was an innocent gathering, and there was no hostile demonstration against the British. But here was a rude awakening from the merry-making.

In a little while the house was surrounded by British Soldiers. They rushed into the room where the company was gathered, and savagely charged the men with bayonets.

It was a tense and terrible moment, for which the patriots were altogether unprepared. They could do little but ward off for a few minutes their impending fate.

LOVE had taken his saddle into the house, and had laid his sword upon it. He grasped them both, and held the saddle before him as a shield. Thus he backed out of a door leading into the yard.
He made his way toward a mulberry tree close at hand, behind which he wished to take a stand and drive off his assailants. But hen ever reached it; for the fell to the ground, his body run through with several bayonet wounds.

Yet he was not conquered.

With undaunted courage and almost supernatural strength, he arose and began to ply his sword with terrific blows at his assailants, so that the ground was stained by British blood, as well as by that which was rapidly surging from his own body. Thus he stood and fought until his powers were all exhausted, and he could only fall down to his death.

No one now knows how many men there were in the American party. There were doubtless six or seven of them, and they were all killed in the house, but one and LOVE who fell outside. The one escaped notice by climbing up a large fireplace, from which he later emerged, when the attack had subsided. He ran from the house, but was seen by the Britishers, who fired at him with their rifles. No outlet struck him.

Source: The Latimer House in Wilmington, N.C.

The Latimer House in Wilmington is a Museum, it is managed by the Lower Cape Fear Historical Society.

The archives are founded on the research of Ida Brooks Kellam and Elizabeth F. McKoy in family records and deeds of property. Today they include a comprehensive and growing collection of local documents and source material, much of it unique (including a significant collection of original documents).