Hardy Murfree (June 5, 1752 – April 6, 1809) was a lieutenant colonel from

North Carolina North Carolina () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States. The state is the 28th largest and 9th-most populous of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, Georgia and So ...

during the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

Early life

Murfree was born on June 5, 1752 at Murfree's Landing, North Carolina, later renamed

Murfreesboro Murfreesboro is a city in and county seat of Rutherford County, Tennessee, United States. The population was 152,769 according to the 2020 census, up from 108,755 residents certified in 2010. Murfreesboro is located in the Nashville metropol ...

. His parents were William Murfree and Mary Moore.

Military career

Murfree, a lieutenant in the Hertford County militia when the Revolutionary War began, was commissioned on September 1, 1775, as a captain in the 2nd North Carolina Regiment of the

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies (the Thirteen Colonies) in the Revolutionary-era United States. It was formed by the Second Continental Congress after the outbreak of the American Revolutionary War, and was establis ...

. The regiment was commanded by Colonel Robert Howe, who was later a major general. Murfree saw action at the

Battle of Monmouth The Battle of Monmouth, also known as the Battle of Monmouth Court House, was fought near Monmouth Court House in modern-day Freehold Borough, New Jersey on June 28, 1778, during the American Revolutionary War. It pitted the Continental Army, co ...

on June 28, 1778, and achieved his greatest renown for leading a successful diversionary attack against British defenses in the

Battle of Stony Point The Battle of Stony Point took place on July 16, 1779, during the American Revolutionary War. In a well-planned and -executed nighttime attack, a highly trained select group of George Washington's Continental Army troops under the command of Bri ...

on July 15, 1779. He was then a major serving under General

Anthony Wayne Anthony Wayne (January 1, 1745 – December 15, 1796) was an American soldier, officer, statesman, and one of the Founding Fathers of the United States. He adopted a military career at the outset of the American Revolutionary War, where his mil ...

, and was soon thereafter promoted to lieutenant colonel. On July 17, 1781, British forces led by

Banastre Tarleton Sir Banastre Tarleton, 1st Baronet, GCB (21 August 175415 January 1833) was a British general and politician. He is best known as the lieutenant colonel leading the British Legion at the end of the American Revolution. He later served in Portug ...

and

Tarleton's Raiders The British Legion was an elite British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War, composed of Loyalist American troops, organized as infantry and cavalry, plus a detachment from the 16th Light Dragoons. The unit wa ...

attacked Maney's Neck on the

Meherrin River The Meherrin River is a long 6th order tributary to the Chowan River that joins in Hertford County, North Carolina. A twenty-foot-high dam on the river creates a reservoir in Emporia. For most of its length, the Meherrin is not large enough f ...

near Murfree's Landing. Murfree led the militia that repulsed the attack at Skinner's Bridge. Around 1807, Murfree migrated to

Williamson County, Tennessee Williamson County is a county in the U.S. state of Tennessee. As of the 2020 United States census, the population was 247,726. The county seat is Franklin, and the county is located in Middle Tennessee. The county is named after Hugh Williamson, ...

, living on land granted to him after the American Revolution, and remained there until his death in 1809. Murfree was a member of the North Carolina chapter of the

Society of the Cincinnati The Society of the Cincinnati is a fraternal, hereditary society founded in 1783 to commemorate the American Revolutionary War that saw the creation of the United States. Membership is largely restricted to descendants of military officers wh ...

. He was a

Freemason Freemasonry or Masonry refers to fraternal organisations that trace their origins to the local guilds of stonemasons that, from the end of the 13th century, regulated the qualifications of stonemasons and their interaction with authorities ...

for all of his adult life, active in both North Carolina and

Tennessee Tennessee ( , ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked state in the Southeastern region of the United States. Tennessee is the 36th-largest by area and the 15th-most populous of the 50 states. It is bordered by Kentucky to th ...

Personal life

Murfree married Sally Brickell on February 17, 1780. They had seven children: William Hardy Murfree (1781), Fanny Noailles Murfree (1783), Mary Moore Murfree (1786), Matthias Brickell Murfree (1788), Sally Murfree (1793), Lavinia Bembury Murfree (1795-1881), and Martha Long Ann Coakley Murfree (1801). Their great-granddaughter was the noted Tennessee writer

Mary Noailles Murfree Mary Noailles Murfree (January 24, 1850 – July 31, 1922) was an American author of novels and short stories who wrote under the pen name Charles Egbert Craddock. She is considered by many to be Appalachia's first significant female writer a ...

(1850–1922). His wife Sally died on March 29, 1802.

Death and legacy

Murfree died on April 6, 1809. In 1811 the

Tennessee State Legislature The Tennessee General Assembly (TNGA) is the state legislature of the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is a part-time bicameral legislature consisting of a Senate and a House of Representatives. The Speaker of the Senate carries the additional title ...

renamed the town of Cannonsburgh to Murfreesborough (later shortened to

) in his honor.

References

External links

Murfreesboro, North CarolinaMurfreesboro, Tennessee
{{DEFAULTSORT:Murfree, Hardy 1752 births 1809 deaths People from Murfreesboro, North Carolina People from Williamson County, Tennessee Continental Army officers from North Carolina