Colonel Robert Irwin (1738-1800) of Steele Creek Township,

Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Mecklenburg County is a county located in the southwestern region of the state of North Carolina, in the United States. As of the 2020 census, the population was 1,115,482, making it the second-most populous county in North Carolina (after Wa ...

was a long term North Carolina State Senator. The first state senator ever elected from Mecklenburg County, he served as the

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 ...

senator from Mecklenburg County in the years 1778-1783, and again, in the years 1787 and 1795, and, finally, from 1797 to 1800, dying in office. Prior to entering the senate, Irwin commanded the

Mecklenburg County Regiment The Mecklenburg County Regiment was authorized on May 31, 1775 by the Province of North Carolina Congress. From November 7, 1779 until the 3rd Quarter of 1780, it was called the 1st Mecklenburg County Regiment when a 2nd Mecklenburg County Regime ...

of the

Salisbury District Salisbury was a local government district in Wiltshire, England from 1974 to 2009. Its main urban area was the city of Salisbury. The district was formed on 1 April 1974, under the Local Government Act 1972 and the pursuant The English Non- ...

, North Carolina militia, rising to the rank of a colonel and commandant of the 1st Mecklenburg County Regiment (Est. 1775, split into 1st & 2nd regiments 1780, and disestablished in 1783). He commanded the regiment while fighting strategically against

Loyalists Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cro ...

militia forces beside

South Carolina )''Animis opibusque parati'' ( for, , Latin, Prepared in mind and resources, links=no) , anthem = " Carolina";" South Carolina On My Mind" , Former = Province of South Carolina , seat = Columbia , LargestCity = Charleston , LargestMetro = ...

patriot militia General

Thomas Sumter Thomas Sumter (August 14, 1734June 1, 1832) was a soldier in the Colony of Virginia militia; a brigadier general in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution, a planter, and a politician. After the United States gained independe ...

at the Battle of Rocky Mount. Later, the two again fought to victory together against loyalist provisional units and militia (while heavily outnumbered) at the

Battle of Hanging Rock The Battle of Hanging Rock (August 6, 1780) was a battle in the American Revolutionary War that occurred between the American Patriots and the British. It was part of a campaign by militia General Thomas Sumter to harass or destroy British outpos ...

. Irwin is reportedSee Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence#Signers for a discussion of who is reported to have signed this document. There is no copy of the document and recollections were only compiled in 1819 to have been a signer of the

Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence The Mecklenburg Declaration of Independence is a text published in 1819 with the now disputed claim that it was the first declaration of independence made in the Thirteen Colonies during the American Revolution. It was supposedly signed on May 20 ...

. Colonel Irwin was of the

Presbyterian Presbyterianism is a part of the Reformed tradition within Protestantism that broke from the Roman Catholic Church in Scotland by John Knox, who was a priest at St. Giles Cathedral (Church of Scotland). Presbyterian churches derive their nam ...

faith.

Revolutionary War service

Robert Irwin held several positions in the North Carolina militia 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 ...

: *Captain in the

of the North Carolina militia (1775, 1776-1777) *Captain in the 2nd Salisbury District Minutemen (1775-1776) *Lt. colonel in the Mecklenburg County Regiment of the North Carolina militia (1777-1778) *Colonel in the Mecklenburg County Regiment of the North Carolina militia (1778-1783) Notes:

External links

Patriot leaders

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Irwin, Robert North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution North Carolina state senators 1738 births 1800 deaths People from Mecklenburg County, North Carolina Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses 18th-century American politicians

Revolutionary War service

See also

External links

References