Thomas Eaton (c. 1739 – June 1809) was a military officer in the North Carolina militia during the

War of the Regulation The Regulator Movement in North Carolina, also known as the Regulator Insurrection, War of Regulation, and War of the Regulation, was an uprising in Provincial North Carolina from 1766 to 1771 in which citizens took up arms against colonial offi ...

in 1771 and

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 the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

from 1775 to 1784. He was a member of the

North Carolina Provincial Congress The Provincial Congress of North Carolina was an extralegal representative assembly patterned after the colonial lower house that existed in North Carolina from 1774 to 1776. It led the transition from British provincial to U.S. state govern ...

and North Carolina House of Commons for several terms simultaneously with his military service. Eaton was a member of the

North Carolina Council of State The North Carolina Council of State is the collective body of ten elective executive offices in the government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina, all of which are established by the Constitution of North Carolina, state co ...

under

Governor A governor is an politician, administrative leader and head of a polity or Region#Political regions, political region, in some cases, such as governor-general, governors-general, as the head of a state's official representative. Depending on the ...

Richard Caswell. Eaton commanded soldiers in the battles of Brier Creek and Guilford Courthouse. At the time of the 1790 census, Eaton was one of the largest slaveholders in North Carolina.

Early life and War of the Regulation

Eaton was born to William Eaton and Mary Rives, who had moved to North Carolina from Prince George County, Virginia. Eaton was married three times, marrying his first wife, Anna Bland, in 1761. That marriage bore one daughter, Anna, in 1763. After purchasing land in

Bute County, North Carolina Bute County, North Carolina is a former county in eastern North Carolina. In 1779, it was divided into Franklin County and Warren County and ceased to exist. History Bute County was established on June 10, 1764, from the eastern part of Gra ...

, Eaton represented that county in the colonial North Carolina Assembly from 1769 to 1771. In 1771, Governor

William Tryon Lieutenant-General William Tryon (8 June 172927 January 1788) was a British Army officer and colonial administrator who served as governor of North Carolina from 1764 to 1771 and the governor of New York from 1771 to 1777. He also served durin ...

named Eaton a

colonel Colonel ( ; abbreviated as Col., Col, or COL) is a senior military Officer (armed forces), officer rank used in many countries. It is also used in some police forces and paramilitary organizations. In the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries, a colon ...

in the Bute County militia during the

. The militia organization supported the governor against the agrarian uprising in the

piedmont Piedmont ( ; ; ) is one of the 20 regions of Italy, located in the northwest Italy, Northwest of the country. It borders the Liguria region to the south, the Lombardy and Emilia-Romagna regions to the east, and the Aosta Valley region to the ...

region of North Carolina. Eaton served as Bute County's representative in the Provincial Council, which became the Council of Safety, between 1775 and 1776. That body exercised executive powers in the state prior to the election of the state's first governor after the start of the

American Revolution The American Revolution (1765–1783) was a colonial rebellion and war of independence in which the Thirteen Colonies broke from British America, British rule to form the United States of America. The revolution culminated in the American ...

. Eaton served as President pro tempore of the Council of Safety. Also beginning in 1775, Eaton was a delegate to the

Second The second (symbol: s) is a unit of time derived from the division of the day first into 24 hours, then to 60 minutes, and finally to 60 seconds each (24 × 60 × 60 = 86400). The current and formal definition in the International System of U ...

Third Third or 3rd may refer to: Numbers * 3rd, the ordinal form of the cardinal number 3 * , a fraction of one third * 1⁄60 of a ''second'', i.e., the third in a series of fractional parts in a sexagesimal number system Places * 3rd Street (di ...

, and Fifth North Carolina Provincial Congresses. The Fourth Provincial Congress, of which Eaton was not a delegate, appointed him a colonel in the state's militia.

American Revolutionary War

Service record: * Halifax District Brigade of militia: 1779 to 1781 *Colonel over the Bute County Regiment of militia and the Warren County Regiment of militia *Appointed 11/4/1779 as Brigadier Pro Tempore, to replace Allen Jones, away on business. *Re-appointed as Brigadier Pro Tempore in early 1781. *Returned to being Colonel over the Warren County Regiment of Militia. *Engaged at the Battle of Guilford Court House After his appointment as a colonel in 1776, Eaton was elected to the

, an executive body elected by the

North Carolina General Assembly The North Carolina General Assembly is the Bicameralism, bicameral legislature of the Government of North Carolina, state government of North Carolina. The legislature consists of two chambers: the North Carolina Senate, Senate and the North Ca ...

which assisted the governor in managing the state's affairs. Eaton served under Richard Caswell in that governor's terms as first and fifth governor of the post-Revolution state, and was re-elected to the Council in 1779 and 1784. In between his terms as a councillor, Eaton served with the militia in the southern theater against the British Army and its local

Loyalist 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 Cr ...

tributaries, but was primarily a politician, and had less military experience than many of his colleagues. On March 3, 1779, Eaton was in command of a regiment of militia at the Patriot defeat at the

Battle of Brier Creek The Battle of Brier Creek was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on March 3, 1779, near the confluence of Brier Creek (Savannah River), Brier Creek with the Savannah River in eastern Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia. An American Patriot (Am ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

. At Brier Creek, the Patriot forces were forced to retreat, and Eaton lost a pair of distinctive riding boots, which were retrieved by Loyalist Colonel John Hamilton, who had commanded the Royal North Carolina Regiment. During a dinner party after the revolution, Hamilton reportedly attempted to return the boots to their owner, only to be rebuffed violently. In November 1779, he was promoted to the rank of brigadier general by the North Carolina Assembly. On March 15, 1781, Eaton commanded the Halifax District Brigade of the North Carolina militia at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, where he was positioned beside the Hillsborough District Brigade of militia under Brigadier General John Butler. Commanding General

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

considered the 1,000 North Carolina militiamen under Butler and Eaton's command to be his least-reliable troops. Eaton, as well as Butler, attempted to stop the men under their command from fleeing the field early during that battle, but could not prevent a large number of North Carolina militia from routing.

Later life and death

After the death of Anna in 1781, Eaton married his second wife, Anne Stith, with whom he had two sons. Eaton would find occasion to remarry for a final time with Elizabeth Jones, a cousin of

Continental Congress The Continental Congress was a series of legislature, legislative bodies, with some executive function, for the Thirteen Colonies of British America, Great Britain in North America, and the newly declared United States before, during, and after ...

delegates

Willie Willy or Willie is a masculine, male given name, often a diminutive form of William or Wilhelm, and occasionally a nickname. It may refer to: People Given name or nickname * Willie Allen (basketball) (born 1949), American basketball player and ...

and Allen Jones. According to the 1790 census, Eaton was one of the largest slaveholders in North Carolina, and his substantial landholdings in Bute County were a part of Warren County after Bute was divided in 1779. Eaton died in June 1809.

References

Notes

Bibliography

* * * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Eaton, Thomas 1730s births 1809 deaths Members of the North Carolina House of Representatives North Carolina militiamen in the American Revolution Militia generals in the American Revolution Members of the North Carolina Provincial Congresses North Carolina Council of State