Halifax District Brigade

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The Halifax District Brigade was a section of North Carolina’s militia during the American Revolutionary War (1776–1783). It was created by the North Carolina Provincial Congress on May 4, 1776 and ended when the war finished.

Brigadier Allen Jones commanded the brigade from its start until after the war, resigning on December 3, 1787. Thomas Eaton temporarily led the brigade when Jones was away—first in December 1779 while Jones served as North Carolina’s delegate to the Continental Congress, and again in 1781 when Jones was ill.

In November 1776, at the urging of the Continental Congress, North Carolina formed the 1st and 2nd Battalions of Volunteers to deter a possible British move to Charleston. These battalions were assigned to Brigadier General Allen Jones’s Halifax District Brigade. The 1st Battalion was commanded by Colonel Abraham Sheppard, and the 2nd Battalion by Lieutenant Colonel Francis Locke. They marched into South Carolina, but the British did not invade again. Their terms expired on April 10, 1777, and the battalions returned home.

County regiments under the Halifax District Brigade included:
- Edgecombe County Regiment (authorized September 9, 1775)
- Halifax County Regiment (authorized September 9, 1775)
- Franklin County Regiment (formed in 1779 after Bute County was split to create Franklin)
- Nash County Regiment (created December 17, 1777)
- Northampton County Regiment (authorized September 9, 1775)

All officers in these regiments were appointed by the Provincial Congress or the Governor.

Regiments of the Halifax District Brigade fought in 22 known engagements—two in Georgia, eleven in South Carolina, eight in North Carolina, and one in Florida. In each engagement, at least one company from these regiments participated.