Edenton, and his anxiety concerning his family, decided him
to decline the office and return home to share the fortunes of his
townsmen and to render what aid he could to his own people.

In August, 1781, Charles Johnson wrote Governor Burke that a French
fleet had appeared off the Virginia Capes, and had driven back General
Leslie; and General Gregory, who had been stationed at Edmund's Hill in
Nansemond County, Virginia, to hold Leslie in check, reported at the
same time that the enemy had evacuated Portsmouth, and that it was
useless to keep his soldiers there any longer.

The British army had by this time reached Yorktown, where, on the 19th
of October the famous surrender took place, and the long, weary struggle
for independence was over; but it was nearly a month later before the
joyful news of Washington's victory over Cornwallis reached Carolina.
On November 18th the British troops in the State embarked from
Wilmington, and North Carolina was troubled by the red-coats no more.

But though the surrender at Yorktown had convinced the British that she
had lost her hold upon the American Colonies, it was not until
September, 1782, that the King acknowledged the independence of his
former American subjects; and still another year passed before the
Treaty of Paris was signed, formally acknowledging the United States a
separate and independent power.

During these two years North Carolina was torn and harrassed by bands of
Tories; and in South Carolina the armies of Greene and Leslie were still
engaged in fierce skirmishes. Leslie was at last hemmed in at Charleston
by Greene's troops, and both his men and Greene's soldiers were in great
distress for want of food and clothing.

In the summer of 1782 Greene warned the people of North Carolina that
the British in Charleston were preparing to send four vessels to raid
Edenton, New Bern and Wilmington; and once more the inhabitants of these
towns were plunged into a state of alarm.

Governor Burke immediately ordered General Gregory to have 500 men
ready to march at a moment's notice to Edenton to repel the expected
invasion, and also ordered him to ask the merchants of Edenton how many
vessels they thought necessary to protect the town. The Governor
furthermore gave Gregory instructions to purchase cannon and to draft
men to man the boats, guaranteeing, himself, full pay for men and
supplies.

But the fleet of which Greene had written did not arrive, though during