MOORE, John, soldier. He was lieutenant-colonel of the North Carolina loyalists, having joined that corps late in 1779, and in the following summer returned to Tryon county under orders from Lord Cornwallis to excite the loyalty of the people, but not to raise a force until after harvest. He brought detailed accounts of the siege and surrender of Charleston, with an authoritative message from Cornwallis that he would march into North Carolina after the harvests were gathered. Under Moore and Major Nicholas Welsh, contrary to the orders of Cornwallis, a force of 1,300 men was immediately collected, which encamped at Ramsour's Mills, about forty miles beyond Catawba river. In less than five days Colonel Matthew Locke and other officers, having received orders from General Grifftth Rutherford to oppose the march of the British, levied their several quotas, crossed the Catawba, and effected a junction within sixteen miles of the royalists' camp on 19 June, 1780, numbering 350 men. At sunrise the next morning, without any commander or military arrangement, they attacked the Tories, and after a well-sustained and bloody engagement compelled them to retreat. Relatives and friends fought in the opposing ranks, and after the smoke of the battle recognized each other--the Tories wearing the badge of a green pine-twig in front of the hat, and the Whigs a similar badge of white paper, which were the only means of distinguishing the two parties in the fray. With thirty survivors Moore reached the royal army at Camden, but was treated with disrespect by the British officers, and threatened with a trial by court-martial for his disobedience and the consequences of it. He was afterward attainted of treason in South Carolina, and his property was confiscated.