North Carolina Office of Archives and History

Patriot Sons, Patriot Brothers by Hugh Owen NashReview by: Donald R. LennonThe North Carolina Historical Review, Vol. 84, No. 4 (OCTOBER 2007), p. 416Published by: North Carolina Office of Archives and HistoryStable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/23522968 .

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416 Book Reviews

Patriot Sons, Patriot Brothers. By Hugh Owen Nash Jr. (Nashville, Tenn.: Westview Publishing, 2006. Acknowledgments, introduction, genealogical notes, note on correspondence,

appendixes, notes, bibliography, index. Pp. viii, 399. $29.95, paper.)

In Patriot Sons, Patriot Brothers, Hugh Owen Nash Jr. examines several generations of

his ancestors who were among the principal leaders of eighteenth- and nineteenth

century North Carolina. Abner and Francis Nash, the primary subjects of this volume, were of Welsh descent and were born in Virginia to wealthy planter John Nash and his

wife, Anna Owen Nash. Abner, Francis, and older brother Thomas relocated to North

Carolina during the early 1760s. While the younger brothers initially chose to settle in

Hillsborough, Thomas located his home in Edenton. The Nash brothers pursued public

life, and both Abner and Francis rose to the forefront of provincial leadership as North

Carolina moved toward its ultimate break with Great Britain.

After leaving Hillsborough, Abner Nash practiced law in Halifax and New Bern and

served in the General Assembly. As an ardent Whig, he led the opposition to Gov. Josiah Martin and became the focus of the attachment clause controversy that gripped the

colony during the years leading up to American independence. Abner served in the

Provincial Congress and the House of Commons before becoming governor in 1780.

After declining nomination for a second term as governor in 1781, Abner became a

member of the Continental Congress in 1782, where he served until his death in New

York in 1786. It was intimated that he would have been selected president of Congress had his declining health and premature death not prevented him from receiving the post.

Francis Nash remained in Hillsborough, where he practiced law and became clerk of

court for Orange County. He represented Orange County and Hillsborough in the

colonial assemblies and the Provincial Congress of 1775. During the Regulator uprising of 1771 he participated in the Battle of Alamance as a captain of militia. In 1775, he

was appointed lieutenant colonel in the First Regiment of North Carolina Troops for the Continental army. After the death of Gen. James Moore, Nash assumed command of the entire North Carolina brigade of nine regiments, and as a brigadier general, he marched north to Philadelphia in early 1777. He participated in the Battle of

Brandywine before being mortally wounded at Germantown in October of that year. Nash has done an impressive job of researching his topic, and the volume contains a

wealth of historical information. Unfortunately, in his zeal to present all relevant historical data, he weakens the impact of this study. The volume is a hybrid of narrative,

genealogy, and historical documentary that is reminiscent of the historical scholarship popular during the mid-nineteenth century. Highly readable narrative is continuously interrupted by three-, four-, and five-page documents that are printed in their entirety. These documents detract from the biography of the Nash brothers, and even readers with a deep interest in the Revolutionary period will find the format tedious. Despite this

major flaw, the volume is worth reading, and it provides insight into the period and the

importance of one of the state's leading Revolutionary War families.

Greenville, North Carolina

Donald R. Lennon

THE NORTH CAROLINA HISTORICAL REVIEW

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