Colonel Edward Buncombe

Edward Buncombe was born in 1742 on St. Christopher Island (now St. Kitts), the son of Thomas and Esther Buncombe. He was educated in Great Britain and married Elizabeth Dawson Taylor on 10 April 1766 at St. Christopher. Edward's uncle, Joseph Buncombe, had settled in Tyrrell County, North Carolina, and Edward was living there himself by 1768. By 1771, he was serving as a justice of the county court. He also commanded a regiment in the provincial troops.

In 1775, the Provincial Congress of North Carolina selected him to command the militia forces of Tyrrell County; and in 1776, he became the Colonel of the 5th Regiment of North Carolina troops in the Continental Line under the command of General Francis Nash. After assisting in the defense of South Carolina, Colonel Buncombe and his troops were ordered to join General George Washington's forces in New Jersey. They fought bravely at the Battles of Brandywine and Germantown. At Germantown, Colonel Buncombe was seriously wounded and left for dead by the retreating Americans. He was recognized by a British officer with whom he had gone to school and taken to Philadelphia for care. He seemed to be recovering; but in May 1778, he fell down a flight of steps while sleepwalking and bled to death.

Colonel Edward Buncombe is buried in the graveyard of Christ Church in Philadelphia.

Source: An Address Delivered Before the North Carolina Society of The Cincinnati by Marshall DeLancey Haywood, July 4, 1901