Orange County Courthouse Mural

Military History

Founded in 1752, Orange County has long played an active role in national and international military conflicts. Residents have served in armed forces and militias, debated the political motivations behind conflicts, and organized locally to produce needed supplies. Orange County’s long history with military conflicts is depicted by eight items in the courthouse mural; this theme was created to highlight these items and bring them together chronologically.

Orange County saw military action before the Revolutionary War, due to the presence of British forces. In 1771, residents fought colonial Governor Tyron at the Battle of Alamance, after failed attempts to reform tax policies. Richard Caswell, who would later become the state’s first elected governor, served under Governor Tyron in this battle. As the Revolutionary War began, Caswell’s personal politics led him to draft a North Carolina constitution and command the state’s revolutionary militia. As Caswell led troops against the British, Hillsborough residents maintained tense interactions with occupying British troops, as portrayed in the Hillsborough scene. In 1788, after the Revolutionary War, the North Carolina Constitutional Convention met in Hillsborough and rejected the proposed national Constitution. State delegates would meet a year later in Fayetteville to approve it.

It is important to acknowledge that many of the individuals lauded for their contributions to early North Carolina military action and politics enslaved Black individuals and relied on forced labor to support their financial position in local and state society. The mural items representing the Civil War also inherently involve enslaved individuals. The state of North Carolina separated from the United States in 1861, joining the confederate alliance because of their rejection of import tariffs and belief in the institution of slavery. North Carolina contributed and lost more soldiers than any other confederate state, and state troops were supported by enslaved labor in areas such as cooking and building. During the Civil War, fighting in North Carolina occurred mostly in the eastern half of the state. Orange County was not exempt from this pattern, and the Hillsborough Military Academy was built in 1859 to train needed troops. Residents of Orange County witnessed skirmishes throughout the Civil War and also witnessed its end for North Carolina, Georgia, and Florida, when Confederate General Joseph E. Johnston surrendered to Union General William T. Sherman at the Bennett family farm.

The last two mural items relating to military history are outliers in that they are associated with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. The school had invested in confederate stocks during the Civil War and in 1871, after experiencing near bankruptcy and political infighting over the education of Black individuals, was closed by the General Assembly. The reopening of the university in 1875, marked by supporter Cornelia Phillips Spencer ringing the campus bell, symbolized the university’s gradual acceptance of state oversight and Union ideals, although the school would not accept Black individuals until the 1950s.

During both World Wars, residents of Orange County rallied to assist American troops in a variety of ways, including manufacturing weapons, establishing local support chapters, and volunteering to serve. Ira Ward, the last mural item of this theme, joined American troops in 1942 after graduating from UNC at Chapel Hill. He was stationed in the Southwest Pacific for three years of World War II and received many honors for his service upon his return.

Orange County has participated in almost every major conflict in which the United States has been involved. This mural only represents a few major campaigns; it is likely that Orange County residents can be traced to other military operations. Through these times of war, Orange County witnessed the United States at its most vulnerable, when the lives of individuals and efforts of communities would determine how the country saw itself and other nations.