John Ashe ( general ) John Ashe ( ca . 1720 – October 24 , 1781 ) was a general officer in the North Carolina militia during the American Revolutionary War . Early life . Born to a prominent family in Grovely , Brunswick County , North Carolina around 1720 , Ashe enlisted in the North Carolina militia during the French and Indian War . The Harvard - educated Ashe served as Speaker of the colonial assembly from 1762 to 1765 ( his father , John Baptista Ashe , had served as speaker in 1726 - 27 ) . Revolutionary War . An outspoken opponent of the Stamp Act and eventually a supporter of independence from Great Britain , Ashe served in the North Carolina Provincial Congress and on both the committees of correspondence and safety as hostilities between the colonies and Great Britain began to rise . Leading a force of 500 men , Ashe destroyed the British garrison of Fort Johnston ( near present day Wilmington , North Carolina ) in 1775 , becoming a colonel later that year . Raising and equipping a regiment at his own expense , Ashe led his regiment in the American victory at the Battle of Moore ' s Creek Bridge . Ashe was thereafter promoted to brigadier general of the militia in April 1776 . Brier Creek . He was dispatched to support Continental Army Major General Benjamin Lincoln following the British capture of Savannah , Georgia in late 1778 . Ashe ' s troops first marched to Purrysburg , South Carolina , where Lincoln had established his camp , but was then sent north to join forces threatening Augusta , Georgia , which was being held by British Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell . Ashe ' s advance in early February 1779 prompted Campbell to abandon Augusta , and Ashe followed him southward in Georgia . Ashe halted just above Brier Creek , where the British had burned out a bridge during their retreat , and established a camp while he traveled back to South Carolina for a war council with Lincoln . Ashe returned to the Brier Creek camp on March 2 . Lieutenant Colonel Campbell had , however , been active . In a plan that was well executed by Colonel Mark Prevost , most of the British force embarked on a lengthy detour to flank Ashe ' s camp while a diversionary force demonstrated on the far side of the burned - out bridge . The British approached his camp from the rear on March 3 , with Ashe ' s force having just 15 minutes notice to prepare for the onslaught . Ashe ' s poorly trained and supplied militia were routed , with an estimated 150 casualties compared to around 16 British casualties . Ashe was subjected to a court martial , which found that although he was not entirely to blame for the debacle , he was guilty of setting inadequate guards around his camp . Capture and death . Returning to Wilmington , remained active there in suppressing Loyalist activity in the district . He was captured and held as a prisoner of war following the town ' s occupation in 1781 by the army of General Charles Cornwallis , 1st Marquess Cornwallis . Contracting smallpox while imprisoned , Ashe was paroled , but died in Sampson County on October 24 shortly after his release . Family . One of his sons , also named John Ashe , served as a captain in the 4th North Carolina Regiment . Governor Samuel Ashe ( 1725 - 1813 ) , for whom Asheville , North Carolina was named , was his younger brother , and other descendants ( not named Ashe since none of their male children had offspring ) have continued to play a role in North Carolina politics .