Ashe, John

Ashe, John,

c.1720–1781, American Revolutionary general, b. Brunswick co., N.C. Speaker of the colonial assembly (1762–65) and a leader of the opposition to the Stamp Act, he was important to the patriot cause in North Carolina. On Mar. 3, 1778, Ashe, a major general commanding North Carolina troops, was defeated by British regulars at Briar Creek, a tributary of the Savannah. The British hold on Georgia was thereby strengthened.