Josiah Martin (23 April 1737 – 13 April 1786) was the royal governor of North Carolina from 1771 to 1775, succeeding William Tryon and preceding Richard Caswell. Martin was as unpopular as his predecessor, and he twice failed to restore royal rule to the Carolinas, culimating in the defeat at the Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge.
Biography[]
Josiah Martin was born on 23 April 1737 in Dublin, Ireland to a wealthy family of planters. Martin enlisted in the British Army in 1756 and rose to the rank of Lieutenant-Colonel in 1769, and he served on the royal council of New York City. In 1771, Martin became the royal governor of North Carolina, succeeding the unpopular William Tryon. On 24 April 1775, his house was attacked by the Whigs, and Martin headed to an estate on the Cape Fear River. On 20 July 1775, he was forced to flee to his ship when John Baptista Ashe and some patriots rose up to oppose his plan to arm the slaves during the American Revolutionary War. After two failed attempts to restore Great Britain's rule to North Carolina (including the disastrous Battle of Moore's Creek Bridge), Martin returned to England, where he died in 1786.