Editing Harnett County, North Carolina (section)

==History==
Harnett County was formed in 1855 from land given by [[Cumberland County, North Carolina|Cumberland County]]. It was named for [[American Revolutionary]] war soldier [[Cornelius Harnett]],<ref>{{cite book | url=https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ | title=The Origin of Certain Place Names in the United States | publisher=Govt. Print. Off. | author=Gannett, Henry | year=1905 | pages=[https://archive.org/details/bub_gb_9V1IAAAAMAAJ/page/n149 150]}}</ref> who was also a delegate to the [[Continental Congress]]. The first settlers came to the region in the mid-1720s, and were followed by [[Highland Scots]] immigrants. The Scots settled in the foothills, where land was more affordable, rather than in the rich alluvial soil area of the coastal plain. After the defeat by the British of [[Charles Edward Stuart|Bonny Prince Charles]] at [[Battle of Culloden|Culloden]], Scots immigrants came up the [[Cape Fear River]] in ever increasing numbers and settled in western Harnett County. British immigrants had settled primarily along the banks of the [[Cape Fear River]] in the coastal area, generally from [[Erwin, North Carolina|Erwin]] to [[Wilmington, North Carolina|Wilmington]].

During the [[American Revolutionary War]], many of the Scots were [[Loyalist (American Revolution)|Loyalists]]. In their defeat in Scotland, they had been forced to take ironclad vows that prohibited taking up arms against the British.<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harnett County |url=https://www.ncpedia.org/geography/harnett |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=NCpedia}}</ref> Some [[Patriot (American Revolution)|Rebels]] considered them traitors to the cause of [[American Revolution|Independence]]. Public executions of suspected spies occurred. One site near [[Lillington, North Carolina|Lillington]] was the scene of a mass execution of "Scots traitors".<ref>{{Cite web |title=Harnett County North Carolina History |url=https://www.harnett.org/history-of-harnett-county.asp |access-date=November 6, 2022 |website=Harnett County, North Carolina |language=en}}</ref>

Though Harnett County was not a site of warfare during the [[American Civil War|Civil War]], one of the last battles took place near Averasborough, which was once the third-most populated town in North Carolina, but is no longer in existence. During the [[Carolinas Campaign]], the Left Wing of [[William Sherman|General William Sherman]]'s army under the command of Major General [[Henry Warner Slocum|Henry W. Slocum]] defeated the army of [[William J. Hardee|General William Hardee]] in the [[Battle of Averasborough]] and proceeded eastward. A centennial celebration of the event was held in 1965 at the site of the battlefield.