Military officer: born in Grovely,
Brunswick co.,
N. C., in 1720; was in the
North Carolina legislature for several years, and was speaker in 1762-65.
He warmly opposed the Stamp Act: assisted
Governor Tryon in suppressing the Regulator movement in 1771, but soon afterwards became a zealous Whig.
He was an active patriot, and because he led 500 men to destroy
Fort Johnson he was denounced as a rebel.
Raising and equipping a regiment at his own expense, he was appointed brigadier-general of the Wilmington District in April. 1776.
He joined
Lincoln in
South Carolina in 1778; and after he was defeated at
Brier Creek, in March, 1779, he returned home.
General Ashe suffered much at the hands of the
British at
Wilmington after the battle at
Guilford, and died of small-pox, which he had contracted in prison, in
Sampson county, N. C., Oct. 24, 1781.