Bladen County was formed as early as 1734, from New Hanover County, and comprehended at the time the whole western portion of the State as far as the limits of North Carolina extended.

It was so called in honor of Martin Bladen, one of the Lords Commissioners of Trade and Plantations.

It is situated in the south-eastern part of North Carolina, and is bounded on the north by the county of Cumberland, and South River, which separates it from Sampson County; on the east by the same river, which separates it from New Hanover County; on the south by the counties of Brunswick, and Columbus; and on the vest by the county of Robeson.

Elizabethtown, its capital, is situated on the Cape Fear River, and distant from Raleigh 99 miles.

This county was signalized by being the scene of a bloody battle between the friends of Liberty and the Tories, at or near Elizabethtown.

It was fought in July 1781; the friends of liberty were led on by Thomas Brown, and the Tories commanded by Cols. Slingsby and Godden. The situation of the county was deplorable. The Tories had overrun every portion; their opponents had been driven out of the county, their homes ravaged, and houses burned. About 60 had taken refuge in Duplin; hungry, naked, and homeless, exasperated to madness, they resolved to drive the Tories from their poets or die in the attempt.

The Tories, to the number of about three hundred, had taken position at Elizabethtown. Colonel Brown and his brave men marched fifty miles through a wilderness, subsisting on jerked beef and scanty bread. They forded the Cape Fear, and at night (when the disparity of the force could not be perceived), made a furious onset on the Tories, drove in their guards, and after a bloody resistance, in which their commander Slingsby was mortally wounded and Godden killed, the Tories commenced a retreat; a large number rushed wildly over every obstacle and leaped into a deep gulley which hah ever since borne the name of the "Tory Hole."

This brilliant affair ended the Tory power in Bladen.

It is to be hoped that some record more enduring may be procured that will present this battle in its true colors to posterity. With every exertion there has been but little procured, but enough to show the chivalric daring of its leaders, and the firmness of the sons of Bladen.

(Source: Historical Sketches of North Carolina, Vol. I & II, 1851 -Transcribed and submitted by: Frances Cooley)