Moores Creek National Battlefield, Currie, NC in the Lower Cape Fear basin. Here, Patriots won the first decisive battle of the American Revolution on February 27, 1776. 1000 Patriots halted 1600 Scottish Highlander Loyalists' attempt to join more British troops 20 miles southeast in Wilmington, NC. After this battle, British troops left the North Carolina coast and concentrated their efforts in the northern states until the end of the War when the Carolinas again became the scene of battles. Monuments, trails, battle site, wetlands, Spanish-moss draped white oak trees.