Charlotte Hornets

Having grown up in the Piedmont, I know little about Charlotte’s revolutionary history, which is, it seems, rather rich. During the American Revolution, General Cornwallis, experiencing staunch resistance from the citizens of Charlotte during his 1780 southern campaign, complained that the city was “a veritable hornet’s nest of rebellion.” This was publicized by proud Charlotteans, who nicknamed the city “The Hornet’s Nest.”

Since then, several sports teams in Charlotte have adopted the moniker. Charlotte’s NBA franchise was not the only team to use the name; baseball fans might remember the minor-league farm team that was connected with the Washington Senators until 1973. And for one brief year, the Charlotte Hornets were a participating team in the short-lived World Football League. I guess it goes to show that there’s a lot more in a mascot than meets the eye–well, maybe not the Phillie Phanatic.

7 thoughts on “Charlotte Hornets”

  1. While I’m familiar with the Cornwallis quote, I don’t remember having seen it identified as being addressed to Queen Charlotte before. Do you have a citation on that?

  2. Leslie:

    Thanks for pointing out our mistake. The author of the post is looking for the source of her information. We’ll let you know if we find it. In the mean time, I’ve edited out the portion that claims that Cornwallis stated this in a letter to Queen Charlotte. We definitely don’t want to pass along incorrect information!

  3. More on the Cornwallis quote….The “Battle of Charlotte” entry (written by David A. Norris and Daniel W. Barefoot) in the Encyclopedia of North Carolina has the following information:

    “Lord Cornwallis, after 16 humiliating days in the Charlotte area, was heard to say as he prepared to depart: ‘Let’s get out of here, this place is a damned hornet’s nest.'”

  4. I don’t think any British general from the 1700’s can be quoted as saying “Let’s get out of here….” I’m not disputing the fact that he referred to the Charlotte area as a “hornet’s nest,” but we should not assume to know a direct quote.

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