Joachim Gans
Sir Richard Grenville, leader of Raleigh's expedition, founded the Roanoke Colony on Roanoke Island off the coast of modern North Carolina in 1585. Among the ruins at the Roanoke site, archaeologists have discovered lumps of smelted copper and a goldsmith’s crucible attributed to Gans's work at the colony. Because the royal mining company failed to resupply colonists who were also becoming increasingly fearful of conflicts with the Native Americans, they accepted an offer from Sir Francis Drake in June 1586 to sail them to England. Each of the colonists, including Gans, left North America.
Roanoke Island
During the Revolutionary War there were eight recorded encounters fought in nearby Hatteras, Ocracoke and the High Seas. These battles were between local privateers from Edenton against the British Royal Navy. Patrolling Royal Navy often had little to place to rest during their coastal patrol duty. On August 15, 1776 a British patrol sent foragers to the now extinct "Roanoke Inlet" in modern-day Nags Head to steal cattle. The Outer Banks Independent Company who was guarding Roanoke Island killed or captured the entire party. This battle while not on Roanoke Island itself was less than three miles away. Skirmishes involving ships continued until 1780 but no large land battles occurred in the area, Roanoke Island itself was largely spared from war violence. Independence for the United States had little effect on local residents.