Murfree, a lieutenant in the Hertford County militia when the Revolutionary War began, was commissioned on September 1, 1775, as a captain in the
2nd North Carolina Regiment of the
Continental Army. The regiment was commanded by Colonel
Robert Howe, who was later a major general. Murfree saw action at the
Battle of Monmouth on June 28, 1778, and achieved his greatest renown for leading a successful diversionary attack against British defenses in the
Battle of Stony Point on July 15, 1779. He was then a major serving under General
Anthony Wayne, and was soon thereafter promoted to lieutenant colonel. On July 17, 1781, British forces led by
Banastre Tarleton and the
British Legion attacked Maney's Neck on the
Meherrin River near Murfree's Landing. Murfree led the militia that repulsed the attack at Skinner's Bridge. Around 1807, Murfree migrated to
Williamson County, Tennessee, living on land granted to him after the American Revolution. In 1808 he placed a
runaway slave ad seeking the return of Toby whom he thought would he toward South Carolina. Murfree remained in Williamson County until his death in 1809. Murfree was a member of the North Carolina chapter of the
Society of the Cincinnati. He was a
Freemason for all of his adult life, active in both North Carolina and
Tennessee. ==Personal life==