James Hogun was born in Ireland. His date of birth and early life is unknown, not only because of his early death but also because of the lack of written sources. According to family tradition, his personal papers disappeared during the Civil War, apparently looted by Yankee soldiers. There are a few letters in the Washington Papers and in the archives of the state of North Carolina but this correspondence deals primarily with mundane military matters.
Hogun settled about 1751 in Halifax County, North Carolina. In 1774 he was a member of the Halifax County Safety Committee. He represented that county in the provincial congresses of August 20, 1775, April 4, 1776, and November 12, 1776, his interest being chiefly in military affairs. The provincial Congress of April 1776 elected him first major of the Halifax militia; at the November congress he served on a committee to report upon the organization of the militia, and on November 26, he was elected colonel of the 7th Regiment of the North Carolina Continental Line. He promptly organized his regiment and in July 1777 joined Washington's army in time to participate in the battles of Brandywine and Germantown.
In 1778 Congress called upon North Carolina for four new regiments of Continentals, and Hogun was ordered home to help raise and organize them. He was assigned to the command of the first regiment to be organized and with it joined the Continental Army at White Plains in August 1778. In November he was sent to West Point and remained there at work on the fortifications until the middle of December, when he was ordered to Philadelphia.
On January 9, 1779, the Continental Congress entered upon the election of two brigadier-generals of the North Carolina Continental Line. The state's delegates in Congress, obeying instructions from the legislature, nominated and supported Colonel Jethro Sumner, the senior colonel, and Colonel Thomas Clark; but Congress, taking note of the fact that Hogun not only ranked Clark but had behaved well in his several assignments and had conducted himself "with distinguished intrepidity" at Germantown, disregarded the state's recommendation and elected Sumner and Hogun. Sumner was sent south to the defense of Georgia and Hogun was assigned to the command of the North Carolina brigade in Washington's army.
On March 19, 1779, Benedict Arnold, who had been in command of the garrison at Philadelphia, was relieved at his own request, and Washington assigned Hogun to the command of the city. He retained command there until November 22, when he was relieved to enable him to march his brigade to join General Lincoln in the defense of Charleston, South Carolina. General Lincoln reported to the president of Congress that Hogun's arrival at Charleston, March 3, 1780, gave "great spirits to the Town and confidence to the Army. " His troops bore an active part in the unsuccessful defense of the city and upon its surrender became prisoners of war. They were sent to Haddrell's Point on Sullivan's Island, where they underwent great hardships. The British offered Hogun a parole, but feeling that he ought to share the fate of his men and fearing the effect of his absence on the efforts of British recruiting officers to enlist them for service in the West Indies, he declined it. His health broke under the strain and he died at Haddrell's Point, January 4, 1781. He was buried in an unmarked grave and today only a roadside marker near Hopgood, North Carolina serves as his cenotaph.
Hogun was one of the five Continental generals from North Carolina who served valiantly during the American Revolutionary War, but is relatively unknown today due to unfortunate, early death. Hogun can be noted for his bravery and devotion to America, as he made a tought decision to abandon freedom he was given by the British Army; he felt that his presence would stiffen the resolve of the men and refused repeated opportunities to give his parole for better conditions.
It is known that Hogun took an active part in North Carolina Whig politics.
Hogun married Ruth Norfleet, member of a prominent North Carolina family, and by her had one child, Lemuel, who survived him. On March 14, 1786, the North Carolina legislature granted Lemuel a 12, 000-acre tract near modern-day Nashville, Tennessee, in recognition of his father's service.
