David Fanning was born in Amelia County, Virginia in 1755. After an apprenticeship in Johnston County, North Carolina, Fanning settled in western South Carolina by 1773. At the breakout of the Revolutionary War, Fanning became a loyalist and served in several campaigns, eventually attaining the rank of colonel. Fanning's loyalist troops had frequent skirmishes with Patriot troops in the North Carolina backcountry. Among Fanning's most notable military achievements was his capture of North Carolina's Patriot governor Thomas Burke in 1781. Fanning left the Carolinas following the Revolutionary War, eventually settling in Nova Scotia. He died there on March 14, 1825.