The Battle of Guilford Court House was a battle fought on March 15, 1781 inside the present-day city of Greensboro, North Carolina, during the American
Revolutionary War. 1,900 British troops, under General Lord Cornwallis, fought an American
force, under Rhode Island native General Nathanael
Greene, numbering 4,400.
Despite the relatively small numbers of troops involved, the battle is considered one of the most decisive of the
Revolutionary War. Prior to the battle, the British appeared to have successfully reconquered Georgia and South Carolina with the aid of
strong Loyalist factions, and that North Carolina might be within their grasp. In the wake of the battle, Greene moved into
South Carolina, while Cornwallis chose to invade Virginia. These decisions allowed Greene to
unravel British control of the South, while leading Cornwallis to Yorktown and
surrender.
The battle is commemorated at Guilford Courthouse National
Military Park.
Prelude
Following the Battle of Cowpens, Cornwallis was determined to destroy Greene's
army. However, the loss of his light infantry at Cowpens led him to burn his supplies so that his army would be nimble enough for
pursuit. He chased Greene in the Race to the Dan, but Greene escaped across the flooded
Dan River to safety in Virginia. Cornwallis established camp at Hillsborough and attempted to forage supplies and recruit North Carolina's Tories. However,
the bedraggled state of his army and Pyle's massacre deterred Loyalists.
On March 14 1781, while encamped in the forks of the
Deep River, Cornwallis was informed that General Richard Butler was marching to attack his army. With Butler was a body of North Carolina
militia, plus reinforcements from Virginia, consisting of
3,000 Virginia militia, a Virginia State regiment, a Corps of Virginian eighteen-month men and recruits for the Maryland Line. They had joined the command of Greene, creating a force of some nine to ten thousand men in
total. During the night, further reports confirmed the American force was at Guilford Court House, some 12 miles (20 km) away.
Cornwallis decided to give battle, though he had only 1,900 men at his disposal. He detached his baggage train, 100 infantry and
20 Cavalry under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Hamilton to Bell's Mills further down the Deep River. Meanwhile, Greene,
having received the reinforcements, decided to recross the Dan and challenge Cornwallis. On March
15, the two armies met at Guilford Court House, North
Carolina (within the present Greensboro, North Carolina).
Battle
Map of the Guilford Court House Battleground
The advance guards met near the Quaker New Garden Meeting House.
Banastre Tarleton's Light Dragoons were briefly
engaged by Light Horse Harry Lee's Dragoons
some 4 miles (6 km) from the Guilford Court House. The British 23rd Regiment of
Foot sent reinforcements forward and Lee withdrew, ordering a retreat to Greene's main body.
Cornwallis found the Americans in position on rising ground about one and a half miles (2.5 km) from the court house. He was
unable to gain much information from his prisoners or the local residents as to the American disposition. To his front he saw a
plantation with a large field straddling both sides of the road, with two more further over on the left separated by 200 yards or
so of woodland. To his right beyond the fields the woodland extended for several miles. On the far side of the first field was a
fenced wood, 1 mile (1.6 km) in depth, through which the road passed into an extensive cleared area around the court house. Along
the edge of this woodland was a fence forming the American first line of defense and a 6-pound cannon on each side of the road.
Greene had prepared his defense in three lines. North Carolina militia formed the first line,
with backwoods riflemen on the left and right flanks to snipe advancing British. In
the second line, he placed the Virginia militia. His regulars comprised the last line. Two more
6-pound cannon were sited in the center of the line. His third and strongest line consisting of his Virginian Regiment,
Delaware infantry, and the 1st and 5th Maryland regiments was
a further 400 yards further on, though placed at an angle to the west of the road. While superficially resembling the deployment
successfully used by Daniel Morgan at Cowpens, the lines were hundreds of yards apart and
could not support one another.
Since the east side of the road was mostly open, Cornwallis opted to attack up the west side and, following a short barrage of
cannon shot on the cannon positions of the first line, at 1:30 p.m., Cornwallis moved his men forward. When they were about 150
yards short of the fence, a volley was fired from the Americans, whose long guns had a greater range than British
muskets, but the British continued until they were within musket shot then fired their own volley
in return. On a command from Webster, they then charged forward, coming to a halt 50 paces from the American lines because the
North Carolina Militia, as noted by Sergeant Lamb of the 23rd Regimentt "had their arms presented and resting on the picket
fence...they were taking aim with nice precision". Urged onwards by Webster, the British continued to advance. The North Carolina
Militia, to the west of the road, fired their muskets then turned and fled back through the woods, discarding their personal
equipment as they ran. The British advanced on the second line. Heavy resistance was shown, but Webster pushed around the flank
and on to the American 3rd line. The woodland was too dense to allow practical use of the bayonets. The British army forced its way through the first two lines with significant losses.
The 71st Regiment, Grenadiers and 2nd Guards moved up the center, following the musket shots from the 33rd and 23rd Regiments to their left. To the right, the 1st Guards and Hessians were being
harried by Lee's Legion. The British guns and Tarleton’s Light Dragoons moved forward along the road keeping pace. The 2nd Guards
in the centre found themselves coming out into open ground around the court house to the left of the Salisbury road. They spotted
a large force of Continental Infantry and immediately attacked them and captured two 6-pounders. They then pursued the
Continentals into the wood and were repulsed by Colonel Washington’s Dragoons, and the 1st Maryland Regiment, abandoning the two guns they had just captured. Lieutenant Macleod, in
command of two British 3-pounders, had just arrived and was directed to fire on the Dragoons.
While many British soldiers were killed from friendly fire, the Americans broke off and
retreated from the field. Cornwallis ordered the 23rd and 71st Regiments with part of the Cavalry to pursue the Americans, though
not for any great distance. Tarleton and the remainder of the Dragoons were sent off to the right flank to join Bose and put an
end to the action from Washington.
During the battle, Cornwallis had a horse shot from under him. American Colonel Benjamin
Williams was later decorated for his personal bravery at Guilford Courthouse.
Aftermath
The battle had lasted only ninety minutes, and although the British technically defeated the American force, they lost over a
quarter of their own men. The British casualties consisted of 5 officers and 88 other ranks killed and 24 officers and 389 other
ranks wounded, with a further 26 men missing in action. Webster was wounded during the battle, and he died a fortnight later.
The British, by taking ground with their accustomed tenacity when engaged with superior numbers, were tactically victors.
Seeing this as a classic Pyrrhic victory, British
Whig Party leader and war critic Charles James Fox echoed Plutarch's famous words by saying, "Another such victory would ruin the British Army!" [1].
In a letter to Lord George Germain, delivered by his
aide-de-camp, Captain Broderick, Cornwallis commented:"From our observation, and the best accounts we could procure, we did not
doubt but the strength of the enemy exceeded 7,000 men [Greene's accounts put this closer to 4,400].... I cannot ascertain
the loss of the enemy, but it must have been considerable; between 200 and 300 dead were left on the field of battle.... many of
their wounded escaped.... Our forage parties have reported to me that houses in a circle six to eight miles around us are full of
others.... We took few prisoners".
He further went on to comment on the British force:"The conduct and actions of the officers and soldiers that composed this
little army will do more justice to their merit than I can by words. Their persevering intrepidity in action, their invincible
patience in the hardships and fatigues of a march of above 600 miles, in which they have forded several large rivers and
numberless creeks, many of which would be reckoned large rivers in any other country in the world, without tents or covering
against the climate, and often without provisions, will sufficiently manifest their ardent zeal for the honour and interests of
their Sovereign and their country."
After the battle, the British were spread across a large expanse of woodland without food and shelter, and during the night
torrential rains started. 50 of the wounded died before sunrise. Had the British followed the retreating Americans they may have
come across their baggage and supply wagons, which had been camped up to the west of the Salisbury road in some old fields prior
to the battle.
Greene, cautiously avoiding another Camden, retreated with his forces intact. With
his small army, less than 2000 strong, Cornwallis declined to follow Greene into the back country, and retiring to Hillsborough,
he raised the royal standard, offered protection to the inhabitants, and for the moment appeared to be master of Georgia and the two Carolinas. In a few weeks, however, he
abandoned the heart of the state and marched to the coast at Wilmington, North
Carolina, to recruit and refit his command.
At Wilmington, the British general faced a serious problem, the solution of which, upon his own responsibility, unexpectedly
led to the close of the war within seven months. Instead of remaining in Carolina, he determined to march into Virginia, justifying the move on the ground that until Virginia was reduced he could not firmly hold the more
southern states he had just overrun. This decision was subsequently sharply criticized by General Clinton as unmilitary, and as having been made contrary to his instructions. To Cornwallis, he
wrote in May: "Had you intimated the probability of your intention, I should certainly have endeavoured to stop you, as I did
then as well as now consider such a move likely to be dangerous to our interests in the Southern Colonies." For three months he raided every farm or plantation he came across, from whom he
took hundreds of horses for his Dragoons. He also converted another 700 infantry to mounted duties. During these raids he freed
thousands of slaves, of which 12,000 joined his own force.
The danger lay in the suddenly changed situation in that direction; as General Greene, instead of following Cornwallis to the
coast, boldly pushed down towards Camden and Charleston, South Carolina, with a view to drawing his antagonist after him to the points
where he was the year before, as well as to driving back Lord
Rawdon, whom Cornwallis had left in that field. In his main object—the recovery of the southern states—Greene succeeded by
the close of the year, but not without hard fighting and repeated reverses. "We fight, get beaten, and fight again," were his
words.
See also
Re-enactments
Smoke fills the air at an annual re-enactment
Every year, on or about March 15, re-enactors in period costumes present a tactical
demonstration of Revolutionary War fighting techniques on or near the battle site.
The Battle on Film
The final battle at the end of the 2000 historical epic The Patriot (2000
film) drew its inspiration from two specific battles from the American Revolution: Cowpens and Guilford Courthouse. The Americans used the same basic tactics in both battles. The name
of the battle, as well as the winning side, were taken from the Cowpens battle. However, the size of the armies, as well as the
presence of Generals Greene and Cornwallis, come from the Guilford Courthouse battle. The scene where Cornwallis orders his
artillery to "concentrate on the center," killing both continentals and his own troops, actually took place at Guilford
Courthouse.
External links
References
- ^ Thomas E. Baker, Another Such Victory, Eastern Acorn Press, 1981,
ISBN 0-915992-06-x
Further Reading
- Agniel, Lucien The late affair has almost broke my heart;: The American Revolution in the South, 1780-1781 Chatham
Press, 1972, ISBN 0856990361.
- Baker, Thomas E Another Such Victory: The Story of the American Defeat at Guilford Courthouse that Helped Win the War for
Independence Eastern National, 1999, ISBN 091599206X.
- Buchanan, John The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas Wiley, 1999, ISBN
0471327166.
- Chidsey, Donald Barr The war in the South;: The Carolinas and Georgia in the American Revolution Crown Publishers,
1971.
- Davis, Burke The Cowpens-Guilford Courthouse Campaign University of Pennsylvania Press, 2002, ISBN 0812218329.
- Hairr, John Guilford Courthouse Da Capo Press, 2002, ISBN 0306811715.
- Konstam, Angus Guilford Courthouse 1781: Lord Cornwallis's Ruinous Victory Osprey Publishing, 2002, ISBN
1841764116.
- Lumpkin, Henry From Savannah to Yorktown: The American Revolution in the South Paragon House, 1987, ISBN
0595000975.
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