````"Cornwallis led a country dance;
`````The like was never seen, sir;
````Much retrograde, and much advance,
````And all with General Greene, sir.
````They rambled up and rambled down.
`````Joined bands, and off they ran, sir;
````Our General Greene to old Charlestown,
`````And the earl to Wilmington, sir. * =
```There was Greene in the South; you must know him--
````Whom some called a "Hickory Quaker;"
```But he ne'er turned his back on the foeman,
````Nor ever was known for a Shaker.'--William Elliot.=
[Illustration: 9604]
LEFT the place of Pyle's defeat toward noon, and, following a sinuous
and seldom-traveled road through a forest of wild crab-apple trees and
black jacks, crossed the Allamance at the cotton-factory of Holt and
Carrigan, two miles distant. ** Around this mill quite a village of neat
log-houses, occupied by the operatives, were collected, and every thing
had the appearance of thrift. I went in, and was pleased to see the
hands of intelligent white females employed in a useful occupation.
Manual labor by white people is a rare sight at the South, where an
abundance of slave labor appears to render such occupation unnecessary;
and it can seldom be said of one of our fair sisters there, "She layeth
her hands to the spindle, and her hands hold the distaff." *** This
cotton-mill, like the few others which I saw In the Carolinas, is a real
blessing, present and prospective, for it gives employment and comfort
to many poor girls who might otherwise be wretched; and it is a seed of
industry planted in a generous soil, which may hereafter germinate and
bear abundant fruit of its kind in the midst of cotton plantations,
thereby augmenting immensely the true wealth of the nation.
At a distance of two miles and a half beyond the Allamance, on the
Salisbury road, I reached the Regulator battle-ground; and, in company
with a young man residing in the vicinity, visited the points of
particular interest, and made the sketch printed on page 577. The rock
and the ravine from whence James Pugh and his companions (see page 576)
did such execution with their rifles, are now hardly visible. The place
is a few rods north of the road. The ravine is almost filled by the
washing down of earth from the slopes during eighty years; and the rock
projects only a few ells above the surface. The whole of the natural
scenery is changed, and nothing but tradition can identify the spot.
While viewing the battle-ground, the wind, which had been a gentle and
pleasant breeze from the south all the morning, veered to the northeast,
and brought omens of a cold storm. I left the borders of the Allamance,
and its associations, at one o'clock, and traversing a very hilly
country for eighteen miles, arrived, a little after dark, at
Greensborough, a thriving, compact village, situated about five miles
southeast from the site of old Guilford Court House. It is the capitol
of Guilford county, and successor of old Martinsburg, where the
* These lines form a part of a song which was very popular at the close
of the war, and was sung to the air of "Yankee Doodle."
** This factory, in the midst of a cotton-growing eountry, and upon a
never-failing stream, can not be otherwise than a source of great profit
to the owners. The machinery is chiefly employed in the manufacture
of cotton yarn. Thirteen hundred and fifty spindles were in operation.
Twelve looms were employed in the manufacture of coarse cotton goods
suitable for the use of the negroes.
*** Proverbs, xxxi., 19.
[[[Fire in Greensborough.--The Guilford Battle-ground.--Gates superseded
by Greene]]]
{595}court-house was formerly situated. Very few of the villages in
the interior of the state appeared to me more like a Northern town
than Greensborough. The houses are generally good, and the stores gave
evidences of active trade. Within an hour after my arrival, the town was
thrown into commotion by the bursting out of flames from a large
frame dwelling, a short distance from the court-house. There being no
fire-engine in the place, the flames spread rapidly, and at one time
menaced the safety of the whole town. A small keg of powder was used,
without effect, to demolish a tailor's shop, standing in the path of
the conflagration toward a large tavern. The flames passed on, until
confronted by one of those broad chimneys, on the outside of the house,
so universally prevalent at the South, when it was subdued, after four
buildings were destroyed. I never saw a population more thoroughly
frightened; and when I returned to my lodgings, far away from the fire,
every bed in the house was packed ready for flight.
[Illustration: 8605]
It was past midnight when the town became quiet, and a consequently late
breakfast delayed my departure for the battle-field at Guilford Court
House, until nine o'clock the next morning.
A cloudy sky, a biting north wind, and the dropping of a few snow-flakes
when I left Greensborough, betokened an unpleasant day for my
researches. It was ten o clock when I reached Martinsville, once a
pleasant hamlet, now a desolation. There are only a few dilapidated and
dispirited dwellings left; and nothing remains of the old Guilford Court
House but the ruins of a chimney, depicted on the plan of the battle,
printed on page 608. Only one house was inhabited, and that by the
tiller of the soil around it. Descending into a narrow, broken valley,
from Martinsville, and ascending the opposite slope to still higher
ground on the road to Salem, I passed among the fields consecrated by
the events of the battle at Guilford, in March,[[March 14]] 1781, to the
house of Mr. Hotchkiss, a Quaker, who, I was informed could
point out every locality of interest in his neighborhood.
Mr. Hotchkiss was absent, and I was obliged to wait more than an hour
for his return. The time passed pleasantly in conversation with his
daughter, an intelligent young lady, who kindly ordered my horse to be
fed, and regaled me with some fine apples, the first fruit of the kind I
had seen since leaving the James River.
While tarrying there, the snow began to fall thickly, and when, about
noon, I rambled over the most interesting portion of the battle-ground,
and sketched the and directed General Washington to make the selection.
The scene is printed on page 611, the whole country was covered with
a white mantle. Here, by this hospitable fireside, let us consider
the battle, and those wonderful antecedent events which distinguished
General Greene's celebrated _Retreat._
After the unlucky battle near Camden, where General Gates lost the
laurels he had obtained at Saratoga, Congress perceived the necessity
of appointing a more efficient commander for the army in the Southern
Department. The commander-in-chief appointed General Nathaniel
Greene,[[Oct 30, 1780]] late the quarter-master general, who immediately
proceeded to his field of labor.
Passing through Delaware, Maryland, and Vir-
* Nathaniel Greene was born of Quaker parents, at Warwick, in Rhode
Island, in 1746. His father was an anchor smith, and in that business
Nathaniel was trained. While yet a boy, he learned the Latin language,
and by prudence and perseverance he collected a small library while a
minor. The perusal of military history occupied much of his attention.
He had just attained his majority, when his abilities were so highly
estimated, that he was chosen a representative in the Legislature of
Rhode Island.
* Fired with military zeal, and ardent patriotism, young Greene
resolved to take up arms for his country, when he heard of the battle
at Lexington. He was appointed to the command of three regiments in the
Army of Observation, raised by his state, and led them to Roxbury. In
consequence of this violation of their discipline, the Quakers disowned
him. General Washington soon perceived his worth, and in August the
following year, Congress promoted him from the office of brigadier of
his state militia to that of major general in the Continental army. He
was in the battles at Trenton, Princeton, Brandywine, and Germantown.
In March, 1778. he was appointed quarter-master general, and in June
was engaged in the battle of Monmouth. He resigned his office of
quarter-master general in 1780, and was succeeded by Timothy Pickering.
He took the command of the Southern Department, December third, 1780,
and in February following made his famous retreat. He engaged in the
battle of Guilford, in March, 1781, when he was defeated. In April
following, he fought with Lord Rawdon, near Camden, where he was again
defeated, but retreated in good order, and soon afterward captured
several British posts in South Carolina. He besieged Fort Ninety-Six
in May, but was unsuccessful. On the eighth of September, he gained a
partial victory at Eutaw Springs, for which Congress presented him with
a British standard and a gold medal. This engagement closed the war in
South Carolina. He returned to Rhode Island at the conclusion of the
war. He went to Georgia in 1785 to look after an estate belonging to him
near Savannah. While walking one day, in June, without an umbrella, he
was "sun struck," and died on the nineteenth of that month, in 1786, at
the age of forty-six years. His body was buried in a vault in Savannah,
on the same day, but owing to negligence in designating the one, a
search for his remains, in 1820, was unsuccessful. No man living can now
point out the sepulchre of that ablest of Washington's generals. On the
eighth of August following, Congress adopted the following resolution:
"That a monument be erected to Nathaniel Greene, Esq., at the seat of
the Federal government, with the following inscription: Sacred to the
memory of Nathaniel Greene, Esq., a native of the State of Rhode Island,
who died on the nineteenth of June, 1786; late major general in the
service of the United States, and commander of their army in the
Southern Department. The United Slates, in Congress assembled, in honor
of his patriotism, valor, and ability, have erected this monument." The
Board of Treasury was directed to take action for the due execution
of the foregoing resolutions. In person General Greene was rather
corpulent, and above the common size. His complexion was fair and
florid; his countenance serene and mild. His health was generally
delicate, but was preserved by temperance and exercise.
[[[Greene's Arrival in Carolina.--Courtesy of Gates.--Disposition of the
belligerent Armies.]]]
{596}ginia, he ascertained what supplies he was likely to obtain from
those states; and leaving the Baron Steuben to direct the defense of
Virginia, and to raise levies and stores for the Southern army, he
proceeded to Hillsborough, the seat of government of North Carolina.
Governor Nash received him with joy, for the dangers which menaced the
state were imminent. After remaining there a few days, he hastened on
to Charlotte, the head-quarters of the army. General Gates received
him with great respect, and on the day after his arrival he took formal
command of the army.[[Dec 3. 1780]] Gates immediately set out for the
head-quarters of Washington (then in New Jersey, near the Hudson),
to submit to an inquiry into his conduct, which had been ordered by
Congress.[[Oct 5, 1780]] From that time until the commencement of
his retreat from the Carolinas, Greene was exceedingly active in the
arrangement of the army, and in wisely directing its movements.
His first arrangement was to divide his army into two detachments, the
largest of which, under himself, was to be stationed opposite Cheraw
Hill, on the east side of the Peedee River, in Chesterfield District,
upon a small stream called Hick's Creek, about seventy miles to
the right of Cornwallis, who was then at Winnsborough, in Fairfield
District. The other, composed of about one thousand troops, under
General Morgan, was placed some fifty miles to the left, near the
junction of the Broad and Pacolet Rivers, in Union District. Cornwallis
sent Colonel Tarleton, with a considerable force, to disperse the
little army of Morgan, and soon the memorable battle of the Cowpens
occurred,[[Jan 17, 1781]] in which the Americans were victorious.
Tarleton, with the remnant of his troops, retreated precipitately to the
main army of Cornwallis, who was then at Turkey Creek; and Morgan, in
the evening of the same day, crossed the Broad River, and moved, by
forced marches, toward the Catawba, to form a junction with the division
of General Greene.
"When Cornwallis heard of the defeat of Tarleton and the direction that
Morgan had taken, he resolved on pursuit, with the hope of regaining the
prisoners taken at the Cowpens, and of demolishing the Americans before
they could reach the Catawba. He was joined on the eighteenth by General
Leslie and his troops, from Camden. To facilitate his march, he ordered
all the superfluous baggage and wagons to be destroyed[[Jan 25]] at Ram-
[[[Greene in Co-operation with Morgan.--Conference of the
Commanders.--Battle at Ramsour's Mills.--General Rutherford.]]]
{597}sour's Mills, on the south fork of the Catawba. * In the mean
while, General Greene had been apprised of the battle and the result,
and on the same day when Cornwallis commenced pursuit, he ordered
Brigadier Stevens to march with his Virginia militia (whose term of
service was almost expired) by way of Charlotte, to take Morgan's
prisoners and conduct them to Charlottesville, in Virginia. Greene,
anxious to confer with Morgan personally, left the eamp on the Pedee,
under the eommand of General Huger and Colonel Otho H. Williams,
and started, with one aid and two or three mounted militia, for the
Catawba.[[Jan 28]] On the route he was informed of Cornwallis's pursuit
and immediately sent an express to Huger and Williams to break up the
camp, and march with all possible dispatch to form a junction with
Morgan's light troops at Salisbury or Charlotte. Greene reached
Sherrard's Ford, on the Catawba, on the thirty-first, where he had an
interview with Morgan, and directed his future movements.
* At this place a severe battle was fought on the twentieth of June,
1780, between a body of North Carolina militia and a large force of
Loyalists. Early in June, General Rutherford * was in command of more
than five hundred North Carolina militia, and was in the vicinity of
Charlotte. Having received intelligence that the Tories were embodying
in arms beyond the Catawba, in Tryon county, he issued orders to
commanders in the vicinity to arouse the militia for the dispersion of
those men. Ramsour's Mills, in the present county of Lincoln, on the
south fork of the Catawba, was their place of rendezvous, and toward
that point he marched, he having received intelligence that Lord Rawdon
had retired to Camden. The Tories were assembled under Colonels John
Moore and Major Nicholas Welch, to the number of almost thirteen
hundred, on the twentieth of June. On Sunday, the eighteenth, having
concentrated the militia of Mecklenburg, Rowan, and neighborhood,
Rutherford proceeded to the Catawba, and crossed that river at the
Tuckesege Ford, on the evening of the nineteenth. He dispatched a
messenger to Colonel Francis Locke, of Rowan, informing him of the state
of affairs, and ordering him to form a junction with him between the
Forks of the Catawba, sixteen miles from Ramsour's. That officer, with
the militia under several other subordinate commanders, in all about
four hundred men, encamped on the nineteenth on Mountain Creek, higher
up on the Catawba, above Beattie's Ford, and also sixteen miles from
Ramsour's. At a council of the officers, junction with Rutherford, who
was about thirty-five miles distant, was not deemed prudent, and they
resolved to attack the Tories without delay. Colonel Johnson, one
of their number, was dispatched to apprise General Rutherford of the
situation of affairs. He reached Rutherford's camp at ten o'clock the
same night. Late in the evening of the nineteenth, Colonel Locke and his
companions commenced their march, and at daylight the following morning
they were within a mile of the enemy's eamp. The latter were upon a high
hill, three hundred yards east of Ramsour's Mill, and half a mile from
the present village of Lincolnton.
* Their position was very advantageous, and as there were but few trees
upon the slope, they could fire effectually upon an approaching foe. The
companies of Captains Falls, M'Dowell, and Brandon, of the patriot army,
were on horseback, and led on to the attack; the footmen were under the
immediate command of Colonel Loeke. The Tories were surprised. Their
pickets fired when the patriots appeared, and then retreated to the
camp. For a moment the Tories were confused, but, recovering, they
poured such a deadly fire upon the horsemen, who had pursued the pickets
to the lines, that they were compelled to fall back. They rallied, and
soon the action became general. Captain Hardin now gained the right
flank of the Tories, while the action was warm in the center. In two
instances the parties were so close that they beat each other with the
buts of their guns. The Whigs soon drove the Tories from the hill, when
they discovered them collected in force on the other side of the mill
stream. Expecting an immediate attack, messengers were sent to urge
Rutherford forward. They met him within six miles of Ramsour's, pushing
on with all possible haste. Major Davie, with his cavalry, started off
at full gallop, followed by Colonel Davidson's infantry. They were met
within two miles of Ramsour's, with the intelligence that the Tories
had retreated. Rutherford marched to the scene of action, and there
encamped. The conflict was very severe, and seventy men were left dead
on the ground. As all were in "citizen's dress," it was difficult to
distinguish the Whigs from the Tories among the dead. It is believed
that each party had an equal number killed. About one hundred men on
each side were wounded. Fifty Tories were taken prisoners. A terrible
voice of wail went up from that battle-field the next day, when the
relatives of the slain came there in search of them.
[Illustration: 9607]
* Griffith Rutherford was an Irishman by birth, brave and patriotic, but
uncultivated in mind and manners. He resided west of Salisbury, in the
Locke settlement, and in 1775 represented Rowan county in the Convention
at Newbern. In 1776 he led a large force into the Cherokee country, and
assisted the people of South Carolina in destroying their corn-fields
and villages. He was appointed a brigadier by the Provincial Congress,
in April, 1776. He commanded a brigade in the battle near Camden, in
August, 1781, and was taken prisoner by the British. He was exchanged,
and was in command at Wilmington when that place was evacuated by the
British at the close of the war. He was a state senator in 1784, and
soon afterward removed to Tennessee, where he died. A county both in
North Carolina and Tennessee bears his name.
[[[Morgan pursued by Cornwallis.--Narrow Escape of the former.--Passage
of the Catawba by Cornwallis's Army.]]]
===
{598}The pursuit by Cornwallis had been keen and untiring. He had kept
between the Broad and the Catawba Rivers, and his sole efforts were to
reach the fords toward which Morgan was pressing, in time to cut him
off. Morgan's march was equally rapid, and he crossed the Catawba at the
Island Ford, on the northern border of the present Lincoln county, with
his prisoners and baggage, two hours before the arrival of the British
van-guard, under Brigadier-general O'Hara.[[Jan 28, 1781]] It was
sunset, and the earl, confident of his prey, postponed further pursuit
until morning.
[Illustration: 9608]
This delay was fatal to his success. Rain fell copiously during
the night, and in the morning the Catawba was brimful, and entirely
unfordable. Thus it remained for forty-eight hours; and in the mean
while Morgan's prisoners were sent forward to a place of safety, and
measures were adopted to dispute the passage of the river with the
British. Had the flood in the river happened a few hours earlier,
Morgan's little army must have been lost. The event was properly marked
by the friends of liberty as the tangible interposition of Providence.
The arrival of Greene, at this juncture, was equally providential; for
Morgan had resolved upon a line of retreat which must have proved fatal.
Greene interposed counter orders, and the whole army was saved.
When the waters subsided, Cornwallis resumed his pursuit.
Lieutenant-colonel Webster, with a small detachment, moved toward
Beattie's Ford, to give the impression that the British army would cross
there; while Cornwallis, decamping at midnight with the main body,
moved rapidly toward Cowan's Ford, six miles below. This was a private
crossing-place, and the earl supposed he would thus elude the vigilance
of Greene and Morgan. It was a miscalculation, as numerous camp-fires
assured him when he approached the ford, a little before dawn.[[Feb 1,
1781]] General Davidson, the commander in Salisbury District, who had
arrived the day before with three hundred North Carolina militia, was
sent by Greene, who was quartered at Salisbury, * to guard the ford and
dispute its passage if attempted. Neglecting to place his main body
near the river, so as to make an imposing appearance he did not deter
Cornwallis from proceeding to cross. The current was rapid, the stream
in many places waist-deep, and almost five hundred yards wide, yet the
brave Britons, led on by General O'Hara, plunged into the stream, and
in the face of a severe fire from Captain Graham's ** riflemen, who were
posted at the ford, pressed forward
* Greene was quartered at Salisbury, in the house of Elizabeth Steele, a
patriot of purest mold. She had heard Greene utter words of despondency,
and her heart was touched. While he was at table, she brought two bags
full of specie, the earnings of years of toil, and presented them to
him, saying, "Take these"; for you will want them, and I can do without
them." Greene was grateful; and before he left her house he wrote upon
the back of a portrait of the king, hanging in the room, "O George, hide
thy face and mourn!" and then hung it up, with the face to the wall.
That portrait, with the writing, is in the present possession of the
Honorable David L. Swain, of Chapel Hill.
** Captain Joseph Graham was an excellent specimen of those young men of
Carolina who flocked to the armv fighting for independence. He was born
in Pennsylvania, on the thirteenth of October, 1759, and at the age of
seven years accompanied his widowed mother to North Carolina. He was
educated at Queen's Museum, in Charlotte, and was a spectator at the
famous convention, held there in May, 1775. In May, 1778, at the age of
nineteen, young Graham enlisted in the fourth regiment of North Carolina
regular troops, under Colonel Archibald Lyle. Marching northward, his
commander received instructions to return to Carolina, and Graham went
home on furlough. He was called into active service in the autumn
of that year, and accompanied General Rutherford to the banks of the
Savannah, soon after the defeat of General Ashe at Brier Creek. He was
with General Lincoln while maneuvering against Prevost, and was in the
severe battle at Stono, in June, 1779. A fever prostrated him, and
he returned home. While plowing in the field, he heard of the fall of
Charleston and defeat of Buford at the Waxhaw, and, like Cincinnatus, he
left the furrow to engage in public duties. He was appointed adjutant
of the Mecklenburg regiment. He was engaged in active service for some
time, and fought the enemy with Major Davie, at Charlotte, in the autumn
of 1780. In that engagement he was cut down and severely wounded by a
British dragoon. He received six sabre and three bullet wounds. These
confined him in the hospital for two months. When recovered, he raised
a company of mounted riflemen, and, with his fifty men, disputed the
passage of the British army at Cowan's Ford. With his company, and some
troops from Rowan, he surprised and captured a British guard at Hart's
Mill, only a mile and a half from head-quarters at Hillsborough, and the
next day was with Lee when Pyle was defeated. He was engaged in active
service all that summer, and in September was appointed a major, and,
with a pretty strong force, proceeded toward Wilmington to rescue
Governor Burke, who had been abducted from Hillsborough by Fanning, a
noted Tory, and his associates. South of Fayetteville he encountered a
band of Tories, and, after a severe skirmish, defeated them. His force
was only one hundred and thirty-six; that of the Tories was six hundred.
It was a brilliant achievement. He was engaged in two or three other
military enterprises soon afterward, when the surrender of Cornwallis
caused a cessation of hostilities at the South. With this campaign,
Major Graham's revolutionary services closed. In the course of four
years (at the end of which he was only twenty-three years of age) he
had commanded in fifteen engagements, and was greatly beloved by his
companions.
* Major Graham was elected the first sheriff of Mecklenburg, alter the
close of the war, and, in 1787, married a daughter of John Davidson,
one of the members of the famous Mecklenburg Convention. By her he had
twelve children, the youngest of whom, the Honorable William A. Graham,
is now (1852) Secretary of the Navy of the United States. Soon after his
marriage, he erected iron-works, and settled in Lincoln county, eight
miles from Beattie's Ford, where he lived forty years, and died. In
1814, one thousand men were raised in North Carolina to assist the
Tennessee and Georgia volunteers against the Creek Indians. Graham was
urgently solicited to take the command. He consented, and received
the commission ol major general. He arrived with his corps just as the
Creeks had submitted to Generals Jackson, Coffee, and Carroll, after the
battle at the Horse Shoe. For many years after that war, General Graham
was the senior officer of the fifth division of the stale militia.
Temperate in all things, he enjoyed remarkable health until about the
time of his death, which occurred from apoplexy, on the twelfth of
November, 1836, at the age of seventy-seven years. His honored remains
lie in a secluded spot, near the great road leading from Beattie's Ford
to Lincolnton.
[[[Success of the British.--Death old General Davidson.--British Account
of the Conflict.--Queen's-Museum.]]]
{599}to the opposite bank. * The British reserved their fire until they
had gained the shore, and then, pouring a few volleys into the ranks of
Graham, soon dispersed them. While ascending the bank, Colonel Hall, of
the British army, was killed. General Davidson was stationed half a mile
from the ford, with the main body of the militia. Hearing the firing, he
hastened to the spot, with Colonel William Polk and the Reverend Thomas
M'Caule. They arrived just as the Americans were about to flee. Davidson
was the last upon the ground, and as he turned to follow his troops he
was shot dead by a rifle ball. ** The mili-
* Stedman, an eye-witness, from whose work the plan is copied, gives
the following account of the passage of the river. This description
illustrates the plan. "The light infantry of the guards, led by Colonel
Hall, first entered the water. They were followed by the grenadiers,
and ihe grenadiers by the battalions, the men marching in platoons, to
support one another against the rapidity of the stream. When the
light infantry had nearly reached the middle of the river, they
were challenged by one of the enemy's sentinels. The sentinel having
challenged thrice and received no answer, immediately gave the alarm
by discharging his musket; and the enemy's pickets were turned out. No
sooner did the guide [a Tory] who attended the light, infantry to show
them the ford, hear the report of the sentinel's musket, than he
turned round and left them. This, which at first seemed to portend much
mischief, in the end proved a fortunate incident. Colonel Hall, being
forsaken by his guide, and not knowing the true direction of the ford,
led the column directly across the river, to the nearest part of the
opposite bank. This direction, as it afterward appeared, carried the
British troops considerably above the place where the ford terminated on
the other side, and where the enemy's pickets were posted, so that
when they delivered their fire the light infantry were already so far
advanced as to be out of the line of its direction, and it took
place angularly upon the grenadiers, so as to produce no great
effect."--History of the American War, ii., 328.
** General William Davidson was born in Lancaster county, Pennsylvania,
in 1746. His family went to North Carolina (Rowan county) when he was
four years old. He was educated at Queen's Museum, * an institution at
Charlotte, where many of the patriots of Carolina were instructed; and
when the war broke ont, he took up arms. He was major of one of the
first regiments raised in Carolina, but first saw active service in New
Jersey. In November, 1779, he was detached to reenforce Lincoln at the
South. In a skirmish, near Carson's Mills, a ball passed through his
body, near the kidneys, but the wound was not mortal.
[Illustration: 9610]
* He was appointed brigadier after the battle of Camden, in the place
of Colonel Rutherford, who was made a prisoner there. In the action at
Cowan's Ford, on the first of February, 1781, he was shot through the
breast, and instantly fell dead. Congress, on the twentieth of September
following, ordered a monument to be erected to his memory, at a cost
not exceeding $500 dollars. * General Davidson was a man of pleasing
address, great activity, and pure devotion.
* This building stood upon the site of the present residence ot W. J.
Alexander, Esq., and was better known during the Revolution as Liberty
Hall Academy. Previous to the establishment of an institution of
learning here, there were but two chartered seminaries in the province;
one at Edenton, and the other at Newbern. In those none but members
of the Established Church were allowed to hold official station. The
Presbyterians, who were very numerous, resolved to have a seminary of
their own, and applied for an unrestricted charter for a college. It
was granted; but, notwithstanding it was called Queen's College, in
compliment to the consort of the king, and was located in a town called
by her name, and a county ot the same name as her birth-place, the
charter was repealed in 1771 by royal decree. The triple compliment
was of no avail. It continued to exist, nevertheless, and the first
Legislature under the State Constitution, in 1777, gave it a charter
under the title ot Liberty Hall Academy. The people of Mecklenburg would
not allow any preference to be given to one religious denomination over
another in the management of the affairs of the institution; and with
firmness they pressed forward, with a determination to maintain both
religious and political freedom. These principles, ever active, made
Mecklenburg, the seat of this free institution of learning--"the most
rebellious county in the state"--"the Hornet's Nest." No doubt
the repealing of the charter by royal authority, of this popular
institution, operated powerfully in alienating the affections of the
people from the parent government; for there, as in every dissenting
community in America, the establishment of "the Church" as a dominant
power among them, was regarded with disfavor. Episcopacy and royalty
appeared to be inseparable in interest, and concurrent in aristocratic
tendencies.
[[[Dispersion of Militia.--Commencement of Greene's Retreat.--His
Passage of the Yadkin.--Cornwallis again foiled]]]
{600}tia were entirely routed; and all the fords being abandoned,
Cornwallis, with the whole royal army, crossed the Catawba without
further molestation. * The militia reassembled at Tarrant's tavern,
about ten miles distant. Tarleton, who had been sent with his cavalry
in pursuit, hastened to their rendezvous, made a furious charge, broke
through their center, killed quite a number, and dispersed the whole.
A heavy rain had injured their powder, and they were not prepared to
fight. The loss of General Davidson, and the total dispersion of the
militia, greatly dispirited the patriots in that region, and Toryism
again became bold and active.
Now fairly commenced the great race between Greene and Cornwallis; the
goal was the Dan, the prize the possession of the Carolinas.
General Greene had hoped, by guarding the fords on the Catawba with the
light troops under Morgan, to prevent the passage of the British army
until Huger and Williams should arrive with the other divisions of the
American forces. The passage at Cowan's Ford destroyed these hopes, and
Morgan and his light troops retreated precipitately toward the Yadkin.
The detachment of Lieutenant-colonel Webster crossed at Beattie's Ford,
and joined Cornwallis the next day,[[Feb 2]]on the road to Salisbury,
five miles from the crossing-place. The royal army rested at Salisbury
** that night, and the next morning started in pursuit of Greene and
Morgan. These officers did not await the dawn, but passed the Yadkin
at Trading Ford (see cut on opposite page), while Cornwallis was
slumbering; and when, on the morning of the third, the earl hastened
to strike a fatal blow on the banks of that stream, the Americans were
beyond his reach, and Providence had again placed an impassable barrier
of water between them. Another copious rain in the mountains had swollen
the Yadkin to a mighty river. The horses of Morgan had forded the stream
at midnight, and the infantry passed over in bateaux at dawn. These
vessels were secured on the east shore of the Yadkin, and Cornwallis was
obliged to wait for the waters to subside before he could cross. Again
he had the Americans almost within his grasp. A corps of riflemen were
yet on the west side when O'Hara, with the van-guard, approached, but
these escaped across the river, after a smart skirmish of a few minutes.
Nothing was lost but a few wagons belonging to the Whigs who were
fleeing with the American army, with their effects.
Greene now pushed on toward Guilford Court House, where he arrived on
the sev-
[Illustration: 9610]
* The loss on this occasion is not certainly known. Colonel Hall and
three or four of the light infantry were killed, and between thirty and
forty were wounded. The Americans lost Davidson, and about twenty killed
and wounded. Cornwallis's horse was shot under him, and fell as soon
as he got upon the shore. O'Hara's horse tumbled over with him in the
water, and other horses were carried down the stream.--Lee's Memoirs,
137.
** It is related that while at Salisbury, the British officers were
hospitably entertained by Dr. Anthony Newman, notwithstanding he was a
Whig. There, in presence of Tarleton and others, Dr. Newman's two little
sons were engaged in playing the game of the battle of the Cowpens with
grains of corn, a red grain representing the British officers, and
a white one the Americans. Washington and Tarleton were particularly
represented, and as one pursued the other, as in a real battle, the
little fellows shouted, "Hurrah for Washington, Tarleton runs! Hurrah
for Washington!" Tarleton looked on for a while, but becoming irritated,
he exclaimed, "See those cursed little rebels."
* Journals of Congress, vii., 148.
[[[The Trading Ford.--Numbers of Ihe two Armies.--Passage of the Yadkin
by Cornwallis.--His March resumed.]]]
{601}enth.[[Feb 1781]] He had dispatched an order to Huger and Williams
to march directly t to that point, and join him there.
[Illustration: 9611]
This order was promptly obeyed, and these officers, with their commands,
arrived there on the same day with Greene and Morgan. Lieutenant-colonel
Lee and his legion, who had been on an expedition to Georgetown,
seventy-five miles below Che-raw, overtook them on their march, and
that gallant corps was now added to the concentrated strength of the
Americans. The army, lying at rest on the slopes around Martinsville,
was mustered on the eighth, and amounted to about two thousand men,
including five hundred militia. Of this number nearly two hundred were
superior cavalry. The army of Cornwallis in pursuit, was between two
thousand five hundred and three thousand strong, of which three hundred
were mounted men.
Perceiving no prospect of the falling of the river, for the rain
continued, Cornwallis marched as rapidly as possible up the western
side of the Yadkin to the shallow ford near the present village of
Huntsville, in Surrey county, where he crossed. There he was informed of
the junction of the two divisions of the American army, and the hope of
keeping them separate was extinguished. An attempt to intercept their
march toward Virginia, and compel Greene to fight or surrender, was
now the chief object of the earl's solicitude. Upon the success of
this undertaking depended not only the maintenance of his power in the
Carolinas, but perhaps the actual existence of his army. He knew the
inferiority of the American army in numbers, and being assured that the
rivers which lay between Greene and Virginia were too much swollen to be
forded, and the ferries too wide apart to furnish a sufficient number
of boats at one point to transport the retreating army across, he felt
confident of success. His lordship was now within twenty-five miles of
Greene, at Guilford, and nearer the shallow fords of the Dan than he
was; and on the ninth of February[[1781]] he resumed his march with
vigor, to gain a position in front of the Americans.
* Both divisions of the army were in want of rest. That of Morgan had
been almost constantly in motion since the battle at the Cowpens, and
had traveled one hundred and fifty miles; that of Huger had traveled
one hundred miles from the camp on the Pedee, with bad wagons and poor
teams, over an exceedingly wretched road. Many marched without shoes
over the frozen ground, and their footsteps were marked with blood for
many miles. No one can form an idea of the character of the roads in
winter, at the South, where the red clay abounds, without passing over
them. Until I had done so, I could not appreciate the difficulties
experienced by the two armies in this race toward Virginia, particularly
in the transportation of baggage wagons or of artillery.
** This view of the Trading Ford, where Greene, with Morgan and his
light troops, crossed the Yadkin, is from the east side of the river.
It is just at the foot of an island, about a mile and a half below the
great bridge on the road to Salisbury. The river is usually fordable
between the island and the stakes seen in the picture; below that point
the water is deep. I made this sketch just at dawn on a cold frosty
morning (January 5, 1849), the moon shining brightly in the west, and
the nearer stars glittering in profusion in the deep sky above.
[[[Greene's Resolution to continue his Retreat.--Light Army organized.--
Colonel Williams.--Line of March.]]]
{602}Greene, also aware of the inferiority of his forces, called a
council of war,[[Feb 9]]when it was resolved to avoid a battle,
and retreat as rapidly as possible across the Dan into the friendly
districts of Virginia.
[Illustration: 9612]
A light army, designed to maneuver in the rear of the Americans and
in front of the pursuers, was formed out of Lee s legion, the regular
battalion of infantry under Colonel Howard, the cavalry under Colonel
Washington, and a small corps of Virginia riflemen under Major Campbell,
in all about seven hundred men, the flower of the Southern army. General
Morgan, who was worn down by fatigue, and tortured by rheumatism,
expressed a desire to quit the service. Greene was embarrassed, for he
was at a loss how to supply the place of the brave partisan, and wished
him to command the light corps just organized. Morgan declined, and
Greene bestowed the honor upon his deputy adjutant general, Colonel Otho
Holland Williams, a brave young officer of the Maryland line, who proved
himself worthy of the confidence of his commander. * Williams entered
upon his command on the morning of the tenth, and on that day the whole
army moved toward the Dan at a point seventy miles from Guilford Court
House.
The two armies moved in lines almost parallel with each other, Greene on
the right, and Cornwallis on the left. Colonel Williams, with his light
corps, took an intermediate road, to watch the movements of the enemy.
Lee's "partisan legion," which maneuvered in the rear, was often in
sight of O Hara s van-guard. Great vigilance was necessary at night to
prevent a surprise, and so numerous were the patrols, that each man on
the march enjoyed only six hours sleep in forty-eight. Williams always
moved at three o'clock in the morning, so as to get a sufficient
distance in advance to partake of breakfast, the only meal they were
allowed each day. Cornwallis was equally active, and both armies made
the extraordinary progress of thirty miles a day.
On the morning of the thirteenth, while a portion of the light troops
were eating breakfast at a farm-house, they were informed by a friendly
countryman, who came from his plow for the purpose, that the British
army had left their direct route, and were only four miles in the rear,
upon the road they were marching. Lee dispatched Captain Mark Armstrong,
one of the most efficient of his cavalry officers, to reconnoiter, and
his whole camp
* Otho Holland Williams was born in Prince George county, Maryland,
in 1748. His ancestors were Welsh, and came to America soon after Lord
Baltimore became proprietor of the province of Maryland. He was left
an orphan at twelve years of age. He was a resident of Frederick county
when the war of the Revolution began, where he entered the military
serviee as lieutenant of a rifle corps under Colonel Michael Cresap, and
with that officer he went to Boston. He was afterward promoted to the
command of his company. In 1776, he was promoted to major, and fought at
Fort Washington with distinction. In that engagement he was wounded
and captured, and for some time experienced the horrors of the provost
prison of New York. He was afterward exchanged for Major Ackland,
captured at Saratoga. During his captivity, he was appointed to the
command of a regiment in the Maryland line. He was Gates's adjutant
general during the campaign of 1780. When Gates collected the remnant
of his army, scattered at Camden, the Marylanders were formed into two
battalions, constituting one regiment. To Williams was assigned the
command, with John Eager Howard as his lieutenant. When Greene assumed
the command of the Southern army, he perceived the value of Williams,
and appointed him adjutant general. In Greene's memorable retreat,
and the subsequent battle at Guilford, Williams greatly distinguished
himself; and at Eutaw Springs he led the celebrated charge which swept
the field and gained the bloody victory. Congress promoted him to
the rank of brigadier; and at the close of the war he received the
appointment of collector of customs at Baltimore, which office he held
until his death, which occurred on the sixteenth of July, 1794. while on
his way to a watering-place for the benefit of his health.
[[[Death of Lee's Bugler.--A Skirmish and Race.--Efforts of both Parties
to reach the Dan.]]]
{603}was soon in commotion. Lee, with a considerable force, concealed
himself in a wood to await the approach of the British van.
[Illustration: 8613]
Soon a sharp firing was heard, and Captain Armstrong came dashing by
where Lee was posted, with some of Tarleton's cavalry, under Captain
Miller, in hot pursuit. Lee instantly gained the road, and made such a
fierce charge upon the pursuers that he completely broke their ranks,
killing a large number. Captain Miller was made prisoner, and narrowly
escaped hanging, for Lee charged him with the murder of his bugler, a
lad of eighteen, who, while hastening to Williams, was overtaken and
sabred by the British cavalry. * Lee was about to hang him upon a tree,
when the British van appeared, and Miller was sent on to General Greene
as a prisoner of war. In this skirmish eighteen of the British dragoons
were killed; the Americans lost only the little bugler. The dead were
buried by Cornwallis, an hour afterward.
In the course of the day another encounter occurred. Lee's troops had
been deprived of their morning meal, which was half cooked when the
countryman gave the alarm. By taking a road shorter and more secluded
than the one passed by Williams, he hoped to gain time to dine at a
well-stocked farm. He did not apprehend a surprise, for the road was
only a by-way. He stationed a few videttes, however, to watch, and well
he did. Just as the horses were about to partake of their provender, and
the soldiers of corn bread and bacon, the videttes fired an alarm and
came dashing toward the main body. Battle or flight was the alternative.
Before them was a swollen stream spanned by a single bridge; to gain and
hold this, was an object of vital importance to Lee. His infantry were
ordered to run and take possession of it, while the cavalry prepared to
cover a retreat. The van of the British were surprised at this meeting,
not being aware of the proximity of their foe, and while halting to
receive orders, Lee's troops had an opportunity to pass the bridge. The
British soon followed, and across a cultivated plain both parties sped
with all their might. The Americans had the strongest and fleetest
horses, and, ascending a hill to its summit, they entered upon the great
road leading to Irwin's Ferry, on the Dan. All day long O'Hara, with
the van of the British army, continued in pursuit, and was frequently in
sight of Lee's legion; sometimes within rifle-shot. Thus again escaped
this right arm of the Southern army. Vigilance--sleepless vigilance
alone, under Providence, preserved it.
The night that succeeded was dark, cold, and drizzly. Cornwallis and his
whole army were directly in the rear of the Americans, and now was his
only chance for striking an effective blow, for another day, and Greene
might be beyond the Dan. The British commander resolved to push forward
with the hope of overtaking his prey before morning. Williams and
the wearied troops of Lee were compelled to do the same to avoid an
encounter. They were ignorant of the position of Greene, and felt great
anxiety for his safety. At eight o'clock, they were much alarmed by the
apparition of camp fires, a mile in advance, supposing it to be the camp
of Greene, and that Cornwallis would inevitably overtake him. Williams
prepared to confront and annoy the enemy while Greene should escape.
This sacrifice was unnecessary, for the camp fires were those Greene had
lighted two nights before, and had been kept burning by friendly people
in the neighborhood. With glad hearts the light troops pressed forward,
until assured that the enemy had halted for the night, when they lighted
fires, laid down, and slumbered for three or four hours.
Only forty miles now intervened between Cornwallis and the Dan. His rest
was brief, and before dawn he was again in pursuit. The roads, passing
through a red clay region,
* The pony rode by the countryman who gave notice of the approach of
the British was much jaded, and when he went back with Armstrong, Lee
ordered his young bugler to change horses with the planter. Upon the
jaded pony the bugler started for the ranks of Williams in advance. The
attacking party, under Captain Miller, soon overtook the bugler, who,
too small to carry a sword, was unarmed. The poor boy was cut down,
begging for mercy. Lee saw the transaction just as he led his cavalry
to the attack. He was greatly exasperated, and held Captain Miller
responsible for the deed. That officer charged the cruelly upon the
drunkenness of some of his men, but Lee would listen to no excuse.
Miller escaped, as we have seen in the text. The bugler was left in the
woods by the road side.
[[[Greene's Passage across the Dan.--Passage of the whole
Army.--Disappointment of Cornwallis.]]]
{604}were wretched in the extreme, yet the pursued and the pursuers
pushed forward rapidly. It was the last stake for the prize, and eagerly
both parties contended for it. During the forenoon, only a single hour
was allowed by the belligerents for a repast. At noon a loud shout
went up from the American host; a courier, covered with mud, his horse
reeking with sweat, brought a letter to Colonel Williams from Greene,
announcing the joyful tidings that he had _crossed the Dan safely at
Irwins Ferry on the preceding day_[[Feb 13, 1781]] That shout was heard
by O'Hara, and Cornwallis regarded it as ominous of evil. Still he
pressed forward. At three o'clock, when within fourteen miles of the
river, Williams filed off toward Boyd's Ferry, leaving Lee to maneuver
in front of the enemy. Williams reached the shore before sunset, and
at dark was landed upon the north side. Lee sent his infantry on in
advance, and at twilight withdrew with his cavalry, and galloped for
the river. When he arrived, his infantry had just passed in boats with
safety. The horses were turned into the stream, while the dragoons
embarked in bateaux. At nine o'clock, Lieutenant-colonels Lee and
Carrington (the quarter-master general), embarked in the last boat, and
before midnight the wearied troops were in deep slumber in the bosom of
Virginia. During the evening Cornwallis heard of the passage of Greene,
and the escape of Williams and his light troops. The Dan was too much
swollen to be forded; every boat was moored upon the northern shore, and
for the third time a barrier of water interposed between the pursuer
and pursued. The prize was lost, and with a heavy heart Cornwallis moved
slowly back toward Hillsborough, after resting his wearied troops for a
day. He had but one hope left, the promised general rising of the Tories
in North Carolina, now that the "rebel army" was driven out of the
state. Greene encamped in the rich and friendly district of Halifax
çounty, in Virginia, and there his wearied troops reposed after one of
the most skillfully conducted and remarkable retreats on record. ** Upon
this
* Lieutenant-colonel Edward Carrington was an exceedingly active
officer. He had been detached with that portion of the Virginia regiment
of artillery retained with the main army, when some of his companies
had attended the Virginia line to the South, and had been taken at the
surrender of Charlestown.
[Illustration: 9614]
* On reaching North Carolina with De Kalb, Colonel Harrison, commander
of the Virginia artillery, unexpectedly arrived and assumed the command.
On account of a misunderstanding with Harrison, Carrington retired, and
was afterward dispatched by Gates to superintend the examination of the
Roanoke, to ascertain the readiest points of communication across it, to
be used either in receiving supplies from Virginia or in retreating
from North Carolina. Greene found him engaged in this service. Aided by
Captain Smith of the Maryland line, he explored the Dan, and made every
preparation for Greene to cross it with his army. Having completed his
arrangements, he joined the army near the Yadkin, and was one of the
most active of Lee's officers in the retreat to the Dan. At this time
he held the office of quarter-master general of the Southern army, which
office he filled with honor to himself and the service. He was afterward
engaged in the siege of Yorktown, where he commanded the artillery on
alternate days with Lamb and Stevens of New York. After the war, he
was a representative in Congress from his native state (Virginia). When
Aaron Burr was tried for treason, Colonel Carrington was the foreman of
the jury. He died on the twenty-eighth of October, 1810, at the age of
sixty-one years.--See Lee's Memoirs.
** Gordon, Ramsey, Lee, Tarleton, Stedman, &c. The distance traversed by
the retreating army was more than two hundred miles. It was in February,
when the roads are worse than at any other season of the year, sometimes
very muddy, at others frozen hard. On the day after his passage, Greene
sent the following dispatch to Governor Jefferson: "On the Dan River,
almost fatigued to death, having had a retreat to conduct for upward of
two hundred miles, maneuvering constantly in the face of the enemy, to
give time for the militia to turn out and get off our stores." Nothing
of importance was lost on the way, and baggage and stores were safely
crossed to the Virginia side. The condition of the army was wretched
respecting clothing. The shoes were generally worn out, the body-clothes
much tattered, and no more than a blanket for four men. The light corps
were a little better off, yet there was only one blanket for three men.
During the retreat from Guilford, the tents were never used; and Greene,
in his note to Williams announcing his passage of the Dan, declared that
he had not slept more than four hours sinee he left Guilford. The troops
were allowed only one meal a day during the retreat. Before crossing,
many of the North Carolina militia deserted; only about eighty remained.
General Lillington (who was a colonel at the battle on Moore's Creek),
was sent with his corps to Cross Creek, to awe the Tories in that
quarter.
[[[Preparations to Recross the Dan.--March of the Army toward
Guilford.--Maneuvers of the Belligerents.]]]
{605}movement all eyes were turned, and when the result was known the
friends of liberty every where chanted a loud alleluiah.
As we have observed (page 591), Greene soon prepared to recross the Dan,
and attempt to retrieve his losses in Carolina. We have considered the
first movements toward the accomplishment of this object--the expedition
of Lee and Pickens beyond the Haw, the defeat of Pyle, and the retreat
of Tarleton to Hillsborough. The success of this enterprise, the arrival
in camp of General Stevens, with six hundred Virginia militia, and
the necessity of making a demonstration before the Tories should rise,
caused Greene to break up his camp after a few days of repose. He
recrossed the Dan on the twenty-third,[[Feb 1781]] and this event being
made known, completely dispirited the Loyalists who were disposed to
join the royal army. The recruiting service stopped, and the friends of
government, awed by the fate of Pyle's corps, stood still. The situation
of Cornwallis was full of peril. The country around Hillsborough was
speedily stripped of provision by his army, * and he found it expedient
to fall back and take a new position upon the south side of the
Allamance, west of the Haw.[[Feb 27]] On the same day, Lee and Pickens,
with their respective forces, joined the main body of the American light
infantry, and the whole corps crossed the Haw, a little below the mouth
of Buffalo Creek. Greene, with the main army augmented by the
North Carolina militia, crossed above Buffalo Creek the next morning,
[[Feb 28]]and encamped between Troublesome Creek and Reedy Fork. It
was an ineligible place; and, hoping to gain time for all his expected
re-enforcements to come in, Greene constantly changed his position, and
placed Colonel Williams and his light corps between the two armies,
now within a score of miles of each other. Tarleton occupied the same
relative position to the British army, and he and Williams frequently
menaced each other. Finally, the latter having approached to within a
mile of the British camp, Tarleton attacked him,[[March 2, 1781]] and
a brief but warm skirmish ensued. This encounter was sustained, on the
part of the Americans, chiefly by Lee's legion and Preston's riflemen.
About thirty of the enemy were killed and wounded. The Americans
sustained no loss. In the mean while, Greene's constant change of
position, sometimes seen on the Troublesome Creek, and sometimes
appearing near Guilford, gave the impression that his force was larger
than it really was, and Cornwallis was much perplexed. Well knowing that
the American army was augmenting by the arrival of militia, he resolved
to bring Greene to action at once. Under cover of a thick fog, he
crossed the Allamance,[[March 6]] hoping to beat up Williams's quarters,
then between that stream and Reedy Fork, and surprise Greene. Williams's
vigilant patrols discovered the approach of the enemy at about eight
o'clock in the morning, on the road to Wetzell's Mill, an important pass
on the Reedy Fork. Lee's legion immediately maneuvered in front of
the enemy, while Williams withdrew his light troops and other corps of
regulars and militia across the stream.** A covering party, composed
of one hundred and fifty Virginia militia, were attacked by
Lieutenant-colonel Webster, with one thousand British infantry and a
portion of Tarleton's cavalry. The militia boldly returned the fire, and
then fled across the creek. The British Infantry followed, *** and met
** Stedman says (ii., 335),: "Such was the situation of the British army
[at Hillsborough], that the author, with a file of men, was obliged to
go from house to house throughout the town, to take provisions from the
inhabitants, many of whom were greatly distressed by this measure, which
could only be justified by extreme necessity."
** These consisted of quite a large body of militia, under Pickens; a
corps of cavalry, under Lieutenant-colonel William A. Washington;
some militia and riflemen, under Colonel Campbell, the hero of King's
Mountain; and regular infantry, under Colonel John Eager Howard, who
distinguished himself at the Cowpens.
*** Lee says, that in the woods, near the mill, where some riflemen were
stationed, was an old log school-house. In this building, twenty-five of
the most expert marksmen, who were at King's Mountain, were stationed by
Lee, with orders not to engage in the general conflict, but to pick off
officers at a distance When Webster entered the stream, and was slowly
fording its rocky bed, the marksmen all discharged their rifles at
him in consecutive order, each certain of hitting him, yet not a ball
touched him or his horse. Thirty-two discharges were made without
effect! The hand of Providence shielded him on that day, but soon he
received a fatal wound, in a battle far more fierce and bloody.--Lee's
Memoirs, 164.
[[[Skirmish on Reedy Fork.--Augmentation of the American
Army.--Disposition of the two Armies.]]]
{606}with a severe attaek from Campbell's riflemen and Lee's infantry.
Webster was quickly re-enforced by some Hessians and chasseurs, and
the whole were supported by field-pieces planted by Cornwallis upon
an eminence near the banks of the stream. The artillery dismayed the
militia, which Williams perceiving, ordered them to retire. He followed
with Howard's battalion, flanked by Kirkwood's Delaware infantry and the
infantry of Lee's legion, the whole covered by Washington's cavalry. *
The day was far spent, and Cornwallis did not pursue. In this skirmish
the Americans lost about fifty killed and wounded.
As soon as Greene heard of the approach of Cornwallis, he fell baek
across the head waters of the Haw with the main army, determined not
to risk an engagement until the arrival of re-enforcements, now fast
approaching. In the mean while he changed his position daily, and
Cornwallis, who, unwilling to wear down his army by useless attempts to
strike the Americans in detail, had retired slowly to Bell's Mills on
the Deep River, about thirteen miles below the present Jamestown,
could gain no positive information concerning him. ** At length, while
encamped at Speedwell's iron-works, on Troublesome Creek, northeast of
Guilford, Greene was joined by a brigade of militia from Virginia,
under General Lawson; two from North Carolina, under Generals Butler
and Eaton; and four hundred regulars, raised for eighteen months.[[March
10]] He now felt strong enough to grapple with the earl, and the light
corps of Colonel Williams was incorporated with the main army. ***
Crossing the Haw and Reedy Fork, Greene encamped in battle order near
Guilford Court House.[[March 13]] The movements of the two generals
during the ten preceding days were or great interest. They were
contending for a prize of the greatest value. One false step by either
party would have been his ruin. None were more interested spectators
than the Tories, from whom Cornwallis fondly anticipated aid. When
Greene invited battle, they were utterly amazed, and not one dared lift
his arm in defense of the king, the issue being so doubtful.
Cornwallis, in the mean while, had advanced from Deep Reep River toward
New Garden (Quaker) meeting-house. Perceiving Greene's disposition
to fight, he gladly prepared to meet him. It was an event he had been
trying to accomplish for more than six weeks. Sending his baggage
back to Bell's Mills, on the evening of the fourteenth, under a proper
escort, he moved forward at dawn the next morning,[[March 15]] with
twenty-four hundred men, chiefly veterans. The vigilant Lee, with his
legion, was near New Garden
* Gordon relates that Sergeant-major Perry, and Quarter-master-sergeant
Lumsford, of Lee's dragoons, performed a very bold maneuver. They were
separately detached, with four dragoons, to make observations. They saw
sixteen or eighteen British horsemen ride into a farm-house yard in an
irregular manner, and some of them dismount. The two young men joined
their forces, charged the horsemen, and, in sight of Tarleton's legion,
eut every man down. They then retired without a scar!--Gordon, iii.,
172.
** Cornwallis first encamped, in this retrograde march on the plantation
of William Rankin, a Whig, and then proceeded to the plantation of Ralph
Gorrel, another wealthy patriot. The family were turned out of doors,
and sought shelter at a neighbor's house. The soldiers plundered and
destroyed until the place was made a desolation. On Sunday, the eleventh
of March, the royal army proceeded to the plantation of Reverend Dr.
Caldwell, one of the most ardent Whigs in North Carolina, from the time
of the Regulator movement. The doctor was then in Greene's camp, at the
iron-works on Troublesome Creek. His family left the house, and retired
to the smoke-house, where they remained twenty-four hours without food
or a bed, exposed to the abuse and profane language of the soldiery.
Cornwallis occupied the house of Mr. M'Cuistin, on the great road from
the Court House to Fayetteville. Every thing but the buildings were
destroyed on the plantation of Dr. Caldwell. ''Every panel of fence on
the premises was burned; every particle of provisions was consumed or
carried away; every living thing was destroyed, exeept one old goose;
and nearly every square rod of ground was penetrated with their iron
ramrods in search of hidden treasure." By command of the officers, the
doctor's valuable library and papers--even the family Bible--were burned
in an oven near the house. All was made a desolation. Cornwallis had
offered a reward of one thousand dollars to any one who should bring
Dr. Caldwell into his camp. Dr. Caruthers, in his Life of Caldwell,
gives many painful descriptions of the sufferings of this good man and
his faithful Rachel. Dr Caldwell died in 1824, when in his hundredth
year. His wife died in 1825, at the age of eighty-six.
*** The whole army fit for duty now consisted of 4243 foot, and 161
cavalry. It was composed of Huger's brigade of Virginia continentals,
778; Williams's Maryland brigade, and a company of Delawares, 630;
infantry of Lee's partisan legion, 82; total of Continental regulars,
1490. There were 1060 North Carolina militia; 1693 from Virginia; in
all, 2753. Washington's light dragoons, 86; Lee's dragoons, 75. To these
were added, the next day, 40 horse, under the Marquis of Bretagne, a
French nobleman.
[[[Skirmish at New Garden Meeting house.--Defeat of Tarleton.--Lee
driven back by the main British Army]]]
{607}meeting-house when the van of the British army, consisting of
cavalry, some light infantry, and yagers, under Lieutenant-colonel
Tarleton, * approached. Desirous of drawing them as far from the royal
army, and as near Greene's as possible, Lee ordered a change of front,
and a slow retreat.
Hoping to produce a route, Tarleton and his cavalry pressed forward upon
Armstrong, who was now in the rear, but with little effect.
[Illustration: 8617]
They made a second charge, and emptied their pistols, when Lee, with
the troops of Rudolph and Eggleston, wheeled suddenly, and, in a close
column, advanced upon Tarleton. The moment Tarleton saw the gain the
main army. Lee did not pursue, but endeavored to cut off Tarleton's
retreat. While pushing forward with eager hope, he met the British
vanguard, in the midst of the lofty oaks at the meeting-house. They
instantly displayed, and gave his cavalry a terrible volley. Lee
ordered a retreat, when his infantry came running up, and delivered
a well-directed fire. This was followed by a volley from Campbell's
riflemen, who had taken post on the left of the infantry, and a general
action ensued. It had continued but a few minutes, when Lee, perceiving
that the main body of the British was approaching, ordered a general
retreat; his cavalry falling in the rear, to cover the infantry and
riflemen. *** During this skirmish, Greene prepared for battle.
From Guilford Court House southward, the ground slopes abruptly,
terminating in a broken vale, through which winds a small stream. At
the time of the engagement, there were pretty broad clearings around the
court-house, which extended southward along the great Salisbury road.
On either side of the road, and crossing it at some distance from the
court-house, was a forest of lofty oaks. Within the southern border of
this forest, and the whole cavalry of the legion pressing upon him, he
sounded a retreat; for he well knew the superiority of the horses of
the Americans. ** Only one front section of the British cavalry met
the shock, and these were all dismounted, and most of the horses were
prostrated. Some of the dragoons were killed, and others made prisoners.
The Americans lost neither man nor horse. Tarleton, with the remainder
of his corps, withdrew in great haste.
* Banastre Tarleton was born in Liverpool, England, on the twenty-first
of August, 1754. He commenced the study of the law, but when the war in
America commenced, he entered the army, and came hither with Cornwallis.
He served with that officer In all his campaigns in this country,
and ended his military career at Yorktown, in 1781. On his return to
England, the people of his native town elected him their representative
in the House of Commons. In 1798, he married the daughter of the Duke
of Ancaster. In 1817, he received the commission of major general,
but never entered into active service. At the coronation of George the
Fourth, he was created a baronet and Knight of Bath. In person, Tarleton
was below the middle size, stout, strong, and heavily built. His legs
were very muscular, and great activity marked all of his movements. He
had a sanguinary and resentful temper, which made him unmerciful to his
enemies.--See Georgian Era, London, 1833.
** The inferiority of the horses of the British cavalry was owing to
the fact that they had been taken chiefly from the plantations in South
Carolina, and could not be compared in size and strength with those of
Pennsylvania and Virginia, from whence came those of Lee. The momentum
of the latter, when meeting, was much greater than that of the former,
and, of course, in a charge they had a great advantage.
*** About forty of Tarleton's dragoons were killed in this action; and
it is believed that about one hundred of the infantry were killed and
wounded by the riflemen. The loss of the Americans was considerably
less; the exact number was not reported. Lieutenant Snowdon, of the
legion infantry, was left wounded on the field. Captain Tate, who shared
in Howard's memorable charge at the Cowpens, was with Lee, and had his
thigh broken.
[[[Disposition of the American Army at Guilford.--Plan of the
Battle.--Approach of the British]]]
{608}Concealed behind a fence and some dwarf trees, lay the North
Carolina forces (B), militia and volunteers, and some riflemen, the
whole under Generals Butler and Eaton.
[Illustration: 9618]
They were strongly posted, and much was expected of them. Within the
woods, about three hundred yards in the rear of the first line, the
second line (C) was formed. It was composed of the Virginia militia,
under Generals Stevens and Lawson; * the right flank of Stevens, and
the left flank of Lawson, resting on the road. The Continental infantry,
consisting of four regiments, were drawn up near the court-house, in the
field, on the north side of the road, about four hundred yards in the
rear of the Virginians. The two Continental regiments of Virginia
were commanded by Colonel Greene and Lieutenant-colonel Hewes, under
Brigadier Huger, and composed the right. The two Maryland regiments,
led by Colonel Gunby and Lieutenant-colonel Ford, were under Colonel
Williams, and composed the left. The remainder of the troops, under
Greene, lay near the court-house. Only Gunby's regiment were experienced
soldiers; the remainder were new recruits. Lieutenant-colonel
Washington, with his cavalry, the old Delaware corps, under Captain
Kirkwood, and Colonel Lynch with a battalion of Virginia militia, were
posted on the right; Lieutenant-colonel Lee, with his legion, and the
Virginia riflemen, under Colonel Campbell, were posted on the left, each
being ordered to support the respective flanks. Captain Singleton, with
two six pounders, took post in the road, a little in advance of the
front line, and the remainder of the artillery (only two pieces) were
with the rear line, near the court-house.
Such was the disposition of the Americans for battle when the royal
army, under Cornwallis, approached. It was about noon; the sun was
unclouded, and the air was cool, but not cold. They could be seen for
more than a mile, defiling (G) from the Salisbury road into the open
fields, and presented a gorgeous spectacle; their scarlet uniforms and
bur-
* These were chiefly from Augusta and Rockbridge counties, and were
descendants of the Scotch-Irish, who first settled that portion of
Virginia. One company was composed principally of the congregation of
James Waddell, the glorious Blind Preacher of the wilderness along the
eastern base of the Blue Ridge, whose person and ministration is so
eloquently described in Letter VII. of Wirt's British Spy. He gave them
a farewell address when they were under arms and ready to march. Many of
them were left upon the field of Guilford.
* NOTE: Explanation of the Plan.--The shaded parallelograms, A, B, and
C, and others not lettered, represent American troops; the half shaded
ones the British troops. G, the British columns advancing along the
road from the direction of the New Garden meeting-house. 1. Their first
position, in battle order. B, the first American line, consisting of
North Carolina militia, posted at the head of a ravine, in the edge of
a wood. C, the second American line, of Virginia militia. A, extending
irregularly along the road to Reedy Fork, to its junction with the main
road, near the court-house. E, the Maryland and Virginia Continentals,
under Huger and Williams. 2. The second position of the British, after
the retreat of the Carolinians. 3. The third position of the British,
endeavoring to gain Greene's right. D, severe conflict between Lester
with the Hessians and the Americans. E, Guilford Court House. The broken
chimney in the corner of the map represents all that is left of the old
court house.
[[[Commencement of the Battle.--Flight of the Carolinians.--Bravery of
the Virginians and Marylanders.--General Stevens.]]]
{609}nished arms strongly contrasting with the somber aspect of the
country, then barren of leaves and grass. Having formed their line,
they approached slowly and steadily, chiefly in solid column (1), to the
contest. As soon as the van appeared, Singleton opened a cannonade upon
it, but with little effect. Lieutenant M'Leod, commanding the British
artillery, pressed forward along the road, and returned the fire, also
with little effect. The battle now commenced. Although Cornwallis
knew his inferiority of numbers, and the great advantages of Greene's
position, he boldly began what he had so long sought an opportunity
for--a general battle with his antagonist. He had brave and veteran
troops. The 71st (Fraser's Highland regiment), with the Hessian regiment
of Bose, formed his right, under General Leslie; his left consisted
of the 23d and 33d regiments, under the command of Lieutenant-colonel
Webster. The royal artillery, led by M'Leod, and supported by the light
infantry of the guards and the yagers, moved along the road in the
center. Lieutenant-colonel Norton, with the first battalion of the
guards, supported the right, and Brigadier O'Hara, with the grenadiers
and second battalion of guards, supported the left.
After a brisk cannonade of nearly half an hour, Singleton, pursuant to
orders, fell back to the second line. Leslie, with the guards in the
center, supported on the left by the Hessians, and on the right by
Webster's brigade, immediately advanced upon the North Carolinians, who
were concealed behind a fence in the edge of the wood. When the British
were within rifle shot, the Carolinians commenced a desultory fire
upon them. The British pressed steadily forward, and when at a proper
distance, discharged their guns, and with a loud shout rushed forward
to a bayonet charge. The North Carolinians wheeled and fled in great
confusion, though not a man had been killed, or even wounded. Only a few
of General Eaton's men were exempt from the panic, and these, falling
back upon Lee's legion and Campbell's riflemen, maintained their ground
well. Butler and Eaton, with Colonel Davie, the commissary general,
endeavored, but in vain, to rally the fugitives. Throwing away their
muskets, knapsacks, and even canteens, they rushed through the woods
like frightened deer, until far beyond the point of danger. * Had the
first line done its duty, the result of the battle must have been far
different; for the few that remained with Campbell, together with his
corps, maintained their position so manfully that Leslie was obliged to
order Lieutenant-colonel Norton into line for his support. The cowardly
flight of the Carolinians left Lee's legion exposed to the danger of
being cut off from the main body. The Virginians of the second line,
upon whom the first had partially retreated, did their duty nobly, **
until, being hard pressed by the British, the right of that line, under
General Lawson, wheeled round upon the left, and retreated in confusion,
back to the line of regulars. Lieutenant-colonel Webster, with the
British left, now advanced across the open fields, in the face of a
terrible fire from the Americans, and gallantly attacked their right,
while Leslie and Bose were in fierce conflict with the American left.
The whole of the British infantry were now engaged in action. The
Virginians, under Stevens and Lawson, combated vigorously with Webster,
while supported on the right by Washington and his cavalry. That officer
sent Lynch's battalion of riflemen to fall upon the flank of Webster.
Perceiving this, O'Hara, with the grenadiers and second battalion of
guards, hastened to the support of the left. Webster immediately turned
the 33d regiment upon Lynch, and relieved his flank from annoyance.
* Dr. Caruthers, speaking from tradition, says that many of the
Highlanders, who were in the van, fell near the fence, from behind
which the Carolinians rose and fired. Among the Carolinians were some
volunteers, under Captain John Forbes, from the Allamance, consisting
chiefly of his friends and neighbors. Captain Forbes fired the first
gun, and in the retreat received a mortal wound. He was found by his
friends thirty hours after the battle. He said that a Tory passed him,
and, instead of giving him some water asked for, he kicked him, and
called him a rebel. After the death of Forbes, the Tory was found one
morning suspended to a tree before his own door.
** General Stevens had posted forty riflemen twenty paces in the rear of
his brigade, with orders to shoot every man who should leave his post.
This had the effect to keep the cowardly in the ranks. General Stevens
was shot through the thigh during this first conflict of his brigade
with the British, yet he did not quit the field. When the Carolinians
retreated, he had the address to prevent his own brigade being
panic-stricken, bv telling them that the former had been ordered to
retreat after the first fire. He ordered the Virginians, to open, and
allow the fugitives to pass through.
[[[Retreat of Marylanders.--Washington's Charge.--Junction of British
Regiments.--Cornwallis's victorious Blow.]]]
{610}O'Hara, advancing at that instant with the remainder of the left,
with fixed bayonets, aided by the 71st, under Leslie, compelled first
Lawson's and then Stevens's brigade to give way, and the second line of
the Americans was broken up.