Last Friday, I finally got to visit the Guilford Court House National Military Park, located in Greensboro, North Carolina. I have been wanting to visit the battlefield for a long time, but it just never seemed to work out when we made our various visits to North Carolina. Guilford Court House was fought in March 1781. Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene's southern army of 4000 men took on Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis' army. Greene designed and implemented a defense in depth modeled on the one employed by Daniel Morgan at Cowpens. Greene established three different defensive lines, with the first one manned by militia, whom he hoped would get off a volley or two, delaying the British advance. The second and third lines were manned by more experienced troops, with Greene's Continental Regulars holding the third line. Although Cornwallis won the battle, Greene's men inflicted extremely heavy losses on them, prompting Cornwallis to say, "I never saw such fighting since God made me. The Americans fought like demons." Those heavy losses prompted Cornwallis to retreat into Viriginia and eventually into the defenses of Yorktown. Thus, even though it was an American defeat, Guilford Court House was one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War, and certainly the high water mark of the Southern campaign. Susan and I took a bunch of photos that I have posted on my blog. They can be found here: http://civilwarcavalry.com/?p=488. Enjoy. Eric
I went specifically to locate the 3 continental soldiers monument, however I'm a little bewildered at it's location. I need to go back again & spend more time there. I crossed the Haw river several times on my way, trying to get a feel for the land. I didn't make it up to Troublesome Creek or Speedwell iron works. Maybe this year. Last August on a visit to Raleigh from Delaware I made a short visit to Guilford to shoot some video including the Pyle's defeat monument on the Alamance. I had obtained the book the day before at the NC museum of history & finished it om the plane home. Back home I bought Babbit's Devil Of A Whipping, about the Cowpens precursor to the Dan retreat. Both books where so good... I re-read Cowpens in December when I had the privledge of reviewing Long Obstinate & Bloody Christmas Day live on C-SPAN WASHINGTON JOURNAL!!! In Febuary I re-read the new Guilford work to get a better feel for the climate, so to speak. I will return to these studies again & again. Also I discovered a new Flight From Monticello, by Kranish, which sort of picks up the story of Cornwallis invading Virginia after his mauling at Guilford. So I'm doing research myself about Robert Kirkwood, the company commander of the reorganized Delaware Line after Camden (SC). Biographical info is scarce. Looking for a copy of his order book. Any leads or assistance would be welcomed at <coneh@usa.net>
