The Battle of Guilford Courthouse
After the Battle of Monmouth and the French entry into the war in 1778, the British concentrated on the South. At first they easily took over most of the region, but Washington sent Nathanael Greene, a veteran commander and the quartermaster at Valley Forge, to take it back. The Americans won at Cowpens in 1781, but Greene needed more men to defeat Cornwallis's army. Greene retreated to Virginia, obtained seasoned Continentals trained by Steuben, and led a counterattack at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.
On March 15 "Greene . . . divided his force into 3 sep[a]rate lines of infantry. . . ." The first "was made
up of about 1,000 North Carolina militia, commanded by Brig. Gen. John
Butler and Col. Thomas Eaton. In the center of the line was [sic] 2 small
artillery
pieces on the road. They could fire on the British while they crossed
the open fields. The first line's left flank was supported by Lee's
Legion and Campbell's Continentals." The second "was made up of 1,200 Virginia militia with a mixture of previously discharged Continental veterans. . . ." These troops also protected the first line. "The third line, another 500 yards further to the rear on a slight rise near the courthouse, was the main line of battle consisting of 1,400 Continentals from Virginia, Delaware, and Maryland on the west side of the road."
(http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/810315-guilford-courthouse/)
(http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/810315-guilford-courthouse/)
"The British advanced and . . . the Americans fired on them. The British continued [and] fired a volley, and then made a bayonet charge. The Americans . . . fired a second volley. . . The first line of militia melted away. . . . The British moved toward the American second line. With the Americans deployed on wooded and hilly terrain, groups of them were able to surprise parts of the British line. . . . The fight at the second line was . . . much harder and deadlier than the first line. The British were able to overlap the American right, bend it back, and soon made it collapse."
(http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/810315-guilford-courthouse/)
(http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/810315-guilford-courthouse/)
The British met the third line of veteran Continentals and William Washinton's cavalry and were on the verge of retreating when "Cornwallis . . . ordered his artillery officer, Lieutenant John McLeod, to fire . . . into the melee."
(Stephenson, 339)
(Stephenson, 339)
"[H]is desperate move killed as many British troops as it did Americans, but it did halt the American counterattack. [Lieutenant Colonel] Tarleton was ordered to take his cavalry and engage the Americans.Thinking that his men were about to be driven from the field and accomplishing all that was possible, Greene decided to withdraw his force from the battlefield in an orderly retreat northwest on the Reedy Road." Cornwallis claimed victory, but the battle crippled the British.
(http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/810315-guilford-courthouse/)
(http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/810315-guilford-courthouse/)
Out of an army of 2200, Cornwallis had lost 550 men. American Charles Magill wrote, "The loss on our side is inconsiderable when put in comparison. . . ."
(Ryan, 244)
(Ryan, 244)
Whig leader Charles Fox said, "Another such victory . . . would ruin the British army." Reluctant to engage the Americans again, Cornwallis focused on Virginia. "Under General Clinton's orders, Cornwallis looked for a safe place . . . as a base. His forces took over Yorktown . . . and began to build fortifications." Meanwhile Greene took back most of the South, except Savannah and Charleston, which were heavily fortified.
(Herbert, 96)
(Herbert, 96)
Although Greene's strategies significantly contributed to the success of his campaign, Steuben's training enabled the Continentals to stand firm against the British bayonets.