Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, NC (7-19-12)
Read MoreMonument Row
In 1887, a private company took posession of the old battlefield and immediately went about constructing dozens of monuments. Little care was taken to preserve the authenticity of the battlefield. Many of the monuments and arches are long gone but a few remain here, near the entrance to the park...
Monument Row
In 1887, a private company took posession of the old battlefield and immediately went about constructing dozens of monuments. Little care was taken to preserve the authenticity of the battlefield. This old postcard view shows you what you would have seen if you visited in the early 1900's...
American First Line
General Greene positioned his first line of defense across this road, now the entrance to the park. Made up of primarily militia, Greene didn't have much hope that this line would hold. He was right. Within the first few minutes of fighting the militia line had broke and had headed for the rear...
Fragmented Attack, American First Line
Here, on the left flank of the American First Line, members of the North Carolina milita rallied behind General "Light-horse" Harry Lee and offered a few more minutes defense against the oncoming British. Eventually, this group would break off from the main American force with two British Regiments in pursuit...
American Second Line
Also comprised of mainly militia, the British were in for a bloody surprise when they met the American Second Line. Fighting through dense forest, like what you see today, the British were easy picking for American sharpshooters used to the unforgiving terrain. Though this line did eventually break, the British had suffered terribly to do so...and the American Third Line, the strongest of the three, was yet to come...
American Second Line
Also comprised of mainly militia, the British were in for a bloody surprise when they met the American Second Line. Fighting through dense forest, like what you see today, the British were easy picking for American sharpshooters used to the unforgiving terrain. Though this line did eventually break, the British had suffered terribly to do so...and the American Third Line, the strongest of the three, was yet to come...
Major Joseph Winston Monument
Local North Carolina militia, who had broken off from the American First Line, fought an ongoing battle with Tarleton's British Cavalry. Far to the American left, this fluid engagement lasted the length of the battle. This monument honors the man who led the local militia...
View from Cavalry Monument
Looking across the shallow valley from the monument you can spot a number of other markers dotting the landscape. This area sets about midway between the American Second and Third Lines, where the British braced themselves for the final clash that would decide the battle...
Guilford Court House Town Site
There is nothing left of the small crossroads town that occupied this site during the battle. Guilford Court House served for a short time as the county seat, from about 1775 to 1808. When the county seat was moved, the town declined and eventually disappeared all together. Most of the residents stayed put during the battle, huddling in basements or in the nearby forest...
American Third Line
This is where the Americans should have stopped the bloodied British dead in their tracks...it didn't work out that way. After a fierce struggle, militia units began to give way exposing the flanks of the regular army regiments. Also, a critical decision by General Cornwallis to fire upon the American Cavalry (and, as it happened, his own troops), broke the will of the Americans who eventually withdrew...
Greene Monument
By far the largest monument on the battlefield, this one commemorates the service of General Nathaniel Greene, commander of the American forces at Guilford Courthouse. Two quotes adorn the monument. One is from George Washington, a good friend of Greene's, reading "It is with a pleasure, which friendship alone is suseptible, of that I congratulate you on the glorious end you have put to hostilities in the southern states." The other is from his greatest foe, General Cornwallis, who states "Greene is as dangerous as Washington. I never feel secure when encamped in his neighborhood."
kw
on August 19, 2012Thanks for taking us back to another time-- one more link in our history:)