BGuthrie Photos: NC -- Guilford Courthouse Natl Military Park

NC -- Guilford Courthouse Natl Military Park:

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Specific picture descriptions: Photos above with "i" icons next to the bracketed sequence numbers (e.g. "[1] ") are described as follows:
1. GUIL_030831_008.JPG: A sign in the museum describes the militia as follows. "Most Americans in the War were in the militia. All men sixteen to fifty years of age were required to arm themselves and appear at regular drills. Their governor could call them to three-month tours of duty. Free African Americans were also subject to military service. Their large numbers often made up for their lack of training and discipline. Their appearance was unmilitary and sometimes shabby, but many of these citizen-soldiers were skilled shooters and able fighters. Lord Cornwallis credited their effectiveness. 'I shall not say much in praise of the militia of the Southern Colonies, but the list of British officers and soldiers killed by them... proves but too fatally that they are not totally contemptible.' " This is probably the meaning of the Second Amendment -- "A well regulated militia, being necessary to the security of a free state, the right of the people to keep and bear arms, shall not be infringed." It's been taken over by gun whackos but it initially served a purpose.
2. GUIL_030831_013.JPG: Monument Row Guilford Courthouse NMP -- National Park Service -- The old postcard (below) depicts the Guilford Battle Ground Company's treatment of the battlefield landscape. In 1887 the company began constructing the row of monuments and arched entrance gates. Installing a total of thirty-two monuments on 125 acres of battlefield land, the Company was more intent or ornamenting the field than recreating the authentic 1781 scene. Other monuments can be found at tour road stops and along park trails and historic Garden Road. The many monuments reflect the Company's idea that the "Battle Ground" should become North Carolina's primary site to honor its people's role in the American Revolution.
3. GUIL_030831_015.JPG: The tent-like monument has this marker: "1779-81. 1900. To Captain James Morehead of the 10th Regiment, NC Continental Line, Battle of Stono, June 20th 1778. Elizabethton July 1781. Born 1750. Died 1815." Heck if I know what that means!
4. GUIL_030831_023.JPG: This memorial says: "1781. 1902. A heroine of '76. Mrs Keren Happuch Turner, mother of Elizabeth, the wife of Joseph Morehead of NC and Grandmother of Captain James and of John Morehead, a young NC soldier under Greene. Rode horse-back from her Maryland home and at Guilford Court House nursed to health a badly wounded son."
5. GUIL_030831_026.JPG: "Gillies. 'Light Horse Harry Lee's Bugler-Boy' 'Dulce et Decorum est pro patria mori.' Erected by the literary societies and alumni of Oak Ridge Institute May 6th 1898 to the memory of the gallant Gillies who fell under the swords of Tarleton's dragoons near Oak Ridge, NC Feb 12th 1781; a noble sacrifice of his own generosity and for his country's freedom."
6. GUIL_030831_033.JPG: Interesting monument. It has 1776 on one side (probably 1783 on the other) and then "No South -- Greene" and "No North -- Washington" on the opposing sides.
7. GUIL_030831_043.JPG: The Battle Begins. You are standing roughly 200 yards behind the first American line, which stood located across what was then an open field. A quarter-mile away, the British arrived and formed well-ordered ranks on either side of New Garden Road. To the untrained North Carolina militia -- citizen-soldiers -- the approaching redcoats appeared confident and lethally professional. The battle began with a terrifying exchange of cannon fire, the roll of drums, and a clear view of British bayonets. As the redcoats advanced, an American volley tore holes in their ranks, but the battle-hardened soldiers closed the gaps and at fifty yards fired a return volley into the patriot line. The British then charged with bayonets lowered and the center of the American line panicked and ran. From an American perspective, the battle got off to a disastrous start. You are standing in the trace of the historic Salisburg Road (now New Garden Road). Once Greene received intelligence that the British were on the move, he ensured a fight by placing troops across this road. Concerned about the front-line militia's reliability, Greene planned a defense of depth, deploying a second line of militia and a third line of experienced Continental soldiers.
8. GUIL_030831_048.JPG: The battle actually began outside of the park
9. GUIL_030831_051.JPG: Fragmented Attack Among these trees you may find it difficult to stay oriented to the battlefield. The combatants faced the same problem. Stationed here on the left flank of the American first line, Lt Col Henry Lee and his legion of cavalry and infantry had ordered to withdraw and support the second line after the first line gave way. Disoriented by the thick woods and chaos of battle, Lee's forced veered southeast and missed the left flank of the second line. This confusion had serious consequences for both armies. A large contingent of redcoats and Hessians split off from the main British advance and pursued Lee's Legion in a separate running battle. That action fragmented the British attack. Both sides' battle plans began to unravel. "The country in general presented a wilderness, covered with tall woods, which were rendered intricate by shrubs and thick underbrush, but which was interspersed here and there, by a few scattered plantations and cleared fields." -- British Annual Register for 1781
10. GUIL_030831_056.JPG: Sustained Firefight. After swiftly rolling over the American's first line, the British met unexpected resistance here. Greene had posted the second line in the woods astride New Garden Road, and the Patriots held a strong position along the high ground just ahead. Firing from behind thick trunks of the ancient forest, Virginia militia exchanged heavy fire with advancing British infantry. The trees and undergrowth made it impossible to maintain the disciplined formations of classic 18th-century warfare. At this point, the single wave of the British assault broke into a series of separate engagements, with clusters of troops trading shots with other small units. After an extended firefight, the redcoats were able to regroup despite costly losses and break through toward the American third line -- the tough, well-trained Continentals.
11. GUIL_030831_057.JPG: Second Line Trail Guilford Courthouse NMP -- National Park Service -- This trail follows the second American line for a half-mile to Stop 8 on the Tour Road. All along the line, Virginia militia opened their ranks for the retreating North Carolinians and then waited tensely for the British attack. The first section of trail travels through the dense woods that broke up and slowed the British advance. After passing the Nathanael Greene statue and other monuments, the path ends at the American right flank, where Virginia militia faced 800 British infantry.
12. GUIL_030831_061.JPG: Death of Stewart The small monument in the field commemorates the death of Lt Col James Stewart (Stuart) of the Second Battalion of Guards. During hand-to-hand fighting, Captain John Smith of the 1st Maryland Regiment cut down Stewart with a heavy saber. Accounts place Stewart's death near the American third line. Guilford Battle Ground Company placed the monument on this site because they were told that Stewart's sword was found here inside a hollow log in 1866. In reality, the monument's location is more symbolic than historically accurate.
13. GUIL_030831_065.JPG: The British Perspective Guilford Courthouse National Military Park As a British soldier, you are far more disciplined and experienced in battle than the rag-tag militia. Here at Guilford Courthouse your troops are outnumbered by more than two to one, but hunger and exhaustion seem greater enemies. This is foreign soil and hundreds of miles away from resupply and reinforcement. A battalion of British Guards sweeps across this ground from right to left to assault the American third line. By this stage in the fighting, the Guards have momentum but their ranks have been thinned, While Continentals, the Americans' toughest troops, hold the high ground, the British soldiers are professionals and step forward with grim confidence. The small monument in the middle of the field commemorates the death of a talented officer, Lt. Col. James Stewart of the Second Foot Guards.
14. GUIL_030831_075.JPG: The marker says: "Maryland's tribute to her heroic dead. Erected by members of the Maryland Historical Society in memory of the soldiers of the Maryland line, 1781-1892. Non Omnis Moriar."
15. GUIL_030831_085.JPG: Delaware Continentals In 1888, David Schenck, searching for battlefield artifacts, found the upturned bones of three unidentified soldiers on a farm north of the park. From buttons found in the grave, supposedly marked "USA," Schenck concluded that the deceased were American Continentals killed in action. The location of the soldiers' remains suggests that they were part of Kirkwood's Delaware company, on the right flank of the first line. In contrast to the first line's militia, the Delaware troops were seasoned professionals of equal caliber to the British regulars. The remains were reburied here under this grave marker commemorating their valor. Further research had identified the three fallen Delaware soldiers are William Drew, John Toland, and Cornelius Hagney, born in Danfanagh, Ireland. Although a recent immigrant, Hagney championed the cause of American liberty.
16. GUIL_030831_106.JPG: Legend Vs Reality According to the Guilford Battle Ground Company, the British Guards emerged from the wood, crossed this open field, and clashed on the right with the American third line. In the 1880's, this version of the battle seemed to agree with the historical research of Company founder, David Schenck. Convinced that the third line action occurred here with the original boundaries of the park, he placed the American Cavalry obelisk on this hill. Benefitting from historical information that has come to light since Schenck's time, park historians now have a different picture of what happened here. In 1781, the cleared area was significantly larger, extending toward the courthouse. Taking advantage of the terrain, the American third line was actually a ridgeline 1/4 mile east near Tour Stop 6. By focusing on historically accurate terrain, you can better follow the battle action and its implications.
17. GUIL_030831_112.JPG: This is where the previous sign, showing that this is where the presumed third American line was when the park was set up but they've since found that it was 1/4 mile east (to the right) of here. The monument on the right says: To Peter Francisco. A giant in stature, might and courage -- who slew in this engagement eleven of the enemy with his own broad sword, rendering himself thereby perhaps the most famous private soldier of the Revolutionary War.
18. GUIL_030831_122.JPG: The marker says: "In Memory of the North Carolina troops under Major Joseph Winston, who were fighting the Hessians and Tarleton's cavalry near this spot after the Continental Line had retreated from the field of battle, March the 15th, 1781"
19. GUIL_030831_126.JPG: Expanding Battle This monument honors Maj Joseph Winston and the Surry County riflemen who fought stubbornly beside William Campbell and "Light-Horse Harry" Lee. During a fierce struggle with British regiments, Lee's Legion veered southeast of the American second line, with a large contingent of enemy troops in pursuit. You are looking in the direction of that separate engagement, but the fighting actually occurred a half-mile to the south, well beyond the present-day park boundary. The Battle of Guilford Courthouse was far more sprawling than the tour road and boundaries indicate. Maj Joseph Winston and fellow soldier, Jesse Franklin, were reburied here in 1906 near the monument to Winston and his Surry County militia. Lt Colonel Banastre Tarleton, British cavalry officer, was known as "Bloody Tarleton" because his troops on more than one occasion had slaughtered surrendering rebel soldiers. As the battle around the courthouse waned, heavy firing was heard to the south. Cornwallis dispatched Tarleton's dragoons to investigate. After Lee left there, the American militia, with no protection against cavalry, had to flee.
20. GUIL_030831_144.JPG: The grave marker on the right is that of Lt Col Joseph Winston. On the left is Jesse Franklin. Both were Revolutionary War soldiers who, surprisingly, both survived the battle here and lived into the 1800's. I guess they just wanted to buried here. In the background is Winston's statue on the North Carolina memorial.
21. GUIL_030831_145.JPG: Backcountry Courthouse To Cornwallis, Guilford Courthouse was not a military or strategic objective. Greene's army was his target. After receiving intelligence that the British were marching toward the American camp, Greene switched his battle plans from attack to defense. At this point along the main road General Greene began deploying his troops. In 1781, the county seat of Guilford served as the hub of a small farming community of about fifty English, Scots-Irish, and nearby Quakers. At the courthouse these settlers registered deeds, settled legal disputes, and were mustered into the militia. This ground is believed to be the general area of the courthouse. Apparently there were five other small buildings in the clearing, including a jail and a tavern. By 1809, the county seat was relocated six miles south. No trace of the courthouse community remains.
22. GUIL_030831_147.JPG: Third Line Trail Guilford Courthouse NMP -- National Park Service -- This trail passes through the actual deployment of the American third line, contradicting the location of the Regulars' Monument near Stop 7. Recent research and study may reveal more accurately where the battle action fit the terrain. Before rejoining the historic road trace, the trail curves along high ground. Greene chose this position wisely; the British had to climb out of the creek valley before engaging the patriots' most seasoned troops – the Maryland and Delaware Continentals. This was the day's most fiercely contested ground.
23. GUIL_030831_150.JPG: Park Founders Guilford Courthouse NMP -- National Park Service -- Nearby monuments commemorate park founders David Schenck and Joseph M. Morehead. Appalled at the neglect of the battlefield in the 1880s, Schenck directed the purchase of historic land and incorporated the Guilford Battle Ground Company to preserve the site and construct monuments. Schenck's and Morehead's efforts helped establish the battleground as a national park. Both men served as president of the Company. Their intent was not to restore the rugged, wooded appearance of 1781 but to create an attractive "pleasuring ground" where Americans could contemplate monuments associated with the battle and the nation's birth. The park's 28 monuments turn the actual historic ground into a landscape of ideas, highlighting different perceptions of the battle and how to commemorate it.
24. GUIL_030831_151.JPG: A memorial to David Schenck, park founder
25. GUIL_030831_154.JPG: Greene is on top. The writings on either side are quotes: It is with a pleasure which friendship alone is susceptible of that I congratulate you on the glorious end you have put to hostilities in the southern states. -- Washington Greene is as dangerous as Washington. I never feel secure when encamped in his neighbourhood. -- Cornwallis
26. GUIL_030831_199.JPG: In Memoriam: William Hooper and John Penn delegates from North Carolina 1776 to the Continental Congress and signers of the Declaration of Independence. Their remains were reinterred here in 1894. Hewes' Grave is lost. He was the third signer. "Lee, Henry and Hooper were the orators of the Congress." -- John Adams diary Vol 2 pg 396 1774
27. GUIL_030831_200.JPG: Signers of the Declaration This monument honors the three North Carolina delegates to the Continental Congress [William Hooper, Joseph Hewes, and John Penn] who signed the Declaration of Independence on July 4 1776. Although Hooper and Penn were reburied here in 1894, they had no direct ties to the battle. The relation is more symbolic; the Guilford Battle Ground Company founders wanted Guilford Courthouse to be North Carolina's official Revolutionary War cemetery. Between the Declaration and Guilford Courthouse, between these signers and this battlefield, the Company's message was clear: winning independence required courage, determination, and sacrifice.
28. GUIL_030831_214.JPG: The Monument and the General Nathaniel Greene's statue, the largest in the park, looks like the monument of a victor. But by the end of the day the British had forced him from the field. The fighting did not go according to plan for either side. After an orderly retreat, Greene expressed disappointment in the results of the battle. As reports trickled in, however, it became clear that the British army had suffered severe casualties. Cornwallis and his weakened army retired to the North Carolina coast. The battle for Guilford Courthouse set the stage for Yorktown. Sculptor Francis H Packer designed the monument, dedicated July 3, 1915. The Guilford Battle Ground Company selected this site on high ground, near a railroad station to attract local visitors.
29. GUIL_030831_217.JPG: The marker in front says: "In Memoriam Capt George Reynolds 1754-1813, officer under General Green [sic] in Revolutionary Army." You can see the statue of Greene and the Declaration signers' memorial in back. The tree and the orange cones were there after a storm the previous night that had made driving a challenge for me.
30. GUIL_030831_229.JPG: Statue of Joseph M Morehead. A marker on it says he was Vice-President, Acting President, and Second President of the Guilford Battle Ground Company.
31. GUIL_030831_259.JPG: This park was set up for the main Greene statue as well as statues of the people who founded the park. Sign: Park Founders Nearby monuments commemorate park founders David Schenck and Joseph M Morehead. Appalled at the neglect of this battlefield in the 1880's, Schenck directed the purchase of historic land and incorporated the Guilford Battle Ground Company to preserve the site and construct monuments. Schenck's and Morehead's efforts helped establish the battlefield as a national park. Both men served as president of the company. Their intent was not to restore the rugged, wooded appearance of 1781 but to create an attractive "pleasuring ground" where Americans could contemplate monuments associated with the battle and the nation's birth. The park's 28 monuments turn the actual historic ground into a landscape of ideas, highlighting different perceptions of the battle and how to commemorate it.
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Wikipedia Description: Battle of Guilford Court House
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

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 ...More...
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Directly Related Pages: Other pages with content (NC -- Guilford Courthouse Natl Military Park) directly related to this one: [Display ALL photos on one page]:
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- 1998_NC_Guilford: NC -- Guilford Courthouse Natl Military Park (79 photos from 1998)
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Same Subject: Click on this link to see coverage of items having the same subject: [American Revolution] [Park (National Park Service)]
2003 photos: Equipment this year: I decided my Epson digital camera wasn't quite enough for what I wanted. Since I already had Compact Flash chips for it, I had to find another camera which used CF chips. That brought me to buy the Fujifilm S602 Zoom in March 2003. A great digital camera, I used it exclusively for an entire year. Trips this year: Three-week trip this year out west, mostly in Utah. Number of photos taken this year: 68,000.
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