USA > North Carolina > North Carolina, 1780-'81 : being a history of the invasion of the Carolinas by the British Army under Lord Cornwallis in 1780-'81 > Part 17
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"Referring to Lee's Memoirs.
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wounded. When Lee and Pickens retired, it appeared as if three hundred might be lying dead. Many, per- haps, were only slightly wounded and lay quietly for security.
"At the time the action commenced, Lee's dragoons. in the open order of march, extended about the same distance with Pyle's men, who were in close order, and on horseback ; and most of them having come from home on that day, were clean, like men who now turn out to a review. Lee's movement was as if he were going to pass them five or six steps on the left of their line. When the alarm was given in the rear, as quickly as his men could turn their horses, they were engaged ; and as the Tories were over two to one of our actual cavalry, by pressing forward they went through their line, leaving a number behind them. The continual cry by the Tories was, .You are killing your own men ! I am a friend to his majesty. Hurrah for King George " Finding their professions of loyalty, and all they could say were of no avail, and only the signal for their destruc- tion, twelve or fifteen of those whom Lee's men had gone through, and who had thrown down their guns, now determining to sell their lives as dearly as possible, jumped to their arms and began to fire in every direc- tion, making the cavalry give back a little. But as soon as their guns were empty, they were charged upon on every side by more than could get at them, and cut down in a group together. All the harm done by their fire was that a dragoon's horse was shot down. Falling very suddenly, and not moving afterwards, the rider's leg was caught under him, and by all his efforts he could not extricate himself, until the action began to slacken, when two of his comrades dismounted and rolled the
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horse off him. Lee's men had so recently come to the South that they did not understand the usual marks of distinction between Whig and Tory, and after the first onset, when all became mixed, they inquired of each man, before they attacked hint, to whom he belonged. The enemy readily answered, ' To King George.' To many of their own militia they put the same question. Fortunately no mistakes occurred, though in some instances there was great danger of it.
"At the close of the action the troops were scattered and mixed through each other-completely disorganized. General Pickens and Colonel Lee gave repeated orders to form, but the confusion was such that their orders were without effect. These officers appeared sensible of the delicate situation we were in. If Tarleton, who was only two or three miles off, with nearly an equal force, had come upon us at this juncture, the result must have been against us.
"Lee's men, though under excellent discipline, could with difficulty be gotten in order. The commandants exhibited great perturbation, until at length Lee ordered Major Rudolph to lead off and his dragoons to fall in behind them ; Captain Graham received the same order as to the militia dragoons, and by the time the line had moved a quarter of a mile there was the same order as when we met Pyle. Lee himself, while they were forin- ing, staid in the rear of his own corps and in front of Graham's, and ordered one of the sergeants to go directly back and get a pilot from among the Tories, and bring him forward without delay. The sergeant in a short time returned with a middle-aged man (his name and he lived near that place), who had received a slight wound on the head, and was bleeding freely. The
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sergeant apologized to his Colonel because he could find none who were not wounded. Lee asked him several questions relative to the roads, farms, water-courses, etc .: how O'Neal's plantation (where Tarleton then wash was situated : whether open, woods, hilly or level, etc. After answering the several questions, and after an interval of about a minute, while Lee appeared to be meditating, the man addressed him: Well, God bless your soul, Mr. Tarleton, you have this day killed a parcel of as good subjects as ever his Majesty had.' Lee, who at this time was not in the humor for quizzing, interrupted him, say- ing : 'Von d-d rascal, if you call ine Tarleton I will take off your head. I will undeceive you: we are the Americans and not the British. I am Lee of the Ameri- can Legion, and not Tarleton.' The poor fellow appeared chop-fallen."*
Colonel Pyle and his men were misled by the uniforms of Lee's Legion, both his cavalry and infantry being dressed in short green coats, with other distinctions resembling the uniform of Tarle- ton's Legion.
Pyle, though wounded with many cuts of the sabre, crawied into a pond of water, where he con- cealed himself and was afterwards resened by his Tory friends and survived.
In Governor Swain's lecture on the War of the Regulation, I find this allusion to Colonel Pyle :
"The forced requisition of a wagon and team from
*NOTE .-- The scene of Pyle's defeat is very near the present town of Burlington (formerly " Company Shops "). on the North Carolina Railroad, in Alamance County.
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.
John Pyle, exhibited in our last number, shows the severe process which secured his allegiance. His fol- lowers, who, with him, rendered such fearful retribution in the sanguinary conflict with Pickens and Lee, on the 25th February, 1781, were fellow-sufferers in the ravages of Tryon in 1772. Colonel Pyle was a physician and an amiable man, and for faithful and skillful services, ren- dered to wounded Whigs at the battle of Cane Creek, a few months after his discomfiture on Haw 'River, was pardoned by the executive authority."
Colonel Pyle had been a Regulator, and, after the battle of Alamance, Governor Tryon had impressed his wagons and other property. He subsequently took the oath of allegiance, and feeling conscienti- ously bound by it, became a Tory in the revolution. Perhaps many of his followers owed their apostacy to the same causes.
Tarleton was only a mile or two in advance. Pickens ordered his column to move forward, and about sunset his scouts came in view of the enemy's camp, who seemed to be resting in a state of security. After a conference it was decided to postpone the attack until morning, as the troops were weary with marching and hungry for food. Patrols and senti- nels were placed in every direction to prevent intelligence reaching Tarleton's camp; but during the night a messenger reached him from Corn- wallis, who had been informed of the movement of Pickens. Tarleton was ordered to return to Hills- boro in haste. So urgent was the command that several couriers had been dispatched with the same
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message. Tarleton phoved the order by decamping at 2 o'clock in the morning and riding with all speed towards Hillsboro. Pickens followed, but only to get in sight of Tarleton as he entered the tow11.
The sanguinary destruction of Pyle's command had the effect of striking terror into the hearts of the Tories of Randolph and Chatham, and so com. pletely subdued their spirit that they never ent- bodied again during the war. There were marand- ing parties of banditti who stole and plundered, but their forces were never again brought together as a military organization. The good name of the American troops suffered. even in the estimation of their friends. for this bloody slaughter of the Tories; but in extenuation of the fierce passions of that hour, it must be remembered that Tarleton had been the first to inaugurate this unsparing and merciless warfare, the summer before, at the Wax- haws, and many of the North Carolinians who faced Pyle's command had friends and relatives among the slain who were hacked to pieces on that unfortunate day. "Tarleton's Quarters " had become a proverb in the American army; it was the watchword of revenge-the spirit of memory that never slept in the hearts of our people; by it "they nursed their wrath to keep it warm," and, in muttering tones around the camp-fires of the bivouac, they vowed that vengeance should be meted out, "an eye for an eye," when the auspi- cious day should come to put their enemies in their
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grasp. Neither discipline, nor authority, nor hu- manity could stand before the dreadful wrath which the blood of Buford's men had stirred within their hearts. " Blood for blood," was the cry of the men who that day hacked the Tories, and now and then "Tarleton's Quarters" put fresh strength into the sabre arm which seemed to grow weary of slaughter and death. Buford. too, was a Virginian, and Eggleston and Armstrong did not keep their swords ' at rest while the memory of the slaughter was fresh in their minds. It was a dreadful day, sickening to the heart; but how many other tales of butchery it prevented can only be known by the Omniscient One. If Pyle had succeeded in joining Tarleton, and Preston. Armstrong and Winston had fallen into his hands next day, as he expected, the tears would only have been transposed from Tory to Whig homes, and the weeeping and lamentations would have made patriots, instead of traitors, shud- der at the result. Whatever may be said of the deed itself, the results were most salutary to the American cause, and it may, in this instance, per- haps, be claimed that
" All's well that ends well."
Tarleton had marched to intercept the detach- ments of militia under Preston. Armstrong and Winston who were on their way to reinforce Pickens; and the massacre of Pyle's was the fortu- nate circumstance, from the British standpoint, that prevented the extermination of Tarleton's command. Some destiny shaped the ends of this bad man so strangely that he seems to have been
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excepted from the just and certain laws of righteous retribution. He survived the war, lived to an old age, and requited the affection of Cornwallis by exposing his errors and magnifying his faults.
General Greche was again in North Carolina. and evidently was making preparation to attack Cornwallis or repel his lordship if attacked by him. He was expecting reinforcements every day and was strong enough already to choose his battle-field and the day of battle. In the meantime. he was goad- ing and harassing and irritating the British com- mander until his enemy was growing obstinate and desperate -- the frame of mind that precedes mistakes and destruction. His foraging parties were cut off, his camp insulted, his reinforcements hacked to pieces, and even Tarleton and his famous Legion were not strong enough to stand before the detach- ments sent to annoy him. He was compelled to leave his camp at Hillsboro and seek a more friendly region. On the 26th of February, Cornwallis left Hillsboro and marched to Alamance Creek, in what is now Alamance County, but was then the south- eastern portion of Guilford County. This was a little south of west from Hillsboro, a good day's journey, and on the direct road to Salisbury. It was designed, too, to put Greene in doubt, whether the British commander would retrace his steps to Salisbury or move suddenly to the Cape Fear and fall back on Wilmington. Greene was anxiously watching the movement and awaiting impatiently the arrival of the North Carolina and Virginia
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brigades of militia then well on their way to his camp, in order that he might resume the offensive and defeat either of the movements of the enemy. But he was also, as ever, alert to prevent surprise, knowing that Cornwallis was in a mad state of miind and ready to do even a rash act. His orders to Otho Willams and Pickens, who commanded the two detachments in the front of the British camp. the one being on one side of the Alamance Creek. the other on, the other side, was to be wary and watchful and let not the slightest motion of the enemy be unobserved.
Greene was now at his camp at Speedwell Iron Works, on the upper waters of Troublesome Creek. thirty miles distant. The two brigades of Virginia militia under Stevens and Lawson, and the two brigades of North Carolina militia, were marching on a highway. running west, from a point below Hillsboro, to join Greene at his camp. The nearest point that this road came to the camp of Cornwallis was twenty-five or thirty miles, and in a north- wardly direction. The command of Williams lay between that point and Cornwallis. The roads from the camp of Williams and from the camp of Corn- wallis to that point intersected each other at Whitsill's Mill, which was on the direct route that Cornwallis would travel to strike the approaching militia. It was soon developed that he was at last aroused to energetic action, and that he came to Alamance as a crouching spot, from which he might pounce upon the prey as it passed, all nuconscious
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of danger. as he thought, within the length of his spring. If the militia were scattered and the 3000 arins which they were bringing to camp destroyed. Greene would be forced to cross the Dan again and North Carolina would be at the merey of the British crown. These were the anxious hopes that agitated the bosom of the British commander and brought victory to his imagination once more.
The line of march of the militia was a hazardous · oue, but General Greene was so much impressed with the idea and apprehension that Cornwallis would escape, that he resolved that they should approach by the nearest route. In order to guard against the possibility of their falling a prey to a sudden dash from the enemy, General Greene moved his camp down and across Troublesome Creek, fifteen miles, and put himself about the same distance from Cornwallis. Colonels Williams and Pickens were between them on the flank of the enemy. The American commander was confident that Cornwallis could not move without the knowl- edge of Williams and Pickens, and that they could impede his march until the militia could escape ; or if Cornwallis forced Williams and Pickens into a sudden or precipitate retreat they could fall back and join him, and their combined forces could so retard the enemy that he could not reach the rein- forcements. Greene now waited anxiously at his camp, at Boyd's Mill, ou Reedy Fork, seven miles above Whitsill's Mill, for the event of these several dispositions of his troops.
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Cornwallis, in the meantime, manenvered con- stautly, so as to impress Williams with the idea that he was about to begin a retreat to Cross Creek mow Fayetteville), on the Cape Fear River; but on the 6th day.of March, when least expected, the British commander made a sudden dash north, hoping to outstrip Williams to Whitsill's Mill, on Reedy Fork. and passing on ten miles further, and directly north, to intercept the train of the Ameri- can reinforcements at High Rock Ford, on the Haw River, which ford they would necessarily pass on their route to the permanent camp of Greene at the Speedwell Iron Works, further up that river. Cornwallis had scarcely moved out of his camp before the intelligence of it reached Williams, who was then on his left flank, and the race for Whit- sill's Mill was immediately begun. It was "neck and neck," on parallel roads-Williams flying, with his light troops, to the rescue of his friends; Corn- wallis dashing through every obstruction, with reckless speed, to reach the prize his heart had so anxiously coveted. Williams was unincumbered and fall of vigor; Cornwallis, though obliged to move his trains with his army, was desperate and determined. As the patrols and scouts passed from the one column to the other, apprising each of the advance of his competitor, the race grew more animated, the competitors more earnest and resolute ; the goal was now getting nearer and the excitement greater, when Williams, putting forth his whole energy, urged his men to a triumphant speed and
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dashed down the hill and across the Reedy Fork as the enemy appeared upon the crest in their rear, entering from the other road.
Williams drew up his forces on the north bank of the stream and gave the British a warm recep- tion. The enemy was checked; he had failed in his purpose to separate Williams from Greene.
Williams was now in seven miles of Greene, at Boyd's Mill, and soon informed him of the occur- rences of the day. Sending orders to Williams to fall back north, towards the High Rock Ford, on Haw River, where he proposed to meet him, General Greene at once moved in that direction for the pro- tection of the advancing reinforcements. The British commander finding that his stratagem had not succeeded, fell back to his old encampment.
The fight at Whitsill's Mill was sharp and severe-bloody while it lasted.
Lee, in his Memoirs, relates the thrilling story of Colonel Webster's almost miraculous escape in the skirmish :"
" The British van appeared, and after a halt for a few minutes on the opposite bank, descended the hill, ap- proaching the water, when, receiving a heavy fire of musketry and rifles, it fell back, and quickly reascending, was rallied on the margin of the bank. Here a field officer rode up, and in a loud voice addressed his soldiers, then rushed down the hill at their head and plunged into the water, our fire pouring upon him. In the woods occupied by the riflemen stood an old log school-
#Lee's Memoirs, p. 256.
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house, a little to the right of the ford. The mind stuffed between the logs had mostly fallen out and the apertures admitted the use of the life with case. In this house twenty-five . 25, select markemen, of King's Mountain militia, were posted by Lee, with orders to forego taking any part in the general resistance. but to hold them- selves in reserve for any particular objects. The lead- ing officer, plunging into the water, attracted general notice. and the seltool-house party, recollecting its order. sjagled him out as their mark. The stream being deep and the bottom rugged, he advanced slowly, his soldiers on each side of him, and apparently some of them hold- ing his stirrup leathers. This select party discharged their rifles at him, one by one, each man sure of knock- ing him over; and having reloaded, eight or nine of them emptied their guns a second time at the same object. Strange to tell, though in a condition so peril- ous, himself and horse were untouched ; and having crossed the creek, he soon formed his troops and ad- vanced upon us."
In a note Colonel Lee says :
"The twenty-five riflemen were selected for their superior excellence as marksmen. It was no uncommon amusement among them to put an apple on the point of a ramrod, and holding it in the hand, with the arm extended. to permit their comrades, known to be expert, to fire at it, when many balls would pass through the apple; and yet Lieutenant Colonel Webster, mounted on a stout horse, in point-blank shot, slowly moving through a deep water-course, was singled out by this party, who fired seriatim thirty-two or thirty-three times at him and neither Struck him nor his horse."
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This wonderful escape is only equaled by that of Washington at Braddock's defeat. It seems marvellous, yet we cannot doubt its truth.
Cornwallis now "withdrew from his camp on the Alamance to Bells' Mill. on Deep River," not far from where Jamestown now is, "with the reso- lution of restoring by rest the strength of his troops, and of holding it up for that decisivo day which, from his knowledge of the character of his adver- sary. he was assured would arrive as soon as he had acquired his expected reinforcements."*
The reinforcements, approaching, now continued on their way unmolested and reached Greene's camp at High Rock Ford, on the Haw River, on Sunday, March the rith, 1781.7 This was only four days before the great battle at Guilford Court- House, which I will attempt to describe truthfully and impartially in the succeeding chapter.
#Lee's Memoirs. +Johnson's Life of Greene, vol. 1, p. 472.
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CHAPTER VIL.
North Carolinians with Greene at the Battle of . Guilfor! Court- House"-Virginians with Him-The Troops constituting Hi> Regular Army-The Number and Character of the Troops under Cornwallis -Description of the Battle-Ground- Descrip- tion of the Battle-Definice of the North Carolina Militia -- Incidents and Anecdotes.of the Battle -Results of the Battle in its Effect on the Military History of the Country -Mr. Ben- ton's Review of the Importance of this Bittle-The Precur-or of Yorktown-The Lesser the Father of the Greater Event.
The battle of Guilford Court-House, fought on Thursday, March the 15th, 1781, between the American forces under Major General Nathanael Greene, and the English forces under Lord Corn- wallis, was, in my opinion, second in its results to 10 battle of the revolutionary war. It was the only pitched battle fought on the soil of North Carolina, between the two regular contending armies, of any magnitude, and for that reason is more conspicuous in North Carolina history than any other event of that period.
It has been described by Lee and Campbell. Vir- ginians, who participated in it, on the American side, and in their respective narratives they have severely reflected on the conduct of the North Carolina militia, who formed the first, or front line of Greene's army, and received the cannonade and first fire of the enemy. General Greene, though abstaining from the use of harsh language, has adopted that account and reported the militia as
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delinquent in duty in the fight; and for these rea- sous North Carolinians, without investigating the correctness of these statements, or considering the sources where they originated, or reflecting upon the extenuating, if not the justifying. circumstances which surrounded these troops, have suffered morti- fication at this supposed dereliction of duty on the part of their fellow-citizens.
These statements of Lee and Campbell have been · repeated so often, and have been so greatly exagger- ated by subsequent historians, especially by Johnson in his " Life of General Greene, " that it seems almost presumptuous to question their correctness. It is the more embarrassing because our own writers have carelessly fallen into this beaten track of error and repeated this story literally from others, until we are condemned "out of our own mouths." I shall not, however, shrink from the task of endeavoring to unfold the whole truth of history. and to publish important facts and circumstances which have either been intentionally or criminally suppressed by these historians, who have gone before, and also to show that much of the glory of this battle belongs to other classes of troops, from North Carolina, who participated in it and whose identity. as North Carolinians, has been overlooked by histo- rians because their names were not on the muster- rolls of the regular army, and who, though embodied as North Carolina soldiers, were fighting under commanders from other States.
There were three English historians, all soldiers. participating in this battle on the side of the crown,
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to-wit, Colonel Tarleton. Colonel Stedman and Sergeant Lamb, who have given their account of the struggle. Their testimony is entitled to respect, especially that of Stedman, whose fairness and honesty is admitted by American historians.
There is another source of information open to us in the cotemporaneous literature of that day, written by the soldiers engaged in the battle, many of them afterwards distinguished in church and state, and, last of all, is tradition, coming down to us from trustworthy sources. We may add to this positive testimony, the natural evidence which is always truthful and cannot be neglected by any reasonable tribunal investigating truth.
To all these sources of information I shall appeal for truth, and for justice to North Carolina, with the confidence that very much, if not all. the odinn attached to her militia will vanish away, and that the honorable part borne by her other volunteer troops, in this battle, shall be established beyond cavil or doubt.
On the roth day of March, 1781. on Saturday before the battle, General Greene wrote to Governor Jefferson, of Virginia, as follows:
"Every day has filled me with hopes of an augmen- tation of my force; the militia have flocked in from various quarters, but they come and go in such irregular bodies that I can make no calculation on the strength of iny army, or direct any future operations that can insure ine success. At this time I have not above Soo or 900 of them in the field. Yet there have been upwards of
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5000 in motion in the course of four weeks. A force, fluctuating in this manner, can promise but slender hopes of success against an enemy in high discipline, and made formi lable by the superiority of their num- bers. Hitherto I have been obliged to effect that by finesse which I dare not attempt by force. I know the people have been in anxious suspense, waiting the event of a general action. But let the consequence be what it may, nothing shall hurry me into a measure that is not suggested by prudence, or dictated by the interests of the Southern department.
"General Caswell is on his way with a considerable force of the Carolina militia; and Colonel Campbell, * with the Virginia regulars. I expect, will be up in a few days. When this force arrives, I trust I shall be able to prescribe the limits of the enemy's depredations, and at least dispose of the army in such a manner as to incum- ber him with a number of wounded men."+
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