Guilford
Courthouse, 15 March 1781
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Resolution)
General Nathaniel Greene assumed command of the
remnants of the Southern Army after Horatio Gates'
disastrous defeat at Camden. In his ensuing campaign
against Lord Cornwallis he sought to gain strength
while harassing British forces and drawing them
further from their bases on the coast. His position
immensely strengthened by Daniel Morgan's victory at
Cowpens (17 January 1781), Greene skillfully retreated
before Cornwallis' force and finally, his ranks
swollen by militia, gave battle on grounds of his own
choosing at Guilford Court House, N.C.
Greene deployed his forces in three lines. The
first was composed of North Carolina militia whom he
asked to fire several volleys and retire; the second
was made up of Virginia militia; the third, posted on
a rise of ground, comprised Virginia, Maryland, and
Delaware Continentals.
When Cornwallis' Regulars launched their attack,
the first line of militia fired their rounds and fled
the battlefield, the second line offered stiffer
resistance but also withdrew. Before the second line
gave way, several British units broke through and
charged the last line. Greene observed as the veteran
First Maryland Continentals threw back a British
attack and countered with a bayonet charge. As they
reformed their line, William Washington's Light
Dragoons raced by to rescue raw troops of the Fifth
Maryland who had buckled under a furious assault of
British Grenadiers and Guards.
Finally Greene ordered a retreat, since he was
determined not to risk the loss of his army. For the
British it was another Pyrrhic victory. Cornwallis,
his force depleted, withdrew to the coast at
Wilmington and then went on to his rendezvous with
destiny at Yorktown. Greene, while losing two more
such battles, by October 1781 had forced the British
to withdraw to their last enclaves in the South
&emdash; Charleston and Savannah.