Overview
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse took place on March 15, 1781, during the American Revolutionary War, in present-day Greensboro, North Carolina. The encounter involved a force of approximately 1,900 British soldiers under the command of General Lord Charles Cornwallis and a contingent of about 4,500 American troops led by Major General Nathanael Greene. Despite having a numerical disadvantage, the British forces achieved a tactical victory, managing to drive the American forces from the battlefield. However, this victory came at a high cost, as Cornwallis lost nearly a quarter of his troops in the process, with many of his remaining forces left injured or fatigued.
The implications of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse were far-reaching. Even though the British won the battle, the heavy casualties they sustained weakened their hold over the Southern Colonies. Unable to maintain control or recruit more Loyalist support, Cornwallis decided to move his forces to Virginia in search of reinforcements, a decision that eventually led to the Siege of Yorktown, the decisive battle of the Revolutionary War. Thus, while Guilford Courthouse was a tactical victory for the British, it was also a strategic setback. The battle demonstrated the effectiveness of the Patriot strategy of attrition and significantly influenced the course of the war, setting the stage for the eventual American victory.
Diaries and Memoirs
Rebel Side
Lee, Henry. Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. Washington, DC: Peter Force, 1827.
Moultrie, William. Memoirs of the American Revolution, so Far as It Related to the States of North and South Carolina, and Georgia. Vol. I. New York: David Longworth, 1804.
British/Loyalist Side
Lamb, Roger, and Don N Hagist. A British Soldier’s Story: Roger Lamb’s Narrative of the American Revolution. Baraboo, Wis.: Ballindalloch Press, 2004.
Tarleton, Banastre. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America. Dublin: Colles, Exshaw, White, H. Whitestone, Burton, Bryne, Moore, Jones and Dornin, 1787.
Other Primary Sources
A list of soldiers who participated in the Battle of Guilford Courthouse and supporting primary sources has been compiled by the Daughters of the American Revolution, March 2018.
Secondary Sources
Babits, Lawrence Edward, and Joshua B. Howard. Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Chapel Hill: University of North Carolina Press, 2009.
Buchanan, John. The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. New York: Wiley, 1997.
Battlefield Maps
Battlefield Images
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