Facts about Battle of Guilford Courthouse
- 09
Charles James Fox famously cited the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in Parliament as proof that British military victories in America were ultimately pyrrhic and unsustainable.
- 08
At Guilford Courthouse, British forces had to advance through dense woods and across open fields in North Carolina's Piedmont terrain, negating their traditional tactical advantages in disciplined linear formations.
- 07
Following his tactical victory, Cornwallis abandoned Guilford Courthouse and marched his weakened army toward Yorktown, Virginia, where he would surrender to Washington just seven months later.
- 06
North Carolina militia units under Greene's command fled the battlefield at Guilford Courthouse after firing only two volleys, abandoning their positions before the main British assault reached their lines.
- 05
Cornwallis's army suffered such devastating casualties at Guilford Courthouse that the British general was forced to retreat to Wilmington, North Carolina, effectively ceding control of the interior South to Greene.
- 04
Approximately 4,400 British troops under Cornwallis faced roughly 4,500 American militia and regulars at Guilford Courthouse, making it one of the largest engagements of the Southern Campaign.
- 03
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse lasted approximately two hours on March 15, 1781, with British forces pursuing Greene's army northward for only twenty miles before halting their advance.
- 02
General Nathanael Greene's three-line militia formation at Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781, forced the British to advance through successive defensive positions across open ground.
- 01
On March 15, 1781, British General Cornwallis claimed victory at Guilford Courthouse despite suffering 93 killed and 413 wounded compared to American losses of 79 killed.