Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, aka Guilford Battlefield
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showbizkid
N 36° 07.886 W 079° 50.794
17S E 603785 N 3999142
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park was the site of the 1781 Revolutionary War battle known as the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. While the battle was a British victory, the Colonial soldiers extracted a heavy price at this battle, with the British suffering a 25% casulty rate. The war would be won by the United States seven months later.
Waymark Code: WMBPY
Location: North Carolina, United States
Date Posted: 05/01/2006
Views: 77
The battle fought at the small North Carolina backcounty hamlet of Guilford Courthouse on Thursday, March 15, 1781, was the largest, most hotly-contested action of the Revolutionary War's climactic Southern Campaign.
Major General Nathanael Greene, defending the ground at Guilford Courthouse with an army of almost 4,500 American militia and Continentals, was tactically defeated by a smaller British army of about 1,900 veteran regulars and German allies commanded by Lord Charles Cornwallis. After 2 1/2 hours of intense and often brutal fighting, Cornwallis forced his opponent to withdraw from the field. Greene's retreat preserved the strength of his army, but Cornwallis's frail victory was won at the cost of over 25% of his army.
Guilford Courthouse proved to be the highwater mark of British military operations in the Revolutionary War. Weakened in his campaign against Greene, Cornwallis abandoned the Carolinas hoping for success in Virginia. At Yorktown, seven months after his victory at Guilford Courthouse, Lord Cornwallis would surrender to the combined American and French forces under General George Washington.
This National Military Park has a fine visitor's center with some very recent films and audio-visual presentations and a knowledgeable staff. The battleground is viewed by car or on foot. The tour route is about 2 1/2 miles.
To record your own visit to this waymark, take and post your own photo of the visitor center or entrance signage. Include some comments about your visit. Log must contain photos or will be achived. Thanks.