The times. [volume] (Richmond, Va.) 1890-1903, 1895-03-10
NORTH STATE HEROES.
MONUMENTS ERECTED UPON TIE
0UILFoRD @. H. BATTLE FIELD.
Uati within the Past Few Years the
Ground wss Almsss Entirely Neglected.
The Position OF each Army Msrksd.


that our country has past which. while
II covers comparatively but brief era,
still teens with evonts-events OF ma
ture 10 lundle national pride and inspire
national gratitude. and which a duty
alike TO our ancestors and poSterity de-
mands that we should 'Commemorate.
Stately columns. recalling signal occur
rencos. everywhere point skwyaid; and
representations in bronze and marble OF
the heroic dead who led our armies in
their resistance 20 British oppression. and
later ia unhappy civil strife, adorn' the
squares Of both Northern and Southern
cities.
The old North State. however. always
more prompt in the doing OF patriouc
deeds than in the singing Of them. had
been slow 10 join this movement. In the
late war the Southern ranks were SweIl-
Cd with larger delegations from North
Carolina than from any OF her sister
states. and yet there are comparatively
few Confederate memorials within her
borders. The bloody encounter at Gull
ford Courthouse. conceded - be enc Of
the decisive conflicts OF tho Revolutionary
war-the conflict, indeed, which made pos
sible the grand climateric at Yorktown.
was fought upon her soil; but uu.E with
IN the last eight years the old battle
ground lay neglected. mass OF briers.
Then one OF her sons. David Schenck
Of Greensboro. prompted less by desire
TO record the glorious achiev sments of
his az cestors than 10 rid them OF a foul
imputation under which they had rested
for more than a century conceived the
idca Of rescuing the historic field from
impending Oblivion. and conscning 10
IL the sacred dust Of its terccs. scatter
Cd here and there I'm neglected graves.
and IN reviewing his work. one knows
not which most 10 admire-the generous
disintercsted patriotism which prompt
ed II. or the ability with which 1t has
been executed.
With the aid of Caruthors map. coupled
with traditional Information, he succeed
"a in locating tho position Of each army.
and In following them as they shifted
from point 10 point I'm tie progress OF
the battle. He did more With the help
OF the same traditional testimony.
strengthened by an examination of writ
ten authorities and tho verdict of skill
cd military men. who visited the grounds
and made a careful investigation Of the
plan Of n engagement. he established
the fact that the North Carolina volun-
teers were the last 10 retire from the
field and that her militia. who received
the nrst shock Of the battle, retreated
after firing a second round in obedience
10 orders, and not, as has been asserted
under the influence OF "cowardly panic.
That their retreat became a "disorderly
-Out' IS not to lie wondered AZ when we
remember that they were without any
thing resembling military training; but
the historian should discriminate be-
tween want Of discipline and d lack of
courage.
In reviewing that period ono can scarce
~ fail TO recognize in General Nathaniel
Greene, the commander OF the American
forces at the battle OF Guilford. one of
the greatest military geniuses of the Rev
dictionary WIZ. His operations were a
succession Of ably planned. successfully
executed strategies, for his nominal de-
feats were virtual victories. In the en-
gagement under consideration for ex-
ample, although ne lost the field, he gain
ri the end for which he fought. and Earl
Chatham. In commenting upon the event,
exclaimed
"One more such victory Will ruin the
British army
CORVALLIS lost one-third Of his men in
killed and wounded, and unable 10 pur-
sue his disastrous conquest. he hastily
buried his dead. leaving the wounded to
the mercy of his enemies, and sought the
protection Of his ships at Wilmington.
The Southern army, when Greene sue
C,eded Gates In the command of 1t. I'm
1850. was a mere skeleton with no artil-
lery. baggage or stores.
II Is "A Northumberland fact that
large, majority of the men who carried
death into tho British ranks at Eutaw
Springs were almost i'm state of nature
that their bodies were CALLED by their
cartouch boxes. and their shoulders pro-
tccted from chatting only by bits of rag
or tufts of moss. Writing OF their condi-
ton 10 General Lafayette, Greene says:
Were YOU TO arrive here you would
Ind a few ragged. half-s,arved troops In
Ihe wilderness. destitute" OF everything
aeceS airy for the comfort or convenience
VI soldiers"
Before him was veteran army. skill
Vi IN the art Of warfare. Supplied with
al the munitions which the age afforded,
and flushed with victory; about him an
exhausted country. His sick and wound
"a were dying for want of medicines and
proper food, and i'm order TO supply their
necessities, and secure his men against
actual starvation, the commander was
obliged to make himself responsible as
an indorscr for the contractor. At the
battle of Guilford Court House. the force
under General Greene amounted 10 about
1851 regulars. the rest-numhering 2.OO-
consisted of North Carolina and Virginia
militia, and volunteers form the same
States who without draft OF Conscrip-
ton. and with neither pay nor rations,
rallied 10 his standard.
The position selected by the American
commander was a strong one, pelns upon
the side of a hill. at the foot OF which ran
A rivulet. His army was drawn up in
three lines The first was composed OF
the North Carolina militia a THOUSAND
strong who, armed only with their hunt
ing rifles were stationed behind a worm
fence. with orders TO fire twice and re-
treat. This they did. reloading their
clumsy pieces in the very teeth of the
enemy. Their left flank was protected by
the Virginia command under Colonel Will
liam Cambell Major Joseph Winstons
North Carolina Volunteers and Lees Lee
gion. Their right ~ Kirkwood's Del
awares. Lynch's Virginia Volunteers and
Colonel William Washingtons cavalry.
The second line-three hundred yards
behind the first-waS drawn up IN deep
forest. and consisted OF the Virginia milf
tia under Lawson and Stevens, and the
thlrd-four hundred yards further east
was composed Of the four regiments OF
regulars OF these. the Virginia regiment
was commander by General Hueer the
First Maryland by Colonel Gunby, the
second Maryland by Colonel lord ana
the Third Maryland by Colonel Williams
Gunby had fought under Washington IN
his New Jersey campaigns: and, when
transferred to the Southern army, had
routed Tarleton at Cowpens. His was the
only veteran regiment in the command.
The other three were new levies, with
only a small sprinkling Of experienced
soldiers among them. The British troops
upwards OF 1000 strong--were drawn up
IN a single line and consisted Of thorough
~ equipped. well-disciplined men, expert
enced in battles both in America and