The Battle of Moore’s Bridge and Guilford Courthouse
The American Revolution was basically the struggle with thirteen colonies against the British. Leading up to the revolution was The Stamp Act, The Townshend Acts and The Tea Act & the Boston Tea Party. The American Revolution started in 1775, climaxed in 1776, and completely ended in 1789 when the Constitution was ratified. The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge and Guilford Courthouse were both part of the American Revolution.
The Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge took place on February 27, 1776. It took place around present day Wilmington at Moore’s Creek. Moore’s Creek was named after an early settler that had settled right around the area. In the Battle of Moore’s Creek, the Loyalists who were people that supported the king and were struggling to maintain British law and policies against the other side, the Patriots. The Patriots were people who supported the growing rebellion against the royal crown, which was Great Britain. The General for the Loyalists was Donald McDonald and for the Patriots, Richard Caswell & Alexander Lillington.
On February 27th the Loyalists departed from their camp around one o’clock in the morning to arrive to the bridge shortly before dawn. They arrive to see their defense on the other side of the bridge unoccupied. McDonald immediately ordered forces that his men line up behind trees in an orderly manner. A Patriot fired a musket to signal the start of the war and immediately, McDonald ordered attack. The Patriots removed the planks on the bridge and greased the bridge so it is slippery. In order to fight, the Loyalists had to cross the bridge but they couldn’t cross it without falling from the grease and there were no planks to walk across. The Loyalists quickly surrendered, giving the Patriots a victory. In the end, there were 50 Loyalists killed and wounded and there was one Patriot killed and one wounded. This was the first major battle fought within the colonies and the first battle fought in North Carolina. This victory had a lasting impact on the population on North Carolina. This victory helped build political support for the revolution and increased recruitment of additional soldiers into their forces. Later in the war, when General Lord Charles Cornwallis was campaigning in the colony, the remaining Loyalist population, remembering their earlier defeat, refused to turn out in large numbers or openly support his advance. The victory of this war left North Carolina free of any kind of war and battle for four years until the British tried to conquer the south in 1778. It also led to the Passing of Halifax Resolves.
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse took place on March 15, 1781. It took place just north of Greensboro. It was located on the main north/south road between Salisbury, NC and Petersburg, VA. The two armies were meeting there because it was an ideal backwoods assembly point for about 4,000 soldiers fighting under Greene. Greene also knew that there were no nearby bodies of water where his troops could be trapped in if they left the battlefield. The war was against the British and the Patriots. The British leader was General Nathaniel Greene and the Patriot’s leader was General Lord Cornwallis. On the British side of the war there were approximately one thousand nine hundred soldiers and on the American Patriot side of the war there were about four thousand four hundred soldiers.
On the morning of March 15, 1781, it was clear and cold. In the damp woods of what had been a farming community in the Piedmont on a major east-west road through North Carolina thousands of American troops, in various uniforms and country clothes, waited for battle. Greene had arranged his defense in three lines and they were ready to shoot. Cornwallis had found his army positioned on rising ground about one and a half
