Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse

by Lawrence E. Babits, Joshua B. Howard

Overview

On March 15, 1781, the armies of Nathanael Greene and Lord Charles Cornwallis fought one of the bloodiest and most intense engagements of the American Revolution at Guilford Courthouse in piedmont North Carolina. In Long, Obstinate, and Bloody, the first book-length examination of the Guilford Courthouse engagement, Lawrence E. Babits and Joshua B. Howard piece together what really happened on the wooded plateau in what is today Greensboro, North Carolina, and identify where individuals stood on the battlefield, when they were there, and what they could have seen, thus producing a new bottom-up story of the engagement.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780807887677
Publisher:	The University of North Carolina Press
Publication date:	03/15/2009
Sold by:	Barnes & Noble
Format:	eBook
Pages:	320
File size:	5 MB

About the Author

Lawrence E. Babits is professor emeritus of history at East Carolina University.
Joshua B. Howard is an independent scholar.

Table of Contents

Contents

Preface
Acknowledgments
Introduction: The Strategic Situation
1. The Race to the Dan
2. From the Dan to Guilford Courthouse
3. Greene's Army
4. The British Army Advances
5. The First Line
6. The Second Line
7. The Battle within a Battle
8. The Third Line
9. The Aftermath
10. The Guilford "Crossroads"
Epilogue
Appendix A: Order of Battle
Appendix B: Battle Casualties
Appendix C: Postwar Location of Pensioners by State of Service
Glossary
A Note on Sources
Notes
Bibliography
Index

What People are Saying About This

From the Publisher

It is surprising that such a significant and dramatic event has avoided detailed treatment for more than 225 years, but we are fortunate that historians of the caliber of Babits and Howard have undertaken the task. This is certainly the best and most complete account of Guilford Courthouse produced to date, and it serves as a model for future battle histories dealing with the War of Independence.—Gregory J. W. Urwin, Temple University

Editorial Reviews

On March 15, 1781, Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene and Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis faced each other in the largest battle of the American Revolution's southern theater. Cornwallis's force of roughly 2000, mostly British regulars, drove off Greene's larger force of over 4000. But Babits (history, East Carolina Univ.) and Howard (research historian, North Carolina Office of Archives and History; coauthor, Fortitude and Forbearance: The North Carolina Continental Line in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783) argue that Cornwallis's significant losses of over a quarter of his men led him to withdraw from North Carolina and attempt an invasion of Virginia that ultimately led to his defeat and surrender at Yorktown. The current work serves as the battle's only full-length monograph. Included are descriptions and analyses not only of the battle but also of events leading up to it, such as the engagement at Cowan's Ford. All the while, the authors provide extremely detailed depictions of the various military encounters, using all of the resources at their disposal to determine exactly what transpired at every point. Complete with endnotes, this is professional history written in an approachable manner. Recommended for public and academic libraries with Revolutionary War collections.
—Matthew J. Wayman

Library Journal

THE most definitive description of any engagement of the American Revolution. . . . Will prove to be one of the most thorough works of the 21st century dealing with the American Revolution. . . . Superbly written, edited, and researched, and . . . sets a comprehensive standard that will change the expectations of analysis, source materials, and writing of military history.—Northwest Ohio History

A read through this work will bring an understanding of the events of the day, how they relate to the larger events of the [Revolutionary War], and a sense of what the world was like at that time.—Southern Pines Pilot

A compelling read. . . . Great details from unexpected sources. . . . Another step forward in giving the Revolutionary War its due.—Greensboro News & Record

Illustrations and maps enhance the work. . . . A welcome addition to the library of any serious student of the American Revolution.—On Point

A fine, professional account. . . . A remarkable story . . . Babits and Howard do an excellent job of summing [the battle] up.—Wilmington Star News

Provides an unprecedented level of research and detail. . . . This account of Guilford Courthouse is a welcome and much-needed addition to the body of Revolutionary War military history, and will be the foundation upon which all future research into this engagement is based.—The Journal of Military History

Babits and Howard admirably demonstrate how meticulous research in under-utilized primary sources yields new insights and substantive corrections on long-accepted accounts of the past.—Military History of the West

The authors have discovered new pieces to the puzzle and have achieved perhaps the best synthesis to date. . . . A masterful job. . . . A major addition to the scholarship, and for students of the American Revolution, particularly the Southern Campaign, it is a must-read.—Journal of America's Military Past

This book will clearly have value to historians trying to understand the critical Southern campaign. And there will be readers—serious military history buffs, battlefield re-enactors—who will treasure the detail.—journalnow.com

Detailed and comprehensive.—McCormick Messenger

The definitive, unbiased account of this important and largely ignored battle of the Revolution. . . . This book is one of the best ever written on the American Revolution.—The North Carolina Historical Review

[A] masterful microhistory of the engagement . . . employing a truly impressive array of primary sources. Babits and Howard have cleared away two hundred years of conjecture and brought the battle of Guilford Courthouse closer to historical reality.—Journal of Southern History

From the Publisher