Fragmented Attack

Stationed on the left flank of the American First Line, Lt. Col. Henry Lee and his legion of cavalry and infantry had orders to withdraw and support the second line after the first line gave way. Disoriented by the thick woods and the chase of battle, Lee’s forces veered southeast and missed the left flank of the second line. This confusion had serious consequences for both armies, as a large contingent of redcoats and Hessians split off from the main British advance and pursued Lee’s Legion in a separate running battle. That action fragmented the British attack, and both sides’ battle plans began to unravel amid a landscape described in 1781 as a wilderness of tall woods made intricate by shrubs and thick underbrush, with only scattered plantations and cleared fields.

Greensboro, North Carolina · United States