James Gillies, the teenage bugler for Light-Horse Harry Lee, was killed near this spot by Tarleton's British Dragoons on February 12, 1781. Gillies accompanied a small posse of Revolutionaries from a camp near present-day Summerfield to verify reports of nearby Loyalists to the west. They were spotted and chased, and Gillies was caught and killed by the sword during the retreat to warn Lee of the advancement. He is buried in the Charles Bruce family cemetery in Summerfield.