March is such an important month in the history of Greensboro. March 15th was the day of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. In 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene led the Continental army against the British army, led by General Charles Lord Cornwallis. Though the British won the battle, we won the war.* While his army lost, General Greene survived the battle, living five more years and dying in Grove, GA, at the age of forty three! If we read our history books correctly, it seems like General Greene was only in Greensboro for about a month. Maybe not even that long. He arrived in North Carolina in February, arrived in Greensboro on March 14th, fought the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15th and headed for South Carolina in April. However, General Greene left a lasting impression on the area and, 27 years later, in 1808, when Greensboro became a town, it took Greene's name and we have been Greensborough/Greensboro ever since.
This is a very special time of year to visit Guilford Court House National Military Park. You can take a self-guided tour on your cell phone and learn about all of the statues and history. It is so special to see the park while the trees are in leafless winter mode and then again when the tree canopy is completely back. The monument stands over 27 feet tall. It was dedicated in 1915 and the sculptor was Francis H. Packer and the statue in the photo is bronze. The base (not visible in this photo) is granite. The monument was placed on the highest point in the park. Read more about it here in the North Carolina Encyclopedia. Please do head to the park and see these monuments for yourself. If you already have, go visit them again, and have a great day while you are at it! Happy Wednesday!
* Here is the link to the Wikipedia entry about the battle. It isn't a bad place to start if you need a quick refresher on Greensboro's early history.
A fitting person to have named the city for.
Posted by: William Kendall | Wednesday, March 03, 2021 at 09:06 AM