O. Henry Biography Page: 49
ix, 258 p., [10] leaves of plates : ill., front. (port.) ; 24 cm.View a full description of this book.
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BIRTHPLACE AND EARLY YEARS
with 'March 15, 1781, similarly impressed. Since the
publication, however, of Schenck's "Memorial Volume
of the Guilford Battle Ground Company," in 1893,
historians have begun to recognize that in any fair
perspective the battle of Guilford Court House must
rank as a turning point in the Revolutionary War.
Ultimate victory was assured and would have come to
the patriot arms without the contribution of this battle,
but it would not have come at Yorktown seven months
and four days later. A participant in the battle wrote
immediately afterward :*
The enemy were so beaten that we should have disputed the
victory could we have saved our artillery, but the General thought
that it was a necessary sacrifice. The spirits of the soldiers would
have been affected if the cannon had been sent off the field, and
in this woody country cannon cannot always be sent off at a
critical moment.
The General, by his abilities and good conduct and by his
activity and bravery in the field, has gained the confidence and
respect of the army and the country to an anmazing degree. You
would, from the countenances of our men, believe they had been
decidedly victorious. They are in the highest spirits, and appear
most ardently to wish to engage the enemy again. The enemy
are much embarrassed by their wounded. When we consider
the n!akedness of our troops and of course their want of discipline,
their numbers, and the loose, irregular manner in which we came
into the field, I think we have done wonders. I rejoice at our
success, and were our exertions and sacrifices published to the
world as some commanding officers would have published them,
we should have received more applause than our modesty claims
*The letter was published in the Newi Jersey State Gazette of April 11, 1781.c C I
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Smith, C. Alphonso (Charles Alphonso), 1864-1924. O. Henry Biography, book, 1916; Garden City, New York. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth139384/m1/65/: accessed July 17, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting Austin History Center, Austin Public Library.