Guilford Courthouse National Military Park

2332 New Garden Road
Greensboro, NC 27410-2355

Phone
Visitor Information
(336) 288-1776

Explore The Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

Thursday, March 15, 1781.

"I never saw such fighting since God made me. The Americans fought like demons"

-Lt. General Charles, Earl Cornwallis

Things to Do

The largest, most hotly-contested battle of the Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign was fought at the small North Carolina backcountry hamlet of Guilford Courthouse. The battle proved to be the high-water mark of British military operations in the Revolutionary War.

The park visitor center and park headquarters are located near the park entrance on New Garden Road (2332 New Garden Road).

Begin your park visit at the visitor center. Here, you will find information on the park and the battle. Rangers or volunteers at the information desk are glad to help you with answers and assistance. 

Primary facilities in the visitor center are a thirty-two minute live-action theater film, "Another Such Victory" (shown on the hour); a ten-minute animated Battle Map Program explaining the tactics of the battle (shown on the :15 and :45 of the hour); and colorful museum exhibits combining informative text with original artifacts and weaponry. 

A twenty-minute tactile Battle Map program is available to any sight-impaired visitor. Also in the visitor center is a bookstore (operated by Eastern National) offering visitors over 600 publications and theme-related items for sale on the battle and the Revolutionary War. A narrated automobile tour of the battlefield on CD is also available for sale. Bookstore hours are the same as the visitor center.

On March 15, 1781. the largest, most hotly-contested battle of the Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign was fought at the small North Carolina backcounty hamlet of Guilford Courthouse.

Major General Nathanael Greene, defending the ground at Guilford Courthouse with an army of almost 4,500 American militia and Continentals, was tactically defeated by a smaller British army of about 1,900 veteran regulars and German allies commanded by Lord Charles Cornwallis. 

After 2 1/2 hours of intense and often brutal fighting, Cornwallis forced his opponent to withdraw from the field. Greene's retreat preserved the strength of his army, but Cornwallis's frail victory was won at the cost of over 25% of his army.

Guilford Courthouse proved to be the high-water mark of British military operations in the Revolutionary War. Weakened in his campaign against Greene, Cornwallis abandoned the Carolinas hoping for success in Virginia. At Yorktown, seven months after his victory at Guilford Courthouse, Lord Cornwallis would surrender to the combined American and French forces under General George Washington.

Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, at 2331 New Garden Road in Greensboro, North Carolina, commemorates the Battle of Guilford Court House, fought on March 15, 1781. This battle opened the campaign that led to American victory in the Revolutionary War. The British lost a substantial number of troops at the battle, a factor in their surrender at Yorktown seven months later.

Did You Know?
Two Presidents of the United States have visited the Guilford Court House battlefield? George Washington visited and stayed overnight in June 1791 and Gerald R. Ford spoke to a large Bicentennial audience from the Greene Monument in March 1976.