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Print PreviewBattle of Swallow Ford
On 15 March 1781, John (24), James, Benjamin (26), David, Joseph, and William (33) Rogers took part in the Revolutionary War Battle at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina. John has become known to us as John (the Powder Maker). William and Benjamin were his older brothers. We believe that David, Joseph, and James were also brothers and sons of Benjamin (the Immigrant). The Rogers "boys" were part of the Montgomery County Virginia Militia under Colonel William Campbell and Colonel Preston.
They had volunteered to serve for 30 days at the request of General Nathaniel Greene (Greene County Missouri was named after him). By the time the battle took place, the militia had been on horse back for 19 days and had participated in an engagement at Whitzell’s Mills on Reedy Creek on 6 March. In that action, they had to cross the creek on foot. The water was deep, swift, and the river bottom slippery. All except William appeared in the Montgomery Court the following May to claim between £10 and £20 for personal equipment lost during that action.
This was not the first time these men had volunteered to leave their farms and family to fight against the British, Indians, and earlier the French. Five months prior, frontiersmen from Virginia and North Carolina won a major victory against their fellow countrymen who sided with the British at the Battle of King’s Mountain. Family tradition and earlier researchers claim that John (TPM) was at King’s Mountain, but we have found no proof of his involvement in that engagement.
Montgomery County was the frontier at that time. Tennessee, Kentucky and Ohio were still unsettled and the Indians were fighting to keep it that way. In that there was always a threat from the Cherokee and Shawnee Indians, leaving families was always risky, but it was a calculated risk and they believed this was the only way to end British rule.
The frontiersmen who made up the Montgomery County militia were at that time part of the force commanded by General Greene that included colonial regulars under Colonel "Light Horse" Harry Lee. Lee was the father of a far more famous American, General Robert E. Lee. But at the time Light Horse Harry Lee was a household name in America.
The frontiersmen had a major advantage over the British and even the colonial regulars…….their rifles. The long rifles carried by the frontiersmen had much greater accuracy than the muskets of the British and the colonial regulars. In addition, all frontiersmen carried a scalping knife and many carried a tomahawk. In battles against the Indians, it was not only the Indians who took scalps.
The engagement at Whitzell's Mills on Reedy Creek was a delaying action to enable the Americans to load General Greene's provision wagons with flour and meal from the mills and evacuate these much-needed supplies. On the American side, primarily Campbell's riflemen and Lee's Legion did the fighting. On the British side we find under Lord Cornwallis, Tarleton's Dragoons and the German (Hessian mercenaries) Boze's Yager or Jäger Regiment. The Americans formed on the southern bank of the stream, in front of the ford, and some two hundred yards below the mills.
The Americans opened fire when the British and German troops were within 80 yards with deadly effect. They fired again when the enemy was only some 45 yards away and this time their fire was even more destructive. The enemy opened fire with their field pieces and small arms, but both were too high.
Having accomplished their objective: delay long enough so that the mills' provisions could be evacuated, the Americans withdrew over the ford. The creek was some three feet deep, with a rapid current, slippery rocky bottom, and a very steep brushy bank on the north side. It would appear this is why so many of the men lost equipment in this action. For us and many other genealogical researchers, this was a stroke of luck since many of these men including five of the six Rogers men involved in this battle appeared in Montgomery Co Court some months later to claim reimbursement for their losses thus documenting their service.
At Guilford, the Montgomery County militia found themselves again pitted against German Hessians who were part of the British force under Lord Cornwallis. The frontiersmen fought well and inflicted casualties twice their number on the German mercenaries. Lee and his cavalry who were fighting next to Colonel Campbell’s militia suddenly and without informing Campbell withdrew leaving Campbell’s force exposed. At this point, British cavalry charged the frontiersmen and cut down some of the men. Lee’s cavalry was not to be seen.
"Campbell and his men felt deeply aggrieved – feeling that Lee had abandoned them without notice, and left them to maintain the unequal contest unprotected by cavalry, when the British dragoons charged them". That is a quote from a book about General Greene and is probably a great understatement. I suspect the frontiersmen wanted Lee’s scalp.
Campbell was so mad that the next day he spoke openly of Lee’s shameful actions and told General Greene, if that’s how these brave men were to be treated, he could take this job and ……………well you know the rest.
Despite General Greene’s compliments about Colonel Campbell’s brave men and their performance at the battle, Campbell resigned and left immediately with his force of frontier militia. By June 1781, the Virginia General Assembly called Campbell to service again and promoted him to Brigadier General of the militia to serve under Marquis De La Fayette who was commanding the entire Virginia forces.
The Battle at Guilford Courthouse was very important to the outcome of the Revolution in that it weakened Lord Cornwallis’ force and caused him to seek a safe place to rest and reconstitute his troops. Cornwallis moved his force north and ultimately to Yorktown where the American Army led by George Washington defeated Cornwallis’ force in October 1781. Cornwallis’ surrender ended the Revolution. We can be proud of the part played by those six Rogers "boys" who took great risks and made enormous sacrifices to do what they knew needed to be done. We owe them a lot.
This page was last updated on: May 16 2008
