Battle of Summerfield

The Battle of Summerfield was a skirmish, in the area that today is Summerfield, North Carolina in present-day northern Guilford County, between Patriot forces under the command of Col. Henry Lee III and British forces of Banastre Tarleton on February 12, 1781. One month prior to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse, the armies of Col. Otho Williams and Col. Henry Lee stopped to dine at the home of a Patriot supporter, Charles Bruce. While they were encamped at the home of Bruce, a farmer and supporter of the Patriot cause, Isaac Wright, appeared to inform the soldiers that a group of British Dragoons was on the march and not far from their location. Col. Otho Willims directed Lee to investigate this finding. Lee dispatched a division of his men under the command of Captain James Armstrong, to follow him and to see if they could verify Wright's report.

Battle of Summerfield
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Date February 12, 1781 Location Present-day Summerfield, North Carolina 36.2009, -79.9033 Result United States victory
Belligerents
United States	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Henry Lee III James Armstrong Stephen Lewis	Banastre Tarleton Cornet Williams (POW)
Strength
Unknown	Unknown
Casualties and losses
1 killed (James Gillis)	20 killed 4 captured

Wright's horse was in no condition to return to the location from exhaustion after riding at top speed and so Lee offered the horse of his bugler boy, 14 year old James Gillis. Gillis was worried that he would not see his horse again and decided to follow along with the farmer's party. The expeditionary party accidentally surprised the British and rode back to warn Lee and prepare for the battle that was to come. The Dragoons, under the command of Banastre Tarleton, pursued the retreating Patriots and Gillis was overtaken by the faster calvary. Col. Lee ordered his men to return and rescue Gillis. They arrived just as the unarmed Gillis was being mercilessly cut down by Tarleton's dragoons while begging for quarter. Lee's troops, enraged at witnessing the merciless ordeal, clashed into Tarleton's men and killed seven of his Dragoons immediately. More of Tarleton's calvary arrived as the fighting was intensifying. Captain Cornet Miller arrived with reinforcements into the engagement and suffered thirteen additional casualties. Seeing that the battle was losing favor with the British, Captain Miller attempted to escape from the area but was captured by Lt. Stephen Lewis along with three of his men.

Handing him a pen and a sheet of paper, Lee told Miller to write down his last words to his loved ones, as he held Miller responsible for the death of the young Gillis. Just as Miller was about to be executed, Lord Cornwallis's army was spotted not too far near their location. Lt. Col. Lee was in no condition to engage Cornwallis and had no choice but to return to Col. Otho Williams camp. Evading death, Capt. Miller was escorted to Major General Nathanael Greene as a prisoner of war.

Today there are two memorials dedicated to the sacrifice of James Gillis. One has been placed at the Guilford Courthouse National Military Park and another at the actual site of his death as well as a state historical marker in the town of Summerfield.