BATTLE OF WEITZEL’S MILL
March 6, 1781

The Battle of Weitzel’s Mill on March 6, 1781, was a continuation of the night skirmish at Clapp’s Mill, which had occurred the day before. Afterward, Lt. Col. Henry Lee sent out Captain Joseph Graham and twenty-five mounted soldiers of the Mecklenburg Militia to see if the British were still in the area. They discovered that the redcoats, having buried their dead, had left.

Joseph Graham traveled up the road with his Mecklenburg Dragoons until his men had come within a half mile of the British lines. As the sun set, Captain Graham gave orders to his sergeant and six men to take a message to Lt. Colonel Lee explaining the exact location of the enemy position. Under the cover of darkness, Graham then ordered his men to move through the woods on the outskirts of the British encampment and capture two sentries who had been spotted just before sunset.

Unfortunately for the Patriots, they were detected by the British sentries, and they began to open fire on the advancing Americans. A squad of British soldiers was sent forward to try and intercept the Americans, but Graham ordered his men to return fire and sent the British back to their encampment. A British officer was captured by the Americans in the confusion of the night firing. Throughout the remainder of the night British sentries sporadically fired their weapons into the woods.

The best assessment of the condition of the two armies during the early hours of March 6, 1781 can be summed up from General Charles O’Hara’s comments stating, “The Americans were constantly avoiding a general action and we were industriously seeking it”.

General Cornwallis grew more and more anxious to draw General Greene into an open confrontation so he could destroy the American Army. On March 6, 1781 he decided to press the issue. At 5:30 AM approximately 3,000 British troops led by Banastre Tarleton and a brigade of Lt. Colonel James Webster, set out on a forced march toward the Haw River, near present day, Burlington and Graham. By the time Colonel Otho Williams and his troops received news that the enemy was on the march, Cornwallis’ Army moved within two miles of him and was closing in fast. Upon the reports from Williams’s patrols he withdrew his small force. He left some of his troops behind giving them instructions to harass and slow down the British advance.

As the British Army moved along the road they began receiving fire from Williams’ snipers. The British continued to push forward, but the Americans could not slow the British advance. The British advance was so rapid that the American rear guard found itself practically on top of the British flanks rather than in their front. The chase went on for some 10 miles, with both armies essentially running parallel to one another, but racing toward the objective of Reedy Fork Creek.

Colonel Campbell, who had recently reinforced Andrew Pickens and his exhausted militia, camped his Mountain men on a plantation near Williams’ position. These soldiers, as informal in camp as on the battlefield, had neglected to put out their sentries, were suddenly attacked in their sleep. Lt. Colonel Webster’s infantry was in close range, as the Patriots scrambled to organize themselves.

Colonel Williams had proceeded to Weitzel’s Mill near the Reedy Fork Creek. Just as they were crossing at Rocky Ford, the British arrived and began firing on the rear of Williams. He left behind a covering force consisting of Lee’s Legion, Washington Dragoons, and the militia units of Colonel James Preston and William Campbell. Andrew Pickens’ South Carolina and Georgia militia units also provided covering fire, while the main body of the American troops crossed.

Lee’s cavalry being on the flanks of the rear guard were also supported by cavalry of William Washington’s command.

The Americans poured a devastating volley into the British ranks and they began to fall back in confusion. The British were pushed back only momentarily.

The British then proceeded to advance their infantry down the slope toward the ford. The remaining American troops splashed through the water to the north bank where they joined the rest of the army in establishing a defensive position.

Captain Joseph Graham, one of the Mecklenburg men who had fought in the Battle of Charlotte, was there at the skirmish of Weitzel’s Mill. He vividly recalled the action of the fighting. “The day was still cloudy, a light rain falling at times; the air was calm and dense. The riflemen kept up a severe fire, retreating from tree to tree to the flanks of our second line. When the enemy approached, a brisk fire commenced on both sides. The ford was crowded, many passing the watercourse at other places. Some, it was said were drowned”.

Colonel Williams provided cover for the crossing of Preston’s riflemen. According to Graham, Williams’ Continentals offered a withering fire that was, “equal to anything that had been seen in the war.” One Patriot called the engagement “a smart skirmish, in which many Tories were sent to the lower region”.

General Cornwallis was forced to form and commit reinforcements under the command of Colonel James Webster. This was approximately half of his infantry. The British line now stretched beyond the American line, and they began to take advantage by pouring a massive firepower into the ranks of the Patriots. Cornwallis then sent Webster to press toward the ford crossing. However, Webster was met by strong resistance in spite of the British continuing to pour lead into the American lines. Webster himself hurled his horse into the creek to lead his staggering troops. Tarleton then quickly brought up artillery to support. As Webster crossed the stream, Lighthorse Harry Lee made note stating, “ A field officer (Webster) rode up, and in a loud voice addressed his soldiers, and then rushed down the hill at their head, and plunged into the water, our fire pouring upon him.”

Lee had posted twenty-five of Campbell’s Kings Mountain veteran sharpshooters in an old log cabin nearby, which was without its chinking. They were given orders not to engage in the actual battle, but to be ready to fire upon specific targets. They were directed to fire at an officer on a fat horse, which would later be known as Colonel Webster. He was sure to be an easy target, however, as each marksman aimed at Webster their shot missed its target. It has been written that some thirty-two shots were made at Webster, but not a one pierced him. 

As the battle raged, Webster continued on horseback through the creek. Harry Lee, finished by saying, “Strange to tell, himself (Webster) and horse were untouched; and having crossed the creek, he soon formed his troops and advanced upon us.”

The Americans began to withdraw, but where Tarleton’s cavalry had formed on the right of Webster, was near the road over which Williams needed to make his retreat.  Lee’s cavalry rushed in front of the American troops covering their path of retreat. Gradually Lee’s men fell back slowly. The British continued to advance and chase the Americans for nearly five miles before Cornwallis recalled his army.

In the aftermath both sides claimed to have killed over 100 men. However, records show the casualties were much less. Lee lost 2 men and 3 were wounded. Preston’s riflemen lost 8 total, and his men were so dispersed after the battle he was not able to rally them in time to assist General Greene at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Pickens and his South Carolina and Georgia militia were so angry of how they had been misused and sacrificed to the artillery, they returned home. Pickens did manage to maintain his troops and continued to attack the British in South Carolina for the remainder of the war.

The Battle of Guilford Courthouse would soon follow on March 15, 1781, and would ultimately be the demise of General Cornwallis and the British forces in the South.

Today, there is very little left of the battlefield of Weitzel’s Mill. Lake McIntosh, a reservoir that was created from the valley where the site once stood covers part of the site. However, you can find out more information about Weitzel’s Mill by visiting Alamance Battleground near Burlington, North Carolina.

Photo of Issac Ragusa portraying Collins, bugler to Lt. Col. William Washington

There is little written about the African Americans who served in the American Revolution. It is unclear as to the number who actually carried a musket. We do know that thousands played important roles for both the Americans and British.

The Revolutionary War experiences of African Americans were different in the northern colonies. The institution of slavery did not support the economy as it did in the southern colonies.  About 10 per cent of the African Americans in the north had managed to become free while for those still enslaved, the Revolution opened legal as well as extralegal avenues towards liberation.

On November 14, 1775, Lord Dunsmore, the royal governor of Virginia, declared, “all indented servants, negroes or others, free” if they would join His Majesty’s troops. The proclamation sent shock waves through the colonies. Dunsmore’s proclamation triggered mass escapes. Fears about arming hundreds of thousands of slaves belonging to both the British and the Americans convinced many undecided Americans to join the Patriot cause. 

George Washington was opposed to the enlistment of “negroes” in the American Army but relented as the war dragged on. Thousands of freemen as well as slaves served as blacksmiths, cooks, manual laborers, and soldiers.

Although many were promised their freedom in exchange for their participation few received it after the war. Most were put back into slavery. African Americans would not be given the opportunity to prove themselves in a major American conflict until the American Civil War in which more than 200,000 would enlist in active military service in both Union and Confederate Armies.