Essential Facts
- Also Known As: Pyle’s Massacre, Pyle’s Hacking Match, Pyle’s Defeat, and the Battle of Altamahaw Ford.
- Date: The exact date is unknown. Letters and accounts written by the participants suggest it occurred between February 23 and 25, 1781. Based on our research and the series of events that occurred before and after, it was likely on February 24.
- Location: Near present-day Graham, North Carolina.
- Participants: United States of America, Great Britain.
- Key American Leaders: Henry Lee, Andrew Pickens.
- Key British Leaders: John Pyle.
- Who Won: United States of America,
- Part of: Greene’s Southern Campaign, American Revolutionary War.
History
Aftermath of the Battle of Camden
Following the Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), the remnants of the American Southern Army gathered near Hillsborough, North Carolina. British forces, led by General Charles Cornwallis, controlled Georgia and South Carolina and prepared to invade North Carolina. Cornwallis commanded a series of outposts from Charleston, South Carolina, that stretched westward to Camden and Ninety-Six.
Kings Mountain
Small groups of American militia forces were organized and harassed the British supply lines, and won a significant victory at the Battle of Kings Mountain (October 7, 1780), in central South Carolina, on the border with North Carolina. This forced Cornwallis to delay his invasion of North Carolina.
Greene Takes Command of the Southern Department
Meanwhile, General Nathanael Greene was given command of the Southern Department by General George Washington and traveled to North Carolina. He arrived in December 1780, assumed command, and quickly organized a new army. Outnumbered by Cornwallis, he could not engage him in a single large battle. Because of this, Greene chose to divide his army. He led the main body while General Daniel Morgan commanded a smaller force.
Greene had some of his officers map the geography and rivers and help him identify critical crossings that would allow him to move between British outposts. Then, he spread his forces out over a stretch of 120 miles in South Carolina, between Cheraw (east) and Cowpens (west). Greene marched to Cheraw, while Morgan went to Cowpens.
Morgan Defeats Tarleton at Cowpens
Once again, Cornwallis looked to invade North Carolina. When Morgan threatened the British outpost at Ninety-Six, Cornwallis sent Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton to engage him. Heavy rains delayed Tarleton, and it was mid-January when he finally closed in on Morgan.
On January 17, 1781, Morgan dealt Tarleton a crushing defeat at the Battle of Cowpens. Afterward, Morgan marched to join Greene. Frustrated with the defeat and lack of progress, Cornwallis mobilized his army and pursued Morgan. To speed up his march, he burned his tents, wagons, and excess provisions.
The Race to the Dan
Greene arrived at Morgan’s camp on the Catawba River on January 30, 1781. He held a council of war the next day, where he and his officers decided to continue retreating toward Virginia. Greene issued orders to the various elements of his army, instructing them to march to Salisbury, North Carolina, where they would merge and continue the march northward together.
While both armies moved toward Salisbury, the North Carolina Militia fought the British and delayed them. Cornwallis forced his way across the Catawba River on February 1, 1781, winning the Battle of Cowan’s Ford and scattering the militia.
By February 2, both Greene and Morgan were at Salisbury with Morgan’s Army. From there, they marched to Trading Ford on the Yadkin River, where they intended to cross and march on to Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina. Greene issued new orders to his officers, instructing them to gather at this new rendezvous point.
Cornwallis arrived at Trading Ford, but too late to stop Morgan from crossing. Without any boats to transport his men across the Yadkin River, Cornwallis was forced to march north to find another crossing.
Morgan’s Army was at Guilford Courthouse by February 6, and Greene joined them soon after. Greene held a council of war on February 9, where he and his officers agreed to continue retreating northward. They decided to cross the Dan River at Irwins’ Ferry and Boyd’s Ferry, roughly 70 miles away, near present-day South Boston, Virginia.
Greene organized an elite rear guard to cover his army as it marched to the crossings. He asked Morgan to lead the rear guard, but he was ill and unable to take command. Colonel Otho Holland Williams was given command and was assisted by Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee and his cavalry, Lee’s Legion.
On February 13, Tarleton informed Cornwallis that Greene was headed for the ferries on the Dan River. Determined to intercept him, Cornwallis closed in on Greene and was four miles from him when Williams and Lee engaged the British Army’s advance forces. This engagement gave the main body of Greene’s Army time to cross the river.
With Cornwallis in pursuit, Green’s rear guard continued its march into the night of the 13th through cold, wet winter conditions. The next morning, Williams received a message that Greene had crossed the Dan. When he announced it to his men, they cheered. The British quickly resumed their pursuit, and the last group of Americans crossed the Dan River around 9:00 p.m. on February 14, ending the first phase of Greene’s Southern Campaign.
Cornwallis was unable to cross the river because the Americans had removed or destroyed all the boats in the area. He returned to Hillsborough, North Carolina.
Green’s Campaign Resumes
On February 17, 1781, Cornwallis marched to Hillsborough, where he rested his army upon arrival. Because he had burned his extra supplies, he was desperate for food. He also needed reinforcements and took action to meet his needs.
- After promising the locals, including many Loyalists, that he would not require them to turn over livestock or other provisions, he was forced to seize both.
- He raised the British flag in Hillsborough and issued a proclamation, calling for Loyalists to volunteer to join his army.
Cornwallis sent Tarleton and his British Legion to find Greene’s Army, report on its movements, and recruit Loyalist volunteers in the Haw River area.
Greene was notified that Tarleton was moving, so he started sending elements of his army back into North Carolina.
- On February 18, 1781, Lee’s Legion (also called Lee’s Partisan Corps), supported by two Maryland Continental companies, crossed the Dan River.
- Lee’s forces joined Andrew Pickens and his 700 newly raised militia.
- Colonel Otho Holland Williams followed on February 20 with the light infantry that had served as the rear guard during the Race to the Dan.
Lee and Pickens headed to the Haw River, hoping to cut off Tarleton. The Americans rode out the morning of February 23 and made their way to Salisbury Road, just eight miles west of Hillsborough. They learned Tarleton had already passed by and was headed west, so they followed after him.
The Battle of Haw River Begins
The next day, February 24, the Americans were three miles southwest of Graham, North Carolina, when they learned a contingent of Loyalists, led by Colonel John Pyle, was on the way to join Tarleton. Pyle’s command consisted of roughly 400 men, all mounted on horses.
- John Pyle (1723–1804) — Born in England, Pyle became a doctor and moved to Alamance County, North Carolina, in 1766. Soon after, he supported and participated in the North Carolina Regulator Movement. After apologizing for his involvement, he supported the Crown and enlisted in the Loyalist Militia. American forces captured him at the Battle of Moore’s Creek Bridge (February 27, 1776). He escaped, then pledged his loyalty to the North Carolina Provincial Congress. When Cornwallis invaded the state, Pyle raised 300-400 Loyalists and marched toward Hillsborough to join the main British Army. After the Battle of Haw River, Pyle recovered and surrendered to the Patriot Militia. He saved his property and reputation by helping care for wounded Patriots. After the war, he returned to his medical practice.
Meanwhile, Cornwallis had sent reinforcements to join Tarleton. Two scouts from the reinforcements were on the road when they encountered Lee’s Legion.
- The men in Lee’s Legion wore green coats similar to those of Tarleton’s men.
- The scouts mistook them for Tarleton’s men and were friendly to them.
- The Americans surprised the scouts and seized them.
Determined to capture Pyle and his men, Lee devised a plan to trick them, surround them, and take them as prisoners, using his captives. Lee threatened to have them executed if they did not help him.
Lee divided his command into three groups. He led one, while Captain Joseph Eggleston and Captain Joseph Graham, from the North Carolina Militia, led the others.
- Lee and Pickens took the lead.
- Graham and his men followed, as did the Maryland Continentals.
- Eggleston and his men left the road and moved through the woods.
Soon after, the Americans encountered the Loyalists on the road. Lee sent one of his captives and some of his men ahead to deliver a message to Pyle, asking him to move his men off the road. Thinking it was Tarleton making the request, Pyle’s men assembled on the side of the road, in formation, with their weapons shouldered, as if they were waiting for Tarleton to review them.
- Lee and his men slowly rode by the Loyalists.
- Pyle was sitting at the far end of the line.
- When Lee reached him, Pyle saluted him, and Lee returned the gesture.
- Lee hoped to surround the Loyalists and demand their surrender.
- Pyle reached out to shake Lee’s hand.
At this point, some of the Loyalists saw Eggleston and his men coming up behind them from the woods. The Loyalists turned and fired at the Americans, who rushed them and engaged in hand-to-hand fighting with their swords and muskets.
Pyle was knocked from his horse. Despite being wounded, he crawled away from the battlefield and hid near a pond.
- Nearly 100 Loyalists were killed.
- Some escaped and made their way two miles away to the O’Neal Plantation.
- The Americans did not pursue them.
Aftermath of the Battle
After order was restored, Lee questioned one of the prisoners. The prisoner still thought Lee was Tarleton. Lee informed him that he was, in fact, an American.
- The Loyalist survivors found Tarleton at the O’Neal Plantation.
- They informed him of the attack.
By sunset, American scouts found the British camp and reported its location to Lee and Pickens. They decided to let their men rest overnight and attack in the morning.
- Cornwallis found out the Americans were close to Tarleton and sent a messenger to warn him.
- Tarleton knew he did not have enough men to engage the Americans.
- Around 2:00 a.m., he had his men break up their camp, and they returned to Hillsborough.
That night, in the American camp, some of the Loyalists were executed. This is said to have been done in retaliation for Tarleton’s actions at the Battle of Waxhaws, where his men killed Americans who were trying to surrender.
The next morning, the Americans went to O’Neal’s Plantation, but the British were already gone. The Americans followed them on the road to Hillsborough, but the British reached the town just as the Americans came into view.
- The defeat of the Loyalists at Haw River was a significant blow to Cornwallis.
- Loyalists in Randolph County and Chatham County were demoralized and refused to join the British war effort.
Appendix
Henry Lee’s Eyewitness Account
This is Henry Lee’s account of the battle, which is written in the third person.
Lee passed along the line at the head of the column with a smiling countenance, dropping, occasionally, expressions complimentary to the good looks and commendable conduct of his loyal friends. At length he reached Colonel Pyle, when the customary civilities were promptly interchanged. Grasping Pyle by the hand, Lee was in the act of consummating his plan, when the enemy’s left, discovering Pickens’ militia, not sufficiently concealed, began to fire upon the rear of the cavalry commanded by Captain Eggleston. This officer instantly turned upon the foe, as the whole column did immediately afterward. The conflict was quickly decided, and bloody on one side only. Ninety of the royalists were killed, and most of the survivors wounded. Dispersing in every direction, not being pursued, they escaped. During this sudden encounter, in some parts of the line the cry of mercy was heard, coupled with assurance of being our best friends; but no expostulation could be admitted in a conjuncture so critical. Humanity even forbade it, as its first injunction is to take care of your own safety, and our safety was not compatible with that of the supplicants, until disabled to offend. Pyle, falling under many wounds, was left on the field as dying, and yet he survived. We lost not a man, and only one horse.
Benson Lossing Visits the Haw River Battlefield
In 1848, historian Benson Lossing decided to write a history of the American Revolutionary War from the viewpoint of a traveler visiting the locations of battlefields and other landmarks. During his travels, he conducted interviews and made sketches of the landscape, buildings, and people to accompany his narrative. The first installments of what he called the Pictorial Field-Book of the Revolution were published in Harper’s New Monthly Magazine in 1850. The two-volume set was published in 1853.
Here is Lossing’s account of his visit to the battlefield and his narrative of the Battle of Haw Creek.
At one o’clock I exchanged adieus with the kind Dr. Wilson, crossed the Eno, and, pursuing the route traversed by Tryon on his march to the Allamance, crossed the rapid and now turbid Haw, just below the falls, at sunset. I think I never traveled a worse road than the one stretching between the Eno and the Haw. It passes over a continued series of red clay hills, which are heavily wooded with oaks, gums, black locusts, and chestnuts. Small streams course among these elevations; and in summer this region must be exceedingly picturesque. Now every tree and shrub was leafless, except the holly and the laurel, and nothing green appeared among the wide-reaching branches but the beautiful tufts of mistletoe which every where decked the great oaks with their delicate leaves and transparent berries. Two and a half miles beyond the Haw, and eighteen from Hillsborough, I passed the night at Foust’s house of entertainment, and after an early breakfast, rode to the place where Colonel Pyle, a Tory officer, with a considerable body of Loyalists, was deceived and defeated by Lieutenant-colonel Henry Lee and his dragoons, with Colonel Pickens, in the spring of 1781. Dr. Holt, who lives a short distance from that locality, kindly accompanied me to the spot and pointed out the place where the battle occurred; where Colonel Pyle lay concealed in a pond, and where many of the slain were buried. The place of conflict is about half a mile north of the old Salisbury highway, upon a “plantation road,” two miles east of the Allamance, in Orange county. Let us listen to the voices of history and tradition.
In February, 1781, General Greene, then in command of the American army at the South, accomplished a wonderful and successful retreat across North Carolina into Virginia, closely pursued by Lord Cornwallis. This memorable retreat we shall consider presently. When Cornwallis was certified that Greene had escaped across the Dan with all his force, baggage, and stores, he ordered a halt [Feb 14, 1781], and, after refreshing his wearied troops, moved slowly back to Hillsborough, and there established his head-quarters. His object was partially accomplished; he had not captured the “rebel army,” but he had driven it from the Carolinas, and he now anticipated a general rising of the Tories, to assist him in crushing effectually the remaining Republicanism at the South. Although driven across the Dan, Greene had no idea of abandoning North Carolina to the quiet possession of the enemy.
In the fertile and friendly county of Halifax, in Virginia, his troops reposed for a few days, and then they were called again to the field of active exertion. He resolved to recruit his thinned battalions, and as soon as possible recross the Dan and confront Cornwallis.
Among the most active and efficient officers engaged in the Southern campaigns was Henry Lee, at this time lieutenant colonel, in command of a corps of choice cavalry. He was in Greene’s camp when that general issued his orders to prepare for recrossing the Dan into the Carolinas. His patriot heart leaped for joy when the order was given, and he was much gratified when himself and General Pickens, who commanded a body of South Carolina militia, with Captain Oldham and two companies of Maryland veteran militia [Feb 18, 1781], were directed to repass the Dan and reconnoitre the front of Cornwallis, for he burned to measure strength with the fiery Tarleton. They were sent by Greene to interrupt the intercourse of Cornwallis with the country surrounding his army at Hillsborough, and to suppress every attempt of the Loyalists to join him in force. This proved necessary, for the British commander issued a proclamation on the twentieth of February [1781] inviting the Loyalists to join his standard at Hillsborough.
Lieutenant-colonel Lee crossed the Dan on the eighteenth, and was followed by Pickens and Oldham. He sent out his scouts, and early on the morning of the nineteenth he was informed by them that Tarleton and his legion were out toward the Haw reconnoitering, and offering protection to the Loyalists who were desirous of marching to Cornwallis’s camp.
Lee and Pickens pushed on to gain the great road leading from Hillsborough to the Haw. They ascertained that Tarleton had passed there the day before, and was probably then on the western side of the Haw.
The next day [Feb 21] the Americans crossed the Haw, and were informed that the Loyalists between that and the Deep River were certainly assembling to join the earl. They also learned from a countryman (a sort of passive Tory named Ephraim Cooke) that Tarleton’s force consisted of most of his cavalry, four hundred infantry, and two light field pieces; and that he was encamped about four miles distant with all the carelessness of confident security.
Lee determined to surprise him, and placed his little army in battle order for a quick march. They reached the designated spot too late, for Tarleton had left and proceeded a few miles further, to the plantation of Colonel William O’Neil, whose memory, if common report speaks true, deserves a greater share of the odium of his countrymen than the most bitter Tory, for by his avaricious acts while claiming to be a Whig, he drove many of his neighbors to join the ranks of the Loyalists. Two of Tarleton’s officers, who were left behind, were captured.
Lee now resolved to employ stratagem. His legion greatly resembled that of Tarleton, and he made the country people believe that his was a detachment sent by Cornwallis to re-enforce that officer. The two prisoners were commanded to favor the deception, under penalty instant death.
The legion took the van in the march, [Feb. 25, 1781] with Lieutenant-colonel Lee at the head, preceded, at the distance of a few hundred yards, by a scout. The officer of the van soon met two well-mounted young men, who, believing him to belong to a British re-enforcement, promptly answered an inquiry by saying that they were “rejoiced to fall in with him, they having been sent forward by Colonel Pyle, the commander of quite a large body of Loyalists, to find out Tarleton’s camp, whither he was marching with his followers.”
A dragoon was immediately sent to Lee with this information, and was speedily followed by the young men, who mistook “Legion Harry” for Tarleton, and, with the greatest deference, informed him of the advance of Colonel Pyle.
Lee dispatched his adjutant to General Pickens to request him to place his riflemen (among whom were those of Captain Graham, who had just joined him) on the left flank, in a place of concealment in the woods, while he himself should make an attempt to capture the deceived Loyalists.
Lee also sent one of the duped young men, with the dragoon who escorted them, to proceed to Colonel Pyle with his compliments, and his request “that the colonel would be so good as to draw out his forces on the side of the road, so as to give convenient room for his (Lee’s) much wearied troops to pass by without delay to their right position.” The other young countryman was detained to accompany Lee himself, whom he supposed to be Tarleton.
The van officer was ordered to halt as soon as he should perceive the Loyalists. This order was obeyed; and presently the young man who had been sent to Colonel Pyle, returned with that officer’s assurance that he was “happy to comply with the request of Colonel Tarleton.”
It was the intention of Lee, when his force should obtain the requisite position to have the complete advantage of Colonel Pyle, to reveal his real name and character, demand the immediate surrender of the Tories, and give them their choice, to return quietly to their homes, after being disarmed, or to join the patriot army.
Thus far every thing had worked favorably to Lee’s humane design. Lee’s cavalry first approached the Loyalists, who, happily for the furtherance of the plan, were on the right side of the road; consequently, the horsemen following Lee were obliged to countermarch and confront the Loyalists. As Lee approached Colonel Pyle, the Loyalists raised the shout, “God save the king!”
He rode along the Tory column (who were also mounted, with their rifles on their backs), and, with gracious smiles, complimented them on their fine appearance and loyal conduct. As he approached Pyle and grasped his hand (the signal for his cavalry to draw when he should summon the Tories to surrender), the Loyalists on the left discovered Pickens’s militia, and perceived that they were betrayed.
They immediately commenced firing upon the rear-guard of the American cavalry, commanded by Captain Eggleston. That officer, as a matter of necessity, instantly turned upon the foe, and this movement was speedily followed by the whole column.
A scene of dreadful slaughter followed, for the Loyalists, taken by surprise, could not bring their rifles to bear before Lee had struck the fatal blow. Colonel Pyle commanded four hundred Loyalists; ninety of them were killed in that brief moment, and a large portion of the remainder were wounded.
A cry for mercy arose from the discomfited Tories, but the hand of mercy was stayed until the red arm of war had placed the Americans beyond danger. Colonel Pyle was badly wounded, and fled to the shelter of a small pond, which was environed and deeply shaded by a fringe of oaks, persimmons, hawthorns, crab-trees, and black jacks, trellised with the vines of the muscadine. Tradition says that he laid himself under the water, with nothing but his nose above it, until after dark, when he crawled out, made his way home, and recovered.
The place of his concealment is yet known as “Pyle’s Pond,” of which the engraving is a correct view, as it appeared when I visited the spot in 1849. Jan 2 It is on the verge of a cultivated field, of some six acres, half a mile northwest from the Salisbury road. Its dense fringe is gone, and nothing indicates its former concealment but numerous stumps of the ancient forest.
Lee and Pickens did not pursue the retreating Loyalists; but, anxious to overtake Tarleton, who was at Colonel O’Neil’s, upon the Greensborough road, three miles northward, he resumed his march, notwithstanding it was almost sunset. He halted within a mile of O’Neil’s, and encamped for the night, where they were joined by Colonel Preston and three hundred hardy mountaineers from Virginia, who had hastened to the support of Greene.
At ten o’clock in the morning, the Americans formed for attack, when it was ascertained that Tarleton, alarmed by the exaggerated stories of some of the survivors of Pyle’s corps, who made their way to his camp, had hastened to obey the orders of Cornwallis, just received, and was moving toward the Haw. The Americans pursued him as far as that river, when they halted, and Tarleton, after a narrow escape at the ford, returned in safety to Hillsborough. “Fortune, the capricious goddess,” says Lee, “gave us Pyle, and saved Tarleton.”
- Lossing’s Note — About a quarter of a mile northwest from this pond, is the spot where the battle occurred. It was then heavily wooded; now it is a cleared field, on the plantation of Colonel Michael Holt. Mr. Holt planted an apple-tree upon the spot where fourteen of the slain were buried in one grave. Near by, a persimmon-tree indicates the place of burial of several others.
