Battle of Summerfield

In what is now Summerfield, North Carolina, within the northern reaches of Guilford County, a clash erupted on February 12, 1781, pitting Patriot troops led by Col. Henry Lee III against British forces under Banastre Tarleton. Patriot tradition holds that this fight left twenty British dragoons dead and four taken prisoner, while Lee's horsemen suffered no casualties apart from a young bugler left behind in the chaos.

The events unfolded a month before the fighting at Guilford Courthouse, when the columns commanded by Col. Otho Williams and Col. Henry Lee paused at Charles Bruce's residence. As the two officers sat down to a meal, a local farmer named Isaac Wright arrived with word that British dragoons had been spotted in the vicinity. Williams instructed Lee to look into the matter, and Lee sent Captain James Armstrong along with a portion of his men to scout the area. Because Wright's mount was too exhausted to make the journey back, Lee lent him the horse belonging to his fourteen-year-old bugler, James Gillis, though he permitted the boy to trail behind the farmer's group on the tired animal.

Armstrong's riders soon came upon the leading edge of the British force and turned back at speed to alert Lee. A number of the British dragoons gave chase to the retreating Patriots, and young Gillis, hampered by his weary horse, was caught and slain. Lee sent his men back to save the boy, but they reached him too late. Fueled by this loss, Lee's troops pressed the attack, cutting down seven of the enemy dragoons before Captain Cornet Miller arrived with British reinforcements, intensifying the clash. Thirteen additional dragoons fell in the fighting that followed. When Miller attempted to flee the scene, Lt. Stephen Lewis captured him along with three of his companions.

Back at camp, Lee scolded Lewis for failing to follow his instructions to put any captives to death. Miller was then brought before Lee, who held him responsible for the bugler's demise, the same boy Lee himself had allowed into harm's way. Lee condemned Miller to immediate execution and instructed him to pen a final message to his loved ones. Before the sentence could be carried out, however, British