Pyle's Defeat
February 1781
Near this location, mounted Loyalists from Chatham and southern Orange counties led by Col. John Pyle, and on their way to join Gen. Cornwallis in Hillsborough, were defeated by units of Gen. Greene's American Army led by Col. Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee and Gen. Andrew Pickens. As the two forces converged on a narrow road, Holts Race Path, the Loyalists mistook Lee's troopers for British cavalry. More than 90 Loyalists were killed in a brief battle fought primarily with sabers and swords. This defeat of Col. Pyle and the subsequent battle of Guilford Courthouse hastened the British Army's withdrawal from North Carolina and their defeat at Yorktown, Virginia.
Marker is at the intersection of Anthony Road and Old Trail, on the right when traveling east on Anthony Road.
Courtesy hmdb.org
