Not much to be found about the Tories - since history is written by the victors. This from Centennial History of Alamance County. PYLE'S DEFEAT One of the important battles of the war in this State occurred in February, 1781, two miles west of the present town of Graham on the old road to Alamance. Lord CORNWALLIS, the British commander, marched into the village of Hillsboro in early February, and learned that the Patriot army which he had pursued northward from South Carolina had retreated across the Dan River into Virginia. Grateful for a few days rest, the British set up camp in the Orange County seat. On February 18, CORNWALLIS ordered Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre TARLETON to take a troop of men west of Haw River to seek recruits for the army. Across the Dan, General GREENE, the Patriot Commander, learned of TARLETON's mission and at once ordered two of his men, Colonel "Light Horse" Harry LEE and Brigadier Andrew PICKENS, to stop the British force. The Patriots crossed the Dan that same night and pushed on throught straggly forest and over unploughed meadows toward the Haw River, where they hoped to cut off TARLETON's advance. Early next morning they arrived at the Salisbury Road, eight miles west of Hillsboro. TARLETON, they learned, had already passed this spot, and so the Patriots turned westward to follow him. LEE had marched for a short distance when he met two young farmers on horseback. CORNWALLIS had dispatched reinforcements that morning to TARLETON, and these youths were scouts who had been set ahead of the reinforcements to locate TARLETON's camp. The scouts immeditely mistook LEE's men for TARLETON's troop, since both Patriots and Loyalists dressed in civilian clothes. LEE realized the advangage of this mistake. He thanked the scouts and told them to rejoin the reinforcements with "Colonel TARLETON's compliments,: and to request that the British troops move off the road to let "TARLETON's " cavalry pass. As soon as the scouts had departed, LEE divided his men into several troops, placing one under the command of a Captain EGGLESTON and another under Captain Joseph GRAHAM ( Captain GRAHAM was the father of Governor William A. GRAHAM, for whom the town of Graham was later named) and he himself took command of the third. EGGLESTON's troops circled through the woods, and GRAHAM's men followed a short distance behind those under LEE and PICKENS. LEE came in sight of the British a short time later. They had drawn up along the right side of the road in review formation, sitting stiffly in their saddles with their rifles or muskets slung over their shoulders, and their eyes straight ahead. At the far end of the line sat their commander, Colonel PYLE, unaware that the advancing troops were not TARLETON's men. Riding slowly past the Tories, his own troops close behind him, LEE nodded approvingly and smiled at his enemies. He reined his horse up in front of Colonel PYLE and returned the latter's salute. PYLE stretched out his hand in welcome. Some of the British at the far end of the formation now spotted EGGLESTON's men in the woods behind them. Without command they begain to fire. LEE instantly dropped Colonel PYLE's hand and drew his own sword. EGGLESTON swooped out of the woods with his men who began a hand-to-hand battle with the Tories, slashing at them with their swords and firing their muskets. "Stop! Stop!" screamed Colonel PYLE. "You are killing your own men!" His cry ended abruptly as a Patriot sword knocked him from his horse. The clash of swords and blast of rifles rose to a crescendo amid the screams of the wounded and dying Loyalist, still ignorant of wat was happening. As each Patriot wheeled his horse to face a new opponent, he called out "Whose man are you?" "The King's! The King's!" screamed the British, and the Patriot sword cut them down. Finally the confusion and panic subsided. Ninety of PYLE's men including PYLE himself lay dead. A ghastly scene surrounded the Patriots. LEE had intended to surround PYLE's men and force them to surrender, but the British themselves had begun the battle which cost many of them their lives. As soon as he could reassemble his troops, LEE sent for one of the Tory prisoners for questioning. A middle-aged man was brought forward, bleeding profusely from a head wound. He stared at LEE, still believing him to be TARLETON. "God bless your soul!" he exclaimed, "Mr. TARLETON, you've just killed as good a parcel of subjects as His Majesty ever had!" The mistake angered LEE. "You dammed rascal!" he shouted "we are Americans, not British. I am LEE of the American Legion!" Meanwhile, several of the wounded Britishers had reached the O'NEAL Plantation (The O'NEAL Plantation was on the site of the Burlington Cemetery) some two miles away, where Colonel TARLETON was camped. Without reinforcements TARLETON realized that he had no chance against the Patriots, and so he ordered camp broken at once and fled toward Hillsboro again. The Patriots arrived next morning to find his camp deserted. On February 26 CORNWALLIS marched wersward toward Haw River. He planned to gather volunteers in the Loyalists settlements and then attack the Patriot Army which was encamped at Guilford Court House. The British reached Guilford on March 15, and the battle commenced shortly after noon. Although General GREENE's men outnumbered those of CORNWALLIS, Greene was forced to retreat to a better position, and the victory was won by the British. CORNWALLIS did not pursue GREENE but decided instead to return to Hillsboro. ==== NCORANGE Mailing List ==== Larry Noah - lrnoah@bigfoot.com - Listowner - NCORANGE mailing list Orange Co, NC USGenWeb site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~ncorange USGenWeb Orange Co, NC Archives site is at http://www.rootsweb.com/~usgenweb/nc/orangnc.htm