John,

I found your comments about Light Horse Harry Lee and the militia very
interesting.  It fits very well with what 
happened at Guilford Court House  in Mar
1781.  My 4 x great-grandfather, John "the Powder Maker" Rogers b.  1757, and
four of his brothers were with the Montgomery Co, VA militia when LHH  Lee
abandoned them on the battlefield.  Here is a description that I have  put
together from various sources:

At Guilford, the Montgomery County militia found themselves again pitted
against German Hessians who were part of the British force under Lord
Cornwallis. The frontiersmen fought well and 
inflicted casualties twice their  number on
the German mercenaries. Lee and his cavalry who were fighting next to
Colonel Campbell's militia suddenly and without 
informing Campbell withdrew  leaving
Campbell's force exposed. At this point, British cavalry charged the
frontiersmen and cut down some of the men. Lee's cavalry was not to be seen.
"Campbell and his men felt deeply aggrieved - feeling that Lee had abandoned
them without notice, and left them to maintain the unequal contest
unprotected  by cavalry, when the British 
dragoons charged them". That is a quote from a
book  about General Greene and is probably a great understatement. I suspect
the  frontiersmen wanted Lee's scalp.
Campbell was so mad that the next day he spoke openly of Lee's shameful
actions and told General Greene, if that's how these brave men were to be
treated, he could take this job and ŠŠŠŠŠwell you know the rest.
Despite General Greene's compliments about Colonel Campbell's brave men and
their performance at the battle, Campbell resigned and left immediately with
his  force of frontier militia. By June 1781, the Virginia General Assembly
called  Campbell to service again and promoted him to Brigadier General of the
militia  to serve under Marquis De La Fayette who was commanding the entire
Virginia  forces.
Jerry Rogers


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