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 ……………well 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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