"Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse" by Lawrence E. Babits and Joshua B. Howard is the long-awaited historic look at one of the American Revolution's most important, yet most overlooked, conflicts. It was here, on the Fifteenth of March, 1781, that the armies of American General Nathanial Greene and British General Charles Cornwallis clashed on the outskirts of Guilford Courthouse in what is modern-day Greensboro, North Carolina. Although Cornwallis won the battle, he lost a fourth of his men, and the outcome of the battle led directly to his abandoning North Carolina for Virginia, and to ultimate defeat at Yorktown just seven months later.
While Babits and Howard present a fine account of the events leading up to the battle, the battle itself, and the ultimate aftermath, the problem is that they present a little too much information. For the common reader and the historian alike, it would take several reads to fully understand all of what happened on the fields and in the woods surrounding Guilford Courthouse. Still, it offers a fascinating look at the battle that historians will find indispensable. For the casual reader wanting to learn about the battle, I recommend Another Such Victory: The Story of the American Defeat at Guilford Courthouse that Helped Win the War for Independence. But overall, this is a well-written account of the battle that, although lost the British, would lead to ultimate victory in the American War for Independence. Recommended.
Grade: B+

This is another well researched history from Babits. Following on his history of Cowpens, he again uses the pension records of southern veterans as a primary source. I love the way he starts from scratch, not depending on ths same sources as previous histories. These two books have been a breath of fresh air in reading up on the southern campaign of the war. I am looking forward to his next topic. My only complaint is that I could use more, detailed, maps.

I concur with the review by Kenneth Haynes, who has much of interest to say about this little studied or understood battle which amounted to Greene's finest.

It would earn five stars by me but for the inexplicable failure by the authors to include the sort of topo maps which contributed so much to Mr. Babits' excellent 1998 work on Cowpens: 'A Devil of a Whipping'.

Mr. Moore's maps do not measure up to those he prepared for his own excellent study of the Civil War battle of Bentonville. Somehow his cartographic effort here does not measure up to his previous standard. For example, Babits' account contains many references to swales, ditches, hills, rises, ridges, etc. to which various units withdrew, fought over, or took, only to lose such points in the course of the confused fighting. It would have been a real plus to have included detailed topographics for each of the four (or five) major action areas rather than relying on the info-deficient tour map provided by the NPS --

A minor complaint concerns the two regional maps borrowed from Richard K. Showman's superb volumes of Greene's correspondence published by the Rhode Island Historical Society. References are made to mills, fords, locales, that are not indicated on Showman's maps. An overlay could have elucidated the movements of the major forces prior to and after the Guilford action. So one is left nearly as confused in some ways as before.

Although the authors include the two period maps of the battle well known to enthusiasts, they make no effort to analyse these documents as to their accuracy (or inaccuracy) and omissions. This is a pity since it would have been fairly simple to make a comparison with USGS topos and with an overlay show the likely movements of units as compared to the extremely schematic indications shown.

There is no accounting for the authors lack of diligence with regard to the particulars of the ground, since it was largely the detailed analysis of the ground, apart from the extensive use of pension records, that raised 'Devil of a Whipping' well above the ordinary.

I also concur with the reviewer who remarked negatively on the preliminary history leading up to Guilford and the epilogue describing the later careers of certain of the most notable participants. Treacy ('Prelude to Yorktown') covers the former with a great deal more verve and the latter seems extraneous.

A much needed augmentation to the scanty history of this battle but one wishes the authors had made an effort to analyse the ground more intimately. As a result several interesting hypotheses by the authors seem less substantiated than might have been possible. If the topography and vegetation has changed significantly since 1781, and surely there have been some changes, such as predominant species, the lack of understory then due to swine grazing, the authors do not provide a clue. The only reference to modern historical archaeological discoveries is the cluster of musket balls found in the region where Skipwith's battalion fought. No information is provided as to how thoroughly other parts of the site have been explored. On the basis of this one find, the authors conclude that Stevens' brigade fought ferociously. Well they may have, but that's mighty scanty evidence.

Still in all this will probably remain for many years the best source of information for students of Greene's Southern Campaign of 1780-1781 and provides a fresh starting point for further argument, opinion, and hopefully, topographic analysis.

Professor Babits examines the battle of Guilford Courthouse from a historian's viewpoint, describing the overall effects on the war as well as the tactical details.

I have read this book twice and find it to be extremely thorough in its presentation of the circumstances around the battle as well as the battle itself. Dr. Babits has obviously, along with Josh Howard done a very extensive amount of research of files, records and information that heretofore had either been ignored or not discussed for whatever reason. They have dispelled numerous myths and given us a much better understanding of the battle itself. I feel this will for years to come be the definitive book on The Battle of Guilford Courthouse and would highly recommend it to both history fan and everyday reader looking for a good book to read.

I have lived within two miles of the Guilford Battleground Park for over 30 years. Over these many years I have visited the park many times and have read everything I could find about the battle. While this book may not be the definitive work, it takes us yet another step closer to the truth. Almost certainly we will never have all the answers to clarify and explain this confusing battle and I for one appreciate the job that Babit and Howard have done. What a pity it is that so much of the battlefield has been lost to "progress" over the years. Roads, stores, apartments and houses now sit over top of much of the history. I suppose one should be grateful that any of the battleground was preserved at all. This book brings the battle to life in a way that no narrative accounting has done so far. While there is room for debate concerning some of the conclusions, this book certainly adds to our knowledge and appreciation of this important event.

Having for many years studied the Civil War in North Carolina, I have within the past couple of years been reading more on the French & Indian War and American Revolution generally, and specifically North Carolina during the Revolutionary period. This reflects some renewal of an earlier interest in these topics, as well as professional necessity since I work with a number of colonial and Revolutionary historic sites.

My previous knowledge of the Battle of Guilford Courthouse came from my reading of Hugh Rankin's "North Carolina Continentals" and what I knew from the 8th grade NC History textbooks. The study by Babits and Howard has definitely increased my knowledge of the battle and taught much that I did not know. I certainly appreciate their efforts and commend them on a fine book.

From the standpoint of a historian, I am impressed by the tremendous amount of research that went into this project. It is obvious that the authors have tried to exhaust all sources and methodologies in an effort to tell the complete story. It certainly takes a great deal of dedication and passion about the subject to do such extensive research. I think the book is very well organized, but like some other reviewers I did get bogged down in some places. However, that does not detract much from the book; I have certainly read many, many other works that are nothing but "bog" from beginning to end. A few spots here and there in this work are bearable.

I suppose I should read Dr. Babits' previous work on Cowpens at some point in the near future, and I definitely look forward to any future works by this excellent pair of historians!

Andrew Duppstadt
Assistant Curator of Education
Historic Weapons Program Coordinator
NC Division of State Historic Sites

I have to admit that I have spent quite a bit of time anticipating this book. My anticipation was driven by the knowledge of the authors' previous works as well as a thirst for the definitive Guilford story. Since finishing "Long, Obstinate and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse", I can happily say that I was not disappointed! The authors have crafted a very logical story, taking on many of the myths and larger-than-life characters that have populated this important part of the American Revolution's Southern Campaign. Specifically interesting to me was how Babits and Howard correlated pension statements with the various known histories, either proving the stories or debunking them. The maps were outstanding and helped me really understand the flow of the battle. While not perfect (i.e., Rockingham County Militia?), I find this book to be both well-written and well-documented. The bar has been raised in regards to the future exploration of key battles. With "A Devil of A Whipping" and "Long, Obstinate and Bloody" written, I now shall be anticipating the next book in what I like to call their "American Revolution Southern Campaign Series".

I enthusiastically endorse this scholarly work by Dr. Babits and Mr. Howard. Their research methodology, alone, and their efforts to deconstruct accepted but mythical aspects of the battle--the Peter Francisco account and the British artillery firing into melee, just to name two--makes this book a must-read for anyone interested in the period. Babits and Howard base many of their ideas not simply on intellectual conjecture, but on primary source documentation. I especially applaud them for their work with pension records and muster rolls. Wading through a database of nearly 1,000 pensions in order to establish and corroborate details of the battle is not easy work. The revelations that come of such meticulous research are what make this work special. Is the book provocative in places? Of course. That's what happens when new, primary source research is utilized by professional historians. The authors don't appear to claim that they have all the answers; Babits and Howard offer some new ideas, substantiated through solid scholarship, with the hopes that the book will engender discourse and a fuller understanding of the battle. Rather than offering my viewpoints on specific details and espouse how I think Babits and Howard should have written the book, I will judge this work for what it is: the most definitive account of the battle to date. I can work through the levels of detail they provide and even the occassional uneven prose in order to find an extraordinarily insightful book that challenges my understanding of the battle, the myths it created, and the human experience in war.