Following closely upon the heels of Pyle's Defeat and the Battle of Clapp's Mill, the Battle of Weitzel's Mill (March 6th, 1781) was another of those skirmishes where Nathanael Greene's army harassed the forces under Lord Cornwallis in the weeks that led up to the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. It is notable for the people who participated, including Otho Holland Williams, Lighthorse Harry Lee, Andrew Pickens, Colonel William Preston and his Botetourt Rifles, and Colonel William Campbell, with his "Campbell's Rifles". Their opponent was Colonel James Webster, appointed by Lord Cornwallis to lead half of his existing infantry in a push against Colonel William Preston's Virginians (the Botetourt Rifles) who stood between Cornwallis and Nathanael Greene's camp at High Rock on the Haw River.
Surprisingly, however, the state of North Carolina has not been so kind to the memory of the Battle of Weitzel's Mill. While there exists a state marker which marks the event, the actual location of the battle site is on private property and almost unknown except to a select few. Even amongst the the more knowledgeable historians, the exact location of the crossing site is still a matter of educated conjecture. In the Photo Gallery that follows, I have shot photos of Reedy Fork Creek to add some substance to the story. The Battle of Weitzel's Mill occurred within a few hundred yards of the creek photos while the Reenactment was staged many miles away.
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