Fragmented Attack

Fragmented Attack. Guilford Courthouse National Military Park. Among these trees you may find it difficult to stay oriented to the battlefield. The combatants faced the same problem. Stationed here on the left flank of the American First Line, Lt. Col. Henry Lee and his legion of cavalry and infantry had orders to withdraw and support the second line after the first line gave way. Disoriented by the thick woods and chase of battle, Lee’s forces veered southeast and missed the left flank of the second line., This confusion had serious consequences for both armies. A large contingent of redcoats and Hessians split off from the main British advance and pursued Lee’s Legion in a separate running battle. That action fragmented the British attack. Both sides’ battle plans began to unravel., “The country in general presented a wilderness, covered with tall woods, which were rendered intricate by shrubs and thick underbrush, but which was interspersed here and there, by a few scattered plantations and cleared fields.” , - British Annual Register for 1781.