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Andrew - Portrait of Major General Nathanael Greene

1783; Painted by Charles Willson Peale

Andrew Ferguson served under the command of Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene, shown in this portrait, at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse on March 15, 1781. Poorly supplied and understaffed, Major General Greene’s strategy in the winter and spring of 1781 was to harass the British Army while protecting his own regiments and militia. “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again,” Greene wrote. “The whole country is one continuous scene of blood and slaughter.” At Guilford Courthouse, Greene’s army battled a smaller force under British General Cornwallis. Greene retreated from the field, but only after about 500 British soldiers were killed or wounded. Cornwallis and his crippled army did not pursue the Americans.

Courtesy of Independence National Historical Park