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Library 
 
 OF THE 
 
 University of North Carolina 
 
 This book was presented by the 
 
 family of the late 
 
 KEMP J'L'JM.MEi: BATTLE, 
 
 Prv.-jideut of the University of North Carolina 
 
 from 1876 to 1890 
 
 / ,.,- 
 
REPORT OF HOWARD O, BANKS 
 
 To the 
 
 Charlotte Observer" of the Celebration at Guilford 
 Battle Ground, July 4th, 1893. 
 
 An immense concourse of patriotic 
 North Carolinians has gathered here 
 to-day, on this, the 117th nnniver- 
 pary of the Declaration of Indepen- 
 dence, to witness the unveiling of 
 the monument erected by Gov. 
 Tho8. M. Holt to the memory of the 
 North Carolina troops, who here, on 
 March 15th, 1781, under Maj. Joseph 
 Winston, fought the Hessians and 
 Tarleton's cavalry after the Conti- 
 nental line had retreated from the 
 field of battle. It is estimated that 
 there were 10,000 people present. 
 There could not have been less than 
 9,000. 
 
 Shortly after 11 o'clock the line of 
 march was formed at President 
 Schenck's headquarters. Twenty 
 mounted marshals, all splendid 
 physical specimens, took the lead, 
 dressed in Continental uniform, un- 
 der command of Chief Marshal 
 Charles 0. McMichael. They formed 
 an exceedingly prettv picture. 
 
 Following them came the Lexing- 
 ton silver cornet band, of sixteen 
 pieces, which discoursed the sweet- 
 est music as the procession moved 
 forward. The orator of the day, 
 chaplain and distinguished guests in 
 carriages followed, and after them 
 the Charlotte Naval Battalion, North 
 Carolina Confederate Veterans and 
 members of the' Guilford Battle 
 Ground Company. The procession 
 moved along through the beautiful 
 groves and grounds, passing by 
 Leonidas and Clyde Springs, and 
 winding around the almost crystal- 
 clear Lake Wilfong, passing under 
 the arch of welcome, its pillars 
 wrapped in the national colors, and 
 the arch proper bearing on one side : 
 " The Old North State Forever " and 
 on the reverse : " Carolina, Heaven's 
 Blessings Attend Her," and arriving 
 finally at the speaker's stand in a 
 shady grove on the eastern side of 
 the field. During the march Judge 
 Schenck's youngest son, Paul Wil- 
 fong Schenck about twelve years old, 
 rode proudly by the side of the car- 
 riage containing ex-Governor Holt 
 
 and hi- distinguished father. This 
 pati'iotic youngster looked exceed- 
 ingly handsome in his bright blue 
 Continental uniform and lie sat upon 
 his Sjiirited animal with an heredi- 
 tary gracefulness that lefiected credit 
 upon the horsemanship of his Revo- 
 lutionary ancestors who rede after 
 Cam|)bell, McDowell or Sevier. One 
 of this young man's ancestors on 
 his mother's side, named John Wil- 
 fong, distinguished himself in tlie 
 battle of King's Mountain. 
 
 K a rely is such a distinguished 
 group of North Carolinians seen to- 
 gether at one time. Any State in 
 the Union might have been proud in 
 the possession of such sons and 
 daughters. 
 
 On the stand were: Gov. P^lias 
 Carr; Chief Justice James E. Shep- 
 herd, of the State Supreme Court; 
 President Geo. T. Winston, of the 
 University; Justice Walter Clark, of 
 the State Supreme Court ; Dr. Kemp 
 P. Battle and Prof E. A. Alderman, 
 of the University ; Judge Jesse 
 Franklin Graves, of the Superior 
 Court ; Assistant Bishop Joseph B. 
 Cheshire, of the Episcopal Church ; 
 Rev. Dr. T. H. Pritchard, of the Bap- 
 tist Church, Charlotte ; Hon. C B. 
 Watson, of Winston ; Editor John 
 R. Webster, of Webster's Weekly; Col. 
 Thos. B. Keogh, Col. Jas. E. Boyd, 
 Col. R. M. Sloan, and Dr. D. R. 
 Schenck, ef Greensboro ; S. Witt- 
 kowsky, Esq., of Charlotte; and 
 A!rs Geo. T. Winston and Mrs. 
 David Schenck, with Misses Rebecca 
 Schenck and Lucy Bevens. of 
 Greensboro ; Graves of Mt. Airy, 
 and Williamson, of Winston. 
 
 Among the audience were many 
 prominent people. Among others 
 the Observer caught sight of Profes- 
 sors Stephen B. Weeks, J. A. Holmes 
 and Henry Louis Smith. There 
 were bright-eyed maidens, manly 
 youths, winsome matrons, strong, 
 nitelligent men in the prime of life; 
 others who have climbed the hill of 
 life and descended far on the other 
 side, on whose heads " the enow 
 
 
that never melts had fallen." But 
 the central figures that towered above 
 all others on this occasion and who 
 were the cynosure ol all eyes were 
 ex-Governor Thos. M. Holt, through 
 whose munificence the monument 
 to be unveiled was erected, and that 
 patriot of patriots and typical North 
 Carolinian, the Hon. David Schenck, 
 but for whose untiring labors this 
 " Mecca of patriotism " — to quote 
 Dr. Pritchard's felicitious expression 
 — the Guilford Battle Ground, would 
 never have been reclaimed from the 
 rank weeds that grew where heroes 
 ghed their blood, and but for whose 
 unremitting studies some of North 
 Carolina's grandest men would have 
 remained — with the flight of time — 
 " unwept, unhonored and unsung," 
 and a shameful lie perpetuated in 
 history. Yes, these were the two 
 men that this truly representative 
 assemblage had gathered to honor. 
 Beauty, youth, chivalry, age, genius 
 and intellectuality had come togeth- 
 er to kneel and worship at the shrine 
 of patriotism. 
 , Col. Joseph Morehead, of Greens- 
 boro, acted as master of ceremonies. 
 He first introduced Rev. Dr. T. H. 
 Pritchard, who made the opening 
 prayer, which was most fervent and 
 eloquent. Dr. Pritchard said : " We 
 thank Thee, God, that in Thy in- 
 finite wisdom Thou didst determine 
 to create man, that Thou didst honor 
 him b}' making him in Thy own 
 image ; that Thou didst endow him 
 with lofty capacities of mind and 
 heart, crowning him with glory and 
 honor, making him but a little lower 
 than the angels. We thank Thee 
 for the good providences by which 
 the race has been preserved through 
 all the perils and vicissitudes of the 
 ages. 
 
 " We are here to-day as the repre- 
 sentatives of the people of this great 
 commonwealth, on this the day that 
 is sacred to the memories of the 
 American people, to honor Thy great 
 name for the kindly interpositions of 
 Thy providences in behalf of our 
 people. As Thou didst call Abraham 
 in the olden time and make him the 
 head of a great people whom Thou 
 didst foster and cherish and educate 
 to be the religious teacher of the 
 world for all time, so do we humbly 
 
 believe that Thou didst call the 
 Anglo-Saxon race, in the long ago, 
 in tlie wild forests of Germany to be 
 the great teachers of civil and relig- 
 ious liberty to the world. Thou 
 didst imbue their minds with a per- 
 sonal sense of independence, with a 
 love of freedom, with a sacred regard 
 for personal rights and Thou didst 
 so cherish these principles in their 
 lives and characters, developing them 
 under the higher and better auspices 
 of English government, until the 
 full flower and development of those 
 princi[)ks found their fullfilment 
 and glorious development in these 
 United States." 
 
 Dr. Pritchard thanked God for 
 planting this people in this fair land 
 of ours and said : " We thank 'Ihee 
 for the Puritan and the Cavalier ; 
 for Washington and for Jefferson and 
 for Madison and for Hamilton and 
 for Greene and ibr Sumner and for 
 Sumter and for Marion and for many 
 other heroes, who distinguished 
 themselves' on fields of battle in the 
 contest for freedom. We cherish 
 the memories of our fathers who 
 fought and bled and died on this 
 consecrated spot and we are gathered 
 here to-day as their descendants 
 with our hearts filled with the inspi- 
 ration of patriotism to erect a monu- 
 ment to their memories and to cher- 
 ish in sacred honor their names and 
 their achievements. We thank Thee 
 that Ihou didst put it in the heart 
 of one of Thy servants to devote 
 time and wisdom and energy and 
 great labor to the upbuilding of this 
 place, for the increase of interest in 
 the part of our people to make this a 
 Mecca of patriotism and holy shrine 
 for the hearts of the people of North 
 Carolina. We rejoice that Thou 
 didst put it into the heart of one of 
 Thy servant* — Thy patriotic servant 
 — to erect this monument which we 
 are to-day to unveil." 
 
 Judge Schenck was then intro- 
 duced. He arose, leaning upon his 
 long staff. For the first time in four 
 weeks, he said, he had left a sick 
 chamber. There was a stoop in his 
 great, broad shoulders and feeble- 
 ness in his step as he came to the 
 front of the platform. He asked 
 that he might be excused if he 
 should break down before he finished . 
 
But it soon become apparent that 
 there was no danger of this. The 
 old lion was aroused. As he pro- 
 gressed in his defense of the much 
 slandered North Carolina troops, 
 who participated in the fight at 
 Guilford Court House, he iorgot that 
 he was a sick man. At the first 
 mention of the criminal injustice 
 done to our soldiers in this engage- 
 ment by historians, a feeling of 
 righteous indignation pervaded the 
 whole being of the speaker. It sent 
 the blood tingling to his very finger 
 tips; it brought the fiery flash to his 
 eye. There was no longer the stoop 
 in his shoulders, the halt in his gait. 
 In thunder tones he denounced the 
 slanderers. 
 
 Every intelligent North Carolinian 
 knows that Judge Schenck is a pa- 
 triot. Every page of his book glows 
 with patriotism and love of the old 
 North State. The existence of the 
 Guilford battleground park is a con- 
 stant proclamation of this fact. But 
 nobody can ever realize how pa- 
 triotic — how intensely, thrillingly 
 patriotic Judge Schenck is until 
 they have seen him and heard him 
 speak. When once you have heard 
 him pour forth with fiery eloquence 
 the emotions of a heart overflowing 
 with love for his state; when once 
 you have seen the impulsive tears 
 gush to his eyes as he concludes 
 some sentence with the words: — 
 "North Carolina, God bless her" — 
 you can't be very much of a man if 
 you don't find yourself feeling for 
 your handkerchief to get the mist 
 out of your own eyes. The name of 
 Schenck will never cease to be a 
 synonym for patriotism in North 
 Carolina as long as she is a sovereign 
 State. 
 
 Judge Schenck felt it necessary to 
 cut his speech short. His conclusion 
 was very pathetic, as he thanked 
 Gov. Holt for his great heartedness 
 in building this monument on the 
 spot where North Carolina troops 
 made the last stand at Guilford 
 Court House, after Gen. Greene had 
 retired from the field, thus leaving 
 them to face the Hessians and Tar- 
 leton all alone. He felt now that the 
 desire of his heart had been accom- 
 plished and he could now say, in all 
 reverence, like old Simeon, " Lord, 
 
 now lettest Thou Thy servant depart 
 in peace." (Judge Schenck's speech 
 will be published in full in next 
 Sunday's Observer). 
 
 After Judge Schenck had conclud- 
 ed his magnificent address, ex-Gov. 
 Holt was introduced and his appear- 
 ance was greeted with great applause. 
 Gov. Holt said that he had not come 
 prepared to make any set speech, 
 but he hoped the audience would 
 excuse any egotism on his part if he 
 said, pointing to the monument, 
 "The erection of that monument is 
 the proudest act of my life." (Great 
 applause.) " Read the inscription 
 on that monument with one excep- 
 tion (that relating to himself). It is 
 a better speech than I can make.'^ 
 Gov. Holt said, "If there is any peo- 
 ple on the face of the American soil 
 entitled to celebrate the Fourth of 
 July it is the people of Alamance 
 and Guilford counties." (Great ap- 
 plause). He had been taught, he 
 said, in his school days that the Re- 
 volution was begun at Concord and 
 ended at Yorktown, not a word of 
 which was true. It began with 
 Alamance and ended practically at 
 Guilford Court House. (Applause). 
 
 " I had rather have posterity read 
 that I erected that monument," con- 
 cluded Gov. Holt, "than have the 
 governorship to the end of my life." 
 (Great applause). 
 
 Prof. E. A. Alderman then read, 
 with fine expression, the beautiful 
 poem of Prof. Henry Jerome Stock- 
 ard, who, to the great regret of all, 
 was unable to be present. 
 
 1 he Observer regrets that the space 
 is lacking to make deserved com- 
 ment upon the patriotic speeches of 
 the following distinguished gentle- 
 men: Gov. Elias Carr, Chief Justice 
 Shepherd, President Geo. T. Winston 
 of the University; Justice Walter 
 Clark, Dr. Kemp P. Battle, Assistant 
 Bishop Cheshire, and Judge Jesse 
 Franklin Graves, a grandson ofCapt. 
 Jesse Franklin, who fought in the 
 battle. 
 
 The monument was then unveil- 
 ed, upon the signal fired by the 
 howitzer of the Charlotte Naval Re- 
 serve, Lieut. J. Frank Wilkes. The 
 unveiling was done by four beautiful 
 young ladies, daughters of North 
 Carolina, Miss Carrie Holt, of 
 
Graham, a niece of Gov. Holt; Miss 
 Mary Moore Young, of Charlotte, a 
 niece of Mrs. Gov. Holt, and Misses 
 Lucy Bevens and Madeline Douglas, 
 of Greensboro, the two former selected 
 by Gov. Holt and the two latter by 
 the directors of the battle ground 
 company. 
 
 The monument is made of Surry 
 county granite and is very handsome. 
 On the three fiices of the monunient 
 are bronze tablets bearing the follow- 
 ing inscriptions : 
 
 IN MEMORY OF 
 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA TROOPS 
 
 UNDER MAJOR JOtSEPH WINSTON, 
 
 ^ WHO WERE FIGUTING THB HESSIANS 
 
 AND TARLETOn's CAVALRY 
 
 NEAR THIS SPOT 
 
 AFTER THE CONTINENTAL LINE 
 
 HAD RETREATED 
 
 : FROM THE FIELD OF BATTLE. 
 
 (2) 
 
 MAJOR JOSEPH WINSTON. 
 
 CAPTAIN JESSE FRANKLIN. 
 
 RICHARD TALLIAFERRO. 
 
 Palmam qui meruit ferat. 
 
 (3) 
 
 Erected by governor thomas m. holt. 
 
 1893. 
 
 On the fourth face the coat of arms 
 of North Carolina is embedded. 
 
 In the afternoon Hon. Cyrus B. 
 Watson, of Winston, delivered a 
 splendid address to the old veterans. 
 The picture he painted of the battle 
 fought on the ground where they 
 stood was intensely thrilling. 
 
 The Guilford Battle Ground Com- 
 pany was organized INIay 7. 1886, 
 with Hon. D. Schenck, President; 
 and Messrs. J. W. Scott, Julius A. 
 Gray, D. W. C Benbow and T. B. 
 Keogh, directors. 
 
 Judge Schenck was shortly before 
 ithis out on the battle rield obtaining 
 data for his book. The place was 
 
 overgrown with briars and weeds. 
 One of his sons was with him, assisting 
 him in his A'ork The idea sudden- 
 ly flashed into his mind that this 
 would be the place for the e-tnblish- 
 ment of a park as a place to com- 
 memorate the glorious deeds of 
 North Carolina's s tns in the Revolu- 
 tion. He immediately went to the 
 owner of the property and asked his 
 price for it. He was told $10 an 
 acre. The owner paid only SI. 50 an 
 acre for it. However, Judge Schenck 
 at once bought a large portion of the 
 property. He went to Greensboro 
 and organized the Guilford Battle 
 Ground Company. Other portions 
 of the battle field were soon after- 
 wards bought and the place gradual- 
 ly cleared oft and nuule the lovely 
 park it now is. 
 
 There are monuments to tlie 
 memory of Gen" Jethro Sumner; to 
 the Maryland Heroes, erected by the 
 Maryland Historical Society and 
 presented by Prof Graham Daves, of 
 Baltimore; to Col. Arthur Forbis, 
 and Capt. James Tate, who were 
 killed here. 
 
 The Clvde Spring on tlie ground 
 is called for Mr. W. P. Clyde, of New 
 York, who gave the money to adorn 
 it. Leonidas Spring is called for 
 i eonidas \V. Springs, of Phila- 
 delphia, who was a native of Meck- 
 lenburg. 
 
 Beautiful Lake Wilfong is named 
 for John Wilfong, of Lincoln county, 
 great-grand-lather of Mrs. Schenck, 
 and who was wounded at King's 
 Mountain. 
 
 There are seventy-five acres in the 
 grounds and the State appropriates 
 $250 annually towards keeping up 
 grounds. 
 
 The citizens of Greensboro contri- 
 bute freely to the Company every 
 year. 
 
00032691481 
 
 FOR USE ONLY IN 
 THE NORTH CAROLINA COLLECTION 
 
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