"Now, with sorrowful eyes, let us turn to our own state, where no pains were ever taken to enlighten the minds of the poor. There we have seen a people naturally as brave as the New Englanders, for mere lack of knowledge of their blessings possessed, of the dangers threatened, suffer lord Cornwallis, with only sixteen hundred men, to chase general Greene upwards of three hundred miles! In fact, to scout him through the two great states of South and North Carolina as far as Guilford Courthouse! and, when Greene, joined at that place by two thousand poor illiterate militia-men, determined at length to fight, what did he gain by them, with all their number, but disappointment and disgrace? For, though posted very advantageously behind the corn-field fences, they could not stand a single fire from the British, but in spite of their officers, broke and fled like base-born slaves, leaving their loaded muskets sticking in the fence corners!* -- * Again, as Weems has slandered a great number of brave and true militia-men, it should be noted, that being desperate to make his point, he is not entirely frank here in his descriptions of events. The "poor ditch" described below was doubtless better protection than "corn-field fences", nor did the militia flee the field, but only fell back on the main body. Other factors also figured, such as differences in population density and geography. Finally, a large number of the New England loyalists (tories), whose existence Weems denies, fought for the British in the Carolinas. -- A. L., 1997. --