Pyle's Defeat | Feb 24, 1781

Pyle’s Defeat, fought near Burlington, North Carolina, on February 25, 1781, was a violent encounter in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, when Patriot forces under Lt. Col. Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee and Gen. Andrew Pickens moved to disrupt Loyalist recruitment supporting Charles Cornwallis. Disguised in uniforms resembling those of British cavalry under Banastre Tarleton, Lee’s men entered the Loyalist ranks led by Col. John Pyle before the ruse was discovered and a fight broke out for reasons that remain unclear. The Patriots quickly overwhelmed the Loyalists at close range, killing nearly 100 men and dispersing the rest. Though Lee later claimed he intended to compel a surrender, the ferocity of the action led many, especially the British, to condemn it as a massacre.