Delaware Monument, Guilford Courthouse
The Delaware Monument is a pink or red marble obelisk atop a die of blue marble and a base of white marble. In addition to the Guilford Courthouse battle date a Colonial flag has been incised on the rear. This monument is thought to mark the graves of Privates Cornelius Hagney, John Toland and William Drew of Captain Robert Kirkwood’s Delaware Company. The remains of these men were found half a mile north of the park in July 1888. They were moved to the current location in August 1888 and later marked with this monument. Sometime after 1930 the shaft of this monument broke. About 18 inches of the shaft were discarded.
Images (courtesy of Natasha Smith):
Front view |
Rear view
Front: THREE CONTINENTAL SOLDIERS / REST HERE / “IN FAME'S ETERNAL CAMPING GROUND,”
Rear: THURSDAY / MARCH 15, 1871
Guilford Courthouse National Military Park
Late 1888 or early 1889
36.133820 , -79.842560
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"Delaware Monument," The Historical Marker Database, HMdb.org, (accessed January 18, 2018) Link
"Guilford Courthouse National Military Park," National Park Service, (accessed June 13, 2011) Link
A Memorial Volume of the Guilford Battle Ground Company, (Greensboro, NC: Guilford Battleground Company, 1893), 1-27, (accessed February 8, 2012) Link
Baker, Thomas E. and Michael H. White. The Monuments at Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, North Carolina, (Greensboro, NC: Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, 1991)
Grimes, J. Bryan. "Why North Carolina Should Erect and Preserve Memorials and Mark Historic Places: Address Before the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association, Raleigh, N.C., November 4, 1909," ([Raleigh, NC: The News and Observer, 1909]), (accessed May 18, 2012) Link
National Park Service. U.S. Department of the Interior. North Carolina National Register of Historic Places. "Inventory Form - Guilford Courthouse National Military Park," (accessed November 6, 2019) Link
“Battleground Association,” The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, NC), March 21, 1889
“Organization of the Guilford Battle Ground Company,” The Greensboro Patriot (Greensboro, NC), December 23, 1887
Yes
Red, white and blue marble
In mid-1887, J.W. Wilson had donated a red marble obelisk to the battleground. It was not erected at the time because there were no funds to purchase a base and die. It is assumed this is the same “pink” marble obelisk placed upon the “pedestal of blue and base of white – the latter two the gifts of Northern friends.”
There is no indication of a formal dedication. The monument would have been erected in late 1888 or early 1889.
When erected the memorial was called the Continental Soldiers Monument
The remains of the three soldiers were found by Judge David Schenck, founder of the Guilford Battleground Company, on July 12, 1888. He was walking with his wife through a farm that neighbors the Guilford National Military Park and found bones protruding from of the ground. He was able to identify the soldiers as American Continentals by the buttons found with their remains. Because of their location, they are suspected to be the three members of Kirkwood’s Delaware Company who were killed during battle.
The memorial is located in Guilford Courthouse National Military Park, along the Historic New Garden Road walking trail. The Maryland Monument is close by.
The memorial stands behind an iron fence, surrounded by mature trees and bushes.
Yes
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