James Gillies Monument

James Gillies Monument

This monument was erected to the memory of James Gillies, the fourteen year old bugler of Lt. Col. Henry "Lighthorse Harry" Lee. James Gillies died in a skirmish five miles north of Guilford Courthouse, on February 13, 1781. He was unarmed at the time of his death, having left his only weapon, a pistol, in a saddle holster on his horse, which he had loaned to another man.

The inscription on the monument reads:

GILLIES
LIGHTHORSE HARRY LEE'S BUGLER-BOY
"DULCE ET DECORUM EST PRO PATRIA MORI"*
ERECTED BY THE LITERARY SOCIETIES AND ALUMNI OF
OAK RIDGE INSTITUTE MAY 6TH 1898 TO THE
MEMORY OF THE GALLANT GILLIES WHO
FELL UNDER THE SWORDS OF TARLETON'S
DRAGOONS NEAR OAK RIDGE, N.C.
FEB. 13TH 1781, A NOBLE
SACRIFICE TO HIS OWN
GENEROSITY AND FOR
HIS COUNTRY'S
FREEDOM.

*Sweet and fitting it is to die for one's country.

All photographs ©2005-2008
by  
Westfield, NC

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