Forbis Monument
Click image to enlarge
B
orn in 1746, Arthur Forbis was a captain in the Guilford County militia. He was an elder in the Alamance Presbyterian Church in southeastern Guilford County and the men in his command were members of that congregation. As a militia company commander, Capt. Forbis and his men were called up for service on a number of occasions to go "Tory hunting."
E
arly in January 1781 the commander of the Guilford militia, Col. James Martin, was ordered to call out all of his troops to join Gen. Greene’s army. Col. Martin's account of the opening of the battle of Guilford Courthouse is the best description we have of Arthur Forbis' actions.
"I
was posted in the front line with scarce a complete Captain's company commanded by Captain Forbis, a brave undaunted fellow. We were posted behind a fence and I told the men to sit down until the British who were advancing came near enough to shoot. When they came in about 200 yards I saw a British officer with a drawn sword driving up his men. I asked Capt. Forbis if he could take him down. He said he could for he had a good rifle and asked me if he should shoot then. I told him to let him in 50 yards and then take him down which he did."
M
artin further recounted that as he "had not a complete regiment" he was ordered to ride to the courthouse to rally and take charge of fugitives who might be collected there. In his absence, Forbis became the acting commander of the Guilford militia contingent.
Y
ears later William Lesley, a native of Guilford County and a member of Forbis' company recollected that he and his comrades were positioned very near the center of the first line, "on the left of the artillery, not far from it...." Opposite them were the redcoats of the Seventy-First Regiment of Foot (Frazier’s Highlanders). One of their officers, Capt. Dugald Stewart, in 1825 wrote that as his men charged the first line, "[W]e received a very deadly fire from... their marksmen lying on the ground behind a rail fence. One half of the Highlanders dropped on that spot." Disregarding their losses the redcoats continued their advance, swarming over the fence and routing the center of the first line, including Forbis's men.
W
hether it was in the fighting along the fence or in the disorderly retreat that followed, Capt. Arthur Forbis was shot down. Left on the field, Forbis was later found by Tories. The first to discover him, a so-called "good Tory", brought the wounded man water, while the second "cursed him for a rebel" and stabbed him with a bayonet. Now twice wounded Forbis remained on the battlefield surviving the cold and rain of the night following the battle. On the evening of March 16 he was found by neighbors who carried him to his home. Dr. David Caldwell worked diligently to save him but Capt. Forbis died within a few days and was buried in the churchyard at Alamance.
T
he Forbis Monument, the first to be erected on the battlefield, was donated by McGalliard and Huske Stoneworks of Kernersville, North Carolina and was dedicated on July 4, 1887.
The Monument is inscribed:
IN HONOR OF
COL. ARTHUR FORBIS
OF THE N.C. TROOPS
WHO FELL AT HIS POST IN THE DISCHARGE OF DUTY
ON THIS MEMORABLE FIELD OF BATTLE
MARCH 15 1781