a fight followed at guilford court-house, where the americans were driven back, but the enemy got thinned out so noticeably that cornwallis decided to retreat. he went back to washington on a bull run schedule, without pausing even for feed or water. cornwallis was greatly agitated, and the coat he wore at the time, and now shown in the smithsonian institution, shows distinctly the marks made where the colonists played checkers on the tail.