Cornwallis rallied his units at the courthouse while Greene regrouped his army at the nearby Speedwell Ironworks. With hundreds of badly wounded soldiers littering the battlefield, Greene and Cornwallis agreed to a truce so both sides could evacuate the casualties. Although the British general claimed victory in the battle, he could not disguise the fact that he had lost a third of his army. Guilford Courthouse helped convince Cornwallis that he could not subdue the southern colonies without substantial reinforcement. He arranged to meet with a British fleet carrying more soldiers and supplies at the port of Yorktown in Virginia, leaving Greene free hand to isolate and defeat the remaining British forces in South Carolina and Georgia.
"Victory was long doubtful and had the North Carolina militia done their duty, it was certain. Their General and Field Officers exerted themselves, but the men would not stand. Many threw away their arms, and fled with the utmost precipitation, even before a gun was fired at them. The Virginia militia behaved nobly...The horse, at different times in the course of the day, performed wonders...without them the militia could not keep the field in this country...Never did an army labour under so many disadvantages as this; but the fortitude and patience of the officers and soldiery rise superior to all difficulties. We have little to eat, less to drink, and lodge in the woods in the midst of smoke...Our army is in good spirits, but the militia are leaving us in great numbers to return home to kiss their wives and sweethearts."
Maj. Gen Nathanael Greene to Col. Joseph Reed, Adjutant General of the ArmyPrimary Source Reference Book for the Guilford Courthouse Campaign, (USMA, 1998), 42.