Pyle's massacre, also known as Pyle's defeat, Pyle's hacking match, or the Battle of Haw River, was fought during the American Revolutionary War in Orange County, North Carolina, (present-day Alamance County) on February 24, 1781, between Patriot and Loyalist North Carolina militia troops. Patriot cavalry commander Continental Army Colonel Henry Lee surprised Loyalist militia under Dr. John Pyle, who thought Lee was the British cavalry commander Banastre Tarleton sent to meet Pyle. Lee's men then opened fire, surprising and scattering Pyle's force, with Colonel Lee pursuing Tarleton in the direction of Hillsborough, NC, intending to capture or kill his command.