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The "Gate City Guards," not to be confused with the Confederate-based organization of the same name in Atlanta, was the nickname for a military group based out of Greensboro around the turn of the 20th Century. Organization of the unit began around 1898, when T. B. Rice and R. M. Albright put out an ad in local papers asking for 100 "ablebodied men" to assemble a group who would eventually join the 3rd regiment (Greensboro Evening Telegram, June 7th, 1898, p. 3). The Guards were equipped and commissioned on November 29th, 1901. Under the leadership of Captain Albright, the company was added to the 3rd Regiment, Company L, as promised, with the Rutherfordton Company of the 3rd regiment being moved to the 1st regiment to make room for the new company (The Wilmington Messenger, December 3rd, 1901, p. 6; The Wilmington Messenger, December 12th, 1901, p. 1; Annual Report of the Adjutant-General of the State of North Carolina, 1901, p. 9).

The Gate City Guards continued to train and work in Greensboro until Worl War I, when they were dissolved and joined with other units around 1917 or 1918 (Greensboro Daily News, June 16th, 1921, p. 3). When not under inspection or training, the Guards mostly participated in "sham battles" (mostly reenacting The Battle of Guilford Courthouse), marched in parades, and participated in military funerals. Though they continued to be called the Gate City Guards off and on for the next decade and a half, they were more frequently referred to as the Guilford Greys, paying tribute to a battalion from the Civil War that originated from Greensboro. The change in name appears to have taken place around 1910 (High Point Enterprise, June 28th, 1915, p. 7).

Though the game against the Gate City Guards was not in the A&M football schedule printed in the newspapers on September 19th, the match was announced as early as September 16th (The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 19th, 1902, p. 5; The Winston-Salem Journal, September 16th, 1902, p. 1). Many papers outside of Raleigh, including The Greensboro Patriot, wrote that the game was to take place on September 27th, while Raleigh papers all reported that the game was to have taken place on Friday the 26th (The Greensboro Patriot, September 17th, 1902, p. 1; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 23rd, 1902, p. 6).

Despite numerous reports throughout the state reporting that the Gate City Guards had agreed to the challenge, the game was announced as canceled on September 25th. The News and Observer wrote that the game was canceled "owing to the inability of the Gate City Guard to get up a team," while the Morning Post wrote in two seperate places that the game was canceled "because some of their [the Gate City Guards'] men were in poor condition and unable to play" (News and Observer, September 25th, 1902, p. 8; The (Raleigh) Morning Post, September 25th, 1902, pp. 2, 5).

As best as I can find, the Gate City Guards never again accepted a challenge to a sporting event.