Ch. 10, Sec. 2 & 3
The Path to Victory, 1780 - 1781
Seeking Loyalist support, the British
armies invaded the Southern Coloniesbut ultimately lost the war there. What
were the major reasons why?
-The War in the SouthSavannah and Charles Town
• In 1778, the British decided to change their strategy and shift the focus
of the war to the Southern colonies. The fighting in the North had
resulted in a stalemate.
• It was believed that a large majority of the Southern population were
Loyalists or Tories, those people born in the colonies but loyal to
Great Britain.
• The British expected large numbers of slaves and Tories to assist them
in their conquest.
• In December, 1778, the British army captured the key port city of
Savannah, Georgia.
• Using this city as a base of operations, they conquered most of
Georgia.
The Fall of Charles Town!
• In 1780, the British army under
General Henry Clinton laid
siege to and captured Charles
Town, South Carolina.
• This was a huge blow and the
worst defeat for the Americans
during the entire war!
• Over 5,000 Continental
soldiers, nearly all of the
regular army in the South was
captured.
• The fate of the country now
hung in the balance as it seemed
the British were now
unstoppable.
Guerrilla Fighting Southern Style
• After the defeat at Charles
Town, the British army again
under Lord Charles
Cornwallis, defeated another
American army at the Battle of
Camden, South Carolina, in
August, 1780.
• The only chance for the
American cause lay in the
hands of Guerrillas, or small
bands of fighters that attacked
the enemy with surprise raids
and hit and run tactics.
• The fighting was fierce.
The War in the South
Guerrilla/Partisan Tactics
• Many of the American soldiers
in the South had prior military
experience through either
serving previously in the French
and Indian War or by fighting
hostile Indians along the
frontier.
• These men were not to be
messed with!
• When these partisans or
guerrilla fighters attacked, they
did not fight the way the British
expected them to.
• When the battle was over, the
men melted back into the
countryside, not to be seen
again until the next engagement
or skirmish.
Key Figures in the Southern Campaign
General Nathaniel Greene
Commander, Continental Army, Southern Department
• Second in command to General
Washing in the Continental
Army.
• Greene was a former Quaker
with no prior military
experience.
• He did exercise the allimportant trait of common
sense and he was a natural born
leader.
• Greene took charge in the
Southern colonies after the
American defeat at Camden.
Lord Charles Cornwallis
• General Cornwallis had won
nearly every battle that he had
fought in.
• He was the British Army’s best
and brightest general in the
Americas.
• He and his hard-core British
regulars were certain of total
victory in the South.
General Daniel Morgan
• Morgan was a born leader and a
true outdoorsman. His men had
largely defeated the British
Army at the Battle of Saratoga
in 1777.
• Morgan was also a veteran of
the French and Indian War.
• He knew the advantages of
fighting guerrilla style against
the British and he used this
technique on several occasions.
Major Patrick Ferguson
• Patrick Ferguson was a wellknown soldier and perhaps the
best shot with a rifle in the
British Army.
• He had almost shot and killed
General Washington at the
Battle of Brandywine in 1778.
• He was given a free-command
of British soldiers in the South
and his British infantry and
dragoons spread terror and
chaos throughout North and
South Carolina.
The Turning Point
Despite the British victories at Savannah, Charles Town, and Camden, three battles,
Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Guilford Courthouse, changed the course of the
war in favor for the Americans.
Kings Mountain, October 7th, 1780
“Over the Mountain Man” from western North Carolina.
The Battle
• For months prior to the battle, the Tory soldiers under Major Patrick
Ferguson had sparred with the backwoodsman and Over the Mountain
Men from eastern Tennessee and western North Carolina.
• When Major Ferguson issued a proclamation stating that if these rebels
would not stop and pledge their allegiance to the British crown, then
he would kill them and lay waste to their towns and cities.
• Taking the threat seriously, these American frontiersmen caught up
with Ferguson and his British army at Kings Mountain where they
surrounded it and shot it to pieces.
• Ferguson, along with a large portion of his force were killed. This was
a shocking setback to British strategy in the South.
Kings Mountain
The Cowpens, January 17th, 1781
• Two months later, after the rebel
victory at Kings Mountain, another
smashing victory for the Americans
takes place at Cowpens, South
Carolina.
• General Daniel Morgan’s
Continentals and militia completely
defeat a professional British force of
Infantry, Calvary, and Artillery under
Banastre Tarleton.
• These two back to back victories
would change the course of the war
for the American cause.
• As a result, the British were now
forced to change their strategy in the
South and withdraw.
The Cowpens, January 17th, 1781
Guilford Court House, March 15th, 1781
The Battle
• Guilford Courthouse was the
last major battle between
General Greene and General
Cornwallis in the South.
• The fighting was severe, with
both sides suffering heavy
losses.
• Although the British were hurt
more than the Americans, they
held the field of battle after the
shooting was over and claimed
it as a victory.
• The losses that the British
suffered, however, were
irreplaceable.
• Cornwallis was forced to leave
North Carolina altogether and
march northwards to Virginia.
As a result of these three crucial engagements in the South, the British
strategy, which had begun with major victories at Savannah and
Charles Town, now turned into defeat.
Yorktown, Virginia, September – October, 1781
After establishing a base of operations at Yorktown, Cornwallis and his entire command
were trapped and surrounded by the French and Americans under General Washington.
A short siege ensued.
Despite overwhelming odds and insurmountable obstacles, the American colonies
defeated the mighty British Empire.
http://www.teachingamericanhistory.org/neh/interactives/a
mericanrevolution/
Effects of the War and the Treaty of Paris
On September 3, 1783, the Treaty
of Paris was agreed upon by Great
Britain and the United States.
Great Britain agreed to recognize
the United States and the borders
of the new country were
formalized.
The US agreed that Loyalists
would not be punished for their
roles and that all property and
prisoners would be exchanged and
paroled.
Lastly, they stated that any and all
debts that each side owed the
other would be paid off.
How did the Americans
Win?
1. We had the home field advantage.
Then English were fighting in a
foreign country in an unpopular war
over 3,000 miles away from their
home bases.
2. The Americans used other forms
of tactics and leadership styles
that were contrary to what the
British were used to.
3. Help from the French and
Spanish.
4. The Americans had the will to
win.
$27 million dollar debt.
25,000 casualties.
How to create a new government?
1.
The Hessians were a) colonists who refused to support the Americans b)
women who served with the army c) enslaved Africans who fought for the
Americans d) German mercenaries who fought with the British
2.
What two battles were considered to be turning points in the South?
3.
Nathaniel Greene-
4.
Who was North Carolina’s first non-royal governor?
5.
Why was the campaign in the South a major part of the war?
6.
Guerrilla –
7.
List three effects of the Revolution.
8.
What was the name given to American-born colonists that remained loyal to
Great Britain?
Bibliography
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www.wikipedia.com
www.mortkunstler.net
www.pf-militarygallery.com
www.dontroiani.com
www.nps.com
www.unitedstreaming.com