THE PATRIOT TRIUMPH, 1781-1783
The Battle of King’s Mountain (7 October 1780)
- Lord Cornwallis marched his army into North Carolina in September
1780.
- A force of 1,200 Loyalists under Major Patrick Ferguson advanced from
South Carolina to join him.
- Patriot partisans and militia mobilized and went after Ferguson.
- Ferguson’s force took a position on King’s Mountain and awaited help
from Cornwallis.
- On 7 October 1780, 200 Patriot mounted riflemen known as the
“Overmountain Men” arrived at King’s Mountain.
oJoined by 700 militia.
- The Patriots infiltrated Ferguson’s force and decimated it.
oFerguson was killed in action (lower left).
oTories who tried to surrender were cut down.
- Cornwallis was thus deprived of a significant force.
The War Comes to Virginia
- In October 1780, Major Gen. Alexander Leslie entered Virginia with
2,500 British troops.
- These reinforcements bolstered Cornwallis’s army.
- Some weeks later, Benedict Arnold landed with 2,000 men and
conducted raids throughout southern and central Virginia
Daniel Morgan and Nathanael Green
- Brigadier Gen. Daniel Morgan (upper left), a veteran Indian fighter from
Virginia, arrived at the American headquarters in Hillsborough, North
Carolina.
- On George Washington’s recommendation, Major Gen. Nathanael
Greene (lower left) replaced Horatio Gates as commander of the
Southern Department.
- Both officers would provide outstanding service in the turning of the
tide.
The Battle of Cowpens (17 January 1781)
- As Greene collected troops, his logistics were strained.
- In January 1781, he divided his force.
oHe moved the main body to Cheraw in South Carolina.
oMorgan took 600 militia and Continental troops and headed west.
- Cornwallis sent Tarleton and his legion of 1,150 troops after Morgan.
- Morgan drew Tarleton after him.
- Morgan made his stand at a place called Hannah’s Cowpens.
- There he laid a trap for the aggressive Tarleton:
oSet his militia in front to act as bait.
oWhen they ran, Tarleton charged after them.
oWaiting for the British was a line of veteran Continental infantry.
oThe Continentals unleashed deadly volleys.
oA surprise Patriot cavalry charge routed Tarleton’s force.
The Battle of Guilford Courthouse (15 March 1781)
- Cornwallis pursued Morgan.
- Greene ordered a concentration at Guilford Courthouse in North
Carolina.
- On 15 March 1781, the two armies met:
oGreene: 4,000 militia and 500 Continentals
oCornwallis: 2,000 redcoats and Hessians
- Greene used a plan similar to Morgan’s at Cowpens.
- In a desperate attempt to win the battle, Cornwallis ordered his
artillery to open fire on friend and foe alike.
- Greene withdrew at nightfall, leaving the field to the British.
- Cornwallis, however, suffered 500 casualties, losses he could not
afford.
Greene’s Campaign in South Carolina
- After retreating to Wilmington, North Carolina, Cornwallis marched his
force into Virginia.
- Greene was thus able to drive into South Carolina.
- Throughout the spring and summer of 1781, he forced the British to
abandon their outposts.
- By July, the British held only Savannah, Charleston, and Wilmington.
- Defeated at Eutaw Springs in September, Greene was still able to
bottle up the British force in Charleston.
The Yorktown Campaign
- Cornwallis moved into Virginia and was reinforced by sea to 7,000
troops in May 1781.
- The Marquis de Lafayette advanced with 2,000 Continental troops to
bolster the Virginia militia.
- Tarleton raided extensively.
- In June, Cornwallis marched on Williamsburg.
- He received orders from Clinton to establish a base on the Chesapeake.
- Cornwallis’s army dug in on the coast at Yorktown
- For months, Washington had been observing events in the South.
oHe hoped to attack the British in New York with the aid of a
5,000-man French expeditionary force commanded by Lt. Gen.
Count Rochambeau based in Newport, Rhode Island.
- In summer 1781, a French fleet under Admiral Franҫois-Joseph Paul,
Count de Grasse, arrived in the West Indies.
- In May, Washington and Rochambeau met to plan a joint operation.
- Rochambeau persuaded Washington to combine their forces, march to
Virginia, and trap Cornwallis.
oThe key to the operation was cooperation from de Grasse’s fleet.
- While Lafayette kept the British occupied, Washington and
Rochambeau swiftly moved south with 2,000 Continentals and 5,000
French.
oA former slave inside Cornwallis’ headquarters, James Armistead,
gathered information for Lafayette
The Battle of the Virginia Capes
- De Grasse arrived with his fleet in late August.
- On 5 September 1781, the French met the British fleet under Admiral
Sir Thomas Graves.
- The French damaged five enemy vessels and forced the British to
withdraw.
The Siege of Yorktown
- The Americans and French concentrated 17,000 men against
Cornwallis.
- On 28 September 1781, the siege of Yorktown began.
- On 15 October, the Allies took the two primary British redoubts in a
daring night assault (lower right).
- By 17 October, Cornwallis realized his position was hopeless.
“The World Turned Upside Down”
- On 19 October 1781, 8,000 British and Hessian soldiers laid down their
arms.
- The Allied triumph proved to be the war’s decisive turning point.
The fall of the North Ministry
- The news of Cornwallis surrender reached Whitehall on 25 November
1781.
- The government realized the war was lost.
- George III forced Germain out of office.
- After Parliament reconvened in the new year, North resigned in
February.
- The Rockingham Opposition swept into power.
- The Marquess became prime minister, only to die on 1 July 1782.
- He was succeeded by Lord Shelburne.
- Shelburne opened negotiations with the Americans and the French
The Battle of the Saintes
- On 12 April 1782, the British fleet under Admiral George Rodney
decimated the French at the Battle of the Saintes in the West Indies.
- This victory enabled the British to negotiate with their archrivals from a
position of strength.
The Newburgh Conspiracy
- After the victory at Yorktown, Washington’s army returned to its
positions outside New York.
- The peace negotiations of 1781-1783 were a dangerous time for the
Continental Army.
- While the army was reasonably fed and clothed, officers and soldiers
were going without pay.
- In December 1782, a delegation of officers approached Congress
concerning pensions.
- Their petition was brushed off.
- On 10 March 1783, an anonymous letter was circulated through the
camp at Newburgh, New York.
oCalled for the army to take matters into its own hands.
- Washington called for an assembly of the officer corps on the 15th.
- He made a dramatic appeal to their patriotism and to submit to civilian
authority.
- The dissension was thus quashed.
The Peace of Paris (1783)
- By the time of Yorktown, all of the combatants were at the end of their
financial resources.
- Diplomatically, this was an ideal situation for the Americans.
- Benjamin Franklin began informal talks with the British in the spring of
1782.
- Congress formed a commission consisting of Franklin, John Adams, and
John Jay.
- The American negotiators had to negotiate a diplomatic maze
consisting of the goals of their enemies and allies.
- On 30 November 1782, the United States and Great Britain signed a
treaty of peace.
- The treaty could not take effect, however, until Britain had made peace
with France and Spain.
- Thus, on 3 September 1783, the War for American Independence came
to an end with all of the combatants signing peace accords.
- The United States was recognized as an independent nation:
oGained the territory between the Appalachians and the
Mississippi River.
oRelinquished all claims to Canada.
oPledged to cease the seizure of Loyalist property.
- Spain regained Florida and the island of Minorca in the western
Mediterranean.
- France gained the Caribbean Island of Tobago and Senegal in west
Africa.
Effects of the American Revolution
- The loss of the American colonies was a major blow to British prestige.
- During the postwar years, however, America resumed trade and
commerce with the mother country.
- Thus, Britain regained the benefits of American economic activity
without the costs and other difficulties of administering colonies.
- France ran up an enormous debt helping the Americans, destabilizing
its financial structure.
o2 billion livres = $48 billion
- The ideals of the Declaration of Independence were a powerful
inspiration to Europeans seeking liberty and change.
- It was no coincidence that France experienced its own Revolution six
years later
Revolutionary epilogue: The Resignation of George Washington
- On 23 December 1783, Washington appeared before Congress in
Annapolis, Maryland, and resigned as commander-in-chief of the
Continental Army.
- Many Americans wanted to make him king or a dictator.
- By voluntarily setting aside his power, Washington contributed greatly
to the development of the nation.
- This act also helped establish the principle of subordination of the
military to civilian authority.
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