Chapter 7 - The American Revolution

Section 3 – The Path to Victory

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• Believing most Southerners were Loyalists, the

British moved the war to the South – after three

years of fighting in the North, they were no

closer to victory

• The British could capture cities, but didn’t have

enough troops to take the countryside - they

hoped to enlist the help of Loyalists in the South

to help them hold captured territory

• The British also hoped a large number of slaves

would join them to win their freedom – although

thousands did run away to join the British, not all

were freed – some were sold by the British

officers into slavery in the West Indies

Savannah and Charles Town

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• Finally, the British wanted to use Southern ports

to transport troops stationed in the West Indies

back and forth between the two regions

• In 1778, the British captured Savannah, Georgia,

then went on to capture most of Georgia

• In 1780, General Henry Clinton landed in South

Carolina and captured 5,000 Americans soldiers

at Charles Town – nearly all of the Southern

army – It was the worst American defeat of the

war

Savannah and Charles Town

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• After the loss of the Southern army at Charles

Town, Congress assigned General Horatio Gates

to build a new Southern army with Continental

soldiers led by Baron de Kalb at its core

• Gates added 2,000 new untrained militia, and

headed for Camden, South Carolina to confront

the British army led by General Cornwallis

• On the way, he met Francis Marion and a small

band of his men – Marion provided Gates with

valuable information on the swamplands in

South Carolina

• Gates sent Marion and his men to destroy British

boats on the Santee River to cut off British

communications with Charles Town

• In 1780, Gates ran into British troops outside

Camden – his troops were in no condition to

fight; they were out of supplies and half-starved

The Swamp Fox and Guerilla

Fighting

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• To make matters worse, Gates put his

inexperienced militia on the front line instead of

his seasoned veterans

• When the British attacked, the militia, along with

Gates, panicked and ran; only Kalb and his

troops remained to fight - Kalb received several

wounds and died

• This was the second defeat in the South and

resulted in Gates being removed as head of an

army – this also caused American spirits to fall

• After Camden, Marion then set up a base of

operations in the swamps and cut the British

supply lines that led inland and north from

Charles Town

• Marion used guerrilla tactics, or hit-and-run

tactics, to keep the British off balance

• Both Patriots and Loyalists formed guerrilla

bands, carrying out vicious raids on each other

The Swamp Fox and Guerilla

Fighting

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• Some of the bloodiest battles of the war were

fought in the South – for example, at the Battle

of Kings Mountain, fought on the border

between North and South Carolina in 1780,

Patriots surrounded a force of 1,000 Loyalist

militia and British officers – then proceeded to

slaughter most of them

• Many of the dead had been shot or hanged after

they surrendered – the slaughter at Kings

Mountain was in revenge for an earlier battle in

which the British had slaughtered Americans

who had surrendered

The Tide Turns

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• A former Quaker kicked out of his church for

supporting the war, Nathanial Greene was

placed in charge of the Southern army

• Under Greene's command, the American army

avoided full-scale battles with the British and

instead let the British chase them around the

countryside wearing themselves out

• When they did confront the British, they made

sure the British suffered heavy casualties - this

lead to increased opposition to the war in Britain

The Tide Turns

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• In 1781, most of the fighting took place in

Virginia - in July Cornwallis made his base at

Yorktown on the peninsula in Chesapeake Bay

• When the French fleet arrived in August of 1781,

Washington took advantage of Cornwallis's

decision and blocked the Chesapeake Bay

• When Washington moved his troops down from

the north, Cornwallis was trapped on the

peninsula, unable to receive reinforcements or

supplies

• When British ships tried to reach Cornwallis, the

French fleet drove them back

• During the Battle of Yorktown, the Americans

and French troops bombarded Yorktown,

reducing its buildings to rubble - Cornwallis had

no way out

The End of the War

Chapter 7 - The

American Revolution

Chapter 7.3 – The War Expands• On October 19, 1781, Cornwallis surrendered his

8,000 troops

• Although some fighting continued, Yorktown was

the last major battle of the war - When Lord

North heard the news he reportedly gasped, "it's

all over!“

• Lord North and other British leaders were forced

to resign - the new leaders began to negotiate

peace terms - the Americans had won their

independence

The End of the War

wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Surrender_of_Lord_Cornwallis.jpg