The British scored a victory at Camden, South Carolina, in 1780.
With the failure of the peace talks, the British pursued a new plan. The fighting would shift to the southern colonies, where the British counted on military aid from Loyalists.
Clinton sent a force of 3,500 soldiers to Georgia. The capital, Savannah, fell to the British at the end of 1778, and soon the whole colony came under royal control. The next British target was Charleston, South Carolina. Clinton led another force there at the end of 1779 and prepared for a siege that began the next February. The siege lasted several weeks, with both sides turning cannons on each other. American commander Benjamin Lincoln surrendered May 12. About 5,000 Americans were taken prisoner.
WAR IN THE CAROLINAS
After taking Charleston, Clinton returned to New York, leaving Lord Cornwallis in charge of the Carolina forces. Reporting to Cornwallis was cavalry officer Banastre Tarleton. At Waxhaws, an area near the North Carolina border, Tarleton gave rebel commander Abraham Buford a chance to surrender before the British attacked. Buford refused.
The hard-charging British cavalry stunned the Americans. Some rebels tried to surrender, but Tarleton and his men fought on.
Riding with Tarleton were Loyalist troops. Loyalists guarded newly built forts, and at times the only British on the battlefield were officers guiding Loyalist forces. The knowledge of local Americans also helped in preparing for battle. In August 1780 Cornwallis faced a large rebel force at Camden, South Carolina. His Loyalist sources told him how to take advantage of swamps in the area. Cornwallis’ infantry began the attack, and the cavalry finished off the Americans. The rebels quickly fled, but not before suffering almost 2,000 casualties.
South Carolina seemed to be firmly under British control, although rebel raiders did cause trouble. France and Spain had not yet been able to give the Americans effective help. They were more concerned with acquiring British lands in other parts of the world.
Cornwallis next moved into North Carolina, but he didn’t stay long. Behind him a rebel force surrounded Loyalist troops at Kings Mountain, South Carolina. The Americans fired from behind trees and ran for cover whenever the British charged. The British had about 300 men dead or wounded and another 700 captured. The Americans had fewer than 100 casualties. The loss forced Cornwallis to retreat from North Carolina.
Back in South Carolina by the end of October, Cornwallis and his men suffered miserably. Food and medical supplies were hard to find. The men wore ragged clothes and slept in log huts. Meanwhile, across South Carolina, Loyalist support seemed to shrink as the rebels grew stronger. Cornwallis set up camp for several months, planning another assault on North Carolina.
The year 1781 began with bad news for Cornwallis. He had sent out Tarleton to hunt for a rebel force led by Daniel Morgan. The American set up a defense at a spot in South Carolina called the Cowpens. Tarleton, as usual, quickly thrust his men into battle, expecting the Americans to retreat. Instead, Morgan expertly moved his infantry and cavalry to hold off each British attack. Realizing they were defeated, most of the British surrendered, although Tarleton managed to escape.
Cornwallis set off after the Americans, chasing them into North Carolina. Hoping to move quickly, he left behind his tents and most of his supply wagons. American soldiers had been through the area already, picking it clean of supplies. The lack of available food weakened Cornwallis’ army.
By March 1781 the American force in the Carolinas numbered around 4,500, about double the number of Cornwallis’ troops. Led by General Nathanael Greene, the rebels made a stand at Guilford Courthouse. The Americans set up three lines of defense, as they had at the Cowpens. Cornwallis had his horse shot out from under him. He took another and rode dangerously close to the enemy lines. A sergeant took hold of the horse, warning the general that he was in danger of being captured or killed.
Cornwallis made it back safely to his troops, but the battle did not go well. At one point the general ordered his artillery to fire grapeshot—tiny metal balls packed into a shell. The shot was designed to cut down many soldiers at once, but with soldiers packed so close together, Regulars as well as rebels took the hits. The British finally forced the Americans to flee, but suffered many casualties.
By April Cornwallis was thinking of taking his men to Virginia. He wanted to defeat the rebels there because from Virginia, the Americans could supply their forces to the south. And as long as the rebels fought effectively in the Carolinas, the British would never gain the full support of the residents there.
Clinton had been thinking about Virginia too. A British force under Benedict Arnold had arrived there in December 1780. They destroyed supplies and generally created terror. Another 4,200 British troops soon followed them, and when Cornwallis arrived in the spring, he brought about 1,500 more.
Cornwallis had acted on his own in leaving the Carolinas for Virginia. Clinton feared that leaving the region would expose Charleston and Georgia to rebel attacks. As 1781 went on, the two generals exchanged letters, with Cornwallis growing upset with Clinton’s requests. In June Clinton asked Cornwallis to send troops to New York because he feared an attack there. Another letter told Cornwallis to plan a raid on Philadelphia, but then Clinton told him to forget that plan. Finally Clinton told him to build a base in Virginia that could serve as a port for the British navy. Cornwallis did so at Yorktown.
Back in New York, Clinton worried about the Americans’ plans. The attack on New York that he feared never came. Instead, a note from Cornwallis sent August 31 told the story: “There are between 30 and 40 sail within the capes, mostly ships of war, and some of them very large.” A French naval fleet had reached Virginia. A small rebel land force was also nearby. Fearing heavy losses if he decided to fight his way out, Cornwallis decided to stay. He counted on reinforcements from Clinton to help him escape.
Clinton did send warships to confront the French. But the warships didn’t repel the French fleet. And the only troops that reached Virginia were a combined American and French force of more than 10,000. Cornwallis was outnumbered, with no way to escape. In late September the rebels began a siege of Yorktown that lasted several weeks. By October 9 rebel cannons pounded the British positions, and the Americans seized two redoubts. Cornwallis knew he had lost and made the decision to surrender. At the surrender ceremony October 19, Cornwallis said he didn’t feel well enough to attend, sending General Charles O’Hara in his place. As O’Hara led the defeated soldiers away, their band played the song “The World Turned Upside Down.” The song expressed what the soldiers must have felt—shock that their great army had lost to a group of rebels.
In late November news of the defeat reached London. Lord North threw out his arms and shouted, “O God! It is all over!”9 But King George was not ready to quit. Early in 1782 Clinton received word that the war would continue—but without any additional reinforcements.
George, however, was increasingly alone in wanting to fight on. Many members of Parliament were tired of spending money and losing men on what seemed a lost cause. The British and Americans began peace talks. When the Treaty of Paris was signed September 3, 1783, George had to accept the loss of this distant, rich part of his empire.
George remained king of Great Britain until 1820, although mental illness made him less active in government for most of those years. George had tried to assert his power, believing that his father and grandfather had given too much control to Parliament. But in the end his actions not only lost the American colonies, they also gave even more power to Parliament.
