The Southern CampaignThe Final Phase of the RevolutionMr. SassoUS I

Problems for the British

• France’s entry into the war really makes the Revolution a global conflict

• Not only dealing with the Americans; other nations will declare war

• England also dealing with the French, Spanish, and Dutch

• Can’t fully commit all of their troops to fighting the Americans

Problems for the British

• British will start to rely on both loyalists and African slaves

• These groups can be found in abundance in the South• Brits have to try as best they can to use these groups to

their advantage• That’s easier said then done; the British greatly

overestimate the willingness of these groups to participate• Some loyalists will not be open about their opinions

because they fear what the patriots will do to them• Some slaves are frightened of retaliation from owners

Problems for the British

• Even after 5-6 years of fighting, the British really haven’t adjusted to American guerilla fighting

• Still fighting in a traditional European style; Americans are more inclined to hit and run

• Many of the American forces in the South are militia; sometimes it is very difficult to tell the soldiers from the civilians

• Makes it very tough on the British; sometimes they are too aggressive, sometimes they are too cautious

For the Americans

• The war truly becomes “Revolutionary”

• The campaign in the South will mobilize and politicize a whole new region of people

• Many people in the South really didn’t understand the war; they had always had a pretty solid relationship with England

• Up until this point, many of the Southern colonies felt like this was simply New England’s war

• Their views will start to change when the war comes to them

The Southern Campaigns for the British

• Fighting in the North basically comes to a stalemate after Saratoga

• General William Howe will lose his job after Saratoga; replaced by Henry Clinton

• Clinton will move the British base of operations from Philadelphia back to NYC

The Southern Campaign

• Clinton’s focus will shift South

• Sails some of his forces (14,000) from NY to South Carolina

• The British will attack and control Charleston

• Clinton will return to NY, leaving Charles Cornwallis in command

The Southern Campaign

• The British are generally successful at the start, because they are better equipped than the Americans

• However, the British truly expected a lot of loyalists to jump over to their side; that really won’t happen in big enough numbers for the English

• As usual, the British will be successful in many conventional battles, but as the campaign drags on, they will continually have to deal with guerilla attacks

• Slowly and steadily, the Americans will start to chip away at the British

The Southern Campaign

• Within the first year of Southern combat, Cornwallis took control of most of South Carolina

• American leadership is somewhat ineffective at that point; Washington is still up North (butting heads with Congress and the French)

• Horatio Gates had been put in charge of the Southern forces, but he tended to fight the British head on (and that’s not a strategy that helps the Americans)

• Ultimately, Gates will need to be replaced; new commanding officer in the South will be Nathanael Greene

• Probably the 2nd best general in the American army, behind GW

The Southern Campaign• Greene is younger and

more realistic than Gates

• Understands that the Americans can’t go toe-to-toe with the British

• He will rely on smaller, faster armies that can strike quickly and run

• Greene wants to wear the British out

The Southern Campaign

• As for the English, Cornwallis actually starts to get bored in SC

• Believing that GA and SC are secure, he decides that he would like to start moving his armies North

• As he sees it, the war can’t end until Washington is forced to surrender; Cornwallis would like to force the issue

• The goal is to make a GW sandwich- Catch Washington in between the forces of Cornwallis and Clinton

• Cornwallis begins to move through South Carolina away from his base of ops in Charleston, through the Upstate region, and into North Carolina

The Southern Campaign

• This is where the Americans really use guerilla tactics; they really try to avoid open battlefields

• Greene and Daniel Morgan will shadow Cornwallis and make life difficult

• Also have militias under the command of Francis Marion (if you’ve ever seen “The Patriot”, think of Mel Gibson’s character)

The Southern Campaign

• Cornwallis depends on loyalists for his extra forces, but when the going gets tough they will bail out

• Cornwallis is forced to chase after Greene, Morgan, and Marion, but it’s very tough to fight three armies at one (while still trying to march North)

• His armies are continually weakened, and there’s no way to reinforce them (supplies lines are cut off by Marion’s forces)

• After an exchange of letters, Cornwallis is instructed by Henry Clinton to head for Yorktown, VA and wait for navy transport to NY

• This is an awful idea

Yorktown• Yorktown is a peninsula

• French Navy will have it blockaded

• American/French armies will converge on the town

• Cornwallis is put under siege

• Ultimately he has to surrender

• This will end the major fighting in the American Revolution

The Treaty of Paris 1783

• American Ambassadors: Ben Franklin, John Adams, John Jay

• Told to follow the lead of the French; they ignore it

• Negotiate for complete U.S. independence, and they get it

• Huge event in world history; the spark for many other events of its kind

And that was the easy part…

• So what do we do now?

• The road ahead isn’t very smooth

• Needs: govt., economic system, leadership, etc.

• Where do we start????