History Brief： The War in the South

When the strategy of cutting off the rebellious New England colonies from the others failed, the British focused their efforts on the South. How did this strategy work out? In implementing a southern campaign, the British hoped to find support from the large loyalist populations in Georgia, Virginia, and the Carolinas. They also planned to free enslaved African Americans and enlist them as soldiers. With a new approach and a new commander, Sir Henry Clinton, the British saw early success. As often happens in war, the longer a conflict lasts, the more brutal it becomes. Such was the case with the southern theater of the American Revolution. Families were split in their loyalties, and Americans fought one another in hand-to-hand combat. In an effort to inflict more punishment on the colonists, the British burned homes, destroyed crops, and slaughtered livestock. Bannister Tarleton, a British Dragoon officer, killed Americans who attempted to surrender, rather than taking them prisoner. Georgia, the last colony to join the Revolution, was also the first to fall back under British rule. In 1778, the British captured Savannah and placed the colony under a new colonial government. In 1780, General Clinton landed a force of 14,000 troops and marched on Charleston, South Carolina. The city fell in May, along with four ships and more than 5,000 prisoners. That fall, a Patriot Army under the command of Horatio Gates attempted to drive the British out of Camden, South Carolina. When the battle began, Gates' undermanned army broke, and most of the men either deserted or were captured. Only 700 of the 4,000 American soldiers escaped. When news of the disaster at Camden reached Congress, the delegates asked Washington to choose a new commander for the Southern Army. Washington sent Nathaniel Green to take command. When Green arrived in Charlotte, North Carolina, he found only 800 Continentals fit for duty. Even worse, those 800 men only had three days' worth of provisions. The army had no funds in their military chests, and there was scarcely a horse or wagon in sight. Yet, Green did see hope. Colonial militia had recently won a significant battle at Kings Mountain, which greatly harmed British plans to create a Loyalist army to control the Carolinas. The other piece of good news was Daniel Morgan, known as the Old Wagoneer, returning to service for the Patriots. Green sent Morgan, along with more than half of the army, to do what the Old Wagoneer did best. Morgan, commander of an elite group of marksmen, had a reputation as a fighter, and his men could inflict massive amounts of casualties in a frighteningly short period of time. The British took the bait. Clinton sent the over-eager Bannister Tarleton after the Old Wagoneer, and the British cavalrymen marched right into Morgan's well-devised trap at Cowpin, South Carolina. Morgan used Tarleton's aggressiveness against him and earned a resounding victory in what many historians consider to be the most brilliantly planned battle of the entire war. The victory at Cowpin shattered Tarleton's command, lifted the people of the Carolinas, halted the British momentum, and shifted public opinion in favor of the Patriots.