The End of the American Revolution

1. The End of the American Revolution Don Troiani, The Battle of Cowpens. Fought between the British and American colonists on January 17, 1781. An important victory for the Americans.

2. The World Turned Upside Down? • Legend has it that at the British surrender at Yorktown, the British band was playing "The World Turned Upside Down.“ • If that is indeed true, why might they have played that song? If it is just a legend, why do you think it has been such a popular one?

3. After the failed British attempt at separating the colonies in the North, King George III was determined to crush the rebellion with a new strategy based on the southern colonies. The South, with its valuable crops and its large slave population were powerful items that might keep rebellious southerners in line. Georgia and the Carolinas also appeared to hold large numbers of Loyalists. The British hoped to recapture these colonies one by one, then move back north to the Middle and New England colonies. This strategy seemed to work: The British took Georgia, Charleston, SC; defeated American troops at Camden, SC—the most devastating loss for the Continental army during the war. Britain’s southern strategy succeeded in 1780 partly because info about Patriot troop movements was passed on by traitor Benedict Arnold. But the American rebels in the southern areas were revitalized by and motivated by Arnold’s treachery and the loss at Camden. It was sort of like a “come on, breh!” moment. The south became the site of brutal guerilla warfare—fighting that is not conventional, such as in forests, swamps, sneak attacks, etc. Both sides (British and southern rebels) committed murders and atrocities.

4. It is true that students love maps.

5. Benedict Arnold, an American officer who had once led the Americans in their unsuccessful campaign against Quebec, Canada, turned on his country after people he deemed inferior/unfit were given a higher command that he thought he deserved.

6. Britain’s southern strategy had depended on sufficient help and strength from the Loyalists to hold down the reconquered territories. All of the brutal, nasty guerilla warfare proved this assumption false, however because the British were not able to keep their loyal followers safe from the American rebels . • Americans won few major battles in the south, but were successful in harassing British forces and preventing them from scavenging for food. • British defeats at King’s Mountain, SC; and Cowpens, SC had General Cornwallis and his British troops reeling back to Virginia. • Cornwallis then marched to Yorktown, Virginia to await backup troops from NYC. • The problem? The French alliance came into play. French fleets headed to the Chesapeake Bay before the British ships arrived, preventing Cornwallis from getting his reinforcements. • Cornwallis and his 7,500 troops were now closed in at Yorktown and opposed by a combined Anglo/French force of 16,000. After twelve days of bombardment, Cornwallis surrendered. • October 19, 1781 the British formally surrendered and major military operations came to a halt.

7. Alonzo Chappel’s painting on the death of British officer Patrick Ferguson at the Battle of King’s Mountain. Notice the woodsy-ness of it all. Very typical of the fighting that took place in the South. Melisa Onc in disguise!

8. This sketch shows a French officer’s view of the French blockade near Yorktown, Virginia.

9. John Trumbull. The Surrender of Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown. True story.

10. Why did the British Lose? • The British began this war convinced they could not lose: best-trained army and navy in the world; familiar with the landscape; alliances with Natives; easily captured every major port city; and 1/5 were Loyalist. • The British also had to deal with the uncertainty of supplies (after all, they were 3,000 miles away from home) and an unwillingness to ravage the American countryside. • Failure to support Loyalists against guerilla warfare/tactics. • European aid to the colonists (French, Spanish, Dutch) would also provide crucial to the victory of the colonists. • The power of local colonial committees to monitor safety and provide communication, as well as the fighting spirit of the colonial militia fighting units.

11. This cartoon was published in Britain during 1780. The cartoonist predicted that the alliance the Americans had cooked up against Britain would fail. Nine months later, the Yorktown campaign would prove that false.