1781 “Convergence in Virginia”

Redcoats in the South

• Britain would begin to move north into North Carolina and Virginia • Hoping to gain

greater support• Capture key cities

Battle of Cowpens

• Jan. 17, 1781• Cowpens, SC• Banastre Tarleton led

1,100 Redcoats• Daniel Morgan led 1,000

American troops • Morgan positioned his men

against Broad River cutting off any retreat

• Preventing his untrained militia from running from battle

• Positioned the militia in two lines, each firing twice and then falling back and reforming behind the regulars

Battle of Cowpens

• Tarleton and the British attacked head on • He thought he had sent the

Americans retreating and chased after them, only to find another line of battle hardened Continental regulars firmly holding the hill

• While the British engaged the regulars, the reformed militia and cavalry units flanked the redcoats on either side

• Most of the British were captured (850 casualties)

• Tarleton and about approx. 200 redcoats escaped

• 70 American Casualties

Results of Cowpens

• Decisive American Victory • A turning point in the

Southern campaign • Great morale boost for the

Patriots • The great, bold Tarleton had

been defeated• A successful, original

strategy by Morgan• “Seldom has a battle, in

which greater numbers were not engaged, been so important in its consequences as that of Cowpens." - John Marshall

Daniel Morgan

Battle of Guilford’s Courthouse

• March 15, 1781• Greensboro, NC• 1,900 redcoats –

under Cornwallis • 4,400 patriots –

under Greene • Cornwallis attacked

Greene’s men stationed in three lines defending the courthouse

Battle of Guilford’s Courthouse

• British routed the Americans after 90 minutes but suffered the loss of ¼ of their army (500 casualties) • A British victory but at too high a cost

• Americans suffered 1,300 casualties (1000 missing)

A variation of the Stars and Stripes; a flag thought to have been flow during this battle

The Swamp Fox

• Francis Marion led group of “irregulars” called Marion’s Brigade • Supplied their own

supplies, food, horses• Served without pay

• Used guerrilla warfare tactics

• Surprise attacks and quick retreats

• Traveled along swamp paths

• Very successful in harassing British troops in South Carolina

• Disrupted communications and supply lines

• Never captured

British move into Virginia

• Cornwallis decided to move north into Virginia to link back up with the Royal Navy • Set up defensive position in Yorktown, VA• British southern army of 7,500 Redcoats

French Support:Battle of the Chesapeake

• Sept. 5, 1781• 24 French ships under Rear

Admiral Comte de Grasse battled 19 British vessels under Thomas Graves

• After a full day of fighting, the French gained control of the Chesapeake Bay• Blocking any retreat by sea from

Cornwallis in Yorktown

French Fleet

French Support: Comte de Rochambeau

• French General who arrived in Connecticut with French Army of 5,000

• Joined up with Washington across the Hudson River

• His behavior has been celebrated • put himself totally under the

command of George Washington

• Major reason for American success at Yorktown

Siege of Yorktown

• Washington decided to use nearly all of his Continental force to surround Cornwallis and lay siege to Yorktown

• American General Marquis de Lafayette and his men • French General, the Comte de Rochambeau, joined

Washington with a French army of over 5,000• Together they amassed nearly 20,000

Battle of Yorktown

• On Sept. 28, French and American forces arrived in Yorktown

• Through the early part of October, French and American forces attacked the city, taking British redoubts and closing in on Cornwallis• Alexander Hamilton

leads Americans to victory on Redoubt #10

Yorktown

American Forces storming British redoubts outside of Yorktown

Yorktown

The end of the line

• Cornwallis was running out of time• British were running

low on food, supplies • River escape was

thwarted by storm • Reinforcements from

Clinton never arrived• Cornwallis offered

surrender on Oct. 17• Papers were signed on

Oct. 19• Surrendered his

entire army of 7,000

“Surrender of Cornwallis at Yorktown” by John Trumbull

It Is Over

• The surrender of Cornwallis meant the British lost their biggest army in North America

• Congress sent John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Jay, Henry Laurens to negotiate peace with Britain

• Due to continued fighting in Europe between France, Spain, The Netherlands, and England, an official would not be signed for almost two years

Treaty of Paris (1783)

• Acknowledged American Independence

• America agreed to reimburse Loyalist property seized during the war

• Britain agreed to abandon all posts/forts on US soil

• Set the new N. America boundaries • Canada to Britain • Florida, Louisiana and

West of the Mississippi to Spain Treaty of Paris

The United States of America

John Adams holding the Treaty of Paris and pointing at the United States