6-3 Notes: The War Moves West And South

1. 6-3 Notes: The War Moves West And South

2. The War in the West • Most Native Americans sided with the British and fought against Patriots • They viewed the Patriots as more of a threat to their lands than the British were • Native Americans (Joseph Brant) and British (Henry Hamilton) allies raided American settlements • George Rogers Clark, a lieutenant colonel of the Virginia militia, captured the town of Vincennes in present-day Indiana, strengthening the American position in the west

3. The War at Sea • Britain used its powerful navy to blockade (prevent supplies and reinforcements from reaching) American ports • Continental Congress ordered the construction of 13 warships to break blockade but few were actually built and 4 were even destroyed to prevent British capture • American privateers, or privately owned merchant ships armed with weapons, were far more effective against the British navy • John Paul Jones – Bonhomme Richard – daring American naval officer who famously forced the British warship Serapis to surrender

4. War in the South • 1776 – Americans win Battle of Moore’s Creek, saving Charleston, SC from the British • 1778 – British decide to concentrate their forces in the South, where they thought they had the strongest support amongst Loyalists • Initially the plan worked – 1778 - British took Savannah, GA – 1780 - British take Charleston, SC

5. Guerrilla Warfare • “Guerrilla” – Spanish for “little war” • Aug. 1780 – General Horatio Gates loses to British General Charles Cornwallis at Camden, SC • Though the British won, they had trouble maintaining control of the area due to American use of the tactic of “guerrilla warfare” • “Guerrilla warfare” is a style of warfare in which small, mobile bands of soldiers attack or ambush isolated enemies before vanishing • Francis Marion – “the Swamp Fox” successfully frustrated British troops from the swamps of eastern South Carolina

6. Patriot Victories • Sept. 1780 – British attempt to invade central North Carolina – American sharpshooters force an army of 1,000 British + Loyalist forces to retreat, strengthening American support for the war • Oct. 1780 – Nathanael Greene replaces Gates as commander of American forces in the south – Greene splits his army, wins victories against the British and aids Francis’ raids • March 1781 – Greene defeated by Cornwallis at Guilford Courthouse, but Cornwallis suffers enough casualties to abandon campaign

7. British Retreat • Cornwallis and army retreat to Virginia in April 1781 • Carry out raids, nearly capturing Thomas Jefferson and the Virginia House of Burgesses in June of ‘81 • Washington sends Lafayette and von Steuben south to fight Cornwallis, who has set up camp at Yorktown, Virginia just off the coast