*As 1781 began, Nathaniel Greene commanded the Continental Army in the South while Charles Cornwallis commanded the British Army.  After consultation with Francis Marion (the Swamp Fox) and Thomas Sumter (the Carolina Gamecock), Greene placed Daniel Morgan in charge of harassing Cornwallis’s flank in the back country.  In return, Cornwallis set Banastre Tarleton the task of stopping him.

*In mid-January, Morgan knew that Tarleton was closing in on him, and he chose Cowpens, South Carolina so the spot to fight him, and to use his own arrogance against him.

*Morgan arrayed his militia (who made up the bulk of his force of a little over 1,000 men) so that they would face Tartleton’s men first.  However, behind them on a ridge, were regulars from the Continental line as well as more experienced state soldiers.  Behind the ridge was a small cavalry force under the command of William Washington.

*Tarleton approached the Cowpens on the morning of 17 January, 1781.  He thought the open field looked perfect for a cavalry charge, and although sharpshooters kept him from making careful observations, he saw a line of militiamen and felt confident he could break their lines.

*Morgan was aware that his militia might not be able to face the disciplined British forces, especially under the leadership of the fearsome Tarleton, so he had given them specific orders to fire twice and then retreat behind the hill. 

*They followed these orders, killing several cavalrymen and then leading them into the trees where their horses were slowed and their sabres less effective.  Then Washington’s cavalry charged Tarleton’s dragoons, forcing them to retreat instead.

*When Tarleton sent the 71st Highlanders forward to make a bayonet charge against the fleeing militia, Morgan’s veteran troops moved to engage the British infantry.  A misunderstood bugle call led some of these troops to begin retreating, causing the British soldiers to run towards them, breaking up their own line.  Morgan then rallied his men and turned them back towards the British.

*At this point, the cavalry who had been fighting the dragoons fell upon the British infantry from one side and the militia who had retreated at the beginning of the battle had by this point reformed and now attacked the British from the other side, surrounding them in a perfect double envelopment.

*Many of the British tried to surrender, but were slashed with sabres or bayoneted by Americans yelling ‘Tarleton’s quarter’ in memory of the Waxhaws.

*Many of Tarleton’s own dragoons who had not yet engaged in the battle refused to go to the rescue of the Highlanders, but Tarleton led a small force onto the battlefield.  When his own horse was shot, his surgeon gave him his (and then surrendered). 

*Washington’s cavalry charged Tarleton’s force and engaged in bitter hand-to-hand combat during which Washington’s sabre broke for the force of the fighting, and he only survived his enemy’s sabre when his personal slave shot the British cavalryman in the shoulder.  Tarleton himself took a swing at Washington, which he was able to deflect with the hilt of his sword.  Tarleton shot his pistol at Washington, wounding his horse, and fled. 

*Over 100 British soldiers were killed and over 700 captured, along with two 3-pound ‘grasshopper’ artillery pieces, most of his equipment, and even his officers’ slaves.  This was a great loss to Cornwallis, who was not deprived of some of his most mobile soldiers and many valuable supplies.  It was a further boost to American morale and it allowed Greene to move throughout North Carolina and Virginia without fear of harassment or enemy scouts.

*Morgan was awarded a gold medal by Congress.  Tarleton offered to retire from service and requested a court-martial to vindicate his conduct, but Cornwallis would not allow it and ordered him to continue on active duty.

*After Cowpens, Greene decided to further weaken Cornwallis’s army by forcing them to pursue him across North Carolina, luring him after him with a series of small raids.  Cornwallis took the bait as he wished to destroy Greene, but to do so, he burnt many of his own supply wagons to allow his army to move faster.

*Greene prepared to fight at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina.  He set his men up in three lines much as Morgan had done at Cowpens, but spread further apart in order to protect his flanks (but, in fact, separating his men enough that they could not support each other the way Morgan’s had done at Cowpens).

*Although Cornwallis was outnumbered, he marched his men across an open field towards the militia in the woods, sheltered behind rail fences.  Their rifles let them shoot the British soldiers before the British could return fire.  Eventually they got close enough to fire and then fought their way through the woods, taking terrible losses.

*The British were then able to attack the second, and then third lines of the Continental army.  The militia retreated, but the American cavalry charged to hold off the British.  At this point, Cornwallis ordered his artillery to fire grapeshot into the midst of the fighting, killing both American and British soldiers.

*At this point, Greene’s army retreated, but Cornwallis’s army was too worn out to follow.  Although technically the British won the battle, it was a Pyrrhic victory, as Cornwallis lost about a quarter of his forces, and was forced to move towards the Virginia coast for re-supply and reinforcement.  He even considered meeting up with Clinton by marching to New York where they could jointly crush Washington.  Clinton was disgusted that Cornwallis had abandoned the Carolinas, but still sent him badly-needed reinforcements.

*This left Greene in charge of the Carolina and Georgia, where he eventually pushed the British back to the ports of Charleston and Savannah.

*In Virginia, Cornwallis took over command from Benedict Arnold, who had been facing off against La Fayette.  Arnold tried to dissuade Cornwallis from marching to Yorktown, fearing he would be trapped against the ocean, but Cornwallis felt he needed help from the Navy.

*Washington also received help from the King of France.  In July, 1781, the comte de Rochambeau arrived in New York and joined Washington with 6,000 men.

*By allowing fake plans to fall into the hands of a known Loyalist spy, Washington was able to convince Clinton that he was planning an attack on New York City.  While Clinton decided how to deal with this, Washington and Rochambeau marched south, where they joined Lafayette.

*At the same time, the French Admiral de Grasse drew most of the British fleet into battle in the Chesapeake Bay and did enough damage to their ships that they were unsuited for further battle.  Both fleets drifted north within sight of each other until de Grasse turned around and sailed south to the York River.  Afterwards, he was able to blockade the east coast of Virginia, preventing Cornwallis from escaping or receiving reinforcements or new supplies.

*In late September, 1781, Washington, Rochambeau, and Lafayette moved to surround Yorktown and place it under siege.  Cornwallis pulled in his forces to a series of earthworks around Yorktown and waited for reinforcements that Clinton promised to send him.  The American and French forces responded by digging trenches around the British lines.

*On 9 October, 1781, George Washington fired the first cannon against the British defences.  French ships under Admiral de Grasse also fired upon British ships in the York River.

*Washington soon ordered the construction of a new line of trenches closer to Yorktown, but was not able to completely encircle the town because two British earthworks, Redoubt Number 9 and Redoubt Number 10 blocked work on the right end of his line.  On 14 October, French forces attacked Redoubt #9 and American forces under the command of Alexander Hamilton stormed Redoubt #10.  Hamilton’s men quickly overwhelmed the British while losing only 9 killed and 25 wounded.  The French had more trouble, but also succeeded.

*At this point, Washington was able to shell Yorktown from three different directions at once.  The British tried to counterattack on the 15th, but were repulsed.  On 16 October, Cornwallis tried to escape across the York River, but bad weather forced most of his men to stay in Yorktown.

*On 17 October the British offered to negotiate, and on the 19th Cornwallis signed the Articles of Capitulation.  8,000 British and Hessian troops marched out of Yorktown between a line of American troops and a line of French troops and into captivity.  Their fifes and drums played the tune ‘The World Turned Upside Down.’ 

*Cornwallis refused to meet with Washington in person, claiming to be ill, but sent his second-in-command, Charles O’Hare, in his place.  O’Hare offered Cornwallis’s sword to Rochambeau, but he shook his head and pointed to Washington.  Washington refused to take his enemy’s sword from his subordinate, and instead had Benjamin Lincoln, who had been humiliated at Charleston, take it.  To this day it is on display in the White House.

*Although some skirmishes and a lot of negotiation would drag on until the Treaty of Paris was concluded in 1783, the fighting in America was essentially over.

*Some of Washington’s men and officers were not satisfied, however.  Some soldiers had not been paid by Congress for months or years.  Many officers were disgusted at how their men had been treated and how they had been ignored.  This led to one last conspiracy, known as the Newburgh Conspiracy, named for the town of Newburgh, New York, where it reached its conclusion.

*Early in 1783, some Army officers planned to demand that Congress pay their soldiers back pay and pensions, or they would overthrow Congress and set up a new government under the army.  Horatio Gates was involved in this, hoping that Washington would refuse and that he would be made the new commander-in-chief.  Others wanted Washington to take on that role himself, perhaps even becoming a new King George for America, and they hoped to trap him between his love for his soldiers and his sense of duty to his country.

*Washington discovered the plot, and on 13 March, 1783, called a meeting of his officers where he spoke against the plan, telling his men to ignore the plan ‘as you value your own sacred honour.’  He then pulled out a letter from a Congressman describing Congress’ plans to respond to the army’s complaints. 

*Before reading it, he put on his spectacles, which most of his officers did not know he even needed.  He said, ‘Gentlemen, you will permit me to put on my spectacles, for I have not only grown gray but almost blind in your service.’  He then read the letter and walked out of the meeting, leaving his officers behind him in tears.

*On 3 September, 1783, the Treaty of Paris ended the American Revolution.  The newly independent United States of America stretched from the Atlantic Ocean to the Great Lakes to the Mississippi.  East and West Florida were returned to Spain.  France gained nothing except massive debts that contributed to the French Revolution six years later.  The Netherlands also gained nothing, and in fact had to permit British ships to sail freely in the Indian Ocean.

*In November the British evacuated New York City.  In December, Washington resigned his commission, saying he only wished to retire to his estate on Mount Vernon.

*If nothing else, this proved true the words of King George III, who had recently asked the American painter Benjamin West what Washington would do after the war.  West said he thought Washington would resign and return to private life; the king replied, ‘If he does that, sir, he will be the greatest man in the world.’

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