The Revolutionary War is different. Why is it that there isn't a lot of information written about the specific battles and the executive decisions of the leaders of the Revolutionary War? Is it because we are pre-occupied by the passion and fervor of our founding fathers that there isn't a desire to know about the nuances of the war?
John Ferling, author of Almost a Miracle: The America Victory in the War of Independence
, discussed a specific turning point of the Revolutionary War on his blog several weeks ago. The story was one that I was not familiar with but I'm glad it was brought to light. You can read the entire article at http://blog.oup.com/2007/06/revolution/.The Southern Strategy
After a devastating loss at Saratoga in 1777, Great Britain was certain they could not win the war in the North.
Incidentally, Saratoga is considered by many historians to be the turning point of the war. The battle proved to the entire world that the United States was a force to be reckoned with. As a result of this victory, the French took an interest in the American's cause and began to support them, particularly because they now thought they might win.
This caused Great Britain to shift strategy and switched to what became known as the Southern Strategy.
Great Britain realized that the retention of the Southern colonies, as crucial to winning the war. Britain thought they could capitalize on the cash crops of tobacco and rice and believed the southern region was teeming with loyalists. That said, Britain turned their focus to the reconquest of Georgia, the Carolinas and Virginia. This would surely lead to a large profitable empire that would stretch from Canada, through the trans-Appalachian west (west of the colonies of New York and Pennsylvania) into the aforementioned southern colonies and into Florida, which was already a British Colony as a result of the Seven Years War. This on top of some sugar islands in the Caribbean, some of which by the way are still under British rule.
If the British were to be victorious in this strategy, it would leave the United States with only 9 states, all of which would be surrounded by the British Empire, meaning the United States' chance for survival in the near or distant future would be slim.
By the summer of 1780, it appeared that the British strategy would be successful. Britain retook Savannah, GA. The British crushed Charleston, South Carolina, killing or capturing nearly 7,000 Americans in the process. And then finally, Camden, South Carolina became the 3rd city to fall in less than 2 years. Things did not look good for America...
But then, something happened that will ignite American pride in every patriot in this great land... something that is made for the big screen of Hollywood... something that is the perfect subject of a book.... see John Ferling above.... something unexpected that changed the course of history...
Citizens of South Carolina came out of the woodwork... well, actually, they came out of the "dark swamps" and the "thick woods" of the back country and ambushed the British troops guerrilla style.
John Ferling says it best:
"The Southern rebels who reached for their arms in 1780 were driven by myriad hopes and fears. Some fought to save the American Revolution, which they believed offered the promise of liberating political, social, and economic change. Others were Scotch-Irish Presbyterians who long had loathed Great Britain and its state church. Some were adventurers or opportunists. Many sought revenge against the heavy handed actions of the British, who had jailed suspected rebels, liberated their slaves, and even burned churches. But nothing had stirred the South Carolinians as much as the bloody attack led by Colonel Banastre Tarleton against a force of Continentals in the Waxhaws north of Charleston late in May. Tarleton’s American Legion, a loyalist force, had overwhelmed the Continentals, and then massacred up to 75 percent of them as they tried to surrender.
Some South Carolina rebels joined with guerrilla bands led by the likes of Thomas Sumter, Francis Marion, and Andrew Pickens. These guerrilla warriors emerged from dark swamps and thick forests to strike enemy supply lines and ambush British forage parties. Others, in small vigilante packs, terrorized Loyalists, hoping to keep them from aiding the British."
The result of the South Carolina attacks put a huge damper on the Southern Strategy. For the next 6 months, Cornwallis and his troops suffered many defeats and had no choice but to turn their strategy back to the north, to try and meet up with some British troops in Virginia. From their, he would head to Yorktown where he eventually surrendered.
PS - Thanks to Kate Klenfner of Oxford University Press, for bringing this great article to my attention.
Click here to bye John Ferling's Book
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