Unit 4: The Revolutionary War CH. 6.3 – Battlegrounds Shift

I. Fighting in the West A. Native Americans 1. Some helped the patriots 2. More sided with the British = less of a threat

B. West of Appalachian Mtns. 1. British & NAs raided American settlements 2. Joseph Brant = Mohawk War Chief Led brutal attacks in South West NY & Northern PA 3. Henry Hamilton = British Commander at Detroit Paid NAs for scalps “Hair Buyer”

Led force down the OH River 4. George Rogers Clark = VA militia leader Led force down the OH River Patriots captured British post at Kaskaskia (Illinois) Took British town, Vincennes (Indiana) British troops (under Hamilton) recapture Vincennes February 1779 = Clark & troops surprise British & force surrender (strengthened American position in the West)

II. War at Sea A. British Navy 1. Vessels formed effective blockade Keep ships from entering or leaving harbor Limited supply and troop deliveries to Patriots

B. Privateers (Privately owned ship with weapons) 1. Congress ordered 13 warships 2. Only 2 made it out to sea – others captured by British 3. Congress authorized ~2,000 privateers Privately owned ship with weapons Recruited sailors from the whaling and fishing ports of NE Privateers captured more British ships than the American navy did

1. John Paul Jones = Naval Officer C. American Naval Hero 1. John Paul Jones = Naval Officer FIRST successes in raiding British ports September 1779 Jones’ ship, Bonhomme Richard, meets British warship, Serapis, off the coast of Great Britain Serapis surrendered

III. Fighting in the South A. 1776, Battle of Moore’s Creek (NC) = Patriot W B. Patriots saved key port in Charles Town, SC = impactful C. New British plan = use sea power & loyalist support

D. Early British Success 1. 1778, General Clinton sent 3,500 British troops from NY to Savannah (occupy & control) 2. May 1780 = Clinton led second attack on Charles Town Charles Town surrendered British took thousands of prisoners Worst American defeat of the war

3. After Clinton’s victory Returned to NY General Charles Cornwallis in command of South Continental Congress sent forces under General Horatio Gates Met in Camden, SC = British won first encounter

1. British forces moved through countryside E. Hit-and-Run Tactics 1. British forces moved through countryside Small Patriot forces attacked Showed up, fired, & disappeared 2. Patriot leader, Francis Marion “Swamp Fox” operated out of the swamps of eastern SC

1. Declared war on Britain in 1779 F. Spain 1. Declared war on Britain in 1779 Spanish Governor of LA, Bernardo de Galvez, shipped supplies & ammunition up the Mississippi River to American troops in Northwest (helped G. R. Clark)

1. Sept. 1780 = British move through Carolinas G. American Successes 1. Sept. 1780 = British move through Carolinas British warn locals to join British Don’t join = “hang their leaders, and lay their country waste…” Mountain people Formed a militia army to force British off their land Kings Mountain = killed/captured British-led Loyalist force of ~1,000

1. Nathanael Greene now commander of Continental forces in the South H. October 1780 1. Nathanael Greene now commander of Continental forces in the South January 1781 = defeated British at Cowpens, SC Joined Francis Marion March = Met Cornwallis’ army at Guilford Courthouse (Greensboro, NC) British sustained losses, Greene’s army retreats

I. April 1781 = Cornwallis marched north to VA Troops raided region Washington sent Lafayette & General Anthony Wayne south on Cornwallis Cornwallis took shelter at Yorktown, VA