GATES'S FAILURE; GREENE.

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British now had complete control of Georgia, and restored the royal government. In no part of the war was there so much retaliation practised. The Whigs and Tories fought among themselves. Marauding expeditions from both sides went up and down the country pillaging and destroying, every now and then meeting and fighting, with success and defeat about equally distributed.

135. Gates's Failure; Greene. (1780–1781.) — Congress sent Gates, who had gained undeserved reputation from Saratoga, to take command of the southern armies. He met the British at Camden, South Carolina. Here, though he had fully twice as many men as Cornwallis, he was totally defeated, and, fleeing ahead of his army, he hardly paused in his rapid flight until some seventy miles distant from the field of battle. A large part of Gates's forces, it is true, were militia, who fled at the first shot of the British, but his reputation was gone. South Carolina was now wholly under British control, and there was no organized army to oppose it in either of the Carolinas. Greene, by the advice of Washington, was sent to supersede Gates. Nathaniel Greene, of Rhode Island, was of Quaker birth, and a blacksmith by trade. He entered the army early in the conflict, rose by reason of his natural abilities, and became, without question, the ablest of the Revolutionary officers except Washington. The change of commanders was soon made evident by the conduct of the campaign. The Americans had been successful, shortly after the defeat at Camden, in surprising and capturing a British force at King's Mountain; and at Cowpens another force under Tarleton was completely beaten. Greene was too weak to attack Cornwallis, and so retreated, hoping that Cornwallis would follow him. This he did, and at Guilford Court House, near Greensboro', North Carolina,

the armies met. After a sharp conflict, Greene retreated, leaving Cornwallis in possession of the field; but the British loss was so heavy that Cornwallis could not pursue the Americans, who had retreated in good order. Though nominally defeated, Greene had succeeded in his main purpose. He had drawn Cornwallis so far from his base of supplies that he could not return, and was forced to go to Wilmington, North Carolina, to recruit and to try to open communications with the British fleet. It was the despatch of Cornwallis to the British Colonial Secretary announcing this victory that made Charles James Fox exclaim, "Another such victory would destroy the British army!" Greene meanwhile hurried back to South Carolina, and though he was defeated several times, his movements were so skilful, and the British losses were so severe, that by September, 1781, the British held only Charleston and Savannah.

136. Cornwallis marches to Virginia. (1781.)- Cornwallis, when he found where Greene had gone, apparently thought that the British forces in South Carolina would be able to hold him in check, and so determined to march into Virginia and join the British troops already there, who had been sent from New York to annoy that colony and keep it from aiding the Carolinas. One of these expeditions was under Benedict Arnold, who took Richmond and committed a great deal of devastation through the country.1

Lafayette had already been sent by Washington to watch affairs in Virginia, and with his small force had been very successful. Cornwallis, after having spent considerable time marching to and fro in order to prevent Lafayette from gain

1 Clinton had so little confidence in Arnold that he gave his two subordinate officers commissions under which they could act in case Arnold should prove to be a traitor to his employers.

ing reinforcements, now received orders to seize some post where there would be easy communication with the sea, and to fortify it: Cornwallis accordingly took Yorktown and proceeded to carry out his instructions.

137. Yorktown. (1781.) — Hitherto, though the moral influence of the French alliance had been of the greatest advantage to the United States, the army had done little or nothing. In 1780 the Count Rochambeau reached Newport, Rhode Island, with 6000 troops, who not long after were marched to the Hudson to help Washington in a projected attack on New York. Clinton, the British commander, was alarmed; and well he might be, for a powerful French fleet was on the point of being sent to America with orders to co-operate for a time with the American forces before going on to the West Indies, its ultimate destination. Learning in August that the destination of this fleet, which also had on board a small reinforcement of French troops, was the Chesapeake, Washington resolved to change the seat of war to Virginia, and with the assistance of the fleet cut off Cornwallis. These plans were carried out with the greatest secrecy. By starting from Peekskill, a few miles south of West Point, his destination might well be supposed to be Staten Island, a good place to begin the attack on New York, which Clinton was expecting. Deceiving the enemy, Washington was almost at Philadelphia before Clinton knew what he was about. By the energy of Franklin and Laurens in France, new loans had been negotiated, which opportunely provided the money needed to make the change of base, and the American and French troops marched to the head of Chesapeake Bay, and were embarked on transports at Elkton and at Baltimore, and brought to the York peninsula in Virginia. The French fleet reached the Chesapeake as

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expected, landed the reinforcements for Lafayette, and being attacked by a division of the English fleet, drove it off, and so was able to co-operate with the land forces in blockading Cornwallis.

138. Cornwallis surrenders October 19, 1781. After a siege of three weeks, during which Cornwallis made a number of desperate efforts to escape, he surrendered on the 19th of October, 1781, with all his forces, numbering about 8000 men. The allied French and American armies numbered about 16,000. The same terms of surrender as had been imposed upon Lincoln at Charleston (sect. 134), including the laying down of arms, were required; and as Cornwallis did not appear, pleading illness, General Lincoln, who had been exchanged, was appointed to receive his sword from the subordinate who represented him. A fleet with reinforcements for Cornwallis sailed from New York the day of the surrender, but returned as soon as the news was heard. In Philadelphia the tidings were received at midnight, and the citizens were startled by the watchman's cry, "Past twelve o'clock, and Cornwallis is taken!" All felt that this victory was the virtual end of the war. Washington returned with his army to his old quarters on the Hudson at Newburgh but hostilities, with a few exceptions, ceased pending news from abroad.

139. The News in England; Peace. (1783.) — Lord North is said to have received the news “as he would have taken a bullet through his breast," exclaiming, "O God, it is all over!" The king and his ministers tried to take measures to continue the war, but the opposition in Parliament and among the people was too strong. Fox, Burke, and the younger Pitt in the House of Commons, and Shelburne in

the House of Lords, attacked the government violently, and large public meetings were held in London and elsewhere, demanding that the war should cease. At length, on March 20, 1782, the Ministry resigned, and George III. was forced to appoint one favorable to making peace. It was not, however, until December that the king publicly announced to Parliament his consent to the acknowledgment of the independence of the colonies.

It was nearly two years before the terms of peace could be agreed upon, so difficult were the questions to be settled, and so loath were the English to yield point after point. Meantime the American army, unpaid, was dwindling away from month to month. A conspiracy was started to make Washington king, which he soon stopped, spurning the suggestion with sternness and sorrow. Another plan was to refuse to disband until Congress or the states should pay arrears due. This, which seems to have been encouraged by Gates, was also stopped through Washington's influence. At length, on the 19th of April, 1783, the anniversary of the battle of Lexington, which was generally considered to be the beginning of the Revolution, peace was formally proclaimed ; most of the soldiers were given leave of absence, and the army was practically disbanded, though some of the troops were retained at Newburgh until the evacuation of New York by the British, November 25, 1783.

Rebellion had resulted in revolution, revolution in independence. This result was expected by few at the outset, undesired by many, and only brought about by the skill and perseverance of those who were at the beginning, and also, perhaps, during a good part of the struggle, a minority.