War in the North and the South
1776-1783
Howe-Germain Plan
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America too big for military occupation.
Cut off rebellious New England
Destroy Washington’s Army.
Belief in Loyalist strength. Take over
prosecuting the war.
• Occupy and disrupt the seat of government.
British Strategy 1777
• Lord Germain- British colonial minister and chief
strategist.
• Howe- lenient, wanted to pacify the countryside
• Isolate rebellious New England colonies.
Burgoyne and Clinton.
• Capture the colonial capital. Howe
Philadelphia
Fall of 1777
• Howe decides to take capital and take
Washington away from New York.
• Washington defeated at Brandywine and
Germantown.
• Howe winters in comfort of Philadelphia,
Washington to Valley Forge.
Saratoga
Sept.-Oct.1777
• Goal to cut colonies in half.
• Long supply lines. No help from Clinton
• Benedict Arnold and Daniel Morgan the
heroes. Horatio Gates takes the credit.
• Burgoyne surrenders.
• Major turning point. French consider
intervention.
Battle of Saratoga
Horatio Gates
The French Alliance
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A chance for revenge against the British.
Americans had to prove they could win militarily.
Ben Frankin, Silas Deane and Count deVergennes.
Treaty of Amity and Commerce and Treaty of
Alliance- May 1778
• British concern for West Indies and cross channel
invasion.
• Primarily a naval commitment. Concern over
army on American soil.
Doom and Despair
Winter of 1777-8
• Loss of Delaware River forts.
• Conway Cabal- attempt to replace
Washington with Gates “the Saratoga hero”
• Valley Forge hardships.
• Baron Von Steuben trains the army.
British Strategy 1778
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Protect home front from French invasion.
Attack French in West Indies.
Attack Southern colonies.
Abandon Philadelphia.
Clinton replaces Howe.
Washington Strategy
• Avoid major confrontations- to win is not to be
defeated.
• Battle of Monmouth- June 1778. Dismissal of Lee.
• Only minor engagements in New York and New
Jersey until Yorktown.
• Gates to Carolina, Lafayette to Virginia.
• France in war forces British to protect home front
and send troops to West Indies.
Battle of Monmouth
War in the Wilderness
• Fought by Indian allies- split in the Iroquois
federation.
• George Rogers Clark- frontier commander.
George Rogers Clark
Benedict Arnold’s Treason
• Hero of Ft.Ticonderoga, Valcour Island,and
Saratoga.
• Motivation: Needed money and lack of
recognition. Urging of a young wife.
• Arrogant, extravagant and ambitious.
• John Andre and plans of West Point.
• Commissioned by British. Fought in Va.
• After war died in obscurity in England.
Benedict Arnold
The War at Sea
John Paul Jones
• Court martial flight to America.
• French navy largely unsuccessful.
• Bonhomme Richard v.Serapis off English
coast.
• “I have not yet begun to fight”
• An American hero
John Paul Jones
War in the South
Germain Southern Strategy
• Carry war to Georgia and South Carolina.
• Take advantage of strong Tory support and
get them to prosecute the war.
• Primary British object is to protect the sugar
islands.
Battles in the South
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Clinton fails in Charleston - 6/76
Capture of Savannah – 12/78
Siege of Charlestown- 3/78
Camden- Gates defeated and humiliated
King’s Mountain- British massacred
Cowpens- Defeat of Tarleton
Guilford Courthouse- A draw
Savage Conflict
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Whigs vs. Tories.
Loyalist militia incompetent.
Guerilla warfare in the swamps.
Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and
Andrew Pickens.
• Patriots controlled the countryside.
• British problems with logistics and
communication. Troops not replaceable.
Colonel Tarleton
The Armies
• British: Better trained, more professional.
Problem controlling Hessians.Too much
territory to conquer and a hostile
population.
• Americans: Less disciplined particularly the
militia. Out numbered, Poorly paid.
• Disease: Dysentery, malaria, and typhoid.
Battle of Cowpens
Cornwallis Strategy
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Virginia - the key. Wants more troops.
Benedict Arnold raids countryside.
Flight of Jefferson.
Americans led by Lafayette.
Clinton refuses extra troops.
Yorktown Oct.19,1781
• Battle of the Capes- deGrasse defeats
Graves.
• Cornwallis cut off from supplies and
reinforcements.
• Washington and Rochambeau feign New
York and head for Virginia.
• Cornwallis surrenders.
• George considers abdication.
Cornwallis Surrender