History of the United States

by John Clark Ridpath

The Two Armies in North Carolina.

7. The distance was sixty miles. In two days the Americans reached the river. The crossing was nearly effected when the British appeared in sight. That night the Yadkin was made impassable by rains, and Cornwallis was again delayed. On the 9th of February the British succeeded in crossing. The lines of retreat and pursuit were now nearly parallel. A third time the race began, and again the Americans won it. On the 13th Greene, with the main division, crossed the Dan into Virginia, and on the 22d of February returned into North Carolina.

Battle of Guilford Courthouse.

8. Greene's army now numbered more than four thousand men. Determining to avoid battle no longer, he marched to Guilford Courthouse. Cornwallis moved forward to the attack. On the 15th of March the two armies met, and a severe but indecisive battle was fought. The Americans were driven back for several miles; but in killed and wounded the British loss was greatest.

9. Early in April, Cornwallis retreated to Wilmington, and then proceeded to Virginia. The British forces in the Carolinas remained under Lord Rawdon. On the 10th of May, Lord Rawdon retired to Eutaw Springs. The British posts at Orangeburg and Augusta fell into the hands of the patriots. General Greene passed the sickly months of summer in the hill country of the Santee.

10. Sumter, Lee, and Marion were constantly abroad, smiting the tories right and left. Lord Rawdon now went to Charleston and became a principal actor in one of the most shameful scenes of the Revolution. Colonel Isaac Hayne, a patriot who had once taken an oath of allegiance to the king, was caught in command of a troop of American cavalry. He was arraigned before Colonel Balfour, the commandant of Charleston, and condemned to death. Rawdon gave his sanction, and Colonel Hayne was hanged.

Battle of Eutaw Springs.

11. On the 22d of August, General Greene marched toward Orangeburg. The British retired to Eutaw Springs. There the Americans overtook them on the 8th of September. One of the fiercest battles of the war ensued, and General Greene was denied a decisive victory only by the bad conduct of some of his troops. After losing five hundred and fifty-five men, he gave up the struggle. The British lost in killed and wounded nearly seven hundred. Stuart retreated to Monk's Corner; Greene followed; and after two months of maneuvering, the British were driven into Charleston. In the whole South only Charleston and Savannah were now held by the king's army; the latter city was evacuated on the 11th of July, and the former on the 14th of December, 1782. Such was the close of the Revolution in the Carolinas and Georgia.

Cornwallis in Virginia.

12. In the beginning of May, 1781, Cornwallis took command of the British army in Virginia. The country was ravaged, and property destroyed to the value of fifteen million dollars. La Fayette, to whom the defence of the State had been intrusted, was unable to meet Cornwallis in the field. While the British were near Richmond, a detachment under Tarleton proceeded to Charlottesville, and captured the town and seven members of the legislature. Governor Jefferson escaped into the mountains. The British marched to Portsmouth; but early in August the army was conveyed to Yorktown, on the southern bank of York River.