nathanael greene | Author Suzanne Adair

Winners from the 2014 Week-Long Fourth of July

Posted on July 14, 2014 by suzanneadairJuly 13, 2014

Essayist: Lars D.H. Hedbor
Contribution: signed paperback set of the first three books in the author’s series
Winner: Lynn Demsky

Essayist: Helena Finnegan
Contribution: a $5 Amazon gift certificate
Winner: Sheila Ingle

Essayist: Dr. Christine Swager
Contribution: paperback copy of Musgrove Mill Historic Site
Winner: Tracy Smith

Essayist: David Neilan
Contribution: DVD of the South Carolina ETV program “Chasing the Swamp Fox”
Winner: Tate Jones

Essayist: Sheila Ingle
Contribution: paperback copy of Brave Elizabeth
Winner: Denise Duvall

Essayist: Jack Parker
Contribution: $10 discount certificate toward the purchase of a copy of Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina
Winner: Lars D.H. Hedbor

Essayist: Suzanne Adair
Contribution: winner’s choice of one title from author’s publications
Winner: Jenni Gate

Congratulations to all the winners!

Thanks to my wonderful essayists who contributed so much to this year’s program. Thanks, also, to everyone who visited and commented on the posts during the “Week-long Fourth of July.” Watch for another Relevant History post, coming soon.

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The Winning of the Revolution in South Carolina

Posted on July 8, 2014 by suzanneadairJuly 7, 2014

Welcome to my blog! The week of 2 July – 9 July, I’m participating with more than one hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Relevant History welcomes Jack Parker, who was born in Pennsylvania, raised in Delaware, and has lived in Virginia, California, Colorado, and South Carolina. He earned a Bachelors Degree in Education and served four years in the U.S. Navy as an Asst. Navigator aboard the USS Spiegel Grove, then as Navigator and Executive Officer aboard the USS Pitkin County. After leaving the Navy, he moved to Colorado, rode and packed horses into the Gunnison Wilderness Area. He then spent five years living aboard a 43-foot yawl home ported in Charleston, SC, and taught several people to sail and live on the water. For more information, and to purchase Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, check his web site.

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South Carolina was a leader in the Revolutionary War with many battles, skirmishes and murders. Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina was written to put the location with the “what happened there” for the actions in South Carolina, to educate those that believe the war was fought and won in the north. South Carolina was in the forefront of the war and the founding of our nation from the beginning.

The second edition of Parker’s Guide is the most complete publication on the Revolutionary War in South Carolina. The little-known events of the war in South Carolina are related here to inform everyone about the contribution of South Carolina in winning the Revolution.

One issue dividing the colonies from their motherland was that the British government required tax stamps for imported goods. On 18 October 1765, the ship Planters Adventure delivered the stamps to Fort Johnson, on James Island, where they were stored. The HMS Speedwell was stationed close to the fort on 23 October to deter an angry mob of citizens from Charleston. Two days later, the mob boarded the Carolina Packet that was thought to be carrying more stamps and the stamp officer, Mr. George Saxby, but he was not due until the next day. On 26 October, the Heart of Oak (built in Mt. Pleasant, SC) sailed into the harbor with Mr. Saxby aboard. That night, 150 volunteers from Charleston, commanded by Col. Daniel Stevens, captured twelve guards and a sergeant and took over the fort with the stamps. Upon the Speedwell sighting the “Liberty” flag of Patriot Christopher Gadsden instead of that of the British, a party was sent to the fort, where they were told the stamps must be removed from the fort and the province or they would be burned. Believing the Americans would not be deterred, the Speedwell removed the stamps and sailed out of the harbor. This action is often overlooked because it is prior to the Revolution’s accepted starting date, but is significant since it relates to the stamp problems in New England.

A Patriot, Dr. John Haley, killed Peter DeLancey, a prominent New York Tory, in a duel at a Charleston tavern. Before and during the Revolution, many notable Charlestonians met to drink and discuss politics at McCrady’s Tavern. DeLancey came to Charleston in 1771 and may have been killed over politics or a woman. The reason for his killing is unknown.

Peter DeLancey was the son of New York Royal Lt. Gov. James DeLancey. The killing of Peter DeLancey in Charleston resulted in Loyalist Brig. Gen. Oliver DeLancey raising and commanding a provincial regiment (three battalions), known as DeLancey’s Brigade of light horse troops to fight the South Carolina Patriots in 1776.

In 1775, the arms stored in the attic of the State House by the British were seized by the Americans. This was the scene of the first significant incident of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina. This incident happened just two days after Patriots fired on the British at Lexington, Massachusetts.

The war was used as an excuse for robbery and violently settling disputes. The Harrison Brothers plundered the Patriots to enrich themselves with the blessing of the British forces. The Tories on Lynches Creek, in the vicinity of M’Callum’s Ferry, began their murders and depredations early in the war. Matthew Bradley, Thomas Bradley, and John Roberts, all respectable and upstanding citizens who had joined neither party, were murdered in their homes, possibly with some other members of the Salem Black River Presbyterian Church congregation. The three Harrison brothers joined the local Tories; John Harrison later became a major and Samuel became a captain of the “South Carolina Rangers” in the British provincial service. British Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton called them “men of fortune.” They were three of the worst bandits of the area. Before the fall of Charleston to the British, they lived in a wretched log hut by the road near M’Callum’s Ferry over the Lynches Creek (River), just east of modern Bishopville, SC. As an example of the recriminations and civil war, the Americans killed Robert Harrison in his home. After the war was over, the major retired to Jamaica as a rich man with the wealth accumulated from looting Patriots’ homes and robbing his neighbors.

Within four months after Gen. Nathanael Greene’s return to South Carolina, his Southern Continental Army, with South Carolina, North Carolina, and Virginia state troops and militia, broke the British hold on the interior by eliminating the Crown’s posts one by one. American mounted detachments carried the war almost to the gates of Charleston. A decisive blow was dealt to the British on the battlefield at Eutaw Springs in September of 1781.

Eutaw Springs was essentially a draw, but the battle was both a material and moral victory for the Americans. The British suffered such heavy losses that they could no longer exert control beyond Charleston and its immediate environs. The British troops at Eutaw Springs were to reinforce Lord Cornwallis at Yorktown, but because of their heavy losses in this battle, they retreated to Moncks Corner and to White’s Meeting House (Dorchester County) to recover. Since the British in the Battle of Eutaw Springs were unable to reinforce Cornwallis, he was defeated.

The war in South Carolina did not end with the surrender of Cornwallis, but continued until September 1783. It is generally thought that the War in SC ended when the British withdrew from Charlestown in December 1782, but there were some murders and retributions thereafter. The final act of revenge for the war was carried out in 1807 with the shooting of “Ned Turner,” one of William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham’s right hand men, by John and William, sons of Stokely Towles who was killed by Ned Turner on 18 November 1781.

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A big thanks to Jack Parker. He’ll provide a $10.00 discount certificate toward the purchase of a copy of Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina for someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Wednesday 9 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 9 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Francis Marion and Nathanael Greene: Conflicts in Command

Posted on July 5, 2014 by suzanneadairJuly 5, 2014

Relevant History welcomes David Neilan, editor of The Francis Marion Papers, targeted for publication in 2015. His essay below is from a longer work: “Francis Marion and Conflicts in Command in the Southern Department.” Other projects include the Hezekiah Maham orderly book, in collaboration with the NY Public Library, and the William Moultrie orderly book. He will be giving a presentation entitled “The Weems-Horry Controversy: Where Fiction Trumped History” at the Francis Marion Symposium in Manning, SC, in October. He may be reached at daveneilan1 (at) gmail (dot) com.

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Francis Marion’s activities as a militia leader in South Carolina are the foundation of his legend. The reality of the life of the Swamp Fox is much less romantic. For six months after the fall of Charlestown in May 1780, Marion operated as a guerrilla commander, virtually independent of a formal command structure. It is no wonder that when the Continental Army did rejoin the field, conflicts occurred.

When Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene assumed leadership of the Southern Department of the Continental Army in December 1780, he had only the remnants of an army. Losses at Charlestown and Camden had decimated the ranks. Greene needed the cooperation of the militia to delay the British advance, until a sufficient Continental force arrived to re-take the state. Since authority over the militia rested with State officials, Greene recognized the need for diplomacy to put his plans into effect. His initial “orders” to Francis Marion were couched as requests, using the conciliatory “I beg you” and “Please” to obtain horses and intelligence.

Marion and Greene would clash numerous times during the first half of 1781. Greene’s request for horses would be repeated numerous times. Marion’s response would express his regret, then later his irritation[1]. As the war heated up, so would Greene’s need for horses, but so would the friction between the two over Marion’s failure (Greene’s opinion) or his inability (Marion’s point of view) to supply them.

Greene continued to rely on Marion to take the action to the enemy. In January 1781 Greene dispatched Lt. Col. Henry Lee to join Gen. Marion. In his letter of 16 January, Greene was less conciliatory into his directions: “You [Marion] will give him [Lee] all the aid in your power to carry into execution all such matters as may be agreed on.”

For the next two months, correspondence between Greene and Marion was infrequent. Greene was caught up in racing to the Dan River to avoid the advance of Cornwallis and then fighting the British at Guilford Courthouse. By the middle of April, Greene and the Continental Army were back in South Carolina.

When Lee rejoined Marion, they attacked Fort Watson, a small British fort on the Santee River. During the siege, Marion received stiff criticism from his former commanding officer Gen. William Moultrie. Lee asked Greene to write “a long letr. to Gen. Marion…”[2] Greene outdid himself:

When I consider how much you have done and suffered, and under what disadvantage you have maintained your ground, I am at a loss which to admire most, your courage and fortitude, or your address and management…History affords no instance wherein an officer has kept possession of a Country under so many disadvantages as you have; surrounded on every side with a superior force…To fight the enemy bravely with a prospect of victory is nothing; but to fight with intrepidty under the constant impression of a defeat, and inspire irregular troops to do it, is a talent peculiar to yourself.[3]

Marion did not have long to savor the compliments. Greene again complained to him about his failure to furnish horses.

The 4 May “horse” letter from Greene was the last straw. An exasperated Marion fired back:

I acknowledge that you have repeatedly mention the want of Dragoon horses…if you think it best for the service to Dismount the Malitia…but am sertain we shall never git their service in future. This would not give me any uneasiness as I have sometime Determin to relinquish my command in the militia…& I wish to do it as soon as this post is Either taken or abandoned.[4]

Marion, then in the midst of the siege of Fort Motte with Lee, continued to vent to Greene:

…I assure you I am serious in my intention of relinquishing my Malitia Command…because I found Little is to be done with such men as I have, who Leave me very Often at the very point of Executing a plan…[5]

Fortunately for the American cause, General Greene was in the proximity of Fort Motte. He rode sixty-five miles to meet Marion, arriving shortly after the surrender of the fort 12 May[6].

Although Greene may have mollified Marion during this first meeting, the issues continued. During a brief lull in the fighting, Marion took the opportunity to press for orders to march on Georgetown, South Carolina:

I beg Leave to go & Reduce that place which has not more than 80 British soldiers & a few torys. The Latter is very troublesome…& by the fall of Geor Town will make them quiet.[7]

As long as Georgetown was a safe haven for the enemy, Marion would be unable to maintain his advance over the Santee River.

Marion repeated his plea on 20 May and 22 May without response from Greene. The Swamp Fox delicately announced two days later, “…I find the enemy is about evacuating Georgetown & as I cannot do any thing by remaining here I have thought it most for the service to go to Georgetown…”[8]

Greene deferred ordering an attack on Georgetown, instead advising Marion to obtain permission from Thomas Sumter, who was Marion’s superior officer in the South Carolina militia.[9]

On 28 May Marion liberated Georgetown without firing a shot.

Greene begrudgingly offered his congratulations.[10]

The relationship between Marion and Greene continued to have its ups and downs. Marion’s decisive victory at Parker’s Ferry at the end of August and then his command of the first line of militia and State troops at the Battle of Eutaw Springs in September brought him commendation from Greene.

Despite the occasional conflict over orders, horses, and command issues among subordinates, for the rest of 1781 and throughout 1782 the relationship between Marion and Greene strengthened. By the end of the war, as the two became better acquainted and the war had evolved into a containment operation, Marion was Greene’s most trusted officer.

Footnotes

1. Marion to Greene, 9 Jan 1781, ALS (MiU-C), transcription, Parks, Greene Papers.
2. Lee to Greene, 20 Apr 1781, ALS (MiU-C).
3. Greene to Marion, 24 Apr 1781, Greene Papers, 8: 144-145.
4. Marion to Greene, 6 May 1781, Greene Papers, 8: 214-216.
5. Marion to Greene, 11 May 1781, Greene Papers, 8: 242.
6. Rankin, Swamp Fox, 208.
7. Marion to Greene, 19 May 1781, ALS (MiU-C), transcription, Parks, Greene Papers.
8. Marion to Greene, 24 May 1781, Tr (ScHi, South Carolina Historical Society).
9. Marion to Greene, 24 May 1781, Tr (ScHi), There is a note on the transcript of the letter: On reverse (the outside cover of the letter) that reads, “From Genl. Marion May 24th 1781 (docketed—probably in the hand of Gen. Greene’s ADC.).”
10. Greene to Marion, 10 Jun 1781, Df (NcD).

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A big thanks to David Neilan. He’ll give away a DVD of the South Carolina ETV program “Chasing the Swamp Fox” to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Delivery is available in the U.S. and Canada. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Sunday 6 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 6 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

General Nathanael Greene: The Complete Package

Posted on July 3, 2014 by suzanneadairJuly 3, 2014

Relevant History welcomes Helena Finnegan, a native of Boston, the city where her love and appreciation for liberty, the sacrifices of those who fought for it, and the revolution began. The 1976 Bicentennial, complete with tall ships and fervent Patriots and British soldiers on historic grounds and waters solidified her commitment to promoting, preserving, and sharing this era. She’s written nationally and internationally and is an educator, researcher, and writer of 18th-century topics. Her work appeared in Patriots of the American Revolution and Journal of the Early Americas magazines and Allthingsliberty.com. She’s working on a historical fiction novel set in 1781. For more information, check her web site, and look for her on Twitter and Pinterest.

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He was what would be called today “the complete package.” Strong-willed, determined, respected, self-educated, loyal, and a gifted leader. He’s known as the unsung hero of the American Revolution who helped save the war, though few today recognize his name or deeds beyond monuments or places on the map.

Yet if it were scripted by Hollywood, New Englander General Nathanael Greene could be an 18th-century action figure. A handsome, flawed, but kind and dependable hero loyal to his Commander-in-Chief and the Glorious Cause. He rose above his disability and learned from his mistakes to become a trusted and sought-after commander capable of seeing the big picture, willing to take risks and do what was necessary to succeed. So it was no surprise when General Washington gave him the two most difficult assignments in the War for Independence: that of Quartermaster General during which he saved the ill-fed and under-equipped army with food, supplies, and forage for animals, and that of commander of the Southern Army where he rebuilt a decimated army and expelled the British from the south. However, his eight-year journey from 1775 to 1783 as Washington’s close friend and most trusted, longest-serving general and eventual hero wasn’t without great obstacles and sacrifices.

“We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”

In the winter of 1780, after assuming command of West Point, General Greene was exhausted, ill, and broke having used his health and money to train, equip, supply, and lead soldiers since 1775. Only his courage, faith, determination and unwavering belief kept him going. It was these qualities that General Washington had come to rely upon and turn to, giving him the second most important command of the war, that of commander of the Southern Army.

Six long years after the conflict had begun, Americans’ spirits plunged lower than the value of the Continental dollar. Military defeats, perennial supply struggles, and lack of currency and military pay added to a seemingly endless war.

Months after the crushing defeat of American forces at Camden, South Carolina, when General Horatio Gates fled north and left the remains of militia and army to reconstitute themselves, the army awaited its new, southern commander. It was against this backdrop that Greene took on what must have felt like an impossible task. After six years of various commands, success as Quartermaster General, lobbying Congress, losing battles, and taking backseats to other leaders, this appointment was monumental. Unwritten and unspoken were the words of his Excellency: save the southern theater and thus, the War for Independence. Washington knew that if there was anyone capable of such a feat, it was General Nathanael Greene.

No stranger to hardship and challenges, General Greene was well-prepared for what lay ahead of him in the southern colonies, where Britain was on the verge of winning the war. His famous quote, “We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again,” displayed his ambition and unflagging commitment.

Self-taught, officer material

A self-taught military man, Washington’s “fighting Quaker” was a gifted strategist, advisor, and natural leader. He possessed brilliant organizational skills that he used to save lives as Quartermaster General during the iconic winter encampments at Valley Forge and Morristown.

Greene faced many hurdles to prove that a partially disabled Quaker and an inexperienced soldier could not only fight, but lead men in the coming conflict. Despite prejudice from his fellow Rhode Island Kentish Guards, who felt a lame soldier was not “officer material,” he was promoted to Brigadier General in the Rhode Island state army. General Washington then appointed Greene to the same rank in the Continental Army. In him, Washington must have seen something of himself: a well-read, self-educated, passionate man whose loyalty and ability to comprehend the long-term nature of the conflict made him dependable. Later, despite the terrible losses of Forts Washington and Lee, General Washington didn’t give up on Greene. While Greene sought to restore his reputation, Washington knew Greene would learn from the terrible decision to defend unsalvageable forts and lose men, just as he learned from his errors during the French and Indian War.

Following his two years as Quartermaster General, Greene resigned the post but kept his field command, returning to campaigns. Though some battles were lost or a draw, he inflicted damage to British forces, gained experience, and learned how to prepare his troops. His greatest challenge came in the southern theater, where all his experiences, military studies, training, and skills were brought together. Entering into the melee after the Americans’ success at the Battle of King’s Mountain, Greene developed a bold strategy. He united his forces with General Daniel Morgan and made the incredible decision to divide his small army in half to delay British engagement, employ guerilla tactics, and gather more soldiers. Working with Morgan, who led Cornwallis away from his supply lines and on a chase through North Carolina, allowed Greene time to re-build and re-equip his men. Understanding the critical need for supplies and preparation, he ordered all boats secured to transport his troops across the Dan River ahead of the British. In what became famous as “the Race to the Dan,” the Americans escaped capture by a few hours and lived to fight on, re-grouping in Virginia, while Cornwallis’s obsession with destroying Greene had exhausted his men and depleted his supplies. Greene later used the boats to slip his troops back across the Dan, chase the British, and engage them in future battles. The southern tide literally turned for the Americans, thanks to General Nathanael Greene, who successfully routed the British from the south, north to Yorktown, Virginia, where they were hemmed in and forced to surrender in October 1781.

In less than a year, Washington’s “fighting Quaker” had successfully pulled off a miracle. General Greene’s story is made all the more poignant because it is true. He was an underdog whose determination, confidence, vision, skills and abilities were recognized by someone who gave him the chance to succeed—and ultimately created the opportunity for America to begin.

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A big thanks to Helena Finnegan. She’ll give away a $5 Amazon gift certificate to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on this post today or tomorrow. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Friday 4 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 14 July. And anyone who comments on this post by the 4 July deadline will also be entered in a drawing to win a copy of one of my five books, the winner’s choice of title and format (trade paperback or ebook).

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.

How to Push a Loyalist’s Buttons

Posted on February 19, 2014 by suzanneadairFebruary 21, 2018

On 19 February 1781, the advance guards of Lord Cornwallis’s army of nearly two thousand soldiers rode into the town of Hillsborough, North Carolina, built near the Eno River. Cornwallis’s occupation of the town continued into the next day. His men had covered a lot of ground on a wintry Carolina campaign and—after Cornwallis had tried to lighten his load by burning the baggage—given chase (in futility) to patriot general Nathanael Greene’s army all the way to the Dan River. British uniforms were showing wear. Soldiers were tired and hungry. So the stay in Hillsborough was to provide R&R for the men and refurbish the army.

Cornwallis arrived in good spirits. He was under the impression that the North Carolina backcountry, including Hillsborough, was crawling with loyalists who merely awaited his word before they stepped forward proudly to fight for the King. (Regulated for Murder describes the political climate in Hillsborough less than a week before the occupation.) Yes, there were plenty of loyalists in North Carolina. But five years earlier, on 27 February 1776, the cause of the King’s Friends had suffered a paralyzing blow. Scottish Highlanders, fighting on behalf of exiled royal Governor Josiah Martin, were roundly defeated by patriots at Moores Creek Bridge. Patriots then took control of North Carolina. Loyalists had to keep their heads down to survive.

On 20 February 1781, Cornwallis issued a proclamation from Hillsborough. It invited all the disgruntled loyalists to bring their weapons and meet at the royal standard his troops had erected in town, where they would receive instructions about how to subdue the patriots. He said nothing about sticking around to back up the loyalists’ efforts.

Cornwallis pushed just about every button he could on those who were loyal to the King. He asked them to out themselves to enemies, abandon their families to the wrath of patriots, and assume the entire burden of fighting an opponent who was, at the time, better organized. Loyalists recognized that Cornwallis’s proclamation was a bum deal. After they’d suffered at the hands of patriots for years, Cornwallis confirmed their fears that the Crown really didn’t understand the challenges faced by its loyal American subjects. The proclamation disillusioned and angered loyalists, distanced them from the Crown’s efforts.

Legends abound about incidents that occurred during the Hillsborough occupation. One popular legend describes patriot sharpshooters hiding near the Eno River and picking off redcoats who tried to fetch water. But it’s a fact and no legend that Cornwallis didn’t receive the warm welcome he’d expected from Hillsborough’s residents. The clueless general was miffed that there were so few takers on his grand offer. He and his army left Hillsborough on 26 February to chase Nathanael Greene’s ghost. They found him just a few weeks later, at Guilford Courthouse.

Not all British officers misunderstood the loyalists’ plight and failed to provide them with the support they needed. On the coast, Major James Henry Craig and the 82nd Regiment had occupied the town of Wilmington, North Carolina at the end of January. Throughout most of 1781, the regiment remained in Wilmington. Craig earned the trust of loyalists where Cornwallis had failed. And loyalists flocked to Wilmington to bolster the redcoats’ power, thus turning North Carolina into a huge headache for the Continental Army that year.

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A Successful Battle May Give Us America

Posted on July 4, 2012 by AdminJune 24, 2014

Happy Fourth of July! Welcome to my blog! The week of 29 June – 5 July, I’m participating with more than two hundred other bloggers in the “Freedom to Read” giveaway hop, accessed by clicking on the logo at the left. All blogs listed in this hop offer book-related giveaways, and we’re all linked, so you can easily hop from one giveaway to another. But here on my blog, I’m posting a week of Relevant History essays, each one focused on some facet of the American War of Independence. To find out how to qualify for the giveaways on my blog, read through each day’s Relevant History post below and follow the directions. Then click on the Freedom Hop logo so you can move along to another blog. Enjoy!

Today for a few hours, my sons and I will be at the Joel Lane Museum House in historical clothing, talking with visitors about patriot Joel Lane and the Revolutionary War in North Carolina. If you’re in the Raleigh area, stop by and say hello. Musket drills and firings, games for the children, tours of the house, and plenty of cool lemonade.

Relevant History welcomes John Buchanan, author of the highly regarded The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas. For over two decades he was Chief Registrar of The Metropolitan Museum of Art, in charge of worldwide art movements. His other books are Jackson’s Way: Andrew Jackson and the People of the Western Waters; The Road to Valley Forge: How Washington Built the Army That Won the Revolution; and a novel of the Cold War, The Rise of Stefan Gregorovic. His short stories have appeared in Ellery Queen’s Mystery Magazine. For more information, check his web site.

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About a year ago, as he was preparing to retire as Secretary of Defense, Robert Gates said that in the future, any advisor to a President of the United States who recommended placing a large American land army on the Asian continent “…should have his head examined.” In the context of the American Revolution, the same might be said of British generals, backed by George III’s ministers, who cut themselves off from the lifeline of the British Navy and invaded the dangerous American backcountry. “Gentleman Johnny” Burgoyne lost his army at Saratoga in the wilds of northern New York State. And three years later our story begins with Lieutenant General Charles, Second Earl Cornwallis, deep in the Carolina backcountry, chasing ghosts.

In October 1780, Cornwallis was poised in Charlotte, North Carolina, to drive northward, reclaim the state for the crown, destroy the remnants of the Continental army he had scattered at the Battle of Camden, and then perhaps push on into Virginia. But on 7 October, 1100 Tory militiamen under the British officer Major Patrick Ferguson, who were protecting Cornwallis’s left wing, were wiped out at King’s Mountain, South Carolina by backcountry militia and Overmountain Men from beyond the Appalachians. His left wing in the air, believing incorrectly that he was in danger from thousands of rebels descending on him from the west, Cornwallis retreated to winter quarters in South Carolina.

Once again the British attempt to re-conquer the Carolinas had run up against a fierce guerrilla campaign that had begun in the backcountry in the summer of 1780. The irony of the Revolution in South Carolina is that it was started by the Low Country Rice Kings and saved by the backcountry militia, whom the Rice Kings scorned as a “pack of beggars.” Yet it was those men, horsemen all, who waged a sweeping war of movement, maintained their allegiance to the Cause despite two disasters to Continental armies, demoralized the Tory militia, and held their own against British and provincial regulars in classic guerrilla style in actions large and small, some lost to memory in the mists of time.

But they could not win the war in the South by themselves. Their great contribution was to the gain the time necessary for there to appear on the scene two Continental generals who had much to teach Lord Cornwallis and his subordinates about the art of war: Major General Nathanael Greene and his deputy, Brigadier General Daniel Morgan.

Fearful that Morgan’s detached force of regular light troops, the cream of Greene’s army, was threatening one of his major backcountry posts, Cornwallis sent his celebrated cavalry commander, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, to deal with the threat. Morgan and Tarleton met in battle on 17 January 1781 on the field of Cowpens, South Carolina. In the tactical masterpiece of the war, Morgan combined regulars and militia and destroyed most of Tarleton’s light troops, the eyes and ears of Cornwallis’s army.

In a rage over his loss, Cornwallis burned his cumbersome baggage train and set off in pursuit of Morgan, and then Greene after the two American forces merged. At Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina, Greene and Cornwallis fought a battle described by Greene as “long, obstinate, and bloody.” By eighteenth-century standards, Cornwallis won, for at the end he occupied the field while Greene withdrew. But in winning, His Lordship had ruined his army. His losses heavy, deep in the backcountry swarming with foes, Cornwallis was forced to withdraw to Wilmington, North Carolina, on the coast. There he wrote to a fellow general, “I assure you that I am quite tired of marching about the country in quest of adventures.” His plan now was to “bring our whole force into Virginia” where “a successful battle may give us America.”

While Nathanael Greene artfully combined the respective talents of regulars and militia and proceeded to liberate South Carolina and Georgia, Lord Cornwallis pursued his delusion of a “successful battle” to win America. He turned his worn and decimated army northward, where he found more adventures and fulfilled his American destiny: in a village in Virginia called Yorktown.

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A big thanks to John Buchanan. He’ll give away an autographed copy of The Road to Guilford Courthouse in trade paperback format to someone who contributes a legitimate comment on my blog today or tomorrow. Delivery is available worldwide. Make sure you include your email address. I’ll choose one winner from among those who comment on this post by Thursday 5 July at 6 p.m. ET, then publish the name of all drawing winners on my blog the week of 9 July. And remember that anyone who comments on this post by the 5 July deadline will also be entered in the drawing to win one of two autographed copies of my book, Regulated for Murder: A Michael Stoddard American Revolution Thriller.

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Did you like what you read? Learn about downloads, discounts, and special offers from Relevant History authors and Suzanne Adair. Subscribe to Suzanne’s free newsletter.