Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War information
Military operations in the Southern states during the American Revolutionary War
Southern theater
Part of the American Revolutionary War
The Battle of Cowpens by William Ranney
Date
1775–1782
Location
Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, East Florida and West Florida
Result
Franco-Spanish-American victory
Surrender of a British army at Yorktown
Belligerents
United Colonies (1775–1776)
Georgia
Maryland
North Carolina
South Carolina
Virginia
United States (1776–1782) France (1778–1782) Spain (1779–1782) Chickasaw Choctaw Catawba Lumbee[1]
Great Britain
Cherokee
Creek
Commanders and leaders
Nathanael Greene Daniel Morgan Horatio Gates Benjamin Lincoln (POW) Thomas Sumter Francis Marion Comte d'Estaing
Bernardo de Gálvez
Lord Charles Cornwallis (POW) Sir Henry Clinton Banastre Tarleton Francis Rawdon Thomas Brown Augustine Prevost
Strength
Southern Army Main Army Rochembeau's expeditionary force Gálvez's force
British Southern Army, totalling approximately 8,000 regulars and militia
v
t
e
Southern theater 1775–1779
1775
Gunpowder Incident
Kemp's Landing
Snow Campaign
Savage's Old Fields
Great Cane Brake
Great Bridge
1776
Norfolk
Moore's Creek Bridge
Rice Boats
Sullivan's Island
Gwynn's Island
Lindley's Fort
1777
Thomas Creek
1778
Alligator Bridge
1st Savannah
1779
Beaufort
Van Creek
Kettle Creek
Brier Creek
Chesapeake raid
Stono Ferry
Fort Bute
Lake Pontchartrain
Charles Town
Baton Rouge
2nd Savannah
v
t
e
Southern theater 1780–1783
1780
1st Mobile
Charleston
Moncks Corner
Lenud's Ferry
Waxhaws
Mobley's Meeting House
Ramsour's Mill
Huck's Defeat
Colson's Mill
Rocky Mount
Hanging Rock
Camden
Fishing Creek
Musgrove Mill
Wahab's Plantation
Black Mingo
Charlotte
Kings Mountain
Shallow Ford
Tearcoat Swamp
Fishdam Ford
Blackstock's Farm
1781
Yorktown Campaign
Richmond
Waters Creek
Cape Henry
Blandford
Spencer's Ordinary
Green Spring
Francisco
Chesapeake
Yorktown
The Village
Cowpens
Cowan's Ford
Torrence's Tavern
Pyle's Massacre
Wetzell's Mill
Pensacola
Guilford Court House
Fort Watson
Hobkirk's Hill
Fort Motte
Augusta
Ninety-Six
House in the Horseshoe
Elizabethtown
Eutaw Springs
Lindley's Mill
Raft Swamp
1782
Videau's Bridge
Wambaw
Combahee River
James Island
1783
Chesapeake Bay
v
t
e
American Revolutionary War Campaigns and theaters
Boston
Quebec
Nova Scotia
Northern
New York and New Jersey
Saratoga
Philadelphia
Northern after Saratoga
Western
Southern
Gulf Coast
Yorktown
Naval
The southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central theater of military operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War, 1778–1781. It encompassed engagements primarily in Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.
During the first three years of the conflict, 1775–1778, the largest military encounters between Continental Army and the British Army had been in the New England and Middle colonies, around the cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. After the failure of the Saratoga campaign, the British Army largely abandoned operations in the north and pursued peace through control of the Southern Colonies.[2] Before 1778, these colonies were largely dominated by Patriot-controlled governments and militias, although there was also a Continental Army presence that played a role in the 1776 defense of Charleston, the suppression of Loyalist militias, and attempts to drive the British from strongly Loyalist East Florida.
The British began to implement their "Southern Strategy" in late 1778, in Georgia. It initially achieved success with the capture of Savannah, Georgia, which was followed in 1780 by operations in South Carolina that included the defeat of Continental forces at Charleston and Camden. At the same time France (in 1778) and Spain (in 1779) declared war on Great Britain in support of the United States. Spain captured all of British West Florida, culminating in the siege of Pensacola in 1781. France initially offered only naval support for the first few years after its declaration of war but in 1781 sent massive numbers of soldiers to join General George Washington's army and marched into Virginia from New York. Major General Nathanael Greene, who took over as Continental Army commander after Camden, engaged in a strategy of avoidance and attrition against the British. The two forces fought a string of battles, most of which were victories for the British Army. However, the high cost in casualties weakened it, while the Continental Army remained largely intact to continue fighting. This was best exemplified by the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Several American victories, such as the Battle of Ramseur's Mill, the Battle of Cowpens, and the Battle of Kings Mountain, also served to weaken the overall British military strength. The culminating engagement, the siege of Yorktown, ended with the surrender of British Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis on October 19, 1781. It was essentially the last major battle of the Revolutionary War.[3][4] Shortly afterward, negotiations between the United States and Great Britain began, resulting in the Treaty of Paris of 1783.
^"Indian Patriots from Eastern Massachusetts: Six Perspectives". February 4, 2015.
^Hibbert, C.; Redcoats and Rebels; p. 235.
^Russell, David Lee; The America Revolution in the Southern Colonies; 2009.
^McBrayer, Rachel. "Southern Strategy". The Digital Encyclopedia of George Washington. Mount Vernon, Virginia: Mount Vernon Ladies' Association. Retrieved August 29, 2019.
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