eral Gates, who had gained a reputation by the capture of Burgoyne, was appointed by Congress, after Lincoln's surrender, to take the command of the Ameri GENERAL GATES can forces in the South. Baron De Kalb had been sent with reënforcements for Lincoln, but having heard of the fall of Charleston, he waited at Deep River in North Carolina for further orders. When Gates arrived, the army marched into the northern part of South Carolina. Cornwallis hastened from Charleston to Camden to unite with Lord Rawdon's forces. At Sanders Creek, near Camden, they met Gates and defeated him.1 Each leader had planned to sur prise the other. The heroic Baron De Kalb fell while his regulars were bravely fighting. The raw recruits of the militia companies fled at Aug. 16, 1780 the first fire. The American army lost a thousand men, with all of its artillery and two hundred wagons. Gates fled in such haste that night found him at Charlotte, sixty miles from the battlefield. With his routed forces he continued the retreat to Hillsboro, North Carolina. BARON DE KALB only three rounds of shot and powder to a man. Often some of them, unarmed, stood at a safe distance, waiting to step into the broken ranks and take the arms of those who had fallen. Men flocked to Sumter, and he soon had six hundred. 1 General Francis Marion (mar'-e-on), who had been wounded during the siege of Charleston, went to North Carolina. As General Gates's army moved forward toward Camden, he, with a band of sixteen men, went to the banks of the Santee. There he captured a body of British troops, and released some of the American prisoners who had been taken at Sanders Creek. The men of the country joined him as he passed on. To supply them with arms, he had 283. Sumter's Defeat. Just before this battle, Colonel Sumter had captured a party of British soldiers who were carrying clothing and ammunition to Camden, but hearing of Gates's defeat, he retreated along the south side of the Wateree. Colonel Tarleton soon reached his camp. Sumter's men had been marching without provisions and without sleep, and while they were resting on the bank of the river, the British succeeded in surprising and routing them. The three the saws of sawmills turned into swords. Sometimes he commanded only seventy men, and at one time he had lost all but twenty-five. The enemy burned the houses of those who were supposed to be with him; but this only made the people more determined, and added many reënforcements to his ranks. For months he and his men slept in the open air, and found shelter in the swamps. From these hiding places they rode out and surprised the enemy. The British called him the "Swamp Fox." A British officer came one day by flag of truce to General Marion's camp. After the business had been transacted, Marion invited the officer to dine. When for dinner the negro cook simply handed the gentlemen several roasted sweet potatoes upon a piece of bark, the officer politely remarked that the general's supplies were short, but Marion expressed his pleasure at having so fine a meal to offer his guest. When the officer returned to his command, he declared it useless to fight men who could so cheerfully endure hardships for the cause of liberty. hundred prisoners and the stores that Sumter had captured were retaken, and a large part of his force was compelled to surrender. Undaunted by this defeat, Sumter collected another company of volunteers. 284. Proclamation by Cornwallis. -Thinking that there would be no further resistance by the people of South Carolina, Cornwallis issued a proclamation, declaring that all who had aided the rebel cause should be imprisoned and should lose all their property; and that his officers should hang any man who had once been in the royal army and had afterwards joined the rebels. In accordance with this order, many men were taken from the prisons and hanged without trial. Oct. 7, 1780 CHAPTER VII AMERICAN SUCCESS IN THE SOUTH OCTOBER, 1780 — SEPTEMBER, 1781 285. Battle of Kings Mountain. A few weeks after the battle of Camden, Cornwallis moved his army to Charlotte, North Carolina. He sent Major Ferguson to collect the Tories of the mountain districts. Having gathered a force of eleven hundred, Ferguson encamped on Kings Mountain, near the boundary between the Carolinas. He was attacked there by a band of brave mountaineers, under the leadership of William Campbell, John Sevier, Isaac Shelby, Charles McDowell, and others. The Americans advanced from opposite sides of the mountain, and after a short but bloody fight Ferguson was killed, and his entire force captured. Ten of the prisoners—notorious house burners and murderers were hanged. This battle is considered one of the most important of the many fought in the Southern States during the Revolution. Cornwallis believed that the defeat of Gates and Sumter had brought all the Southern colonies into submission, and that he could march victoriously through North Carolina and Virginia. The success of the Americans -- at Kings Mountain compelled him to change his plans; and his next movement was a retreat to Winnsboro in South Carolina. 286. England's Condition. The people of England were growing weary of this fruitless war, which was every day adding to the public debt. British cruisers captured every vessel that came within their reach. No flag was respected; the commerce of every nation suffered from their depredations, but none so seriously as Holland, who, in consequence joined the alliance with France and Spain against England. The Germans would no longer send soldiers to America. Early in 1780 Russia, Sweden, and Denmark formed a compact called the "Armed Neutrality," in which each agreed to aid in raising a fleet for the protection of the commerce of neutral powers against Great Britain. This, in addition to the continued siege of Gibraltar, only multiplied trouble for England, and compelled her to divide her strength to meet the war in America on the one hand, and the war in Europe on the other, 287. General Nathanael Greene, a native of Rhode Island, was appointed to succeed Gates in command of the Southern army, GENERAL GREENE which had moved to Charlotte, North Carolina. Associated with him were several efficient officers, among whom were General Morgan, who had fought in Canada and at Saratoga, and General Henry Lee. The force Greene came to command numbered scarcely two thousand men, and was made up of those who had fought at Camden. Congress had no money with which to pay them, and at the beginning of the winter they were without clothes. The British army of regulars that they had to fight, was large in numbers and well provided with supplies. The next year would decide the war. While Washington was watching for an opportunity to strike Clinton, Greene was making preparations for his campaign. Jan. 17, 1781 288. Battle of the Cowpens. Greene sent a part of his command under Morgan to the western part of South Carolina, while he advanced with the main army to the Pedee, northeast of Winnsboro, where Cornwallis was encamped. Both movements were made to thwart the plans of Cornwallis, who was preparing to march into North Carolina. To check the design of the Americans, Colonel Tarleton was sent to drive Morgan back and to prevent the men A RIFLEMAN IN MORGAN'S BAND |