1781
Cornwallis continues to chase Greene all overthe Carolinas
Greene divides the southern army into twoand Tarleton follows the decoy army
Daniel Morgan defeats Banastre Tarleton atthe Battle of Cowpens
The British are crippled in South Carolina
Off to the Races
With the loss of critical parts of his army atCowpens, Cornwallis has a choice:
Withdraw , regroup, and resupply
Chase Greene north toward Virginia
Cornwallis burns everything he doesn’t needso that his army can move fast
If Greene reaches Virginia, he will escape
The Battle ofGuilford Court House
Cornwallis sacrifices several hundred men in askirmish with Greene
He won, but lost ¼ of his army
Parliament, becoming agitated over the lengthand cost of the war, quipped “Another such victorywill ruin the British Army.”
Cornwallis has no choice now: he must catchGreene, force a battle, and win FAST
The Race to Virginia
The two armies engage in a high-speed raceacross South Carolina, into North Carolinaheading toward the Virginia border
The armies move at breakneck speed: covering 40miles A DAY!
At most, Cornwallis is sixteen hours to a daybehind Greene…sometimes he’s only minutes orhours
Several times, Cornwallis comes close to catchingGreene…but misses him by a few hundred yards
The Fateful Decision
Greene escapes into Virginia and Cornwallis isforced to withdraw
Against the advice of British general BenedictArnold, Cornwallis decides to retreat toYorktown to await reinforcements fromHenry Clinton in New York City