THE ROAD TO YORKTOWN(NO NOTES TODAY)

1781

Cornwallis continues to chase Greene all over the Carolinas

Greene divides the southern army into two and Tarleton follows the decoy army

Daniel Morgan defeats Banastre Tarleton at the Battle of Cowpens The British are crippled in South Carolina

Off to the Races

With the loss of critical parts of his army at Cowpens, Cornwallis has a choice: Withdraw , regroup, and resupply Chase Greene north toward Virginia

Cornwallis burns everything he doesn’t need so that his army can move fast If Greene reaches Virginia, he will escape

The Battle of Guilford Court House

Cornwallis sacrifices several hundred men in a skirmish with Greene He won, but lost ¼ of his army Parliament, becoming agitated over the

length and cost of the war, quipped “Another such victory will ruin the British Army.”

Cornwallis has no choice now: he must catch Greene, force a battle, and win FAST

The Race to Virginia

The two armies engage in a high-speed race across South Carolina, into North Carolina heading toward the Virginia border The armies move at breakneck speed:

covering 40 miles A DAY! At most, Cornwallis is sixteen hours to a

day behind Greene…sometimes he’s only minutes or hours

Several times, Cornwallis comes close to catching Greene…but misses him by a few hundred yards

The Fateful Decision

Greene escapes into Virginia and Cornwallis is forced to withdraw

Against the advice of British general Benedict Arnold, Cornwallis decides to retreat to Yorktown to await reinforcements from Henry Clinton in New York City