The American Revolution Part 5 The World Turned Upside Down

Thomas Young was only 16 years old when he set out with 900 other Patriots to capture Kings Mountain in South Carolina. Although most of the Patriots were barefoot, they moved quickly up the wooded hillside shouldering their old muskets. The Patriots were determined to take the mountain from the Loyalists dug in at the top.

Whooping and shouting, Young and his comrades dashed from tree to tree, dodging bullets as they fired their own weapons. Suddenly young Thomas heard the cry, “Colonel Williams is shot!”

“I ran to his assistance for I loved him as a father. He had ever been kind to me and almost always carried a cake in his pocket for me and his little son Joseph. They…sprinkled water on his face. He revived, and his first words were,’For God’s sake boys, don’t give up the hill!’…I left him in the arms of his son Daniel, and returned to the field to avenge his fate.” The Patriots were successful that day.

Battle of Kings Mountain

War in the South Fighting had taken place in the South from the beginning of the Revolution. The South though, had the highest percentage of Loyalists, and the British counted on their support. The United States fought its first civil war, as most of the fighting in the South took place between Patriots and Loyalists. Patriots suffered some severe losses.

Benedict Arnold – The Traitor! George Washington was devastated to learn that Arnold, one of his best generals had defected over to Britain’s side. He is famous for being a TRAITOR. Arnold had been such a good military leader, because he always led his troops into battle instead of following behind. His defection was shocking.

Benedict Arnold His name will forever be linked with being a traitor.

Arnold was angry because he thought he had not received enough credit for his victories. He was also desperate for money. He offered to give up the key fort of West Point, but luckily a Patriot patrol happened to capture the spy who was carrying Arnold’s offer. West Point was saved, but Arnold escaped.

The Patriots Rally The victory at King’s Mountain boosted the U.S. Several patriots including the “Swamp Fox” Francis Marion practiced hit-and- run tactics on the British. Daniel Morgan and Nathaniel Greene won victories and harassed the British. General Cornwallis decided to move his army north to Virginia in the Spring of 1781.

The Swamp Fox and His Men

These two gentlemen were vital to American efforts in the southern campaign of the Revolution. Daniel MorganNathanael Greene

Victory at Last! Cornwallis set up his camp on a peninsula at Yorktown, Virginia. He wasn’t worried because he thought his troops could be supplied from the sea. Washington realized that maybe Cornwallis could be trapped, so he and French forces hurried toward Yorktown. A French fleet helped keep the British from supplying their forces.

Rochambeau and Washington making their plans.

For three weeks, Cornwallis held out. However, without fresh supplies, he had no choice but to surrender. On October 17, 1781, the British turned their weapons over to the Americans. A British army band played a tune called, “The World Turned Upside Down”. With the British defeat, the world indeed had just been turned upside down.

The British army under General Cornwallis was surrounded on land and sea by a combined force of the Americans and French. They had no choice but to surrender.

Americans, with French help, were victorious over the British at the Battle of Yorktown.

Making Peace Americans rejoiced, while the British were stunned. Peace talks began in Paris in Britain was ready to end the war, so the Americans got most of what they wanted. Our borders now went from the Atlantic to the Mississippi River, and from Florida to Canada. It had been 8 long years since Lexington and Concord.

In 1783, the borders of the United States extended from the Atlantic Ocean to the Mississippi River, and from British- controlled Canada to Spanish-controlled Florida.

The British delegation was so embarrassed, that they refused to sit for the portrait of the treaty!!!

George Washington’s Farewell The Revolution had been a long and difficult struggle for Americans. They had fought a more-powerful nation with better- armed and better-trained soldiers. Money, arms, and soldiers from France helped win the war, but the strength and courage of men like Washington played a major role in the American victory.

“Such a scene of sorrow and weeping I had never before witnessed…The simple thought that we were then about to part from the man who had conducted us through a long and bloody war, and under whose conduct the glory and independence of our country had been achieved, and that we should see his face no more in this world, seemed to me utterly [unbearable].” Witness to Washington’s farewell.

Washington resigning as Commander-in-Chief of the Army. What is so amazing, is that he easily could have become an emperor, king, or dictator if he had wanted to.

In December of 1783, Washington bid farewell to his officers at a tavern in New York City before heading home to Virginia. All along Washington’s route back to Mount Vernon crowds cheered the hero of American independence. The new nation faced difficult days ahead. Before long, Americans would again call on Washington to lead them.