1. The Path to Victory

2. The War Moves South
After 3 years, Brits. no closer to victory… change strategy in 1778 – move war to South
Believe Southerners = Loyalists + slaves would join Brit. Army in exchange for freedom
Dec Savannah falls to Brits – Charles Town falls + huge Southern Army loss

3. Gen. Gates assigned to create new army.
Takes them to Camden, S.C. to challenge Brit. Gen. Lord Cornwallis, even though Am. in no condition to fight.
Gates put inexperienced militia in the front, they panicked and ran. Another humiliating defeat.

4. Gen. Nathanael Greene put in charge… Am. victory at Cowpens - Jan Though Brits. had advantage (firepower), Am. stay one step ahead (knowledge of land).
Greene’s strategy – wear Brits out and ensure lots of casualties. Cornwallis loses too many men, retreats to Wilmington, DE.

5. The End of the War
Cornwallis frustrated with setbacks in Carolinas, decided to go north into VA, setting up a base on the Yorktown peninsula. This would be a fatal mistake.
Wash. army marches, arriving August 1781, French navy in position to block Chesapeake Bay.

6. Battle of Yorktown – Brits had built small forts, called redoubts, meant to keep artillery at a distance.
Am. captured more and more, getting closer to town. Cannons reduced buildings to rubble.
Cornwallis had no way out.
Surrenders October 19, 1781

7. Though the war was not yet officially over and fighting would continue in the South, Yorktown would be the last major battle of the Revolution.
Peace negotiations begin Sep. 27, Treaty of Paris officially signed Sept. 3, 1783.

8. Homework
ONE paragraph (5-7 sentences) response: Was the Revolutionary War unavoidable?