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Revolutionary War Historical Article
The American Revolution Month-by-Month May 1780
By Compatriot Andrew "Andy" Stough
Editor's Note: This article was reprinted by Permission of the Gold Country Chapter No. 7 of the CSSAR and was slightly edited by the Sons of Liberty Chapter of the CSSAR
In Britain there were two schools of thought concerning the war in North America. One school held that it was useless to continue wasting men and money on a country where only the coastal towns and cities could be held. In a land so vast and wild a minimum of resistance by the rebels could hold the interior forever. Holding the cities would be wasteful; without supplies from the country the cities would have to be supplied by ship from England or Canada as had been done in Boston. Realizing this, it would be best to allow Americans their independence and use those resources now committed to North America in a more desirable part of the world than in the harsh wilderness of North America.
The second and simpler strategy was that the large towns, particularly those accessible by ship should be held by British forces. Loyalists abounded in the South; it was believed that under the leadership of British officers Loyalists could would control the interior. It was believed that by this strategy that Britain could regain control of the southern colonies, and eventually all of the colonies from Florida to Canada.
It was to further this strategy that British General Henry Clinton went to Charleston, which in conjunction with Savannah, would give them control of all of the major seaports south of Virginia. In the past it had been British policy to loot, then burn, captured cities and towns. It was now the intent to preserve Charleston as much as possible since it would be the major center of British operations in the South.
Clinton would leave General Charles Earl Cornwallis in command of the Southern region with instructions to follow the strategy outlined above. Fortunately for the Revolution and unfortunately for Britain, Cornwallis did not fully accept this philosophy and began after the departure of Clinton to personally set out to conquer the interior as well as the coast.
On May 8th, the British advanced down the Neck to make the final assault. American General Benjamin Lincoln was frustrated by his inability to stop their advance. Like a failing boxer who with the last of his strength launches a flurry of wild blows, Lincoln on the morning of May 9th ordered every available weapon fired at the enemy lines. Little was accomplished; Ward says it was more like a giant 4th of July fireworks display than a serious attempt to damage the enemy. The return fire against the city was far more damaging. The same citizens who opposed Lincoln’s earlier plans to surrender now demanded that he surrender or they would join the British in attacking his forces in order to bring him down; forcing a surrender and cessation of the bombardment and possible total destruction of the city.
The following morning Lincoln, seeing no other way out, met Clinton’s terms for an unconditional surrender. Two days later the Continentals, including their leader, General Lincoln, led the way out and laid down their arms, the remaining troops followed them. In all 5,466 men became prisoners! This was the type of victory that Britain wanted, believing that if they could destroy the regular armies then the remaining revolutionaries would be controlled by Loyalist militias. It was at the same time an encouragement for Britain to continue the war.
It was the greatest disaster of the entire war. No American army would suffer such a defeat until 162 years later when on May 6, 1942, the fortress of Corregidor fell and 10,000 men,* including General Jonathan "Skinny" Wainwright began the famous Bataan death march from which less than half survived. Being taken prisoner during the Revolution was almost as dangerous as the plague. Of the 20,000 Americans taken prisoner by Britain during the Revolution only 8,500 survived their imprisonment. Deaths among prisoners amounted to 8,500 men; a total of 44.5% of all men captured.
There was now no organized American army in the South to oppose the established British and Tory forces. With Charleston occupied, Clinton pursued his plan to use Tory forces to subdue the interior of both North and South Carolina. For some time the battles and skirmishes in the South would truly be a Civil War with Americans fighting and killing Americans. With British forces to back up the Tories it was seen as almost a foregone conclusion that the South be return to solid control and fealty to King George; it appeared to be the fruition of the scenario as written by British planners.
The British night raid on Colonel William Washington’s encampment on the 14th of April was disastrous but did not totally destroy the command. Those who escaped were united with other scattered forces under American General Benjamin Huger who still had some units that had not reached Charleston in time to aid the defenders under siege. One such body was what remained of William Washington’s cavalry and 350 Virginia Continentals. Both units under the command of Colonel Abraham Buford was trailed by British Colonel Banastre Tarleton who caught up with them on May 29th at the Waxhaws near the North Carolina border. Tarleton sent an emissary under a flag of truce to demand Buford's surrender. Buford, after counseling with his officers, decided to refuse and continue their march. Tarleton, like Cornwallis, had adjusted himself to an informal type of fighting by taking advantage of every opportunity to decimate any opposition and had used the truce to deploy his troops to attack Buford.
When Tarleton received Buford’s reply he sounded the bugles and fell upon Buford’s rearguard destroying it. Buford surprised, failed to draw up his supply train to block an attack, and waited too late to fire upon the crush of Tarleton’s horses coming against him. The entire force was now surrounded making escape impossible leaving them at the mercy of the enemy. Buford raised a white flag asking quarter and had his men put down their weapons. Tarleton would not observe the truce requested but let his men fall upon the defenseless Americans slashing them with sabers and bayoneting the wounded. Only 150 men who had been forward of the main body escaped. From that time on "Tarleton’s quarter" indicating the slaughter of surrendered, defenseless men became the American battle cry. While Tarleton led a charmed life and escaped the war unscathed, Tories would pay at King’s Mountain for the unnecessary slaughter at Waxhaws.
I find no evidence of a record of this situation as it related to General George Washington, the Commander-in-Chief of all American land forces. I do find that Washington looked on his troops as a triad. The upper level was the Continental Army, which could and did stand up to British Regulars on their own terms when the numbers were anywhere near evenly matched. The middle level were the guerillas such as Generals Sumter, Marion and Pickens who used Indian tactics to surprise or harass the enemy, destroying stores and equipment but never planning to take and hold towns or territory. They could and were used at times to backup the Continentals while Morgan at Cowpens even defeated Tarleton in open battle. The lowest tier was the militia, Washington realized that they were not reliable in the face of British soldiers with bayonets. He could and would use them according to their capability and dependability to assist the Continentals and the winning of the war.
* I have seen the figure of 16,000 men surrendered but can find no documentation of this figure.
References: Christopher Ward’s "The War of the American Revolution";Arthur Meier Schlesinger's "The Almanac of American History";Bruce Lancaster’s "The American Revolution"; Robert Lawson's "The American Revolution" .
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