Revolutionary War Historical Article
The American Revolution Month-by-Month May 1781
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
During the winter of 1780 and 1781 all activity of any consequence had been in the South. In May, things continued to heat up with activity in three locations; Spain in Florida, General Nathanael Greene in the Carolinas and General Marquis de Lafayette in Virginia. All will be treated in their own chronological order. Florida first, the Carolinas second, and Virginia last.
FLORIDA - While Spain in Florida may have been acting in it’s own best interest, its activities were a contributing factor in the progress of the Revolutionary War. In the early days troops had been moved north from Florida to support the British effort at Savannah and then to support the British war activity throughout the three southern most colonies. With Spain endangering British interests in Florida there was that much less of any kind of support for the war in the 13 American colonies.
With Mobile safe in Spanish hands, Spanish Admiral Don Bernardo de Galvez had turned his attention to Pensacola. On February 28th, he made his first attempt to take Fort George. Batteries along the approach made an assault too difficult with the forces at his disposal and he retired to Havana where he convinced authorities to give him greater support to make possible a land invasion. He left Havana with 7,000 men, mostly Spanish, but some French, Dutch and Americans were included. To oppose them, British General John Campbell had 1,500 British augmented by 500 Indian warriors.
Realizing that a sea borne assault was imprudent, Galvez began a siege of Fort George. On May 1st he began a tunnel to a hill where he set up cannon to fire on the fort. On May 4th, Indian allies of the British attacked. It might well have been successful if Campbell had not failed once more to support the Indians. From this time on, it was a battle of cannon against cannon. On May 8th, a Spanish shell hit and exploded the Fort’s magazine killing many men and destroying the fort's ability to defend itself. Campbell then offered to surrender and on May 10th the formal surrender occurred with the laying down of arms and the taking of 1,100 prisoners. All of West Florida was now a Spanish possession.
THE CAROLINAS - Patriot General Nathanael Greene, having lost the battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, retired to Rugely’s Mills to lick his wounds and recoup. He was concerned that Lord Rawdon, if reinforced, might try to destroy him or at least try to push him back into the mountains which would leave the South solidly in British hands. Rawdon was reinforced and at one point made an effort to draw Greene into a battle but when he ran into Washington's and Captain Robert Kirkwood's rear guard he mistook Greene’s strength and turned back. He had suffered mightily at Hobkirk’s Hill; in addition to those lost in battle he had more than a hundred wounded on his hands. Rawdon’s force had many American deserters many of whom were taken prisoner at Hobkirk’s Hill. Five were hanged, intimidating those deserters who remained in Camden. Rawdon was basically without re-supply from Charleston due to activities of the irregular American forces. Foraging locally was also fruitless as the countryside already had been stripped bare by British General Charles Earl Cornwallis. Morale was low, possibly even mutinous. To add to his problems, Fort Motte, the main supply point between Charleston and Camden, was under siege. Learning of the siege, he departed Camden on May 8th to relieve the fort. Upon his departure, he left to the mercy of Greene more than 100 wounded who were too sick to move. On the way he picked up any Loyalists who wanted his protection while burning and destroying every thing behind him.
Greene too was suffering from a lack of supplies and reinforcements. If supplies and reinforcements had arrived as promised, Greene would have attacked Rawdon in Camden and the southern war would have been over. With the British gone Greene with his literally "skeleton" force moved to fill the vacuum.
On May 8th, the day that Rawdon departed Camden, he ordered a reduction in troop strength at Ninety-Six and Fort Granby. On the 15th, he arrived at Fort Motte to find it reduced to ashes. Patriot General Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee and General Francis Marion had used flaming arrows to set the fort on fire, causing the garrison to surrender. Short of everything, they benefited greatly by supplies gained from the fort before it was consumed by flames.
Having destroyed Fort Motte, General Lee moved on to Fort Granby (the site of today’s Columbia) which was defended by Maryland Tories with a reputation of doing more looting than fighting. They were offered the option of a siege or leaving the fort with their booty but with no military equipment or supplies. The latter offer was accepted, giving Lee ample supplies and cannon to add to Greene’s dwindling resources. Lee then was assigned to support General Andrew Pickens at Augusta. On the way, he captured Fort Gilpin (May 21st) then moved on to Augusta to attack Forts Grierson and Cornwallis. Grierson was attacked and surrendered after little fighting. Fort Cornwallis also fought well but surrendered after a tower was erected making defense untenable.
Marion laid siege to Georgetown and was surprised when the garrison slipped out without a fight and headed for Charleston. Twenty days after Hobkirk’s Hill, all interior forts except Ninety-Six and Augusta had fallen.
Greene had moved toward Fort Motte, but hearing of its surrender he turned toward Ninety-Six. The Fort's more than 500 seasoned Tory veterans were more than qualified to stand off Greene’s less than one thousand Continentals, Kirkwood’s light Infantry and some untrained militia from North Carolina and Virginia. Kirkwood arrived on the 21st followed by the main body an the 22nd.
Ninety-Six was well fortified with advanced defensive works as well as a covered way to Holme’s Fort, the source of water for both the fort and village. Greene assessed it as beyond his capability to capture by assault and began a siege. General Thaddeus Kosciusko began digging approaches too close to the fort and too far from the main body to allow for immediate support. Suddenly, troops erupted from the fort and fell on the work party bayoneting them all. Negroes workers were sent from the fort picking up the American’s entrenching tools and retiring before Greene could come to the rescue. The only loss to the Tories was the lieutenant who led the raid. Kosciusko then began an entrenchment farther from the fort. And a tower was begun. The siege began on May 22nd and lasted until June 19th.
VIRGINIA - During the Revolutionary War there had been a number of raids on the seacoast but not on the interior or on such a grand scale as that began by the traitor Benedict Arnold. His work was devastating, but nothing to compare with what was to come. With Arnold running amuck in Virginia and with little or no opposition, British Commander-in-Chief Sir Henry Clinton sent Major General Phillips with 2,600 men and Major General Matthews with 1,800 troops to continue subjugation of the state. Phillips, upon arrival, assumed command of the entire force. Arnold, much to the discomfort of his ego, became subordinate to these two British generals.
Outside of an almost uncontested rampage in Virginia, and with Cornwallis on his way, British influence in the South was basically now confined to Charleston and Savannah, Clinton threw his full weight into the pacification of Virginia while maintaining enough men in New York for him to keep Washington at bay. Reinforcements were sent from New York with the intention of controlling Virginia and the prime source of supplies for the American army, Control of the sea would allow reinforcement and supply for British troops while preventing outside interference with the operation. The colonies would then be divided and the South starved out. Subjugation of the North would be the follow-on target, and the rebellion would end.
General George Washington had other ideas, sending Lafayette with 1,200 Continentals to defend Richmond. Cornwallis, having been supplied and reinforced by the Royal Navy at the port of Wilmington, North Carolina, was marching north with 1,400 men. He next appeared in Virginia on May 20th where he assumed command of Major General Phillips' army of 2,600 men, Brigadier General Arnold’s 1,600 men and 1,800 men commanded by Major General Matthews. This amounts to a round figure of 7,000 men to cope with Lafayette who had arrived at Richmond on April 29th.
On May 20th, Clinton arrived at Petersburg, Virginia, and on the 24th crossed over and camped out on the east side of the James River, sending troops forward to reconnoiter Lafayette’s position. Reinforced by General Von Steuben, Lafayette left Richmond on the 28th, seeking a safe camp until General Anthony Wayne could join him. Since Cornwallis was seeking him out and might come between him and Wayne, Lafayette by a series of quick marches kept Cornwallis from approaching him or coming between him and Wayne. Irritated by his inability to force Lafayette to fight, Cornwallis turned to other activities.
It is an axiom of military tactics that victory is not enough; the enemy must be destroyed beyond an ability to strike back. Britain’s generals scored many victories but they were never able to accomplish their purpose of a destruction so great that it was impossible for the Patriots to raise new armies and their generals to continue the fight.
May 1781 ends with Cornwallis unchecked but not in total command of Virginia. He had defeated American forces before but in Virginia he wasn’t able to even draw Lafayette into a battle. Greene ends May with only a few forts to keep him from dominating the interior of the three Southern sates. The handwriting was on the wall but neither King George III, his ministers nor his Generals could see any great obstacle to the return of the colonies to British rule. Nor perhaps, at that time did the good citizens of the United States, who were weary from years of war. Yet May marks the beginning of the end of British rule in America.
References: Christopher Ward's "The War of the Revolution"; Bruce Lancaster's "The American Revolution"; Dan Higginbotham’s "The War of American Independence";Arthur Meier Schlesinger's "The Almanac of American History"; Carl Van Doren's "Benjamin Franklin"; Robert M. Utley's and Wilcomb E. Washburn’s "Indian Wars"; Encyclopedia Britannica "The Revolutionary Years".
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