Author:   Edmund Pendleton Date:1781 Annotation: Convinced that he could not suppress the rebellion in the Carolinas, Lord Cornwallis retreated to Virginia in 1781. Sir Henry Clinton, fearful of an American attack on his base in New York City, ordered Cornwallis to send part of his army to New York and to take up defensive…

Author:   George Mason Date:1781 Annotation: In October 1780, Major General Nathanael Greene (1742-1786) replaced Horatio Gates as commander of the American army in the South. Greene proceeded to divide his troops into three smaller forces, one of which worked alongside the rebel guerrilla bands. Greene’s plan was to avoid fixed battles, seize outposts and…

Author:   Charles Cornwallis Date:1781 Annotation: British policy in the South was based on several miscalculations. Britain had decided to concentrate its military efforts in the South because it believed it could count on significant support from Southern loyalists. The British military, however, failed to provide loyalists with effective protection. In South Carolina, for example,…

Author:   Thomas Jefferson Date:1780 Annotation: Few Americans realize that much of the Revolution’s bitterest fighting took place in the South. To replace the army that had been captured at Charleston, Horatio Gates (1728-1806), the hero of Saratoga assembled raw recruits in Virginia and North Carolina. He then rushed into South Carolina to halt the…

Author:   Edmund Pendleton Date:1780 Annotation: Toward the end of 1780, morale within the Continental Army reached a low point. Troop strength fell to just 6000, and many officers threatened to resign over unpaid wages and inadequate supplies. In September, one of the frustrated officers–Benedict Arnold (1741-1801)–switched to the British side. Earlier in the war,…

Author:   Edmund Pendleton Date:1780 Annotation: In 1781, the 13 original states ratified the first United States constitution, the Articles of Confederation. The Articles served as the new nation’s plan of government until the Constitution of the United States was ratified in 1789. In this letter, Edmund Pendleton (1721-1803) urges establishment of a formal compact…

Author:   Henry Laurens Date:1780 Annotation: France’s entry into the Revolution in 1778 altered the entire nature of the conflict. No longer was the Revolution simply a conflict between Britain and the United States; the war quickly expanded to include a number of other major European powers. In 1779, Spain joined France, hoping to regain…

Author:   Henry Clinton Date:1778 Annotation: In May 1778, General Henry Clinton (1738-1795) became commander of chief of British forces. He replaced William Howe (1729-1814), who was occupying Philadelphia. The British ministry ordered Clinton to abandon Philadelphia, go to New York, and dispatch some of his troops to the West Indies. While marching across New…

Date:1778 Annotation: The Treaty of Alliance was a formal treaty with France that established cooperation against Great Britain. In this treaty, France officially recognized the United States as an independent country.   Document: Treaty of Alliance The most Christian King and the United States of North America, to wit, New Hampshire, Massachusetts Bay, Rhodes island, Connecticut, New…

Author:   Juan Agustin Morfi Date:1778 Annotation: In 1777 and 1778, a Franciscan father, Juan Agustín Morfi, traveled into northern New Spain, and offered the following description of San Antonio. Document: On the west bank of the San Antonio river, about a league from its source, above the point where San Pedro creek joins the river, is…