Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War

Southern theater
Part of the American Revolutionary War
The Battle of Cowpens
Date 1775–1782 Location Virginia, North and South Carolina, Georgia, East Florida and West Florida Result Decisive Franco-American victory Surrender of a British army at Yorktown
Belligerents
United States  France	Great Britain
Commanders and leaders
Nathanael Greene Daniel Morgan Horatio Gates Benjamin Lincoln (POW) Thomas Sumter Comte d'Estaing	Lord Charles Cornwallis (POW) Sir Henry Clinton Banastre Tarleton Francis Rawdon Thomas Brown Augustine Prevost
Strength
Thousands of regulars and militia	Approximately 8,000 regulars and militia

Decisive Franco-American victory

The Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central area of operations in North America in the second half of the American Revolutionary War. During the first three years of the conflict, the largest military encounters were in the north, focused on campaigns around the cities of Boston, New York, and Philadelphia. After the failure of the Saratoga campaign, the British largely abandoned operations in the Middle Colonies and pursued peace through subjugation in the Southern Colonies.

Before 1778, the southern colonies were largely dominated by Patriot-controlled governments and militias, although there was also a Continental Army presence that played a role in the defense of Charleston in 1776, suppression of Loyalist militias, and attempts to drive the British from strongly Loyalist East Florida.

The British "southern strategy" commenced in late 1778 with the capture of Savannah, Georgia, which was followed in 1780 by operations in South Carolina that included the defeat of two Continental Armies at Charleston and Camden. General Nathanael Greene, who took over as Continental Army commander after Camden, engaged in a strategy of avoidance and attrition against the British. The two forces fought a string of battles, most of which were tactical victories for the British. In almost all cases, however, the "victories" strategically weakened the British army by the high cost in casualties, while leaving the Continental Army intact to continue fighting. This was best exemplified by the Battle of Guilford Courthouse. Several American victories, such as the Battle of Ramseur's Mill, the Battle of Cowpens, and the Battle of Kings Mountain, also served to weaken the overall British military strength. The culminating engagement, the Siege of Yorktown, ended with the British army's surrender. It essentially marked the end of British power in the Colonies.

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