America At War - Concise Histories Of U.S. Military Conflicts From Lexington To Afghanistan Read Online Free PDF Page A

transported in ships commanded by the Comte d’Estaing. However, the arrival of a British fleet caused the French admiral to withdraw. A storm then damaged his vessels, and seeking repairs, he sailed away. Sullivan subsequently attacked on his own, but failed to dislodge the British.
    He had greater success against Native Americans. In 1779 Washington asked Sullivan to lead an expedition into western Pennsylvania and New York, where Native Americans, in addition to siding with the British, had themselves conducted savage attacks on white settlers. Sullivan accepted the assignment and, with four thousand soldiers, set out to punish the Indians. This he accomplished. Villages were destroyed, food was seized and warriors killed, in part as retaliation for the massacres the Native Americans had committed at Wilkes-Barre and Cherry Hill. The enemy—and that is what Washington considered them to be—was dealt a serious blow.
    Throughout the war state militia, Continental regulars, and ordinary farmers battled Native Americans in the colonies’ Western frontiers. There was much bloodletting, and savagery was in evidence on both sides. The outcome was predictable. The resources of the Native Americans, both human and material, were substantially depleted.
    One campaign in the West did not center around the native population. In 1778 and 1779 the Virginian George Rogers Clark led a small band of militia into what is now Illinois, Indiana, and Kentucky. His goal was to capture British outposts at Kaskaskia and Vincennes, which, after enduring much hardship, he did. Though small in size, Clark’s victories were significant when four years later in Paris the boundaries of a new nation were drawn.
    During 1779 three events of note took place: one at sea, one on land, and one far from the thirteen colonies. In June, in Madrid, Spain declared war against England, further enlarging the conflict. Britain, thereafter, had to fight two European powers in addition to contesting the American colonies. In September, French and American troops failed to seize Savannah, losing more than eight hundred men in the attempt, including Count Pulaski. In October, John Paul Jones, aboard the
Bonhomme Richard
, made himself legendary when in the middle of a bloody sea fight he responded to the British captain’s call to surrender by proclaiming, “I have not yet begun to fight.”
    The battle at Monmouth Court House was the last major engagement in the North. Thereafter the focus of the conflict, from today’s perspective, shifted to the South, except for one historic occurrence. That was the defection to the British of Benedict Arnold, one of the Americans’ better known senior commanders. Totally unexpected, Arnold’s action sent shock waves throughout the rebel cause. People everywhere were in disbelief. Why did he do it? The answer seems to be that he was in debt and angry over a perceived lack of recognition. He also may have thought the British were going to win. They rewarded him both with money and a commission in His Majesty’s army. He then took command of loyalist troops and raided communities in Virginia, including Richmond. Arnold, of course, achieved immortality, but not of the kind he sought.
    The year 1780 saw the fortunes of the Americans again become extremely low. Few battles had been won. Supplies for the armies were insufficient. The Continental currency was worthless. There were mutinies in Washington’s army. Moreover, the winter of 1779–1780 was terrible, worse than at Valley Forge the previous year. And Arnold’s treason took place that summer. But two battles in the South were of even greater impact, suggesting to the British that at last victory was within reach.
    In May 1780 Major General Benjamin Lincoln surrendered Charleston to a large force led by Sir Henry Clinton, who had sailed from New York to South Carolina. The British wanted the town as a base of operations in the South, an area they expected to be