Benedict ArnoldGeneral Benedict Arnold was an early hero of the Revolution - He led a daring, but unsuccessful invasion of Canada- built a Navy on Lake Champlain in NY, stopping the British advance- was a leader at the capture of Fort Ticonderoga & at Saratoga- felt unappreciated & was accused of treason because of his loyalist wife and friends- Committed treason by offering to give up West Point on the Hudson River

The WestGeorge Rogers Clark – American military leader-with a small army he captured several British-held towns along the Ohio River during 1778-79. -He secured the area for the Americans and strengthened America’s claim to the region after the War.

The Southern Campaign

Savannah, Georgia - the British occupied the city in December of 1778 - reinstated the British Royal Governor

CharlesTown, South Carolina - Captured by the British in May of 1780 - Over 5,000 American troops were captured - The worst defeat of the War for the Americans

Charles Cornwallis -Was made British military commander in the South in the summer of 1780

Battle of King’s Mountain, October 1780 - British attacked on the frontier, backcountry colonists - enraged ‘overmountain men’ raised a militia and ambushed & defeated a British cavalry unit - rural southerners began organizing Patriot militias

Nathaniel Greene – Washington’s best remaining general was made American commander in the South.

Daniel Morgan – sent by Greene into South Carolina to wear down the British by attacking supplies & small units

Francis Marion – “The Swamp Fox” most successful leader of hit-and-run raids against the British in South Carolina

Battle of Cowpens (S.C.), January 1781 - A small force under Daniel Morgan defeated part of Cornwallis’ British Army

Guilford Courthouse (N.C.), March 1781 - Cornwallis & the British won the battle & forced Greene to retreat, but he continued to fight: "We fight, get beat, rise, and fight again.”- British casualties were so high, however, that Cornwallis retreated to the coast and then decided to invade north into Virginia- Greene moved south and began reconquest of South Carolina

Battle of the Capes September 1781- French Fleet defeated the British off the American coast and the French controlled the waters off Virginia’s coast

Battle of Yorktown (VA), September- October 1781 - Cornwallis positioned the British Army on the York-James Peninsula, expecting British naval support - Washington moved south, blocked Cornwallis onto the peninsula and began bombarding the British Army - The French fleet blocked Cornwallis by sea and began shelling his army as well. - October 17, 1781 – The largest part of the British Army, led by Cornwallis, surrendered to Washington and the fighting of the Revolutionary War was essentially over

Treaty of Paris (1783)-American negotiators were John Adams, Ben Franklin, John Jay- Britain forced to recognize American independence

- America took control of all territory between Canada and Florida (which went to Spain) and the territory between the Atlantic and the Mississippi River

-Americans still had to pay their debts to British banks & businesses