Chapter 6 Lesson 3 BATTLEGROUNDS SHIFT Fighting in

Chapter 6 Lesson 3 BATTLEGROUNDS SHIFT

Fighting in the West • Some Native Americans sided with the Patriots, more sided with the British • Native Americans thought the British seemed less of a threat • West of the Appalachians, Native Americans raided American settlements, attacked New York and Pennsylvania, and were even paid for scalps of Americans. • Virginia militia leader George Rogers Clark led 175 who captured different British posts in the west. • Clark’s victories helped strengthen the American position in the West

The War at Sea • The Revolutionary War took place at sea • Great Britain had a powerful navy • British vessels would form an effective blockade • Blockades would keep ships from entering or leaving American harbors and it would make it difficult to deliver supplies and troops • To break the blockade, Congress ordered 13 warships • Only two ships made it to sea, several others were captured quickly by the British

Privateers • • Congress authorized 2, 000 ships to set sail as privateers Privateer: privately owned merchant ship outfitted with weapons Goal: capture enemy merchant ships and cargo Privateers captured more British ships than the American navy

Fighting in the South • Patriot victories at Battle of Moore’s Creek, Charles Town, and Saratoga had convinced the British that bringing their old colonies back into the empire would not be easy. • The British had a new plan: focus on the South where there were many Loyalists • This works at first • General Charles Cornwallis is put in charge of the British forces in the South • The Continental Congress sends troops and the two armies meet in Camden, South Carolina • The British win the first encounter, but faced a new kind of warfare

Hit-and-Run Tactics • British forces would move through the southern countryside • Small groups of Patriots would appear suddenly, attack, fire their weapons, and then disappear • This hit-and-run tactic caught the British off guard

Spain’s Help • Spain declared war on Britain in 1779 • The Spanish governor of Louisiana shipped supplies and ammunition up the Mississippi River to the Patriots

Cornwallis Retreats • Cornwallis realized the British needed to act quickly • More and more French troops were arriving in North America to help the Patriots • Cornwallis marches north and is confronted by Lafayette and General Anthony Wayne • Cornwallis takes shelter in Virginia on the coast and the battle for the South was in its last phase