After failing to crush the Revolution in the North, Britain shifted its main effort southward, expecting substantial Loyalist support. Savannah fell in 1778 and Charleston in 1780, producing one of the worst American defeats. The southern war became especially bitter, mixing conventional campaigning with civil conflict among neighbors. American setbacks at Camden were followed by victories at Kings Mountain and Cowpens. Nathanael Greene conducted a war of movement that exhausted British forces even when he did not win every battlefield. Partisans such as Francis Marion disrupted British control, while violence and retaliation scarred communities. Spanish campaigns under Gálvez captured British posts along the Gulf Coast, diverting resources and weakening Britain’s position.
THE WAR BEYOND THE THIRTEEN STATES
Fighting extended through the Ohio Valley, Great Lakes, Gulf Coast, Caribbean, Atlantic, Mediterranean and Indian Ocean. Privateers attacked British commerce. European fleets contested sea routes. The United States won independence within a far larger struggle over imperial power.
“The Revolution was born in thirteen colonies, but it was won within a global war.
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