Lesson 11: The Battle of Monmouth and the Swamp Fox

 

Molly Pitcher at the Battle of Monmouth

The Battle of Monmouth and the Swamp Fox

Study the Battles

The Battle of Monmouth

The Battle at Chestnut Neck

The French capture Granada

The Southern Theater

Charleston

Molly Pitcher

Read about Molly Pitcher on Wikipedia here.

The Swamp Fox

Francis Marion was known as the "Swamp Fox." He was a brave and formidable foe. Here is the Wikipedia article on Francis Marion.

Book

Francis Marion and the Legend of the Swamp Fox JUV

Poem

To the Memory of the Brave Americans under General Greene, in South Carolina, Who Fell in the Action of September 8, 1781

General Howe Resigns

General Howe resigned from leading the British offensive during the American Revolution because he felt that it was better to resign than lose face. The war was not going well and there was pressure from home to improve the results. The Americans were dragging it out by moving their capital and using guerrilla tactics. What factors led to his resignation?

General Clinton

Henry Clinton was the son of Admiral George Clinton who served in Newfoundland, Gibraltar and the colony of New York. Henry Clinton received a commission in to the British military with the help of his father. He advanced to major-general in 1772, and in the same year he obtained a seat in Parliament. He entered the American Revolution with General Howe and General Burgoyne who was sent to help General Gage in Boston. Clinton was named the new General of British troops on 4 February 1778. Clinton was ordered to withdraw from Philadelphia and send 5,000 of his troops to the economically important Caribbean. He was not sent any additional troops because France had entered the war and troops were needed to protect English assets worldwide. The Philipsburg Proclamation was an offer of freedom to enlisted runaway slaves. The proclamation led to a flood of fugitive slaves making their way to British lines to take advantage of the offer. Believing the loyalists were strongest in the South and hoping to enlist the slaves in their cause, Clinton and his troops occupied Savannah, Georgia, in late 1778 and Charleston, South Carolina, in May 1779. The British overestimated loyalist sentiment in the South; their presence actually forced many, who had been sitting out the war, to take sides, most in favor of the Patriots. At the same time, the British underestimated the logistical problems they would encounter, especially when their army was in the interior away from the supplies offered by their fleet. Patriot forces, on the other hand, were supplied and could hide among the local population.

Image Credit: Alonzo Chappel / National Archives / Public Domain