A beginner's historyMace, William H. (William Harrison)
History
A beginner's history
Mace, William H. (William Harrison)
United States -- History
The defeat of Tarleton at the Cowpens roused Cornwallis. He destroyed
all his heavy baggage, and started in hot haste after Morgan. But
Morgan knew a thing or two, and marched for the fords of the Catawba
River as soon as the battle was over.
[Sidenote: =Greene's great march=]
There Greene joined him, and away the armies went for the Yadkin River.
Greene had brought along boats on light wheels, and had no trouble in
crossing, but Cornwallis had to march up the river until his army could
wade across. Greene was already on his way to the Dan, which he crossed
into southern Virginia.
[Sidenote: =General Morgan retires=]
General Morgan, now broken in health by long years of hard fighting,
retired to his home, "Soldiers' Rest," in the Shenandoah Valley. After
the war was over his neighbors elected him to Congress, where he gave
hearty support to President Washington.
[Illustration: THE LAST SALUTE TO MORGAN]
[Sidenote: =A touching scene=]
When Daniel Morgan died he was followed to the grave by the largest
procession that the valley had yet seen. The people, who had come from
near and far, witnessed a touching sight. They saw seven gray-haired
veterans, with old rifles in their hands, stand beside the grave of the
hero, and fire a military salute. They were the last of that hardy
band of ninety-six which had marched with Morgan to Boston to join
Washington, nearly thirty years before. This was their last military
farewell!
[Sidenote: =Greene's "victory"=]
=98. The Battle of Guilford Court House.= General Greene won a great
victory by retreating. He and his army were still among friends,
and his army was growing. Cornwallis was hundreds of miles from his
supplies and from reënforcements. After a few weeks, Greene crossed
back into North Carolina and fiercely attacked Cornwallis at Guilford
Court House, and killed or wounded one fourth of his army.
Cornwallis claimed the victory, but instead of attacking Greene he
marched his army rapidly to Wilmington, on the seacoast, and from there
marched into Virginia, where Washington and Lafayette caught him in a
trap at Yorktown.
[Sidenote: =Greene drives the British to Charleston=]
Greene turned back to South Carolina, where the British still held
Charleston and a few other towns. The British lost so many men at
Hobkirks Hill and at Eutaw Springs, their last important battles in the
South, that they were compelled to retreat to Charleston, where they
were when the news from Yorktown put an end to serious fighting.
[Sidenote: =Congress, South Carolina, and Georgia honor Greene=]
General Greene's work as a soldier was done. Besides the medal
presented to him by Congress for the battle of Eutaw Springs, South
Carolina, as a token of affection, gave him a large sum of money, and
the state of Georgia a beautiful plantation on the Savannah River,
where he died in 1786. Greene's fame as a soldier of the Revolution
stands next to that of Washington.
[Sidenote: =The "Swamp Fox"=]
Public-domain text, read in full here on John Shaqi.
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