of the
country, so he gave out proclamations of amnesty to the tractable and
built scaffolds to hang the unsubmissive. But the south was not to be
so easily subdued. The British met with defeat at King's Mountain, and
in October, 1780, General Greene was sent to push the southern
campaign more vigorously.

One result of these southern disasters was to make the importance of
Virginia increasingly evident as a base for operations in the
Carolinas. Cornwallis saw this and he determined to reduce that state,
to cut off the southern army from its base, and thus to control the
approaches to the heart of the country. Accordingly, in January, 1781,
he sent Benedict Arnold, who had been made a brigadier general in the
British army, with a strong force, and with two trusted British
colonels, to conduct a campaign in that state.

If the British commander in chief had wished to fill the men of the
Continental army with a fire that would make them unconquerable, this was
the way to do it, and this was the man against whom they most desired to
fight. On the other hand, General Washington chose a leader for the
defense who was so well beloved by his men, and who was himself filled
with so fiery an enthusiasm for the cause, that this alone would have
been enough to bring into effect all the strength of those drained and
exhausted men and to energize them for prodigies of valor. This leader
was Lafayette. In February, 1781, he was commissioned to go against
Arnold.

Lafayette was glad to be trusted with a command and overjoyed at the
prospect of action. But he still believed that the great final blow
was to be struck at New York and he was most reluctant to be separated
from Washington with whom he intensely longed to be when the great
climax came. However, he obeyed orders with perfect alacrity and
planned for a swift march in order to intercept any efforts on the
part of Arnold to obtain access to the various storehouses and river
crossings in Virginia. Leaving under guard his tents, artillery, and
everything that could be spared, with orders to follow as rapidly as
possible, he marched his men through heavy rains and over bad roads.

The Virginia campaign, says a French historian, is to be ranked among
the classic tales of all time; and in this campaign the young
Lafayette was the most notable leader. It was on the 6th of April,
1781, that General Washington wrote to Lafayette, giving him full
instructions, which led him into th