f 1000 men, including the gallant Pulaski. The French
fleet then departed, and the British could look upon Georgia as
recovered.

[Sidenote: And capture Charleston, with Lincoln's army,
May 12, 1780.]

It was South Carolina's turn next. Washington was obliged to weaken his
own force by sending most of the southern troops to Lincoln's
assistance. Sir Henry Clinton then withdrew the garrisons from his
advanced posts on the Hudson, and also from Rhode Island, and was thus
able to leave an adequate force in New York, while he himself set sail
for Savannah, December 26, 1779, with a considerable army. After the
British forces were united in Georgia, they amounted to more than
13,000 men, against whom Lincoln could bring but 7000. The fate of the
American army shows us what would probably have happened in New York in
1776 if an ordinary general instead of Washington had been in command.
Lincoln allowed himself to be cooped up in Charleston, and after a siege
of two months was obliged to surrender the city and his whole army on
the 12th of May, 1780. This was the most serious disaster the Americans
had suffered since the loss of Fort Washington. The dashing cavalry
leader, Tarleton, soon cut to pieces whatever remnants of their army
were left in South Carolina. Sir Henry Clinton returned in June to New
York, leaving Lord Cornwallis with 5000 men to carry on the work. The
Tories, thus supported, got the upperhand in the interior of the state,
which suffered from all the horrors of civil war. The American cause was
sustained only by partisan leaders, of whom the most famous were Francis
Marion and Thomas Sumter.

[Sidenote: Battle of Camden, Aug. 16, 1780.]

When the news of Lincoln's surrender reached the North, the emergency
was felt to be desperate. A fresh army was raised, consisting of about
2000 superbly trained veterans of the Maryland and Delaware lines, under
the Baron de Kalb, and such militia as could be raised in Virginia and
North Carolina. The chief command was given to Gates, whose conduct from
the start was a series of blunders. The most important strategic point
in South Carolina was Camden, at the intersection of the principal roads
from the coast to the mountains and from north to south. In marching
upon this point Gates was met by Lord Cornwallis on the 16th of August
and utterly routed. Kalb was mortally wounded at the head of the
Maryland troops, who held their ground nobly till overwhelmed