to
the South and disturbed the British dream that now the country was held
securely. It mattered little that, after this, the British won minor
victories. Lord Rawdon, still holding Camden, defeated Greene on the
25th of April at Hobkirk's Hill. None the less did Rawdon find his
position untenable and he, too, was forced to march to the sea, which
he reached at a point near Charleston. Augusta, the capital of Georgia,
fell to the Americans on the 5th of June and the operations of the
summer went decisively in their favor. The last battle in the field of
the farther South was fought on the 8th of September at Eutaw Springs,
about fifty miles northwest of Charleston. The British held their
position and thus could claim a victory. But it was fruitless. They
had been forced steadily to withdraw. All the boasted fabric of royal
government in the South had come down with a crash and the Tories who
had supported it were having evil days.

While these events were happening farther south, Cornwallis himself,
without waiting for word from Clinton in New York, had adopted his own
policy and marched from Wilmington northward into Virginia. Benedict
Arnold was now in Virginia doing what mischief he could to his former
friends. In January he burned the little town of Richmond, destined in
the years to come to be a great center in another civil war. Some twenty
miles south from Richmond lay in a strong position Petersburg, later
also to be drenched with blood shed in civil strife. Arnold was already
at Petersburg when Cornwallis arrived on the 20th of May. He was now in
high spirits. He did not yet realize the extent of the failure farther
south. Virginia he believed to be half loyalist at heart. The negroes
would, he thought, turn against their masters when they knew that the
British were strong enough to defend them. Above all he had a finely
disciplined army of five thousand men. Cornwallis was the more confident
when he knew by whom he was opposed. In April Washington had placed
La Fayette in charge of the defense of Virginia, and not only was La
Fayette young and untried in such a command but he had at first only
three thousand badly-trained men to confront the formidable British
general. Cornwallis said cheerily that "the boy" was certainly now his
prey and began the task of catching him.

An exciting chase followed. La Fayette did some good work. It was
impossible, with his inferior force, to fight Cornwallis, but he could
ti