Date of Award

2012

Document Type

Thesis: Open Access

Degree Name

MA Leadership Studies

Department

History

Committee Chair

Michael Gonzalez Ph.D., Chair

Committee Member

Iris Engstrand, Ph.D.

Abstract

With 1,000 Continentals and 1,300 militia, General George Washington assigned General Nathanael Greene to defeat the British in the out hem region of North and South Carolina and Georgia and win the American Revolution.' Between 1780-1781, the British restored South Carolina's loyalist government, and proved victorious at battles in Savannah, Georgia, and in Charleston and Camden, South Carolina. The British also had numerous Tory (colonists loyal to the King) sympathizers in the region. Nathanael Greene's mission was to defeat the British Army in the South with few regular troops, limited supplies, and no local government to call upon for assistance. Further, Greene contended with rivalries between the Tories and the Patriots. Despite these obstacles, Greene achieved strategic success and made the most significant contribution to the war by destroying a large part (1,501 of 3,224 under Cornwallis) of the British Army in the South, ensuring Washington's victory at Yorktown, Virginia, in 1781.2 How did Greene use the Operational Art of War to help the Patriots win the American Revolution? This thesis argues that Greene's mastery of the Operational Art of war, discussed below, was the decisive factor that turned the tide of the American Revolution leading to General Cornwallis' defeat at Yorktown in 1781. This achievement was demonstrated through Greene's campaign strategy, which focused on a strategy of attrition, i.e., wearing down the British Army; his use ofregular Continental troops with militia; and his ability to preserve the Continental Army in the field.

Download

Included in

History Commons

Share

COinS