The final episode of the Ken Burn’s documentary, The American Revolution begins in May 1780 but does not end with the conclusion of the war; it declares that the struggle for liberty unleashed in 1776 has continued through the centuries since, and that is ongoing still.
I divide this episode into three parts: the British Southern strategy, the Battle of Yorktown, and the aftermath of the war. Because most viewers of the documentary may not be familiar with the southern campaigns, I’ll explain it in more detail than I will Yorktown.
The British strategy adopted for the summer campaign of 1780, changed the focus of the war from the New England and mid-Atlantic states to the south. General Henry Clinton, now safely back in New York City after abandoning Philadelphia, and his superior in London, Lord Germain, the Secretary of State for the Colonies, believed that Loyalist support for the crown was greater in the south than in the north. They were about to find out if that was true.
Clinton would in the southernmost colony, Georgia, and then work his way north, not only taking port cities, but subduing the countryside and recruiting Loyalists as soldiers to provide additional manpower for the next state in line. The large number of Loyalists who swarmed into Charles Town after Clinton and Cornwallis captured the city in May 1780, as described in the last episode, seemed to prove that the Southern Strategy was sound. When Clinton returned to New York City, he warned General Cornwallis, whom he left in command, not to move to North Carolina until he had complete control of South Carolina.
Everything seemed to go well at first; British and Loyalist forces moved through South Carolina and established strongpoints throughout the state. But their harsh treatment of the populace – Loyalist’s seeking revenge and they and British troops retaliations for guerrilla attacks – drove Americans who had been on the fence to join the Patriot cause. Especially egregious was the conduct of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, a British officer commanding the all-Loyalist British Legion.
Meanwhile, Congress, without consulting General Washington, appointed General Horatio Gates, the hero of Saratoga, to command the Southern Department. Gates moved his army south into South Carolina and met General Cornwallis moving north at Camden, South Carolina. Not only did Gates lose the ensuing battle, but he also left his army leaderless as soon as the shooting began, riding 180 miles north into North Carolina. Embarrassed, Congress cashiered him and never made another command appointment without consulting Washington.
Frustrated by a growing, brutal civil war in South Carolina, Cornwallis ignored his orders from Clinton and moved into North Carolina. He split his army into three columns. The most western group, 1,000 Loyalists under a British officer, Colonel Fergeson, were assigned to pacify the western mountains, home of a group of Scots Irish called the Overmountain Men. Fergeson promised amnesty to all who pledged allegiance to the crown, but the Overmountain men did not trust him. They met Fergeson’s force at King’s Mountain, and totally defeated them, killing Fergeson, and then executing most of the Loyalists who surrendered, a vicious example of how bitter the civil war now raging across the south had become. Cornwallis withdrew into South Carolina.
To replace the disgraced Horatio Gates, Washington sent two of his best officers Nathaniel Greene and Daniel Morgan to North Carolina to try and repair mess Gates had made. Morgan took a small force of Continentals, reinforced by local militia, into South Carolina, and met Talenton’s British Legion at a place called Cowpens. To overcome the unreliability of the militia, he placed them in two lines in front of his Continentals and told them to fire only two volleys and then fall back, luring Tarleton forward. The plan worked and when the British Legion rushed forward in pursuit of the retreating militia, they ran headlong into withering fire from the Continentals and were defeated.
His frustration growing at the growing civil war in the Carolinas that he had created, Cornwallis decided to move into Virginia to join Benedict Arnold, who had by now betrayed his country, and joined the British (the story of Benedict’s treason is well-known to most, and is well explained in the documentary, so I won’t discuss it in this review). On the way, he met Nathaniel Greene at Guilford Courthouse, North Carolina and won a Pyrrhic victory, further weakening his forces. His fate: the defeat at Yorktown that ended the war.
Before going on, let’s consider how well the southern campaign is depicted in the documentary. Overall, I think that it was at least as well done as the Battles around New York in 1776. The narration was clear – and at times harrowing – and the use of maps to show the movement of armies and of battles was excellent, especially for the Battle of Cowpens. For the first time, I thought the blended scenes of reenactors, modern watercolors, and period paintings were, if not excellent, adequate.
Most people who watch this documentary know about the Battle of Yorktown in the autumn of 1781. Clinton ordered Cornwallis to march to Yorktown and entrench. By this time, Benedict Arnold had been recalled. Washington and the French commander Rochembeau, who were planning to attack New York City, learned that a French fleet was heading for the Chesapeake, and matched their armies south. They laid siege to Cornwallis’ army, like the investment Cornwallis and Clinton conducted against Charles Town the previous year. After a vicious cannonade, Cornwallis surrendered, essentially ending the war.
The depiction of the movement of the armies and this battle was exceptional, better than the depiction of the Battle of Long Island in episode two. Google map-like graphics returned, and the narration and mix of reenactors and paintings viscerally depicted the action. Well done to the producers.
The subsequent treaty, negotiated by Benjamin Franklin, John Adams, and John Jay, secured exceptionally good terms for United States, to include the Americans securing the territory from the Appalachians to the Mississippi River. It also directed that all slaves who ran away to the British be returned to their owners.
The British evacuation from New York City and other ports took longer than expected. Loyalists who wanted to leave for Canada and other locations were given free passage, doubling the amount of shipping required. Despite the treaty requirement to return slaves to their owners, General Carleton, who replaced General Clinton in New York City, refused to turn his back on them, and most were also evacuated. According to the documentary, this concern did not extend to Indians, whom the British abandoned. But, the books I’ve read say this abandonment did not happen until the end of the War of 1812. Until then, the British supported the Indians from Fort Detroit, which they were supposed to have turned over to the Americans.
The final minutes of the documentary are devoted to the long-term impact of the American Revolution. Starting with the French Revolution, the concept of the liberty of all human beings spread around the globe. For the next two centuries colonies and citizens of autocratic countries rose in revolt and established democracies, and the long scourge of human slavery came to an end. The struggle for freedom, unleashed by the American Revolution, continues to this day. The documentary ends with a quote from Benjamin Rush: “The revolution is not over.”
Did you watch The American Revolution documentary? What do you think? Please let me know in the comments below. And if you’d like to read my reviews of previous episodes, click on the links below. Thank you for reading.
The American Revolution, Episode 1, In Order to Be Free
The American Revolution, Episode 2, An Asylum for Mankind
The American Revolution, Episode 3, The Times That Try Men’s Souls
The American Revolution, Episode 4, Conquer by a Drawn Game
The American Revolution, Episode 5, The Soul of All America
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As I described in my last post, beginning early in 2026, I will tell the story on this site of the four British raids on Connecticut during the war: Danbury and Ridgefield, April 1777; Greenwich, February 1779; New Haven, Fairfield, and Norwalk, July 1779; and New London and Groton, September 1781. I hope you’ll join me.
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Filed under: The American Revolution Documentary | Tagged: America, American Indian, Benedict Arnold, Cowpens, Daniel Morgan, General Charles Cornwallis, General Henry Clinton, George Washington, Guilford Courthouse, Liberty, Nathanial Greene, Slavery, The American Revolution, Yorktown | 9 Comments »
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