The Glorious Cause - Jeff Shaara [271]
“I’m sorry, sir. I did not yet read it.”
“We have subdued this colony, Colonel. The civilians have returned to their lives, comfortable that this war has finally passed them by. We have asked no more of them than to pledge their allegiance to the crown. It was no threat to the peace, it gave no cause for controversy or protest. But now General Clinton has taken one very large step in the wrong direction. His new decree demands that every citizen of South Carolina sign a new oath of allegiance proclaiming their willingness to participate in the establishment of a royal government.”
“Why is that a problem, sir?”
“Colonel, despite General Clinton’s assumption that the citizens of South Carolina are merely waiting for their opportunity to take up our muskets, my experience has been that most of these people wish only to tend to their farms and manage their shops. General Clinton is compelling them to state their allegiance to our cause, with the warning that a refusal to do so implies treasonous behavior. We are forcing these people to choose sides, when in fact, the war for them should be over.”
Rawdon shook his head.
“I’m sorry, sir. I do not understand the problem. Should we not expect loyalty?”
Cornwallis felt the energy slipping away.
“Colonel, the army is not in the business of ensuring loyalty. Our purpose here is to win victories. With victories, loyalty will follow. An essentially peaceful citizenry is now being informed that they will lend us vocal and active support, or they will be treated as our enemy. It is the seed that sprouts resentment, Colonel. Admiral Howe attempted this in New Jersey, and his brother in Pennsylvania. Ask yourself, Colonel. Did either of them succeed?”
JUNE 8, 1780
In a final blow to Cornwallis’ command, Clinton decided to transport the experienced units of British regular cavalry back to New York. There was no explanation required from Clinton, and no explaining the decision in the camps. Cornwallis had met the news with grim acceptance, sent word to Colonel Tarleton that his Legion would now be more than just a mobile force to strike at the enemy, but would in fact be the army’s only eyes and ears.
As Clinton’s ship sailed out through the harbor, Cornwallis rode back to Camden. His troop strength had been stripped, his expectations of a quick victory swept away. He had no confidence that loyalists in any number would emerge to assist his army, that once he manned the outposts with enough strength to hold the colony safely in British hands, what would remain to march into North Carolina would be a pitiful force. But he had confidence in his officers, and the morale of his diminished force was high. Despite every suffering torment he felt from Henry Clinton, nothing could overshadow that finally, for the first time in his career, Charles Cornwallis was truly in charge.
44. WASHINGTON
PREAKNESS, NEW JERSEY, JUNE 1780
NEWS OF THE CATASTROPHE AT CHARLESTON REACHED HEADQUARTERS on the last day of May. He had held out hope that there would be another magnificent victory there, the city defended with the same courage and tactical brilliance of four years ago. But his optimism had been tempered. He knew that the first time Clinton had made enormous mistakes, mistakes he was not likely to repeat. He was not, after all, William Howe.
But Washington had believed the colonial troops there were prepared as well. The army was better equipped and better trained, and was led by a man Washington was convinced could stand up to any British threat. The collapse of Benjamin Lincoln’s defense was a baffling mystery, and the cost of the failure far exceeded the cost of the city itself. Lincoln had assembled most of the trained militia available in South Carolina, and all of the regular continental troops. Now, the vast majority of that effective fighting force was held captive by the British. Those who had escaped the sabers of Banastre Tarleton had scattered piecemeal, disappearing into the hills to the west, or stumbling slowly