The Revolutionary War in the Southern Backcountry
Relatively small armies of men waged a ferocious series of battles in the southern theater, changing the outcome of the Revolutionary War. Goaded by the British and threatened with destruction of their farms, the over-the-mountain men flocked to the support of the hard-pressed Colonial army. Their stellar individual contributions revealed here characterize the final and decisive campaign of the revolution. The American Revolution evolved into a back country encounter when the principal British effort to subdue the Colonies moved to the southern provinces. After a series of significant American defeats, the hopes of a new nation seemed lost. The British having successfully captured the seaports of Savannah and Charles Town, Lord Charles Cornwallis determined to take the southern interior. With almost the entire army of the south defeated at the battle of Camden, back country militiamen set out from the hills of Georgia, Tennessee, and the Carolinas to reverse American misfortunes and push their bitter enemies from their homeland.  In the winter of 1780-81, the most significant campaign, the turning point of the southern war, occurred in the Carolina back country. A trio of battles occurred within a five-month period at Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Guilford Court House. These climactic clashes proved pivotal to American independence, destroying British army capability in the southern colonies. The British chose to withdraw and consolidate their forces at Yorktown. The American victory was an inevitable conclusion. James K. Swisher was awarded the Jefferson Davis Medal by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and in 2000 received the Virginia State Library Book of the Year Award. He was a Virginia Society of the Book Nominee and has published numerous articles in national publications, including America's Civil War, Confederate Veteran, Military Heritage, and Military History. He has a master's degree in history from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and he is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Sons of the American Revolution. He serves on the Lynchburg Museum Board and the Lynchburg Civil War Roundtable.