American Revolution Southern Campaign Army Showcase

I’m at the conclusion of my project to paint the armies for the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in 10mm scale. This was the first project I have worked from start to finish on, while I have been writing the blog. Additionally, it was my first time painting 10mm figures, and it was a blast, I would love to come back to it. Thanks for following along for all those that have, without further ado, let’s look at some pretty pictures!!

The Americans

This is Greene’s Continental army, consisting of of 18 regiments and 75 bases. As you can see, on the right is the continental army without its massive militia compliment. The American army in the South relied heavily on militia, and this was both a crutch and a strength.

A couple of my favorite militia units, Butler’s NC militia, and Cambell’s NC rifles.

Seen here is a closer look at some of the Continentals and a pair of American officers. All of the officers were a lot of fun to paint for me, because you could make them look cool in 10mm without having to go overboard like in the larger scales.

The continental artillery, and the beautiful 1st Maryland.

The British

Corwallis’s British army in the South, it is made up of 11 regiments and consist of 45 bases. It was a ton of fun to paint, and I hope to expand it in the future!

Pictured here are the Guards and the 71st foot, a couple of units that I thought the paint job came out really well.

Here we have a British officer and debatably the most iconic, and my personal favorite, unit of the entire Southern Campaign, Tarleton’s Dragoons.

Why was the Southern Campaign so Important?

To answer this question we need to go back to the origins of the campaign. By 1780, the war had been in deadlock for years, the British were holed up in New York. There had been no major battles since 1778, mostly just skirmishing and raiding in New Jersey. The British command thought that the sentiment in the Carolinas was much more Loyalist, so they sent an army under Lord Cornwallis.

This British army was successful in capturing the major cities of the Carolinas, and it crushed the Continental army at Camden. After the battle the British hoped that the local population would help them take control of the South Carolina backcountry, but hopes of large Loyalist support was crushed when Patriot militia beat their Tory counterparts at King’s Mountain in 1780.

On January 17th 1781, a British force under Banastre Tarleton was destroyed by a Continental detachment under Daniel Morgan. This made Cornwallis give up on trying to conquer all of South Carolina, and to pursue the main Continental army under Greene into North Carolina. Greene quickly realized that without Morgan’s force and reinforcements from Virginia, he was not prepared to fight a battle against the British. This led to the Race to the Dan, one of the fasted and most tense retreats in military history. After 3 weeks, with the British on his heels, Greene reached the Dan River, which allowed him to rebuild his strength.

Now ready, the Continental army moved south across the river and met the British army near Guilford Courthouse. After some skirmishing that morning, the Americans set up in 3 defensive lines. The British advanced through the first 2 lines, which were primarily militia, with some trouble. The real test was when the tired British had to meet the hardened Continental soldiers of the third line. After a hard fought battle the British forced the Continentals to retreat in good order, but the British were so exhausted that they could not pursue.

The British army was in tatters, and this made Cornwallis decide to retreat into Virginia. This allowed Greene to recapture the Carolinas, and most importantly the French navy and a joint Franco-American army surrounded Cornwallis at Yorktown Virginia, forcing him to surrender and ending the Revolution.

Conclusion

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Until next time- Joshua, The Napoleon of the West