Failing to defeat the tenacious George Washington, the British change course, turning their attention southward. In a last ditch effort to quell the rebellion, they surround and lay siege to Charleston, South Carolina, the third largest city in the colonies. General Benjamin Lincoln, commander of the Southern wing of the Continental Army, sinks his heels in and braces for the attack but his outnumbered force will fall.
After the fall of Charleston, the war explodes into the Carolina backcountry, touching off a brutal civil war, and Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton's dragoons spread terror throughout the region. The Americans, under General Horatio Gates, suffer a humiliating defeat at Camden forcing Congress to send Nathanael Greene to lead the southern forces. In an unconventional strategy Greene and General Daniel Morgan split the army between them, leading British General Cornwallis on a harrowing chase, which culminates in the Battle of Guildford Courthouse.
Washington faces two mutinies in the Continental army. Congress is broke, and the army desperately needs more help from the French. On all sides, the war must end soon. In England, the opposition to the war grows as Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis argue over the British strategy in the South. The French are tired of supporting the war, but Franklin continues to beg for aid. The French finally send their fleet to America, under the command of Admiral DeGrasse. Cornwallis moves his army to Yorktown, VA, and the Allied forces close in for the last major battle of the war.
