Page:The Marquess Cornwallis and the Consolidation of British Rule.djvu/19

Rh Cowpens, which has been described as the most serious calamity after the surrender of Saratoga. What could be done to repair this defeat was done by Cornwallis.

At Guildford he attacked General Greene, who commanded a force of nearly 6000 men, and on March 15, 1781, he routed this officer and captured his cannon. But here again want of supplies, the general disaffection of the country, and the failure of energy on the part of the Loyalists, crippled operations; and although this action is admitted by the American writers to have been a 'signal instance of the steadiness of British troops when well commanded,' and though one English annalist compares it to Cressy, Poitiers, and Agincourt, it was only an apparent triumph; and indeed it may be said to have inflicted more damage on the English than on the Americans. Cornwallis, who had been wounded in the battle of Guildford, next marched through North Carolina into Virginia, and took up his position at York and Gloucester, on the York River. It is not easy to apportion the blame for the surrender of York Town. The Commander-in-Chief subsequently endeavoured to show that he had not thought favourably of Cornwallis's march into the Virginian provinces. But it is quite clear that he ordered Cornwallis to act on the defensive and to fortify himself in some suitable position. Cornwallis had also some hope of relief or assistance from the British fleet. But nothing was done with vigrour and effect. And when the American