Colin Ross, "Unser Amerika", Chapter 26

 26.

A German saves American Military Honor

The Battle of Monmouth was the last significant combat action in the Union North. The British realized that their four-year attempts to silence the heart of the Revolution that beat here had been unsuccessful and would be unsuccessful in the future. So they changed the battle plan and decided to move the theater of war to the South.

In the southern states, a lower battle price beckoned, but success seemed easier. The population here was much more loyalist, and in some cases the partisans of the British crown even outnumbered the loyalists. Thus, one wanted to first get Georgia and the two Carolinas firmly in hand, in order to wait, based on this possession, to see what negotiations could finally be reached with the northern colonies.

The enterprise seemed simple and safe. England still ruled the seas, although the intervention of a French fleet from the West Indies was already expected. In December 1778, Sir Henry Clinton first sent a force from New York to Georgia, which captured the city of Savannah after brief resistance from the American garrison. In ten days Georgia was occupied, but the advance faltered on the South Carolina frontier.

In the fall, a French fleet properly appeared off Savannah. It bombarded the city and harbor for three weeks and sailed away again, unsuccessful. Two months later, sails appeared on the horizon again. It was Clinton himself this time with eight thousand men. He attacked CharIeston and forced General Lincoln, who was trapped in the town, to surrender with seven thousand Americans.

Washington had sent Major General Johann de Kalb south with two thousand men to relieve Lincoln. Before these could arrive, the encircled American army had already disarmed. Kalb, with two thousand men, faced a British army of twelve thousand.

Under these circumstances, he retreated to South Carolina to raise a new army from the scattered militias and vigilantes. This, however, proved impossible. Each commander waged war on his own, and above all, none would submit to a foreigner. 

Kalb was considered a Frenchman throughout America, but in fact he was the son of Frankish farmers. However, he entered French service at an early age and had also come to America with Lafayette's expedition. He was a brave as well as an able officer, but the conditions in Carolinas would have been beyond the strength of a Hercules. Of the troop units there, the severe judgment seemed to apply in full measure which Washington had passed upon the American militia in general in a report to Congress. It said of them, "The militia arrives, one cannot tell how, leaves, one does not know why, and goes into action, no one knows where. They consume the supplies available, exhaust the camps, and finally leave you at the crucial moment."

So Kalb was heartily glad when Washington finally sent an American leader of repute, General Gates, to the South to take over as commander-in-chief. This, however, made things worse, not better. Gates in no way justified the reputation he enjoyed in the public eye. At bottom, he was a phony, a wonk, and a schemer who, at the time of Valley Forge, had himself agitated against Washington to take his place. Washington knew all this; he would rather have sent Green, but he felt he had to yield to public opinion, which stormily demanded Gates.

Disaster was not long in coming. Gates rallied the militia, most of whom were of no military value, and marched to Camden to attack the English encamped there. Foolishly, he allowed two days to elapse before deciding to attack. In the meantime, the main British force had moved in. When the battle began, the militia actually ran away at the first shot, General Gates with them. Yes, he ran even faster than all of them; for he was on horseback. In his fear, the brave hero covered 90 kilometers before he dared to catch his breath.

On the battlefield, General Kalb alone remained with his men, alone facing an oppressive superiority. Nevertheless, he would have held his ground had he not been deprived of flank cover by the flight of the militia and thus soon bypassed. Attacked in front and in rear, he defended himself like a lion. The horse is shot under his body. In the melee he receives a saber blow over the head. Bound up, he continues to fight. Yes, he not only beats off the attacks of the British, but advances himself with his men. There he falls, hit by several bullets.

Of Kalb's two thousand men, nine hundred were dead and wounded on the battlefield, another thousand were taken prisoner, and only a hundred managed to escape. He himself was found among a pile of corpses, bleeding from eleven wounds, but still alive. After three days he died in the military hospital.

The German Kalb had not only restored American honor in arms, but had also prevented the British commander Cornwallis from immediately following Gates' fleeing army to Carolina. General Green, whom Washington now appointed, found time to organize new resistance. He learned from Gates' disaster. He placed the militia in the first encounter and ordered them to fire at least two or three volleys at the enemy, failing which they would be shot down by the regulars standing in the second encounter. After that they were to run, which they promptly did, while the old battle-hardened troops then took up the fight.

After a series of encounters, the British force was driven out of Georgia and the two Carolinas and pushed into Virginia, where young Lafayette engaged them in a stalling skirmish. The final act of the great drama of war was dawning.