By 1779-80, with stalemate in the North, British strategists again looked to the South. They came south for a number of reasons, primarily to assist the Loyalists, help them regain control of colonial governments, and then push north to crush the rebellion. They estimated that many of the south's population would rally to the British cause. The British spread out across South Carolina and Georgia, setting up a chain of forts.
Gen. George Washington knew that if Cornwallis continued moving north unchecked, the Americans would be crushed between two giant British pincer arms, with Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis from the south and Lt. Gen. Henry Clinton from the north. Washington ordered Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene to take command of the Southern Army along with key commanders and units. Washington also transferred Lt. Col. Henry Lee and his 350-man cavalry corps to the Carolinas. Greene decided to split his army to better harass the British over a wider region. He stayed with the American wing operating around the Camden area, and sent Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan to command the second wing southwest of the Catawba River to cut the British supply lines and hamper British operations in the Ninety-Six area. Between these two American wings were Cornwallis and 4,000 British troops at Winnsboro.
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