n which those of
the same family fought one another with the utmost fury, and the horrors
of war were displayed in all their dreadful colors.

For a long time the British kept a strong force at Newport, but they
were withdrawn, and a strong expedition was sent South to capture
Charleston.

BRITISH CAPTURE OF CHARLESTON.

General Lincoln had a garrison of 3,000, his forts, and a number of
vessels, with which he was confident of making a successful defense of
the city. The ships, however, were so inferior to those of the enemy
that Commodore Whipple sank all except one at the mouth of Cooper River
to block the channel, and added his men and guns to the defenses of
Charleston.

Clinton's force was about double that of Lincoln, and he made his
approaches with care and skill. By April 10th he was within a half-mile
of the city, and, Lincoln having refused the demand for surrender, the
enemy opened fire. Lieutenant-Colonel Tarleton, the best cavalry leader
the British had in the country, scattered the patriot cavalry at the
rear of the city, which was fully invested. Reinforcements arrived from
New York, and the siege was pushed vigorously. The garrison made a
sortie which accomplished nothing. Tarleton continually defeated the
American cavalry at the rear, many guns were dismounted, food and
supplies were exhausted until all hope was gone, and on the 12th of May,
1780, Lincoln surrendered his army and the city.

This was one of the severest blows of the war. Clinton secured the city
and more than 400 pieces of artillery. He treated his prisoners kindly,
but lost no time in following up his success. Tarleton destroyed the
command of Colonel Abraham Buford, numbering 400 men, and thus
effectually quenched all organized resistance for a time in South
Carolina.

Clinton would have completed the conquest of the South by advancing into
North Carolina, had he not learned that a French fleet was expected on
the coast. This led him to return to New York with the main army, while
Cornwallis was left behind with 4,000 men to complete the unfinished
work as best he could.

In the spring of 1780, Washington sent reinforcements to the South, with
a regiment of artillery under Baron De Kalb, a German veteran who had
come to America with Lafayette. Although one of the finest of officers,
he could scarcely speak a word of English, and General Gates, on June
13, 1780, was ordered by Congress to assume command of the southern
depar