James Baquet The American baseball player, manager and coach Yogi Berra was famous for his unintentional maxims. One of his most famous was, “It ain’t over ‘til it’s over.” When we look back on history, it’s easy to assume that everything turned out inevitably, and that faits accomplis were never in doubt. Nothing could be further from the truth. For example, the American War of Independence was fought from 1775 to 1783, and as late as 1780 the outcome was still not assured. In that year, the British army scored a major victory at the Battle of Camden, fought in South Carolina. General Cornwallis led 2,100 troops against an American force twice that size, under command of Major General Horatio Gates. This humiliation was quite a blow to Gates, who had led the Americans in the British defeat at Saratoga three years earlier. He would never command an army in the field again. The British campaign was part of a “southern strategy” intended to reverse their declining fortunes in the north. The plan was for the British army to gather up loyalists in the southern-most colonies and move northward toward Virginia. Though his troops were short of food, the American leader, Gates, marched them toward Camden through a sparsely-inhabited, swampy area offering few supplies and almost no cover. He intended to besiege the British garrison in the town. Instead, his troops (starting out at 10 p.m.) came face-to-face with Cornwallis’ troops heading in the opposite direction in a night march of their own. After some confusion, they separated, as neither commander was keen on fighting at night. Before first light, the Americans were deployed for battle, with the British equally prepared. They attacked simultaneously, but the British did so with more vigor than the Americans. In describing the rout, Otho Holland Williams, one of Gates’ subordinates, wrote to Thomas Jefferson, who was then governor of Virginia, “picture it as bad as you possibly can and it will not be as bad as it really is.” The Americans, with over 2,000 casualties, were defeated in less than an hour. Vocabulary: Which word or phrase above means: 1. arranged for battle 2. proverbs, wise sayings 3. protection by woods etc. 4. less true 5. defeat leading to disorderly retreat 6. not on purpose, accidental 7. showing strong desire for something 8. things that have been achieved 9. people faithful to the British king 10. marshy, wet | 