of Maj. Patrick Ferguson’s defeat at King’s
Mountain, and he summoned the raiders back
to New York. Leslie promptly complied and
sailed on November 22, 1780, having accom-
plished a great deal of marching—and little
else.
Once at New York, Clinton dispatched
Leslie and his men to Charleston, South Car-
olina, as reinforcements for General Cornwal-
lis. He commanded a sizable force, including
a Guards Brigade, the Hessian von Bose Regi-
ment, the King’s Americans, some provincial
light infantry, and detachments of dra-
goons and artillery. Leslie disembarked at
Charleston on December 14, 1780, and
marched overland to Camden. Continuing on-
ward, he eventually linked up with Cornwallis
in January 1781 and joined in the pursuit of
American forces under Gen. Nathaniel
Greene. Apparently, while fording the
Catawba River on February 1, 1781, his horse
lost its footing and Leslie nearly drowned.
The following month he was closely engaged
at the bloody victory at Guilford Courthouse,
commanded the right wing, and supported
Gen. Charles O’Harain the final assault.
Leslie did not accompany Cornwallis’s subse-
quent foray into Virginia but instead returned
to New York to recover his health.
After the surrender of Yorktown in October
1781, Leslie was sent south one last time as
head of the southern command. The war by
this time had all but petered out, and there
was little for the British to do but mark time.
Leslie advanced to temporary lieutenant gen-
eral in January 1782, and the following sum-
mer he ordered the evacuation of Savannah.
He then orchestrated the British withdrawal
from Charleston in December 1782 and re-
turned to England.
After the war, Leslie returned to England,
where he gained a promotion to lieutenant
general and also obtained an honorary
colonelcy in the Ninth Regiment of Foot. By
1794, he was at Edinburgh as second in com-
mand of all military forces stationed in Scot-
land. Leslie was present during a mutiny in
December of that year and proved instrumen-
tal in helping to quell the disturbance. Unfor-
tunately, having obtained the surrender of the
ringleaders, he was struck by an object hurled
at him by a mob and fatally wounded. He died
at Edinburgh on December 27, 1794, a dedi-
cated professional soldier. Leslie’s relative
anonymity is also unusual considering his
high rank and active service record, which en-
compassed most of the American Revolution.Bibliography
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Men.” American Heritage11, no. 6 (1960): 56–59,
86–87; Barnwell, Joseph W. “The Evacuation of
Charleston by the British in 1782.”South Carolina
Historical Magazine11 (January, 1911): 1–26; Bill,
Alfred H. The Campaign of Princeton, 1776–1777.
Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1948;
Buchanan, John. The Road to Guilford Court House:
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