After the siege of Charleston, Sir Henry Clinton traveled back to New York leaving Cornwallis in command of the British campaign in North and South Carolina. On the morning of August 16, 1780, General Horatio Gates chose to fight Cornwallis’ force even though just the previous night his men suffered the terribly infectious illness of dysentery. Gates was confident in his American army of around 3,700 soldiers because they outnumbered the British army of around 2,100 troops. The American advantage ended quickly as one thousand American troops were unable to fight due to the illness they suffered the night before. General Gates had underestimated his troops ability to fight until it was too late to back out. The start of the battle involved