THE LONDON CHRONICLE, England, Aug. 16, 1781  

* Revolutionary War events in the South

Page 2 has some reports on the Revolutionary War, bits including: Letters from Charlestown [Charleston] say that the great activity of Lord Rawdon...is likely to surmount the difficulties they have had to encounter...purpose to overtake them & to scour the country which bids fair to put an end to that petty warfare...reasons at large for refusing the permit Congress money to pass in his lines, denying the demands of Congress & Washington for men, clothes & money...received accounts of Lord Cornwallis being in Hanover County, Virginia, near the head of York River...La Fayette was 30 miles distant from him & had not then been joined by General Wayne...confirm the reports formerly received of the French having evacuated Rhode Island. Most of their troops had joined Washington at West Point...".
Eight pages, 8 1/2 by 11 inches, nice condition.

Background: Published on August 16, 1781—just two months prior to the pivotal British surrender at Yorktown—this issue of The London Chronicle offers a vivid snapshot of the Revolutionary War from the British perspective as the conflict reached its climax. Page two captures critical intelligence from across the theater, reporting that Lord Cornwallis had advanced into Hanover County, Virginia, near the head of the York River, while the Marquis de Lafayette shadowed his army from thirty miles away as he awaited reinforcements from General "Mad" Anthony Wayne. Crucially, the issue reports on the evacuation of French forces from Rhode Island to join Washington’s Continental Army at West Point; while British military leadership believed this allied movement signaled an impending siege on British-occupied New York City, it was actually the opening phase of Washington and Rochambeau’s strategic march south to trap Cornwallis on the Virginia peninsula. Meanwhile, dispatches from Charlestown (Charleston, South Carolina) detail Lord Rawdon’s aggressive attempts to suppress localized partisan resistance and enforce economic order by refusing to recognize Continental currency or meet American logistical demands, highlighting how Nathanael Greene’s Southern Campaign had successfully squeezed British forces back toward the coast.