 The task Clinton left Cornwallis with was to , first and foremost , preserve the gains made by taking Charleston , and only then engage in offensive moves . Clinton 's orders gave Cornwallis wide latitude in how to achieve the goal of pacifying both South and North Carolina , after which Clinton expected Cornwallis to move into Virginia . Clinton wrote , " I should wish you to assist in operations which will certainly be carried on in the Chesapeake as soon as we are relieve from our apprehension of a superior fleet and the season will admit ... " However , Clinton provided Cornwallis with a relatively modest force of British , German , and provincial ( Loyalist ) regiments — about 3 @,@ 000 men — with which to accomplish all of this . The forces he was given to accomplish this were limited by the necessity of keeping a large British force in New York under Clinton to shadow Washington . Cornwallis was expected to recruit more Loyalists , who were believed to be more numerous in the southern colonies . 
