Background
The opening move in Britain's "southern strategy" to regain control of its rebellious colonies was Admiral Peter Parker and General Henry Clinton's ignominious defeat in June 1776 to a vastly smaller militia force at a partially-constructed palmetto palisade on Sullivan's Island off Charlestown (now Charleston), South Carolina, the Royal Navy's first repulse in a century. In December 1778, however, Savannah was captured and Charleston again exposed to danger. At the time, it was the site of the Continental Army's southern command under General Benjamin Lincoln. The British garrison at Savannah was about the same size as his own. Throughout the early months of 1779, Lincoln was reinforced by local militia as well as militia from North Carolina and Georgia. From a base at Purrysburg, South Carolina, Lincoln directed these forces to monitor key points on the Savannah River between the coast and Augusta, Georgia, which fell into British hands in late January. This buildup of forces prompted the British to withdraw their force from Augusta back to Ebenezer, Georgia, across the river from Purrysburg. During these maneuvers a Loyalist force was defeated in the Battle of Kettle Creek, and a North Carolina militia force was defeated in the Battle of Brier Creek.
By mid-April Lincoln felt strong enough to move in force with the goal of tightening the cordon around Savannah, cutting the British off from local resources. He marched from Purrysburg on April 23 toward Augusta. Lincoln was apparently unaware that the British supply situation was somewhat desperate, in part because American privateer activity had been successful in capturing British supply ships destined for Savannah and diverting them. His movement toward Augusta left the rich lands of coastal South Carolina protected by a minimal militia force. When British General Augustine Prevost learned of this movement, he decided to counterthrust against the militia forces at Purrysburg, marching 2,500 men out on April 29. The militia, about 1,000 men under the command of General William Moultrie, fell back toward Charleston rather than engaging Prevost, and Moultrie sent messengers to Lincoln warning him of the British movement. As Moultrie retreated, local men deserted his force in order to protect their homes and plantations. Prevost decided to pursue Moultrie, and chased him to the gates of Charleston.
On May 10, companies from the two forces skirmished near Ashley Ferry, about seven miles (11.3 km) from Charleston. Two days later Prevost intercepted a message from which he learned that Lincoln was rapidly marching back to Charleston, and decided to retreat. His army was slowed by having taken supplies en route, so he decided to leave a rear guard at Stono Ferry, between Johns Island and the mainland, removing most of his army to Savannah by boat on June 16. Prevost placed Lieutenant Colonel John Maitland in charge of the rear guard, which numbered about 900 men. A bridgehead was established on the north side of an area now known as New Cut Church Flats; this was meant to cover Stono Ferry. Three strong redoubts were built, circled by an abatis and manned by Highlanders from the 71st Foot, Hessians from the Regiment von Trumbach, and companies of Loyalists from North and South Carolina.
Lincoln, on his arrival in Charleston, decided to mount an attack on this outpost. Even though he commanded five to seven thousand men, he was only able to raise about 1,200 men, primarily from the poorly trained local militia, for the expedition. General Moultrie led a smaller secondary effort to the east against a small group of British soldiers on Johns Island.
Lincoln deployed his troops after a night march of eight miles (13 km) from the Ashley Ferry, located in the present village of Drayton Hall. Immediately upon their arrival at dawn, they began struggling through thick woods. The Americans advanced in two wings; General Jethro Sumner led his Carolina militia on the right, carrying two guns, while their right flank was covered by a company of light infantry, commanded by the Marquis de Malmady. Continental Army troops, under General Isaac Huger, made up the left wing; they carried four guns into battle. With Huger was a group of light infantry under John Henderson, and it was these troops who, shortly before sunrise, made first contact with the enemy.
William Moultrie was an American planter and politician who became a general in the American Revolutionary War. As colonel leading a state militia, in 1776 he prevented the British from taking Charleston, and Fort Moultrie was named in his honor.
The siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town, the capital of South Carolina, between March 29 and May 12, 1780. The British, following the collapse of their northern strategy in late 1777 and their withdrawal from Philadelphia in 1778, shifted their focus to the American Southern Colonies. After approximately six weeks of siege, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces to the British. It was one of the worst American defeats of the war.
The siege of Savannah or the Second Battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779. On October 9 a major assault against the British siege works failed. During the attack, Polish nobleman Count Casimir Pulaski, leading the combined cavalry forces on the American side, was mortally wounded. With the failure of the joint attack, the siege was abandoned, and the British remained in control of Savannah until July 1782, near the end of the war.
The Battle of Kettle Creek was the first major victory for Patriots in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War that took place on February 14, 1779. It was fought in Wilkes County about eight miles (13 km) from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriots decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta.
The 1st South Carolina Regiment (Infantry) was authorized on June 6, 1775, at Charleston, South Carolina, for service with the South Carolina State Troops. On November 4, 1775, the unit was adopted into the Continental Army and on February 27, 1776 was assigned to the Southern Department. The regiment saw action at the Siege of Savannah and the Siege of Charleston. The British Army captured the regiment at Charleston on May 12, 1780, together with the rest of the Southern Department.
The 3rd South Carolina Regiment was an infantry regiment of the South Carolina Line during the American Revolutionary War. Raised in the western part of South Carolina, the regiment fought in the Siege of Savannah and the Siege of Charleston, surrendering to British forces in the latter.
The 4th South Carolina Regiment was raised on November 13, 1775, at Charleston, South Carolina, for service with the South Carolina Troops and later became part of Continental Army.
John Ashe, Sr. was Speaker of the House of Burgesses in the Province of North Carolina. He was Harvard educated and fought in the North Carolina militia during the French and Indian War. During the American Revolution, he attained the rank of major general and was in charge of North Carolina militia and state troops from 1776 to 1779. He resigned from military service after the Patriot defeat at the Battle of Brier Creek in 1779.
The siege of Fort Motte was a military operation during the American Revolutionary War. A force of Patriots led by General Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion and Lt. Colonel "Light Horse" Harry Lee set out to capture the British post at Fort Motte, the informal name of a plantation mansion fortified by the British for use as a depot because of its strategic location at the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree rivers. The British garrisoned roughly 175 British soldiers under Lt. Daniel McPherson at the fort.
The southern theater of the American Revolutionary War was the central theater of military operations in the second half of the American Revolutionary War, 1778–1781. It encompassed engagements primarily in Virginia, Georgia and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.
Jethro Exum Sumner was a senior officer of the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Virginia, Sumner's military service began in the French and Indian War as a member of the state's Provincial forces. After the conclusion of that conflict, he moved to Bute County, North Carolina, where he acquired a substantial area of land and operated a tavern. He served as Sheriff of Bute County, but with the coming of the American Revolution, he became a strident patriot, and was elected to North Carolina's Provincial Congress.
The Battle of Brier Creek was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on March 3, 1779, near the confluence of Brier Creek with the Savannah River in eastern Georgia. A mixed Patriot force consisting principally of militia from North Carolina and Georgia along with some Continental regulars was defeated, suffering significant casualties. The rout damaged Patriot morale.
The Battle of Sullivan's Island or the Battle of Fort Sullivan was fought on June 28, 1776, during the American Revolutionary War. It took place near Charleston, South Carolina, during the first British attempt to capture the city from American forces. It is also sometimes referred to as the first siege of Charleston, owing to a more successful British siege in 1780.
The Capture of Savannah, or sometimes the First Battle of Savannah, or the Battle of Brewton Hill, was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on December 29, 1778 pitting local American Patriot militia and Continental Army units, holding the city, against a British invasion force under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell. The British capture of the city led to an extended occupation and was the opening move in the British southern strategy to regain control of the rebellious Southern provinces by appealing to the relatively strong Loyalist sentiment there.
The Battle of Beaufort, also known as the Battle of Port Royal Island, was fought on February 3, 1779, near Beaufort, South Carolina, during the American Revolutionary War. The battle took place not long after British forces consolidated control around Savannah, Georgia, which they had captured in December 1778.
The siege of Ninety Six was a siege in western South Carolina late in the American Revolutionary War. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 troops in a siege against the 550 Loyalists in the fortified village of Ninety Six, South Carolina. The 28-day siege centered on an earthen fortification known as Star Fort. Despite having more troops, Greene was unsuccessful in taking the town, and was forced to lift the siege when Lord Rawdon approached from Charleston with British troops.
The Province of Georgia was a significant battleground in the American Revolution. Its population was at first divided about exactly how to respond to revolutionary activities and heightened tensions in other provinces. When violence broke out in 1775, radical Patriots took control of the provincial government, and drove many Loyalists out of the province. Georgia also served as the staging ground for several important raids into British-controlled Florida.
James Moncrief was a trained engineer and military officer of Scottish Highlander descent in the British Royal Engineers.
William Thomson (1727–1796) was a South Carolina patriot in the American Revolution. He was Colonel of the Orangeburgh District Regiment of Militia and commander of the 3rd South Carolina Regiment of Rangers.
Daniel Horry was a South Carolina politician and Revolutionary War military officer.
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