Siege of Charleston | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
![]() An illustration of the siege by Alonzo Chappel | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
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Commanders and leaders | |||||||
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Units involved | |||||||
See § British forces | See § Franco-American forces | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
12,847 regulars and militia 4,500 sailors 6 ships of the line 8 frigates 4 armed galleys 90 transports [1] | 6,577 regulars, sailors and militia 3 frigates 5 sloops 1 schooner 1 brig 3 armed galleys [1] | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
89 killed 138 wounded 5,466 captured [4] [5] [lower-alpha 1] All ships captured |
The Siege of Charleston was a major engagement and major British victory in the American Revolutionary War, fought in the environs of Charles Town (today Charleston), 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 North 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.
By late 1779, two major British strategic efforts had failed. An army invading from Quebec under John Burgoyne had surrendered to the Americans under Horatio Gates at the Battles of Saratoga, which inspired both the Kingdom of France and Spain to declare war on Great Britain in support of the Americans. Meanwhile, a strategic effort led by Sir William Howe to capture the Revolutionaries' capital of Philadelphia had met with limited success. Having replaced his superior as Commander-in-Chief of the American Station, Sir Henry Clinton withdrew all his forces back to New York City to reinforce the city against a possible Franco-U.S. attack. [2]
Stymied by the Fabian strategy adopted by Continental general George Washington and, under increasing political pressure to deliver victory, the British turned to launching their "Southern Strategy" to force a capitulation of the Americans. The British were persuaded that there was a strong Loyalist sentiment in the South, where major planters and merchants had a variety of economic and familial ties with Great Britain. It was expected that these Loyalists would rise against the American Patriots in large numbers. The opening British action was the Capture of Savannah, Georgia in December 1778. After repulsing an assault on Savannah by a combined Franco-American force in October 1779, the British planned to capture Charleston, South Carolina, intending to use the city as a base for further operations in the southern colonies. [2]
Clinton evacuated Newport, Rhode Island in October 1779, and left the substantial garrison of New York City under the command of Wilhelm von Knyphausen. In December, the day after Christmas 1779, Clinton and his second-in-command, Charles Cornwallis, sailed southward with 8,500 troops and 5,000 sailors on 90 troopships and 14 warships. After a very stormy voyage, the fleet anchored in the Savannah River on 1 February 1780. By 12 February, Clinton had landed his army 30 miles south of Charleston on Simmons Island. By 24 February, the British had crossed the Stono River onto James Island, and by 10 March, Lord Cornwallis had made it to the mainland. By 22 March, they had advanced to Middleton Place and Drayton Hall, and on 29 March 1780, crossed the Ashley River. [2] : 39–40, 42, 44
Clinton had issued the Philipsburg Proclamation in 1779, promising freedom for slaves owned by Patriots who escaped to British lines and aided their cause. Slaves left both the city and countryside around Charleston to join the British around the city. Among those former slaves, known as Black Loyalists, evacuated by the British after the war was John Kizell, who had been captured as a child from the area of Sierra Leone and transported to South Carolina. He eventually returned to Sierra Leone and aided the American Colonization Society.[ citation needed ]
Cutting the city off from relief, Clinton began a siege on 1 April, 800 yards from the American fortifications located at today's Marion Square. Whipple, deciding the bar was indefensible, scuttled his fleet at the mouth of the Cooper River. Then Arbuthnot, on 8 April, brought his 14 vessels safely into the harbor, past the roaring guns of Fort Moultrie, the same day Woodford arrived with 750 Virginia Continentals. [2] : 46, 52–53, 55–57
In order to consolidate British control of the immediate area, Clinton dispatched Banastre Tarleton and Patrick Ferguson to capture Monck's Corner on 14 April. On 18 April, Lt. Col. Lord Rawdon arrived with 2,500 men, including the 42nd Highlanders, the Hessian von Ditfurth Regiment, the Queen's Rangers, Prince of Wales American Volunteers, and the Volunteers of Ireland. Charleston was completely surrounded by the British. [2] : 60–64
Governor John Rutledge escaped on 13 April. On 21 April, Continental leader Benjamin Lincoln requested a surrender with "honours of war", which was rejected by Clinton.[ citation needed ] On 23 April, Lord Cornwallis crossed the Cooper River with the Volunteers of Ireland and Carolina Tory militia, joining Lt. Col. James Webster's 33rd Foot and 64th Foot, blocking further escape from the left bank. On 25 April, civilians led by Christopher Gadsden prevented any action on Lincoln's part in withdrawing the Continental regiments. On 6 May, Tarleton won another engagement in the Battle of Lenud's Ferry, while the British siege works had advanced far enough towards the Charleston fortifications to drain the canal in front. [2] : 61, 66–69 [6] [7] [8] [9]
On 7 May, Fort Moultrie surrendered without a fight. On May 8, Clinton called for Lincoln's unconditional surrender, but Lincoln attempted to negotiate for the honours of war. On May 11, Gadsden and other citizens asked Lincoln to surrender. On the same day, the British fired heated shot into the city, burning several homes, and Lincoln felt forced to call for a parlay to negotiate terms for surrender. On May 12, Lincoln formally surrendered 3,371 men to the British. [2] : 69–70
When word reached the backcountry, the American troops holding Ninety-Six, South Carolina and Camden, South Carolina also surrendered to the British. [1]
The British captured some 5,266 prisoners, 311 artillery pieces, 9,178 artillery rounds, 5,916 muskets, 33,000 rounds of ammunition, 15 Regimental colours, 49 ships and 120 boats, plus 376 barrels of flour, and large magazines of rum, rice and indigo. [1] Following the surrender, the captured ordnance was brought to a powder magazine. A Hessian officer warned that some of the guns might still be loaded, but he was ignored. One prematurely fired, detonating 180 barrels of powder, further discharging 5,000 muskets in the magazine. The accident killed approximately 200 people and destroyed six houses. [1] The prisoners of the siege were diverted to multiple locations, including prison ships, the old barracks where the College of Charleston is today (two barracks buildings are shown on early maps of the campus [10] ), and the Old Exchange and Provost "Dungeon". Prison hulks awaited the majority of the 2,571 Continental prisoners, while parole was granted to the militia and civilians who promised not to take up arms. This ended the power of an American army in the South. [2] : 70
The defeat was a serious blow to the American cause. [11] It was the largest surrender of an American force under arms until the 1862 surrender of Union troops at Harper's Ferry during the Antietam Campaign. The surrender left no substantial army in the South, and the colonies were wide open for a British advance. The British troops consolidated their hold, and had driven the remaining Continental Army troops from South Carolina consequent to the May 29 Battle of Waxhaws.
During their surrender the American forces were denied honours of war, leading General George Washington to deny the same to the British during their surrender at the Siege of Yorktown. Washington said, "The same Honors will be granted to the Surrendering Army as were granted to the Garrison of Charles Town." [9]
On June 5, Clinton sailed back to New York City, believing his presence necessary to defend against a potential Franco-American attack, leaving command of the southern theater to Lord Cornwallis, with orders to reduce opposition in North Carolina. Though the effects of the surrender at Charleston were substantial, the British error in strategy soon became apparent. As no popular uprising of Loyalists took place, control of the countryside was difficult. Instead, resistance in South Carolina degenerated into a period of chaotic guerrilla warfare in the outlying areas.
The joint British naval-army forces were led overall by Sir Henry Clinton, with his subordinate, Lord Cornwallis as his second-in-command. The British regular troops were led by Brigadier General Alexander Leslie.
The ground and naval forces were composed thus:
British order of battle [1] [12] |
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The British naval forces that accompanied the invasion were commanded by Vice Admiral Mariot Arbuthnot, and were composed thus:
guns)
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The Franco-American garrison of Charleston was overall led by Benjamin Lincoln. The Continental Army troops were nominally led by Brigadier General William Moultrie.
The ground and naval forces were composed thus:
Franco-American order of battle [1] |
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The Franco-American naval forces that accompanied the defence of the city were commanded by Commodore Abraham Whipple, and were composed thus:
|
The American Battlefield Trust and its partners have acquired and preserved 88 acres (0.36 km2) of battlefield land in Charleston related to the siege as of mid-2023. [14]
William Moultrie was an American slaveowning 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 Battle of Camden, also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General Charles, Lord Cornwallis routed the numerically superior American forces led by Major General Horatio Gates about four miles north of Camden, South Carolina, thus strengthening the British hold on the Carolinas following the capture of Charleston.
William Washington was a cavalry officer of the Virginia militia and Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, who also served on General George Washington's staff during the naval war with France in 1798 and held a final rank of brigadier general. Primarily known as a commander of light dragoons, he led mounted troops in a number of notable battles in the Carolinas during the campaigns of 1780 and 1781. Following the conflict, this William Washington moved to South Carolina, where he married and served in the state legislature as well as led the Seventh Brigade of the South Carolina militia. Cavalry Commander William Washington of Stafford County and South Carolina has often been confused with his distant cousin William Augustine Washington, also a Revolutionary War patriot and planter, who served as a delegate representing Westmoreland County, Virginia.
Benjamin Lincoln was an American army officer. He served as a major general in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Lincoln was involved in three major surrenders during the war: his participation in the Battles of Saratoga contributed to John Burgoyne's surrender of a British army, he oversaw the largest American surrender of the war at the 1780 siege of Charleston, and, as George Washington's second in command, he formally accepted the British surrender at Yorktown.
The British Legion was an elite British provincial regiment established during the American Revolutionary War, composed of Loyalist American troops, organized as infantry and cavalry, plus a detachment from the 16th Light Dragoons. The unit was commonly known as Tarleton's Legion, after the British officer who led it on campaign, Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. It was a unit the size of a regiment, consisting of artillery, cavalry, and light infantry, and able to operate independently.
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 Waxhaws was a military engagement which took place on May 29, 1780 during the American Revolutionary War between a Patriot force led by Abraham Buford and a British force led by Banastre Tarleton near Lancaster, South Carolina. Buford's men consisted of Continental Army soldiers, while Tarleton's force was mostly made up of Loyalist troops. After the two forces sighted each other, Buford rejected an initial demand to surrender. Tarleton's cavalrymen launched a charge against the Patriot troops, which led many of Buford's men to throw their arms down in surrender. However, as Tarleton was shot under his horse during the charge, his infuriated soldiers attacked their Patriot opponents, killing several.
South Carolina was outraged over British tax policies in the 1760s that violated what they saw as their constitutional right to "no taxation without representation". Merchants joined the boycott against buying British products. When the London government harshly punished Massachusetts for the Boston Tea Party, South Carolina's leaders joined eleven other colonies in forming the Continental Congress. When the British attacked Lexington and Concord in the spring of 1775 and were beaten back by the Massachusetts Patriots, South Carolina Patriots rallied to support the American Revolution. Loyalists and Patriots of the colony were split by nearly 50/50.
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 eleven miles (18 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 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, North Carolina, and South Carolina. Tactics consisted of both strategic battles and guerrilla warfare.
The Battle of Stono Ferry was an American Revolutionary War battle, fought on June 20, 1779, near Charleston, South Carolina. The rear guard from a British expedition retreating from an aborted attempt to take Charleston held off an assault by poorly trained militia forces under American General Benjamin Lincoln.
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, 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, commanded by 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 Battle of Monck's Corner was fought on April 14, 1780, outside the city of Charleston, South Carolina, which was under siege by British forces under the command of General Sir Henry Clinton in the American Revolutionary War. The Loyalist British Legion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, surprised an American force stationed at Monck's Corner, and drove them away. The action cut off an avenue of escape for Benjamin Lincoln's besieged army. Aside from the British Legion, and the 33rd Foot and 64th Foot led by Lt. Col. James Webster, the force included Loyalists, the American Volunteers, led by Maj. Patrick Ferguson.
The Battle of Lenud's Ferry was a battle of the American Revolutionary War that was fought on May 6, 1780 in present-day Berkeley County, South Carolina. All of the British soldiers who took part in the Battle of Lenud's Ferry were in fact Loyalists who had been born and raised in the colony of South Carolina, with the sole exception being their commanding officer Banastre Tarleton. The unit was known as the Loyalist British Legion, under the command of Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton. The Loyalist British Legion scattered a company of Patriot militia at Lenud's Ferry, a crossing point on the Santee River, north of which lies present-day Georgetown County.
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. Georgia was the only colony not present in the First Continental Congress in 1774. When violence broke out in 1775, radical Patriots took control of the provincial government, and drove many Loyalists out of the province. Georgia subsequently took part to the Second Continental Congress with the other colonies. In 1776 and 1778, Georgia served as the staging ground for several important raids into British-controlled Florida. The British army captured Savannah in 1778, and the American and French forces failed to recapture the city during the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Georgia remained under British control until their evacuation from Savannah in 1782.
Charles, Earl Cornwallis (1738–1805) was a military officer who served in the British Army during the American War of Independence. He is best known for surrendering his army after the 1781 siege of Yorktown, an act that ended major hostilities in North America and led directly to peace negotiations and the eventual end of the war.
The Battle of Bull's Ferry on 20 and 21 July 1780 saw two American brigades under Brigadier-General Anthony Wayne attack a party of Loyalists led by Thomas Ward. The Loyalists successfully defended a blockhouse against an ineffective bombardment by four American artillery pieces and a failed attempt to storm the position by Wayne's troops. During the action, American light dragoons under Major Henry Lee III drove off a large number of cattle that were kept in the area for the use of the British forces stationed in New York City. The clash inspired British Major John André to write a satirical ballad entitled The Cow Chace. The skirmish was fought at Bulls Ferry, New Jersey in the Northern theater of the American Revolutionary War after Saratoga. At this stage of the conflict only raids and minor actions occurred in the north.
James Hogun was an Irish-American military officer who was as one of five generals from North Carolina to serve with the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War. Born in Ireland, Hogan migrated to North Carolina – then a British colony – in 1751. Settling in Halifax County, he raised a family and established himself as a prominent local figure.
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