Siege of Charleston

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Siege of Charleston Part of American Revolutionary War Date March 29 - May 12, 1780 Location Charleston, South Carolina Result British victory Combatants Kingdom of Great Britain United States Commanders Sir Henry Clinton and Marriot Arbuthnot Benjamin Lincoln Strength 14,000 troops 5,000 troops Casualties 76 killed, 182 wounded 92 killed, 148 wounded, 4,650 captured (see Trivia below)

Southern theater (1775–83) Gunpowder Incident – Great Bridge – Moore's Creek Bridge – Rice Boats – Alligator Bridge – Beaufort – Kettle Creek – Briar Creek – Stono Ferry – Savannah – Waxhaw - Charleston – Camden – Kings Mountain – Cowpens – Guilford Court House – Hobkirk's Hill – Eutaw Springs – Yorktown

The Siege of Charleston was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, in which the British began to shift their focus towards southern colonies.

Contents 1 Background 2 Siege 3 Consequences 4 References 5 Triva

[edit] Background

From 1777 to 1778, the British had considerable success, namely in the Province of Georgia with the Siege of Savannah. The amount of battles won in the south by the British in 1779 immensely increased in the following year, when they victoriously swept up through South and North Carolina.

[edit] Siege

After failing to achieve any advantage in the north in 1779, the British government instructed Sir Henry Clinton to head a combined military and naval expedition southward. He evacuated Newport, Rhode Island, on October 25 and left New York in command of Hessian General Wilhelm von Knyphausen. In December, he sailed with 8,500 men to join Marc Prevost at Savannah. Charles Cornwallis accompanied him, and later Lord Rawdon joined him with an additional force totaling around 14,000 men. Marching upon Charleston, Clinton cut off the city from relief, and after a long siege, he compelled American General Benjamin Lincoln to surrender on May 12. The loss of the city and its 5,000 troops was a serious blow to the American cause. The apparent submission of South Carolina followed. In June, Clinton returned to New York City, leaving Cornwallis in command, with instructions to also reduce North Carolina.

[edit] Consequences

Meanwhile an active and bitter partisan warfare begun. The British advance had been marked by more than the usual destruction of war; the Loyalists rose to arms; the Whig population scattered and without much organization formed groups of riflemen and mounted troopers to harass the enemy. Little mercy was shown on either side. On April 14, 1780, Colonel Banastre Tarleton decimated a detachment of Lincoln's cavalry and followed it up by practically destroying Buford's Virginia regiment near the North Carolina border.

[edit] References

• This article incorporates text from the Encyclopædia Britannica Eleventh Edition, a publication now in the public domain.

[edit] Triva

• Tarleton Campaign's reports total of 5,283 captured.