Siege of Charleston

"For the siege during the American Civil War see: Siege of Charleston Harbor"

The Siege of Charleston was one of the major battles which took place towards the end of the American Revolutionary War, after the British began to shift their strategic focus towards the Southern Colonies. As a defeat, it was the biggest loss of troops suffered to the Continental Army in the war. By contrast, General Washington avoided attempts to match force on force and adroitly avoided getting his forces pinned strategically so the superior British communications (SLOC) could assemble a crushing blow. At the same time, Washington, at the least with his aide and sub-commander General Lafayette, was cognizant of efforts to bring in the Kingdom of France against the British.

Background

From 1777 to 1778, the British had considerable success in the southern colonies, namely in the Colony of Georgia with the Siege of Savannah, whereas the waiting strategy of maneuver adopted by Washington leading the southern army, had the British freedom of action stymied, and with near parity of forces, the conflict was essentially a stalemate. 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.

iege

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. This surrender would be the largest by an American armed force to a foreign power until the 1942 surrender of Bataan in World War II. [cite web | title=" The Cowpens Staff Ride: A Study In Leadership" |last=Hourihan |first=William J. | url=http://www.usachcs.army.mil/TACarchive/Acwin98i/Hourihan.htm | publisher=U.S. Army] 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.

Tarleton Campaign's reports a total of 5,283 captured, including three signers of the Declaration of Independence Edward Rutledge, Arthur Middleton and Thomas Heyward, Jr.

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 in the Waxhaws of Lancaster County, South Carolina.

Order of Battle

*Colonial Forces:
*Continental Army:
**Pulaski's Legion
*Georgia Line:
**1st Georgia Regiment
**2nd Georgia Regiment
**3rd Georgia Regiment
**4th Georgia Regiment
**Georgia Regiment of Horse Rangers
*North Carolina Line:
**Hillsborough District militia
**1st North Carolina Regiment
**2nd North Carolina Regiment
**3rd North Carolina Regiment
**4th North Carolina Regiment
**5th North Carolina Regiment
*South Carolina Line:
**1st South Carolina Regiment {had been merged with 5th South Carolina Regiment}
**2nd South Carolina Regiment {had been merged with 6th South Carolina Regiment}
**3rd South Carolina Regiment
**4th South Carolina Regiment {Included 2 Artillery units as 2 companies}
*Virgina Line:
**1st Virginia Regiment {detachment-had been merged with 9th Virginia Regiment}
**2nd Virginia Regiment {detachment-had been merged with 6th Virginia Regiment}
**3rd Virginia Regiment {had been merged with 5th Virginia Regiment}
**4th Virginia Regiment {had been merged with 8th Virginia Regiment}
**7th Virginia Regiment
**10th Virginia Regiment
**11th Virginia Regiment
**12th Virginia Regiment
**14th Virginia Regiment
**15th Virginia Regiment

References

:*1911