The Southern Campaign, Apr 1781 - Dec 1782
Upon returning to South Carolina, Greene moved against Camden, where Lord Rawdon commanded the British garrison. Rawdon attacked the Americans at Hobkirk’s Hill on April 25, 1781, and defeated Greene. However, partisan forces cut the British line of communication with Charleston, forcing Rawdon to evacuate Camden on May 10. Greene then marched westward to attack the British post at Ninety Six.
Greene’s army arrived at Ninety Six on May 22 and besieged the garrison. Rawdon marched from Charleston to relieve the siege and Greene withdrew after his June 18 assault on the fortified town failed. Unable to bring Greene to battle, Rawdon evacuated Ninety Six on June 29. Meanwhile, other American forces had captured Augusta, Georgia, on June 5.
With most of the backcountry lost, the British hoped to defend a line along the Santee River. Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart, who had replaced Rawdon, was camped at Eutaw Springs near the Santee when Greene launched a surprise attack on September 8. The British held the field, but their army was badly weakened. Stewart withdrew to the vicinity of Charleston.
In Virginia, Lord Cornwallis took position at Yorktown, where American and French forces under George Washington and the Comte de Rochambeau forced him to surrender on October 19, 1781. Washington then sent Major General Anthony Wayne with reinforcements for Greene.
Greene assigned Wayne to confine the British troops in Georgia to Savannah, while his own army held the British in South Carolina in their lines around Charleston. The British evacuated Savannah in July 1782 and left Charleston in December, ending the Southern Campaign.
“I have the honor to communicate … the information of the evacuation of Charles Town … This important event gives us compleat possession of all the Southern States.” Nathanael Greene
Marker can be reached from Broad Street.
Courtesy hmdb.org
