The Galleon, Volume 31, Number 2, Spring 1955 Page: 2
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The British struck at Savannah,
capital of Georgia, on December 24,
1778. The American forces were com-
manded by General Robert Howe, who
had just returned from an unsuccessful
foray in Florida, in pusuit of Loyal-
ists and fugitive slaves. Weakened by
his losses Howe, nevertheless, chose to
fight; but a secret path through the
swamps to the rear of his fortifications
was betrayed to the British commander,
Sir Archibald Campbell, and Howe's
small force was quickly overrun, a few
remnants escaping to Charleston, which
was still in American hands.
The year 1779 opened dismally
for the patriots. General Augustine
Prevost, British commander of Florida,
captured Fort Sunbury, Georgia, on
January 9. He then joined Campbell
in Savannah and assumed the command
of the British forces in the South. He
dispatched Campbell to Augusta, which
fell on January 29. For a short time
Georgia was under British control.
Successful rebel activities along
the frontier, however, counteracted
these losses. A group of Loyalists
bound for Augusta were set upon and
defeated by some militia under Colonel
Pickens, and Campbell abandoned Au-
gusta to the Americans. Meanwhile,
General Benjamin Lincoln assumed
command of the American forces at
Charleston, and upon hearing of Camp-
bell's retreat, he sent General Ashe in
pursuit. Campbell, succeeding in cross-
ing Brier Creek, a swift flowing stream
along his retreat, destroyed the only
bridge, and Ashe was stopped. Prevost
moved from Savannah, forded the
stream above Ashe, and swept down
upon him. Ashe's forces were defeated
on March 3, and they retreated to
Charleston. Georgia was again under
British control.
The Americans quickly rallied,
however, John Ridpath, a noted Ameri-can historian of the late nineteenth
century, in writing on this phase of
the Revolution tells us:
Within a month ... Lincoln was again
in the field . . . Hoping to re-
conquer Georgia he advanced . . .
in the direction of Augusta; but at
the same time . . . Prevost . . .
marched against Charleston. On the
12th of May he summoned the city
to surrender, but . . . Moultrie, who
commanded the patriots, was in no
humor to do it. Prevost made pre-
parations for a siege, but learning
that Lincoln had turned back to at-
tack him, he made a hasty retreat.
The Americans made serious blun-
ders at this time, however, and ac-
complished little of their purpose. At
Stone Feery, the British inflicted a
defeat on the pursuing Americans, and
also established a post at Beaufort,
which the Americans could not dis-
lodge.
Little activity was carried on until
September, when Count D'Estaing of
the French Navy appeared off the
Coast. Lincoln prevailed upon him to
join in a land and sea attack on Sa-
vannah. D'Estaing agreed, but only if
the attack would begin promptly, as the
autumn Equinox was fast approaching
with its high winds and tropical storms
which were death and destructon to
ships on the high seas. Lincoln agreed
and together with "that romantic Pole
Casimir Pulaski" and his light-horse
dragoons, the land force slowly de-
ployed toward the British stronghold.
On October 9, after preliminary bom-
bardments which inflicted little dam-'
age, the attack of the combined forces
began. The British fell back in a feint
from their outer fortifications, draw-
ing in the invading force. The trap was
well laid and effective; John Preston
tells us the horror that ensued:
... the British guns begin their aw-
ful carnage. They are firing shrap-
nel, . . . scrap iron, broken bayonets,
belt buckles and grapeshot. The
French vanguards are churned into
a bloody mass. Every house along the
road is a hospital . . . Pulaski's
light horse charge down the mainstreet . . . Then they meet a shower
of iron. An iron chain, fired from
.. a cannon . . . catches Pulaski
in the stomach. He falls horribly
mangled . . . and screams in Polish
until he dies.
The gallant Polish patriot was buried
beneath the muddy bars of the Savan-
nah River, Lincoln's defeated troops
retreated to Charleston, and the French
fleet sailed away into the teeth of a
viscious hurricane that ripped it to
pieces. Activities ceased for the re-
mainder of the year.
During the year 1780, operations
in the North were generally suspended.
The British gave up trying to catch the
elusive Washington and decided to
transfer their operations to the South.
Accordingly, Sir Henry Clinton and
Lord Charles Cornwallis sailed with a
large force from New York, bound for
Savannah. Joining with Prevost, the
British had a force of over 10,000.
Lincoln, in Charleston, had barely
7,000 including the reinforcements
Washington sent. Clinton advanced
slowly toward Charleston, arriving
there on February 26. Lincoln foolishly
clung to the city and continued to
bring in supplies until Banastre Tar-
leton, of the British cavalry, surround-
ed him and cut off all means of escape
and relief. Clinton advanced to the
very gates of the city and called for
surrender, but Lincoln refused.
The (British) batteries opened on
the town, and did great execution
. . . The British prepared to make
a general assault by land and water
. . . A . . . number of citizens of
Charleston addressed General Lincoln
in a petition, requesting . . . accep-
tance of the terms which had been
offered.
Lincoln realizing the futility of
struggle, surrendered his troops on
May 12. Clinton triumphantly entered
the city, vindicating his previous de-
feat there. Tarleton aided in subjecting
the rest of South Carolina by defeating
some Virginia militia at Waxhaws. The
ferociousness of his attack and thePage Two
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McMurry College. The Galleon, Volume 31, Number 2, Spring 1955, periodical, 1955; Abilene, Texas. (https://texashistory.unt.edu/ark:/67531/metapth137826/m1/4/?q=+date%3A1945-1972: accessed July 16, 2024), University of North Texas Libraries, The Portal to Texas History, https://texashistory.unt.edu; crediting McMurry University Library.