Siege of Charleston

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 U.S. defeats of the war.

Siege of Charleston
Part of the American Revolutionary War

An illustration of the siege by Alonzo Chappel
DateMarch 29, 1780 – May 12, 1780
Location
Charles Town, South Carolina, U.S.
32°47′39.12″N 79°56′31.26″W
Result British victory
Belligerents
 Great Britain
Hesse-Kassel
 United States
 France
Commanders and leaders
Sir Henry Clinton
Charles Cornwallis
Alexander Leslie
Mariot Arbuthnot
Henry Francis Evans
Benjamin Lincoln 
William Moultrie 
James Hogun 
William Woodford 
Charles Pinckney 
Abraham Whipple 
Louis Duportail 
Strength
12,847 regulars and militia
4,500 sailors
6 ships of the line
8 frigates
4 armed galleys
90 transports
6,577 regulars, sailors and militia
3 frigates
5 sloops
1 schooner
1 brig
3 armed galleys
Casualties and losses
  • Land:
    • 76 killed
    • 89 wounded:70
  • Sea:
    • 23 killed
    • 28 wounded
89 killed
138 wounded
5,466 captured
All ships captured
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