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 | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
An illustration of the siege by Alonzo Chappel | |||||||
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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 | |||||||
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89 killed 138 wounded 5,466 captured All ships captured |
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