SC & The Battles of the Revolutionary WAr 8-2.5

SC Conflicts That Effected the War American forces thwarted the British attempt to spilt the colonies & won a victory at Saratoga, NY A turning point in the war for the Americans Victory resulted in an American alliance with France Afterward, the British turned to SC in hopes of finding a large number of Loyalists

Battle of Charleston 1st British attempt to take Charleston failed due to tides & resistance from the palmetto log for protecting the port (Fort Moultrie) 2nd attempt was successful after sieging for several days The British blockaded and cut off supply lines to the Charleston Harbor Patriot troops who were trapped on the peninsula were forced to surrender in May 1780 Other Patriot soldiers surrender and were paroled

British Response to SC British hoped they would gain control of the state through large number of state Loyalists and the neutral colonists to help win the war But, the British changed their parole terms and forced paroled Patriots to take up arms against their countrymen At the same time, the British, along with American Tories, treated SC harshly: they burned churches, looted & confiscated homes, harassed and exiled citizens This behavior turned South Carolinians against the British. Partisan bands were formed as a result

Patriot partisans led by Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens, & William Harden were fighting both the British regular troops and the Loyalists forces using hit & run tactics all over the state.

Battle of Camden Major defeat for the Continental Army It signified that almost all of SC was controlled by the British The SC partisans were not prepared & turned and ran when faced with the regular British troops Resulted in Horatio Gates command of the southern arm of the Continental Army being transferred to Nathaniel Greene Greene coordinated work with the state’s partisans in order to fight a destructive war of attrition (“mobile war”) that unbalance & eventually destroy the British war efforts.

Battle of Kings Mountain British & Loyalist forces had stopped on the top of Kings Mountain in a place they thought was safe to set up camp Mountain men from North & South Carolina were fed up with the harsh behavior of the Tories & British and decided to put a stop to it The “Over Mountain Men” (Patriots) fought Guerilla warfare against the camp on Kings Mountain from behind the same rocks and trees the British thought were keeping them safe The British & Tories sustained heavy casualties

Battle of Kings Mountain The British tried to surrender, but were offered no quarter by the Patriots in retaliation of the harsh treatment the British had bestowed upon the Patriots throughout SC The Battle of Kings Mountain is considered a turning point in the Revolutionary War because the British forces began to retreat from the upcountry

Battle of Cowpens Showed a cooperation between the Continental Army and the partisan forces Partisans had a reputation among the British for turning tail and running The American commander (Andrew Pickens) counted on this reputation for his battle plans Pickens led the attack and fled back into the field He tricked the British forces into thinking they were retreating again Instead, the partisans lured the British forces into their guns, taking a victory! Resulting in the first time a British force of mostly regular troops had been defeated by the Americans.

The Battle of Cowpens Cornwallis and the British retreated to NC to fight and wait for supplies Eventually they retreated back to Virginia leaving their remaining forces in the SC backcountry to be evacuated or reclaimed by the partisan forces and/or Greene’s Continental Army that was pushing toward the coast

Colonel Isaac Hayne Partisan parolee Colonel Isaac Hayne was captured near Charleston in July 1781 The British used his punishment as an example to help stem the Patriot advance They hanged him as a traitor of the British crown after only a brief trial Nathaniel Greene issued a proclamation stating that he would retaliate against the British forces

Battle of Eutaw Springs After the Battle of Eutaw Springs, Greene had captured enough British officers to ensure that no more Patriot executions would occur This battle was not the last of 137 battles fought in SC, nor was it a technical victory (b/c of the unsoldierly plundering behavior of the hungry and nearly naked Continental soldiers) Irreplaceable British troop losses made this battle strategically the final major battle in the beleaguered state American contemporaries view this battle as a Pyrrhic victory for the British b/c it marks the clearance of the British from the state and region battlegrounds (except for a few enclaves near the coast that evacuated after peace proceedings in 1782)

Battle of Eutaw Springs Americans viewed the battle as a victory b/c of its positive tactical results This can be seen both in the striking of a commemorative medal and the commissioning of a tribute door panel of the Capital building in the early year of the new republic