Address – 1214 Middle Street, Charleston, SC
Website – http://www.nps.gov/fosu
At the the outbreak of the American Revolution, Charleston was one of the larger cities in the colonies, trailing only New York, Philadelphia, and Boston in population. The port, and the trade that took place from this port, became a target for the British. There were two major actions. The second, the siege and capture of Charleston in 1780, is probably the more well-known engagement, but there was a lesser known attempt to capture Charleston that ended at the Battle of Sullivan Island in June 1776. In the first attempt, British forces planned a naval bombardment of the fort at Sullivan Island that would open the port to the British navy and capture by supporting ground forces. The landing force was commanded by Major General Henry Clinton and numbered approximately 1500 men to face the 500 American militia manning the fort. Both the naval and ground forces were stymied by poor maps and knowledge of the local terrain, forcing a withdrawal. The fort was renamed Fort Moultrie in honor of the commanding officer of the garrison.
Nearly four years later, General Clinton left New York with a force of approximately 10,000 British regulars and Hessians in the winter with the objective of seizing the port of Charlestown (as it was known until 1783) and encouraging Loyalist citizens of South Carolina to actively support the Crown. The siege itself began in early April, and the city was completely surrounded by late April. Lt Col Banister Tarleton reported of the defenses –
The garrison, under the orders of Gen. Lincoln, was composed of ten weak Continental and State regiments of militia drawn from the Carolinas and Virginia, and of the inhabitants of the town, amounting in the whole to near six thousand men, exclusive of the sailors. The body of regular troops destined for service, though assisted by the militia and by the inhabitants, was scarcely adequate to the defense of such extensive fortifications.
Over 5000 American troops surrendered to the Crown forces. This surrender represented the largest number of American troops to surrender to a foreign army until the surrender at Bataan over 150 years later.
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