General Nathanael Greene led a bold attack that stunned the British in South Carolina.
The mission seemed impossible from the start.
And on May 22, 1781, Patriots launched a desperate siege that would go down as the longest of the Revolutionary War.
Patriots take aim at critical British stronghold
While most Americans associate the Revolutionary War with battles in New England, some of the most crucial fighting happened in the backcountry of South Carolina.
On May 22, 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 determined Patriots in an attack on Ninety Six, a strategically vital village in South Carolina that had fallen under British control.
The oddly-named settlement (believed to be called “Ninety Six” because it was supposedly 96 miles from the Cherokee village of Keowee) was the second most important position in the entire state after Camden. For the British, holding this outpost was critical to maintaining control of the northwest region.
Greene wasn’t facing regular British forces at Ninety Six. The stronghold was defended by 550 Loyalists – American colonists who remained faithful to the British Crown – under the command of British Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger.
When the initial assault failed to overcome the heavily fortified village, Greene made a fateful decision to begin a siege that would ultimately last for 28 long days – making it the longest siege of the entire Revolutionary War.
Engineering genius designs remarkable siege works
Greene’s secret weapon in the siege was the Continental Army’s brilliant engineering talent, Thaddeus Kosciuszko. The Polish military engineer designed siege lines and trenches that military historians still consider the best example of Revolutionary War-era siege works in the United States.
The Patriots focused their attention on the star-shaped fort that represented the settlement’s strongest defense. This wasn’t just any basic fortification – British engineers had constructed the star-shaped redoubt with a surrounding ditch and abatis (a defensive obstacle formed by felled trees with sharpened branches facing outward).
As the siege stretched on, Greene became desperate to gain any advantage. He ordered the construction of a Maham tower – a wooden structure tall enough to allow Patriot sharpshooters to fire down into the fort. This wasn’t an original idea; famous partisan Francis Marion and “Light Horse” Harry Lee had used the same tactic successfully at Fort Watson earlier that year.
British reinforcements force Patriots’ hand
By June 11, Greene received alarming intelligence. Lord Francis Rawdon was marching toward Ninety Six with nearly 2,000 British troops to relieve the besieged Loyalists. Suddenly, time was not on the Patriots’ side.
Greene faced a difficult choice – retreat before Rawdon arrived, or launch an all-out assault on the fortified position. On June 18, with Rawdon’s forces just a day’s march away, Greene chose to attack.
The Patriots charged forward in what would be their final attempt to seize the stronghold, but they were met with fierce resistance. The Loyalists counterattacked and drove Greene’s men back. The Patriots suffered 185 casualties compared to just 75 for the Loyalist defenders.
“Unable to breach the defenses at Ninety Six’s Star Fort, the Patriots were forced to retreat,” according to HISTORY.com.
The defeat was bitter, but not the end of the story.
Long-term victory emerges from short-term defeat
Although the British technically won the Battle of Ninety Six, they soon abandoned the fort anyway. On July 1, 1781, less than two weeks after Greene withdrew, the British left Ninety Six of their own accord. It was the last Loyalist fort in South Carolina.
The wider campaign led by Greene had been remarkably successful. Before attempting to take Ninety Six, Greene and Brigadier General Francis Marion (known as the “Swamp Fox”) had already captured five other British outposts in South Carolina.
Greene’s persistence in the Carolinas campaign played a crucial role in confining the British to coastal areas and setting the stage for the decisive American victory at Yorktown just months later in October 1781.
Today, visitors can explore the Ninety Six National Historic Site, which preserves the Star Fort and the remarkable siege works designed by Kosciuszko. The American Battlefield Trust and South Carolina Battleground Trust have also created a Liberty Trail app that allows history enthusiasts to connect with this pivotal chapter of American history.
The Patriots’ determination at Ninety Six demonstrated that American forces were willing to risk everything in their fight for independence – even when facing seemingly impossible odds against entrenched enemies.
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