Episode 29: The Contradiction

When the Revolutionary War started, the southern colonies had far more loyalists than in the north, and there was a hope by the British that their army could take advantage of this, with help from the royal governors.

However, there was far less interest in joining the fight against the rebels than first thought.

So, when Henry Clinton arrived in North Carolina early on in the war, he was less than enthused at the number of allies.

Regardless, it was necessary for these southern colonies to be taken, particularly the port at Charleston, South Carolina.

This hope, though it was not as strong as it once was, was not abandoned completely, though, and in the spring of 1778, the the British colonial secretary George Germain ordered an expedition to be launched from Florida, led by General Clinton.

The actual invasion from Florida into Georgia did not occur, though, until the end of November.

But this army did make quick work as they marched to Savannah with 3,500 men, and they reached the town just before Christmas.

The garrison in the town was less than 1,000 men, and was no match over a hundred americans were killed and nearly five hundred captured in this battle the british only suffered three dead and ten wounded for clinton this victory was sweet But the ultimate prize lay further north, Charleston.

Political conflict in England prevented quick action, though, and the assault on Charleston would have to wait another year.

On December 26, 1779, almost exactly a year after the battle in Savannah, General Clinton left New York behind for Charleston with some 8,500 troops.

It wasn't until February 11th that he landed to prepare to attack the port city.

Now Charleston was the largest city south of Philadelphia.

but only boasted about a third of the population of many of those cities in the north.

This city was a very wealthy city, though.

It lay at the end of a peninsula filled with the houses of rich planters who often spent their summers on the coast rather than on their plantations.

And thus, this port, as we've discussed in previous seasons, was the heart of the American slave trade.

Now, this was not the first time that Charleston was attacked.

It had been attacked early on in the war in 1775.

That defense was successful, but since then, the fort and the defenses surrounding the city had fallen into disrepair, and the defenses that remained were poorly manned.

When Clinton arrived, the city had less than 4,000 men defending it.

The commander of these defenses, Benjamin Lincoln, had hoped that Clinton would attack from the sea.

But Clinton had other plans.

He landed south of the city and would approach from the back through Charleston Neck.

After disembarking and reinforcing further, Clinton began crossing the Ashley River on March 29th, and by April 1st, his army had built a siege line some 800 yards away from the American defenses.

The siege that would start followed the standard tactics.