Clinton and Cornwallis Sail South
- When
- December 26, 1779 – February 1, 1780
- Where
- Atlantic voyage from New York to the Savannah River
- Part of
- Capture of Charleston
Clinton evacuated Newport, left Knyphausen in New York, and sailed December 26, 1779, with 8,500 troops and 5,000 sailors, anchoring February 1, 1780.
Having replaced his superior as Commander-in-Chief of the American Station, Clinton withdrew forces to New York, then evacuated Newport, Rhode Island, in October 1779, leaving New York City's substantial garrison under Wilhelm von Knyphausen. On the day after Christmas 1779, Clinton and second-in-command Charles Cornwallis sailed southward with 8,500 troops and 5,000 sailors aboard 90 troopships and 14 warships. After a stormy voyage, the fleet anchored in the Savannah River on February 1, 1780.
Sources
- Siege of Charleston Wikipedia, revision of 2026-08-31
Machine-drafted from the cited Wikipedia passages and checked by a reviewing model, not by a human editor. Every passage cites the revision it was written from; dates and places follow those passages.