Capture of Charleston

Background. After the collapse of their northern strategy in late 1777 and withdrawal from Philadelphia in 1778, the British shifted focus to the Southern Colonies. Stymied by Washington's Fabian strategy and under political pressure, they adopted a "Southern Strategy," opening with the capture of Savannah, Georgia, in December 1778.

Approach to Charleston. After repulsing a Franco-American assault on Savannah in October 1779, the British planned to seize Charleston as a base for southern operations. Clinton evacuated Newport, left New York's garrison to Wilhelm von Knyphausen, and sailed with Cornwallis on December 26, 1779, with 8,500 troops and 5,000 sailors on 90 troopships and 14 warships, anchoring in the Savannah River on February 1, 1780.

Siege and Surrender. By March 22 the British had advanced to Middleton Place and Drayton Hall, crossing the Ashley River on March 29, 1780. After roughly six weeks of siege, Major General Benjamin Lincoln, commanding the Charleston garrison, surrendered his forces on May 12, 1780, in a major British victory.

Aftermath. The surrender left no substantial American army in the South, and after the May 29 Battle of Waxhaws the British drove remaining Continental troops from South Carolina. Denied honors of war, the Americans prompted Washington's reciprocal denial to Cornwallis at Yorktown. Clinton sailed for New York on June 5, leaving Cornwallis to command the southern theater.