Capture of Savannah
- When
- 1778–1782
- Where
- British war planning; Tybee Island, near the mouth of the Savannah River; Savannah, Georgia; Unnamed frontier town in Georgia
- Episodes
- 5
British forces under Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell captured Savannah, Georgia, in late December 1778. The supplied passage dates the battle to 29 December 1778; the capture is treated as occurring on that battle date, though the passage does not state a separate capture date. The legacy row's 22 December 1779 date is discarded as unsupported. Savannah remained in British hands until 11 July 1782.
Episodes
- Origins of the British Southern Strategy
Germain and Clinton embraced a plan to regain the Southern Colonies, beginning with Savannah.
- Campbell's Expedition Sails from New York
Clinton dispatched Campbell with 3,100 men; the fleet reached Tybee Island on 23 December 1778.
- British Occupation and Defense of Savannah
Savannah became a raiding base, repelled a Franco-American siege in 1779, and was held until 1782.
- Battle of Brewton Hill and Capture of Savannah
Campbell's force defeated the American garrison on 29 December 1778 and took the city.
- Brief Occupation of a Frontier Town
Campbell occupied a frontier town for a few weeks before retreating to Savannah, citing weak support and Patriot threats.
Background and detail
Background. After the capture of a British army at Saratoga and France's entry into the war on the American side, Secretary of State for the Colonies George Germain wrote in March 1778 to General Sir Henry Clinton that capturing the Southern Colonies was considered by the King an object of great importance in the scale of the war. Clinton's plan, first proposed by Thomas Brown in 1776, began with the capture of Savannah, Georgia's capital.
British Preparations and Approach. Clinton dispatched Campbell and a 3,100-strong force from New York City to capture Savannah and begin returning Georgia to British control. Campbell sailed from New York on 26 November and arrived off Tybee Island, near the mouth of the Savannah River, on 23 December. After landing, he assessed the comparatively weak American defenses and decided to attack without waiting for Prevost.
Battle and Capture. The battle, also known as the First Battle of Savannah and the Battle of Brewton Hill, pitted an American garrison of Continental Army and militia units against Campbell's British invasion force. Campbell took 453 prisoners, and Howe's forces suffered at least 83 dead and 11 wounded. Campbell wrote that he would be the first British officer to rend a star and stripe from the flag of Congress.
Aftermath and Occupation. The capture led to an extended occupation and opened the British southern strategy of regaining the rebellious Southern Colonies by appealing to relatively strong Loyalist sentiment there. Savannah served as a base for coastal raids targeting areas from Charleston, South Carolina, to the Florida coast. The British held off a Franco-American siege in 1779 and held the city until 11 July 1782.
People involved
- Archibald Campbell · Lieutenant-colonel commanding the British invasion force
- Sir Henry Clinton · Commander-in-Chief, North America, who dispatched the expedition
- George Germain · Secretary of State for the Colonies who endorsed the southern strategy
- Benjamin Lincoln · Major-General appointed by the Continental Congress to replace Howe
Sources
- Capture of Savannah Wikipedia, revision of 2026-09-27
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.