The Siege of Ninety Six

In the spring of 1781, American forces under General Nathanael Greene rolled up the British garrisons in the interior of the Carolinas one by one. The last British holdout was the fortified town of Ninety Six, in the foothills of western South Carolina. On June 12, with the end in sight for the Brits, a rider brought word that a relief column under Lord Francis Rawdon was on the way from Charleston. Greene decided to lift the siege but not before trying one final assault on the night of June 18, an attack that failed terribly.

Tom Hand, creator and publisher of Americana Corner, discusses the siege of Ninety Six and why it still matters today.

Images courtesy of Providence College Library, National Park Service, National Portrait Gallery - Smithsonian Institution, National Army Museum, The New York Public Library, Library of Congress, Wikipedia.


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Closing Scenes in the Southern Theater of the Revolutionary War

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Nathanael Greene Retakes the Carolinas