WEBVTT NOTE 54. The Capture of Charleston 1 00:00:00.000 --> 00:00:05.000 Volume 4, Chapter 54, The Capture of Charleston 2 00:00:05.000 --> 00:00:17.000 When Clinton in New York learned of the Stang's defeat and withdrawal, on the other hand, he determined to seize Charleston and use it as the southern British base. 3 00:00:17.000 --> 00:00:28.000 With the French at sea, the British securely in charge of Savannah, and little aid being sent by Washington or Congress to the south, the time certainly seemed auspicious. 4 00:00:28.000 --> 00:00:38.000 He left Niphausen in charge of New York and sailed south on December 26, 1779 with 8,000 troops. 5 00:00:38.000 --> 00:00:48.000 After a stormy voyage, he arrived off Charleston on February 1 and landed on John's Island south of the city on February 11. 6 00:00:48.000 --> 00:00:57.000 He moved with the excessive caution and timidity that had now become traditional and British operations in the Revolutionary War. 7 00:00:57.000 --> 00:01:04.760 War. He inched his way north, captured James Island, and finally on March 29, crossed the 8 00:01:04.760 --> 00:01:10.600 Ashley River near Charleston. By early April, reinforcements had swelled the British troops 9 00:01:10.600 --> 00:01:18.920 to 10,000 men and 5,000 sailors, while Lincoln had only 5,000 men in the city. Instead of 10 00:01:18.920 --> 00:01:25.800 using Clinton's sloth to make good his escape, Lincoln absurdly concluded that Charleston 11 00:01:25.800 --> 00:01:32.760 could be successfully defended in an open confrontation with the British forces. 12 00:01:32.760 --> 00:01:38.120 After crossing the Ashley, Clinton proceeded eastward to the Cooper River, virtually cutting 13 00:01:38.120 --> 00:01:40.560 off Charleston by land. 14 00:01:40.560 --> 00:01:46.760 Meanwhile, in early April 1780, the British fleet sailed into Charleston Harbor. 15 00:01:46.760 --> 00:01:53.220 Charleston was now completely surrounded except for one escape route across the Cooper River 16 00:01:53.220 --> 00:01:59.300 and Up the Cooper to Monk's Corner where General Isaac Huger was stationed with 500 men to 17 00:01:59.300 --> 00:02:01.180 guard the route. 18 00:02:01.180 --> 00:02:07.640 But Lincoln, despite his inferior numbers and encircled position, did not consider using 19 00:02:07.640 --> 00:02:14.620 this out and the bombardment of hapless Charleston began on April 13. 20 00:02:14.620 --> 00:02:21.300 The resolute General Lachlan McIntosh pleaded with Lincoln to withdraw and save the American 21 00:02:21.300 --> 00:02:27.180 Banking Army in the South, but Lincoln allowed himself to be swayed by the pleas of the Charleston 22 00:02:27.180 --> 00:02:34.680 populace to remain and defend the town. While Lincoln hesitated, the British Colonel, Bannister 23 00:02:34.680 --> 00:02:41.540 Tarleton, commanding the British Legion of Mounted Tories, struck swiftly and suddenly 24 00:02:41.540 --> 00:02:47.780 at Huger's force in the middle of the night of April 14. The Americans were shattered 25 00:02:47.780 --> 00:02:53.620 and Dispersed, suffering heavy losses of nearly ninety men, while the British lost virtually 26 00:02:53.620 --> 00:03:01.380 none. Tarleton marched south toward Charleston, totally cutting off Lincoln's path of retreat. 27 00:03:01.380 --> 00:03:07.340 Lincoln finally began to consider withdrawing from his untenable situation, but now the 28 00:03:07.340 --> 00:03:12.620 South Carolina Council warned that if the troops tried to withdraw, the citizens would 29 00:03:12.620 --> 00:03:35.500 This demand for surrender was quickly seconded by Lieutenant Governor Gadsden and the South 30 00:03:35.500 --> 00:03:40.500 Carolina Council, and the militia began to abandon their post. 31 00:03:40.500 --> 00:03:46.740 Charleston had now but one alternative, to surrender, and surrender he did on May 12. 32 00:03:46.740 --> 00:03:52.700 The Americans thereby lost not only the great port of Charleston, but also the entire southern 33 00:03:52.700 --> 00:04:01.060 army of nearly 5,500 men, along with many ships and huge amounts of stores and ammunition. 34 00:04:01.060 --> 00:04:06.500 This was to be the largest surrender of American forces until the Civil War. 35 00:04:06.500 --> 00:04:12.500 The surrender at Charleston did indeed bring out Tory sentiment in Georgia and South Carolina. 36 00:04:12.500 --> 00:04:18.620 Clinton's pullout of most of the British troops from Savannah and Augusta had at first disheartened 37 00:04:18.620 --> 00:04:24.060 Georgia Tories who were subject to rebel raids within a few miles of Savannah. 38 00:04:24.060 --> 00:04:26.540 But now all this was changed. 39 00:04:26.540 --> 00:04:32.240 Two hundred citizens of Charleston congratulated Clinton on his seizure of the city. 40 00:04:32.240 --> 00:04:37.160 The defeated militia quickly took an oath of allegiance to the king and happily marched 41 00:04:37.160 --> 00:04:39.000 off to their homes. 42 00:04:39.000 --> 00:04:45.000 News of the surrender caused one back country militia regiment to mutiny, seize their officers 43 00:04:45.000 --> 00:04:49.000 and march into Charleston to yield the officers to the British. 44 00:04:49.000 --> 00:04:54.080 Hundreds of South Carolinians flocked to join Tory regiments and some of the leading 45 00:04:54.080 --> 00:05:00.660 conservative members of the council found no difficulty in collaborating with the British. 46 00:05:00.660 --> 00:05:06.300 The dejected rebels seemed everywhere ready to yield to British rule, and those rebel 47 00:05:06.300 --> 00:05:10.180 leaders who had escaped now came in to surrender. 48 00:05:10.180 --> 00:05:15.980 Rumors that Washington would abandon the South added to the defeatism in that region. 49 00:05:15.980 --> 00:05:21.980 In these circumstances, the occupation and reduction of backcountry South Carolina proved 50 00:05:21.980 --> 00:05:24.900 unexpectedly easy. 51 00:05:24.900 --> 00:05:30.640 General Cornwallis, in charge of this occupation, established a string of strongly held posts 52 00:05:30.640 --> 00:05:37.320 Post, across northern South Carolina, from Sheraw in the east through Camden and Rocky 53 00:05:37.320 --> 00:05:44.480 Mount to 96, as well as fortifications on the seacoast from northern South Carolina 54 00:05:44.480 --> 00:05:48.200 through Charleston, Buford and Savannah. 55 00:05:48.200 --> 00:05:54.040 Camden was the major post, with 2,500 men under Lord Rawdon. 56 00:05:54.040 --> 00:05:56.920 Units were also stationed at Augusta. 57 00:05:56.920 --> 00:06:01.280 All these British posts were established without opposition. 58 00:06:01.280 --> 00:06:07.640 The last remnants of organized armed groups quickly surrendered at Beaufort, Camden and 59 00:06:07.640 --> 00:06:13.760 96, and the remaining militia dispersed quickly and scattered to their homes. 60 00:06:13.760 --> 00:06:19.680 The last remaining American armed force in the Lower South was a regiment of over 350 61 00:06:19.680 --> 00:06:24.440 Virginia Continentals under Colonel Abraham Beaufort. 62 00:06:24.440 --> 00:06:31.200 Buford had come as far south as the Santee to help out Charleston, but when the city surrendered, 63 00:06:31.200 --> 00:06:36.200 he was ordered to retire as fast as possible to North Carolina. But the amazing Colonel 64 00:06:36.200 --> 00:06:45.040 Tarleton, marching fewer than 300 men over 150 miles in 54 hours, caught up with Buford 65 00:06:45.040 --> 00:06:52.500 on May 29 at Waxhaws near the North Carolina border. Buford poorly deployed his men for 66 00:06:52.500 --> 00:06:58.860 Carl Menger's cavalry attack, placing them on an open plain instead of behind fortifications, 67 00:06:58.860 --> 00:07:05.940 and held his fire too long. Tarleton's cavalry charge smashed the American defenses. And 68 00:07:05.940 --> 00:07:12.100 when the Americans surrendered, his troops fell upon the disarmed and wounded Americans 69 00:07:12.100 --> 00:07:19.980 with bayonets. The prisoners thus slaughtered. From that time on, Tarleton's quarter was 70 00:07:19.980 --> 00:07:25.660 was a phrase that described any massacre of disarmed prisoners. 71 00:07:25.660 --> 00:07:31.740 Buford and a hundred men had escaped, but over two hundred sixty men were killed or 72 00:07:31.740 --> 00:07:35.900 badly wounded, and over fifty taken prisoner. 73 00:07:35.900 --> 00:07:39.860 In contrast, Tarleton lost only a handful of men. 74 00:07:39.860 --> 00:07:47.220 Georgia and South Carolina were now fully occupied and pacified by the British, and 75 00:07:47.220 --> 00:07:53.660 The contented Clinton prepared to take a third of his troops back to New York, leaving Cornwallis 76 00:07:53.660 --> 00:08:01.420 and 8,300 men, approximately half British and half Tory, in charge of the South. 77 00:08:01.420 --> 00:08:06.420 Before leaving, Clinton tried to settle the administrative system to be imposed upon the 78 00:08:06.420 --> 00:08:08.060 conquered states. 79 00:08:08.060 --> 00:08:14.020 He rejected the advice of British Admiral Marriott Arbuthnot to reestablish the royal 80 00:08:14.020 --> 00:08:24.020 The Federal Civilian Regime immediately in South Carolina, and instead the state remained under military rule for the remainder of the war. 81 00:08:24.020 --> 00:08:29.020 More fateful was Clinton's July 3 proclamation. 82 00:08:29.020 --> 00:08:38.020 He had issued decrees for the reconquered subjects, pledging full protection and support for all those faithful to the Crown. 83 00:08:38.020 --> 00:08:52.020 This, in his offer of a full and free pardon to all rebels who would take the oath of allegiance, made a very good impression upon the people of South Carolina and moved them closer to support of Great Britain. 84 00:08:52.020 --> 00:09:13.020 The effect of these decisions was wholly offset, however, by his proclamation that all prisoners on parole would be released and restored to their full rights except that all who later failed to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown would be considered in rebellion. 85 00:09:13.020 --> 00:09:21.020 This harsh edict forced those who had been happily neutral to take aggressively one side or the other. 86 00:09:21.020 --> 00:09:27.020 Deprived of the choice of neutrality, they tended to shift to the rebel cause. 87 00:09:27.020 --> 00:09:37.020 The stern proclamation of June 3rd revivified a revolutionary cause that had almost died in South Carolina.