Eutaw Springs

Eutaw Springs

The Final Battle of the American Revolution's Southern Campaign

  • Author: Dunkerly, Robert M.; Boland, Irene B.
  • Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
  • ISBN: 9781611177589
  • eISBN Pdf: 9781611177596
  • eISBN Epub: 9781611177596
  • Place of publication:  South Carolina , United States
  • Year of digital publication: 2017
  • Month: May
  • Language: English

An in-depth analysis of one of the War for Independence's bloodiest and least understood conflicts

The Battle of Eutaw Springs took place on September 8, 1781, and was among the last in the War of Independence. It was brutal in its combat and reprisals, with Continental and Whig militia fighting British regulars and Loyalist regiments. Although its outcome was seemingly inconclusive, the battle, fought near present-day Eutawville, South Carolina, contained all the elements that defined the war in the South. In Eutaw Springs: The Final Battle of the American Revolution's Southern Campaign, Robert M. Dunkerly and Irene B. Boland tell the story of this lesser known and under-studied battle of the Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign. Shrouded in myth and misconception, the battle has also been overshadowed by the surrender of Yorktown.

Eutaw Springs represented lost opportunities for both armies. The American forces were desperate for a victory in 1781, and Gen. Nathanael Greene finally had the ground of his own choosing. British forces under Col. Alexander Stewart were equally determined to keep a solid grip on the territory they still held in the South Carolina lowcountry.

In one of the bloodiest battles of the war, both armies sustained heavy casualties with each side losing nearly 20 percent of its soldiers. Neither side won the hard-fought battle, and controversies plagued both sides in the aftermath. Dunkerly and Boland analyze the engagement and its significance within the context of the war's closing months, study the area's geology and setting, and recount the action using primary sources, aided by recent archaeology.

  • Cover
  • EUTAW SPRINGS
  • Title
  • Copyright
  • Dedication
  • Contents
  • List of Illustrations
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Prologue
  • Chapter One — Commanders and Personalities
  • Chapter Two — The War in the Carolinas and the March to Eutaw Springs
  • Chapter Three — First Encounters
  • Chapter Four — The Battle Develops
  • Chapter Five — British Resurgence
  • Chapter Six — Aftermath
  • Epilogue
  • Appendix One — Battlefield Archaeology, Preservation, and Tour
  • Appendix Two — Unit Strengths and Losses, Officer Casualties, and the Return of the Army
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index

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