Gallant Defense

Gallant Defense

The Siege of Charleston, 1780

  • Author: Borick, Carl P.
  • Publisher: University of South Carolina Press
  • ISBN: 9781570034879
  • eISBN Pdf: 9781611171686
  • eISBN Epub: 9781611171686
  • Place of publication:  South Carolina , United States
  • Year of digital publication: 2012
  • Month: August
  • DDC: 973.3/36
  • Language: English

A detailed account of the tactics, strategy, and grassroots galvanization in a pivotal Revolutionary War campaign

In 1779 Sir Henry Clinton and more than eight thousand British troops left the waters of New York, seeking to capture the colonies' most important southern port, Charleston, South Carolina. Clinton and his officers believed that victory in Charleston would change both the seat of the war and its character. In this comprehensive study of the 1780 siege and surrender of Charleston, Carl P. Borick offers a full examination of the strategic and tactical elements of Clinton's operations.

Suggesting that the importance of the siege has been underestimated, Borick contends that the British effort against Charleston was one of the most critical campaigns of the war. Borick examines the reasons for the shift in British strategy, the efforts of their army and navy, and the difficulties the patriots faced as they defended the city. He explores the roles of key figures in the campaign, including Benjamin Lincoln, William Moultrie, and Lord Charles Cornwallis.

Borick relies on an impressive array of primary and secondary sources relating to the siege and includes maps that depict the British approach to the city and the complicated military operations that led to the patriots' greatest defeat of the American Revolution.

  • Cover
  • Contents
  • List of Illustrations
  • Preface
  • Acknowledgments
  • Chapter One: Early Threats
  • Chapter Two: A “Very Essential Business” Begins
  • Chapter Three: Reaction North and South
  • Chapter Four: The British on the Sea Islands
  • Chapter Five: That Infernal Bar
  • Chapter Six: The Defenders of Charleston
  • Chapter Seven: Across the Ashley
  • Chapter Eight: Siege Warfare
  • Chapter Nine: Breaking Ground: The Siege Begins
  • Chapter Ten: The Cooper River Communication
  • Chapter Eleven: The Noose Tightens on Charleston Neck
  • Chapter Twelve: Investiture
  • Chapter Thirteen: A Gallant Defense
  • Chapter Fourteen: Appearances in This Province Are Certainly Very Favourable
  • Appendix A: Articles of Capitulation as proposed
  • Appendix B: British and American Forces in the Siege of Charleston as of 30 April 1780
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Index
    • A
    • B
    • C
    • D
    • E
    • F
    • G
    • H
    • I
    • J
    • K
    • L
    • M
    • N
    • O
    • P
    • Q
    • R
    • S
    • T
    • U
    • V
    • W
    • Y

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