Battle of Eutaw Springs

The Battle of Eutaw Springs was a battle of the American Revolutionary War, the last engagement of the war in the Carolinas.

On May 22, 1781, General Nathanael Greene of the Continental Army had attempted to storm the strong British post at Fort Ninety-Six but was repulsed.

Leaving the pursuit of Cornwallis to Washington and the French, a force under Major-General Nathanael Greene moved into South Carolina, where British garrisons and Loyalist forces held much of the state. Greene was defeated at Hobkirk's Hill (25 April) and failed to capture the main remaining British fortress (Fort Ninety-Six), but despite these failures, the British position began to weaken. A pursuit of Greene failed, and Fort Ninety-Six had to be abandoned. The British withdrew to the coast and Greene followed.

At Eutaw Springs, Greene, with around 2,200 men, came across a British camp under Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Stewart. The American force formed up in two lines, with the militia in the front line, North Carolina, Maryland and Virginia regulars in the second. A British bayonet charge broke the center of the American first line. The situation was temporarily restored by the North Carolina Continentals until they too were broken by a British charge, but the Virginia and Maryland troops were sent into the breach and managed to force the British to fall back in some disorder.

The Americans now came into the British camp, where most of them now stopped to plunder the British supplies. The tables now turned again. At the north-east corner of the camp was a strong brick house now defended by the remaining British battalion, commanded by Major John Majoribanks. This battalion had driven off the American cavalry before pulling back to the brick house. Attempts to capture the house failed, and Majoribanks was able to restore some order to the rest of the British force. With the newly restored force he was able to drive the Americans from the British camp. One American battalion held up and delayed the British advance, allowing the American army to retreat without suffering a rout.

The claim of earlier historians that the British won this battle has recently been challenged, notably in Christine Swager's book "The Valiant Died: The Battle of Eutaw Springs September 8, 1781". At the close of the action, the British held the field, but Stewart reported casualties of 85 killed, 351 wounded and possibly as many as 420 missing (see Swager, p. 119). American losses have been stated to be 139 American dead and 41 missing.

Regardless of who won the tactical military victory, overall the result of Greene's operations was to force the British to abandon most of their conquests in the South, leaving them isolated in Charleston and Savannah. The British attempt to pacify the south with the aid of the Loyalists had failed, even before the surrender at Yorktown.

Lord Edward Fitzgerald later to become famous as a United Irish rebel, served as a British officer at the battle and was badly wounded.

References

* [http://www.historyofwar.org/articles/battles_eutaw.html Battle of Eutaw Springs, 8 September 1781]

Further reading

* Swager,Christine R. "The Valiant Died: The Battle of Eutaw Springs September 8, 1781"
* Morill, Dan L. "Southern campaigns of the American Revolution"