Ninety Six, South Carolina sits at the center of a paradox that defines the southern campaign: the British won the siege and lost the war. In May and June of 1781, Lord Rawdon held the fortified post at Ninety Six against Nathanael Greene's Continental forces for twenty-eight days — one of the longest American sieges of the entire Revolutionary War. The British garrison, commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger, repelled every assault, including a desperate final attack on June 18 that nearly succeeded. Rawdon arrived with reinforcements from Charleston, and Greene withdrew. By any tactical measure, it was a British victory.
PEOPLE
Major Patrick Ferguson
British Army Officer, Loyalist Militia Commander, Firearms Inventor
Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger
British Loyalist Commander, De Lancey Brigade Officer
Major General Nathanael Greene
Continental Army General, Southern Department Commander
Thaddeus Kosciuszko
Continental Army Engineer, Polish Officer
KEY EVENTS
STORIES
HISTORICAL VOICE
Twenty-Eight Days
Cruger had 550 men. Greene had a thousand, and more militia operating on his flanks. Cruger had no way to know when or whether relief would come — Rawdon was still organizing his column in Charleston,...
MODERN VOICE
The Cost of Winning
The British won the siege of Ninety Six. That sentence is accurate. It's also a nearly complete mischaracterization of what happened in 1781. When I teach this period, I try to get students to think ...