Siege of Savannah

Overview

The siege of Savannah or the second battle of Savannah was an encounter of the American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) in 1779. The year before, the city of Savannah, Georgia, had been captured by a British expeditionary corps under Lieutenant-Colonel Archibald Campbell. The siege itself consisted of a joint Franco-American attempt to retake Savannah, from September 16 to October 18, 1779.

Overview adapted from Wikipedia, licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0.

Significance

The Siege of Savannah was a failed Franco-American attempt to retake the city of Georgia that had fallen to a British expeditionary corps the previous year. A major assault on October 9 against the British siege works was repulsed, and the allied force abandoned the siege entirely. The defeat left Savannah in British hands until July 1782, effectively denying the Continental alliance control of Georgia for nearly three years and through most of the remaining war. The action also resulted in the mortal wounding of Casimir Pulaski, who commanded the combined allied cavalry during the assault. The British retention of Savannah sustained their hold on the Deep South and demonstrated the limits of Franco-American combined operations in the southern theater.

Tactics

Forces & casualties

Commanders (7)