Eutaw Springs

On September 8, 1781, forces clashed at Eutaw Springs in an encounter that would prove to be the final large scale confrontation of the war within the Carolinas. When the fighting ended, neither army was willing to concede defeat, and each side declared the outcome a win for itself.

Background

By early 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene, who led Continental forces in the South, set out to break British hold on the South Carolina backcountry. Taking Ninety Six, a village under British control, stood as his primary goal. Greene brought his troops to besiege the fortified settlement starting May 22, 1781. Nearly a month into the siege, word reached him that Lord Rawdon was marching reinforcements up from Charles Town. On June 18, Greene's men attempted an assault on Ninety Six, only to be driven back. Rather than risk confronting Rawdon's approaching column, Greene withdrew in the direction of Charlotte, North Carolina. Rawdon chased after him for a number of days, then called off the pursuit when his exhausted troops, worn down by forced marches, ran short of provisions needed to press on. Though Ninety Six remained the last British post inland once Augusta fell under siege, Rawdon chose instead to torch the settlement and pull his garrison back to Charles Town. His health failing, Rawdon departed for England toward the end of August, turning over command at Charleston to Lieutenant-colonel Alexander Stewart.

On July 16, Greene shifted his army, worn thin by weeks of marching and fighting, to encamp at the High

Battle

Bread had grown scarce in Stewart's supply train, so each morning he dispatched men to dig yams from the ground, sending them out with only a token guard rather than full arms. Just past 8 am on September 8, Captain John Coffin, leading a detachment of his South Carolina Loyalist cavalry, was scouting ahead of Stewart's main body when he came upon a mounted American reconnaissance party led by Major John Armstrong. Coffin gave chase, not realizing Armstrong was drawing him toward a trap. Henry Lee's 2nd Partisan Corps sprang the ambush; Coffin got away, but he lost four or five men killed and another forty taken prisoner. Continuing on, the Americans stumbled upon Stewart's yam-digging parties and seized roughly 400 of them.

With about 2,200 men, Greene now moved toward Stewart's encampment. Alerted by Coffin, Stewart arranged his troops for the coming clash. Upon realizing the British were near, the Americans organized themselves into three successive lines: militia at the front supported by two 3-pounder