In November 1782, the landscape around occupied Charleston was weary from more than two years of British rule. The Continental Army, commanded by Gen. Nathanael Greene, had successfully pushed British forces into a tight coastal perimeter following the Battle of Eutaw Springs, in what is present-day Orangeburg County.
Convinced the occupation was nearing its end, the British high command had already ordered a total withdrawal from the city. Yet, right up until the final weeks before the British sailed away, the Lowcountry remained a dangerous battleground.
Because Gen. Greene’s forces tightly restricted land access to Charleston, the British army faced critical shortages of basic necessities. As Carl Borick, Director of the Charleston Museum, explains, the British were completely cut off from standard local supply chains…