Siege of Augusta

The Siege of Augusta in May-June 1781 was part of Nathanael Greene's systematic reconquest of the South's interior and one of the most skillfully executed combined operations of the southern war. Augusta, the second city of Georgia, had been in British hands since the fall of Savannah. The British commander, Colonel Thomas Brown, was a notorious Loyalist who had personal scores to settle with Georgia Patriots — he had been tarred and feathered before the war and had conducted brutal operations since.

Henry Lee and Andrew Pickens arrived before Augusta with a mixed force of Continentals and militia. Rather than a direct assault on the well-fortified town, they focused on reducing two outlying British strongpoints: Fort Cornwallis and Fort Grierson. Fort Grierson fell first, with most of its garrison killed or captured in a fierce assault.

Fort Cornwallis required more methodical operations. The Americans constructed a Maham Tower — the innovative log platform raised above the fort walls that had proven effective at Fort Watson — and under fire from the tower, the fort became untenable. Brown surrendered on June 5. Brown's life was in immediate danger from Georgia militiamen seeking revenge for his past brutality. Lee protected him and conducted him and his garrison safely to Savannah.

The fall of Augusta completed the liberation of Georgia's interior from British control. Combined with the fall of other British posts throughout the Carolinas that spring and summer, Greene's campaign had effectively reconquered the South from within even as Cornwallis marched toward disaster in Virginia.