Battle of Eutaw Springs

The Battle of Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781 was the last major battle of the Revolutionary War in the Carolinas. Greene had spent months reconquering the Carolina interior, and Eutaw Springs represented the final major British field force remaining outside of Charleston. The British camp near the springs was taken by surprise when Greene's army advanced. American forces pushed the British back steadily for over a mile in fierce fighting, using the three-line tactics that had become standard in the southern theater.

Initial American success was squandered when Continental soldiers who had been on short rations for weeks broke ranks to plunder the British camp — filled with rum, food, and supplies. Discipline collapsed. British soldiers who had been driven back rallied and counterattacked from a brick house they had occupied. The disorganized and partially intoxicated Americans were driven back with severe casualties.

Despite the tactical British victory, Eutaw Springs completed the strategic destruction of British power in the Carolinas. Stewart's army was so badly damaged that he retreated to Charleston permanently. By the end of 1781 the British controlled only the ports of Charleston and Savannah in the South. Nathanael Greene had reconquered the South without winning a single battle — a strategic achievement without parallel in the war. As he himself wrote: 'We fight, get beaten, rise, and fight again.'