Siege of Ninety-Six

Ninety-Six was the strongest British post in the South Carolina interior, a complex of earthworks defending the Loyalist settlement that had been contested since the very beginning of the Carolina war in 1775. The fort was commanded by Lieutenant Colonel John Cruger, an able and determined officer from New York who refused to consider surrender.

Greene besieged the post from late May, but his army lacked the heavy artillery needed to breach the earthworks. Cruger used every resource: he put enslaved workers to digging deeper trenches, organized sorties to disrupt American approach works, and maintained discipline under constant pressure. He also obtained intelligence through an intercepted message and adjusted his defenses accordingly. Greene constructed a Maham Tower that allowed fire into the main star fort, but Cruger raised sandbag walls to counter it.

American engineers began pushing an approach sap toward the fort while a British relief force under Rawdon rapidly approached from Charleston. In a final desperate assault on June 18, Greene sent parties to tear down the sandbag walls and fire the abatis. The attack came within moments of success — American soldiers reached the parapet and fought hand-to-hand. But it was thrown back.

Rawdon arrived the following day and Greene withdrew. Yet as with Camden, the British abandoned Ninety-Six shortly after, unable to maintain it without a substantial field force. Greene had lost the battle but achieved his strategic objective — the last British interior stronghold in South Carolina was abandoned.