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Siege of Ninety-Six | |||||||
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Part of the American Revolutionary War | |||||||
Lord Rawdon – lifted the Siege so the Loyalists could escape | |||||||
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Belligerents | |||||||
United States | Great Britain | ||||||
Commanders and leaders | |||||||
Nathanael Greene | John Cruger (military officer) | ||||||
Strength | |||||||
1,000–1,500 | 550 | ||||||
Casualties and losses | |||||||
57 killed 70 wounded 20 missing |
27 killed 58 wounded |
The siege of Ninety Six was a siege in western South Carolina late in the American Revolutionary War. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 troops in a siege against the 550 Loyalists in the fortified village of Ninety Six, South Carolina. The 28-day siege centered on an earthen fortification known as Star Fort. Despite having more troops, Greene was unsuccessful in taking the town, and was forced to lift the siege when Lord Rawdon approached from Charleston with British troops.
The area is now protected as Ninety Six National Historic Site and was designated a National Historic Landmark. Many of the surviving Loyalists were later relocated by the Crown and granted land in Nova Scotia, where they named their township Rawdon to commemorate their rescuer.