Battle of Eutaw Springs

The Battle of Eutaw Springs was fought near Charleston, South Carolina on September 8, 1781, and it was the last major engagement of the American Revolution in the state. Patriot forces under the command of General Nathanael Greene attacked  British and Loyalist forces under Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart in hopes of driving the British from South Carolina. Though the Patriots were ultimately forced from the field, Stewart’s army sustained such heavy casualties that left them with no choice but to retreat to the confines of British-occupied Charleston for the remainder of the war. Unable to leave Charleston, they could not fortify British forces further north, which contributed to the British surrender at Yorktown the following month.

Staging the Battle of Eutaw Springs

In July of 1781, Lord Francis Rawdon, second in command of British forces in the Southern Theater, was forced to relinquish his command to Lt. Col. Alexander Stewart due to failing health. His troops, totaling around 2,000, consisted of Loyalist regiments from New York and New Jersey, British regulars of the 3^rd, 63^rd, and 64^th regiments, a company of cavalry, and five artillery pieces. In August, they left the British stronghold of Charleston, South Carolina, and marched northwest towards the forks of the Santee River. Stewart established his camp forty miles east of that location in a wooded area along the banks of Eutaw Creek near the plantation of Loyalist Patrick Roche. Roche’s plantation consisted of a two-story brick house with outbuildings and walled gardens.¹ After securing this position, Stewart hoped to mobilize further into the backcountry and expand British control of the Carolinas.

On September 5, General Nathanael Greene moved to intercept Stewart. His forces consisted of Maryland, Delaware, and Virginia Continentals, four artillery pieces, and two legions of cavalry commanded by Lt. Col. Henry Lee and Lt. Col. William Washington, the distant cousin of George Washington. Along the way, Greene was joined by South Carolina militiamen commanded by Brig. Gen. Andrew Pickens and Francis Marion, as well as a recently organized company of mounted South Carolina state troops under the command of Lt. Col. William Henderson. By the eve of the battle, Greene’s ranks had swelled to nearly 2,400 men.²

The Battle of Eutaw Springs

Greene’s forces began marching towards Stewart’s camp at Eutaw Springs on September 8. They advanced in two columns, with Lt. Col. Henry Lee in the front and Lt. Col. William Washington in the rear. At 8:00 am, Lee’s advance guard encountered a British foraging party with a small armed escort sent to forage for sweet potatoes. A brief firefight ensued, and the British quickly retreated towards their camp at Eutaw Springs.³

When news of Greene’s advance reached Stewart’s Camp, he dispatched a detachment of infantry to occupy the Patriots while he hastily prepared the remainder of his force for battle. He organized his men in a single line, a few hundred yards in front of his camp, with his cavalry posted at the rear. He also placed two artillery pieces along the road leading to the Roche Plantation. When the Patriot line encountered the British infantry sent in advance, they opened fire, driving the enemy before them. They shadowed the retreating British for about one mile, firing the entire way, until they reached their camp at Eutaw Springs.⁴

Greene had organized his force into two lines, the first comprising militia and the second Continental troops. Lee and his legion covered the Patriots’ right flank while Col. William Henderson and his company of mounted South Carolina state troops covered the left. Lt. Col William Washington’s legion, as well as two companies of Delaware Continentals, formed the reserve corps in the rear.⁵

The militiamen in Greene’s first line fought bravely but eventually began to give ground. Greene himself reported that they “fought with a degree of spirit and firmness that reflects the highest honor upon this class of soldiers.”⁶ The second line of Continentals pushed forward to support the militia, and, as they advanced, the enemy retreated into their own camp. Stewart’s men took shelter in the outbuildings, walled gardens, and two-story brick house of the Roche Plantation. With the camp now vacant, some Patriots began plundering the tents for food and rum.⁷

The British maintained steady fire on the Patriots from their positions throughout the Roche Plantation. The gunfire from the brick house was especially devastating. Greene ordered four, six-pound artillery pieces to return fire in hopes of dislodging the British from the house. This attempt was ultimately unsuccessful as the Patriots were forced to abandon the artillery pieces after coming under heavy fire.⁸

Also of concern to Greene was a company of British infantry that had taken a defensive position in a heavy thicket of scrub brush along the banks of Eutaw Creek. He ordered Lt. Col. William Washington’s reserve corps to attack the British at this position. John Chaney, a veteran of the battle, recalled that “Washington jumped his horse into the midst of the enemy [and] was suddenly taken prisoner” after his horse was shot from under him.⁹ In the scuffle, Washington sustained a bayonet wound to his chest. He would eventually recover but remained on parole in Charleston as a prisoner of the British until their withdrawal from the city in December of 1782.¹⁰ With Washington captured and his main force in disarray, Greene ordered a retreat.

Outcome of the Battle of Eutaw Springs

After nearly three hours of fierce fighting, 139 Patriots were killed, 375 were wounded, and eight were missing. Overall, the British fared worse, with 85 killed, 351 wounded, and 430 missing.¹¹ Regardless of the outcome, both sides claimed victory in name. However, Stewart had successfully defended his position and forced the Patriots to retreat. But his “victory” came at a high cost. With nearly half of his army killed, wounded, or missing, Stewart was forced to retreat to Charleston, where he would remain for the duration of the war.¹² Unable to regain numbers or momentum, Stewart’s forces could not join British General Charles Cornwallis at the Battle of Yorktown the following month. His lack of reinforcements contributed to British surrender.

The failure of British forces to mobilize from Charleston had local implications in South Carolina. With the British demoralized and confined to Charleston, the state’s governor, John Rutledge, was able to reestablish South Carolina’s revolutionary government. In January of 1782, the state’s representative assembly met for the first time since British Occupation in 1780. Less than a year later, British forces left the state, departing Charleston on December 14, 1782, effectively ending the American Revolution in South Carolina as the Treaty of Paris was being negotiated and later finalized in 1783.¹³

Zachary Lemhouse, Historian and Director of the Southern Revolutionary War Institute, Culture & Heritage Museums of York County, South Carolina.

Notes:

1. David Lee Russell, The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies (McFarland and Company Inc., 2000) 248; John S. Pancake, This Destructive War (University of Alabama Press, 1985) 217.

2. Russell, The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies, 248; Edward McCrady, The History of South Carolina in the Revolution: 1780-1783 (Russell & Russell, 1902) 441-443.

3. Henry Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States (Peter Force, 1827) 331-32; Joseph Brown Turner, edt., The Journal and Order Book of Captain Robert Kirkwood of the Delaware Regiment of the Continental Line (Historical Society of Delaware, 1910) 23; R.W. Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, Consisting of Letters and Papers Relating to the Contest for Liberty, Chiefly in South Carolina (Banner Steam-Power Press, 1853) 145.

4. Russell, The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies, 248-249; Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department, 333; Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, 146-147.

5. Nathanael Greene to Thomas McKean, September 11, 1781, in The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, Vol. IX, edited by Denis M. Conrad et al. (Rhode Island Historical Society, 1997) 328-329; Daniel Murphy, William Washington, American Light Dragoon: A Continental Cavalry Leader in the War of Independence (Westholme Publishing, 2014) 156.

6. Greene to McKean, September 11, 1781, in The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 329.

7. Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution 153-154; Russell, The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies, 250.

8. Greene to McKean, September 11, 1781, in The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, 331; Gibbes, Documentary History of the American Revolution, 155; Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department, 336.

9. U.S. Revolutionary War Pensions, transcribed by Will Graves, https://revwarapps.org/, accessed 9/17/2025, John Chaney, pension no. S32177.

10. Murphy, William Washington, American Light Dragoon, 159-175; Stephen E. Haller, William Washington: Cavalryman of the Revolution (Heritage Books, Inc., 2001) 147.

11. Pancake, This Destructive War, 220.

12. Lee, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department, 338;

13. George Smith McCowen, The British Occupation of Charleston, 1780-82 (University of South Carolina Press, 1972) 132-149.

Bibliography:

Conrad, Denis M. Et al. edt., The Papers of General Nathanael Greene, Vol. IX, edited by Denis M. Conrad et al. Rhode Island Historical Society, 1997.

Gibbes, R.W., Documentary History of the American Revolution, Consisting of Letters and Papers Relating to the Contest for Liberty, Chiefly in South Carolina. Banner Steam-Power Press, 1853.

Haller, Stephen E. William Washington: Cavalryman of the Revolution. Heritage Books, Inc., 2001.

Lee, Henry, Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department of the United States. Peter Force, 1827.

McCowen, George Smith, The British Occupation of Charleston, 1780-82. University of South Carolina Press, 1972.

McCrady, Edward, The History of South Carolina in the Revolution: 1780-1783. Russell & Russell, 1902.

Murphy, Daniel. William Washington, American Light Dragoon: A Continental Cavalry Leader in the War of Independence. Westholme Publishing, 2014.

Pancake, John S. This Destructive War. University of Alabama Press, 1985.

Russell, David Lee. The American Revolution in the Southern Colonies. McFarland and Company Inc., 2000.

Turner, Joseph Brown, edt. The Journal and Order Book of Captain Robert Kirkwood of the Delaware Regiment of the Continental Line. Historical Society of Delaware, 1910.