Attack on British Lines

On October 9, 1779, one of the bloodiest battles of the Revolution was fought at Savannah, where the British, who had possessed the city for several months, were attacked by combined American and French forces after a three weeks siege. In this area the Allies stormed the British works early that day near the Spring Hill Redoubt and the line of entrenchments built around Savannah. The opposing armies included American Continentals, grenadiers of Old France, Irishmen in the service of King Louis XVI, Polish lancers, French Creoles, and Negro volunteers from Haiti fighting for American independence, opposed by English redcoats, Scotch Highlanders, Hessians, Royalist provincials from New York, Tory militia, armed slaves, and Cherokee Indians. After a heroic effort to dislodge the British, the Allies retired with heavy losses, the siege was lifted, and the French fleet sailed from Georgia, ending an episode of far-reaching significance in the American Revolution.

Savannah, Georgia · United States