The Attack

By June 17, the Ninety Six garrison was low on food and ammunition, and Cruger's expectation of relief from Charleston was fading into despair until a farmer rode through heavy Patriot fire into the fort with news that Lord Rawdon and 2000 reinforcements were only two or three days away. Greene learned of Rawdon's approach from his scouts the same day and reluctantly ordered a final assault against the Star Fort and the Stockade Fort, signaled by cannon fire at noon on June 18. Fifty men rushed into the ditch to pull down the sandbags on the fort parapets and open the way for the main body of American troops, but a volunteer assault party from the fort circled behind and charged the Americans with fixed bayonets. About fifty patriots were killed or wounded, the attack was broken, and after three-quarters of an hour, seeing little prospect of succeeding without heavy loss, Greene ended the assault and ordered his army to retreat toward Charlotte. The British had held Ninety Six against the American siege, but they could not keep it, for Lord Rawdon arrived on June 21 and ordered Cruger to abandon the post and withdraw to Charleston. By early July, the trenches were filled, the town burned, the stockade walls demolished, and Ninety Six was abandoned.

Ninety Six, South Carolina · United States