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 December 29, 1778
 Savannah, Georgia
 General Robert  Under the command
Howe- of Lieutenant
commanded the Colonel Archibald
Continental Army Campbell
 Georgia
 Henry Clinton, the
new commander-in-
Governor John
chief of the British
Houstoun- had
forces (located in
overall command NY)
of militia
companies
 British:
› November 17th, Clinton ordered 3,500 soldiers to
 Georgia
be sent down from New York to capture › Defended by two separate forces
Savannah  Continental Army
› 2,000 troops under the command of General  Militia
Augustine Prevost marched up from St. Augustine
in East Florida › November 18, Howe marched south
› British fleet arrived off Tybee Island at the mouth from Charleston, South Carolina with 550
of the Savannah River Continental Army troops
› He sent a group to shore to search the › In total, he had approximately 800 regular
countryside and detained two men
and an additional 150 militamen
 “The most satisfactory intelligence concerning the
state of matters at Savannah” › Located in a town called Sunbury which is
 Campbell had found out the number of solders approximately 30 miles from Savannah
and militiamen that General Robert Howe had
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 Campbell decided not to wait for the  As the British were walking towards the city,
troops from Florida the Continentals opened fire at about
 On December 27th, the main British force 100 yards
came ashore and marched east toward  The British didn’t return fire, instead, they
Savannah advanced rapidly with bayonets fixed, on
 American arrived in Savannah and tried to the Continentals
find defenses but the conditions were very  The Continentals retreated, having killed
poor and couldn’t protect the town four and wounded five at no cost to
 They dug trenches to block the road and themselves
there were what he thought were  British advanced to Savannah
impassable swamps on each side
 About ½ a mile south of the city, Howe  As Campbell was looking at Howe’s
decided to position a line of defense defense, a slave told him there was a
› Shape of a V with a swamp on either side way through the swamp
› Most of Howe's troops, including the  He ordered James Baird to take 350 light
Continentals, had seen little or no action in infantry and about 250 New York
the war Loyalists and follow the slave through the
› 4 cannons swamp, while he arranged his troops just
 The British had: out of view in a way that would give the
› 2 battalions, 2 regiments of Hessians, 4 impression he would attempt a flanking
companies of Loyalists maneuver on Howe's left
 the trail from the swamp came out near  Howe heard were musket fire from the
the Continental barracks, which were barracks, but these were rapidly followed
left unguarded; the Continentals were by cannon-fire and the appearance of
unaware they had been flanked charging British and German troops
 Howe ordered an immediate retreat, but it
 Once they were all together and the rest
rapidly turned into a uprising. The troops
were ready on the other side they
didn’t bothered to return fire, some
charged
throwing down their weapons before
attempting to run away through the
swampy terrain.
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An 1891 copy of a map depicting the action, probably drawn Campbell is the gray, Howe is the black.
by a British engineer after the battle
 Campbell reported that "It was scarcely  Campbell gained control of Savannah
possible to come up with them, their  Campbell wrote that he would be "the
retreat was rapid beyond Conception." first British officer to [rend] a star and
 Some of Howe's men managed to stripe from the flag of Congress"
escape to the north before the British  The British held Savannah until they
closed off the city, but others were retreated on July 11, 1782
forced to attempt swimming across  Savannah was used as a base to
Yamacraw Creek; an unknown number conduct coastal raids from Charleston,
drowned in the attempt. South Carolina to the Florida coast
 "The Battle of Savannah." The American Revolutionary War. Sept. 2010.
American Forces Commanded by Gen. Robert Howe Web. 14 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.myrevolutionarywar.com/battles/781229.htm>.
Strength Killed Wounded Missing/Captured  Lanning, Michael Lee. "Savannah, Georgia (First Savannah)." The
American Revolution 100: the People, Battles, and Events of the
850 83 11+ 453 American War for Independence, Ranked by Their Significance.
Naperville, IL: Source, 2008. 281-82. Print.
 Logan, Joseph. "The American Revolution - (The Capture of Savannah)."
The American Revolution. 2010. Web. 14 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.theamericanrevolution.org/battledetail.aspx?battle=22>.
 Lucido, Aimee. "Capture Of Savannah - Timelines.com." Timelines.com:
British Forces Commanded by Lt Col. Archibald Campbell Discover, Record and Share History with Timelines. 2010. Web. 21 Sept.
2010. <http://timelines.com/1778/12/29/capture-of-savannah>.
Strength Killed Wounded Missing/Captured  Noon, By. "Capture of Savannah." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia.
3,500 17 4+ ? 2010. Web. 15 Sept. 2010.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Capture_of_Savannah>.
 Stroud, By Mike. "Capture of Savannah December 29, 1778 Marker." The
Historical Marker Database. 25 Mar. 2008. Web. 14 Sept. 2010.
<http://www.hmdb.org/marker.asp?marker=6580>.
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