The Lake Norman Brief
Revolutionary War
-
The Siege of Savannah (1779): A Franco-American Assault Ends in Blood
French and American forces tried to retake Savannah in 1779, but delay, divided command, and a failed assault produced one of the…
-
The Battle of Brier Creek (1779): Disaster in the Georgia Lowcountry
On March 3, 1779, a British flanking march trapped John Ashe’s Patriot army at Brier Creek and reversed American momentum in Georgia.
-
The Battle of Kettle Creek (1779): Patriot Victory in a Loyalist Civil War
Kettle Creek was neither the largest nor the most decisive battle of the Revolution. Its importance lies in what it revealed: Britain…
-
The Capture of Savannah (1778): The Southern Campaign Begins in Earnest
Britain’s attack on Savannah was fast, carefully coordinated, and strategically transformative. The victory restored royal power in Georgia and opened the campaign…
-
Musgrove Mill: The Ambush That Pointed Toward Kings Mountain
Outnumbered near the Enoree River, 200 Patriot militia built a breastwork, used Shadrach Inman to bait the enemy, and turned Musgrove Mill…
-
Hanging Rock: A Carolina Militia Victory That Nearly Came Apart
Hanging Rock was bold, violent, and incomplete: Sumter’s militia broke into divided camps and seized supplies, but heat, exhaustion, shortages, and plunder…
-
Rocky Mount: Thomas Sumter Tests a British Backcountry Strongpoint
At Rocky Mount, Thomas Sumter learned what militia without artillery could—and could not—do against a fortified post before shifting tactics at Hanging…
-
Earle’s Ford: A Midnight Cavalry Attack on the Carolina State Line
Earle’s Ford was a midnight saber attack, a desperate rally behind a fence, and a next-day pursuit—the intimate, mobile violence that defined…
-
Huck’s Defeat: The Fifteen-Minute Ambush That Revived the Carolina Backcountry
After Charleston fell, local militia used fences, surprise, and intimate knowledge of Williamson’s Plantation to destroy Christian Huck’s detachment and revive backcountry…
-
Fishdam Ford: How Sumter’s Militia Turned a British Night Attack Into a Trap
At Fishdam Ford on November 9, 1780, Sumter’s militia used armed pickets, darkness and decoy campfires to repel James Wemyss.