The Lake Norman Brief
Southern Campaign
Battles, river crossings and people of the American Revolution’s Southern Campaign in Georgia and the Carolinas, 1778 to 1781.
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Siege of Fort Motte, 1781 | Rebecca Motte, Marion and Lee
At Fort Motte, the fight for South Carolina passed through a family home. British troops had converted Rebecca Motte’s house into a…
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Battle of Eutaw Springs, 1781 | Greene’s Southern Campaign
At Eutaw Springs on September 8, 1781, Greene’s army drove into a British camp, then lost the field to a stubborn defense…
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Battle of Blackstock’s Plantation, 1780
Two months before Cowpens, Thomas Sumter’s militia demonstrated how dangerous a prepared backcountry position could be. At Blackstock’s Plantation on November 20,…
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Torrence’s Tavern Battle Near Mooresville | Lake Norman History
The road from Cowan’s Ford to Salisbury carried soldiers, refugees and the consequences of defeat. At Torrence’s Tavern, near present-day Mooresville, Banastre…
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Battle of Weitzell’s Mill, 1781 | Road to Guilford Courthouse
Nine days before Guilford Courthouse, Otho Holland Williams’s detachment faced a more immediate problem: reach a creek crossing before British troops closed…
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Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, 1781 | Greene’s Return to Camden
The April 25, 1781 Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill is one of the clearest tests of what the word victory means. Lord Rawdon…
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The Siege of Charleston (1780): The Greatest American Surrender of the Revolution
The 1780 Siege of Charleston ended with more than 5,000 Americans surrendered and opened the most violent phase of the Revolutionary War’s…
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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…
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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.
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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…