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On the 22nd of May General Nathanael Greene attempted to storm the strong British post at Ninety-Six but was repulsed; and finally on the 8th of September he fought the last battle of the war in the lower southern states at Eutaw Springs, S.C. In the first part of the action Greene was successful after a desperate conflict; in the pursuit, however, the Americans failed to dislodge the British from a stone house which they held, and their severe loss in both engagements was over 500 men. The British lost about 1000, one-half of whom were prisoners. Better success attended the American partisan operations directed by Greene and conducted by Marion, Sumter, Andrew Pickens, Henry Lee and William Washington. They fell upon isolated British posts established to protect the Loyalist population, and generally captured or broke them up. Rawdon found himself unable with his diminishing force to cover the country beyond Charleston; and he fell back to that place, leaving the situation in the south as it had been in the early part of 1780. On the American side, Greene was hailed as the deliverer of that section.
This article incorporates text from the public domain 1911 Encyclopædia Britannica.
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