The Battle of Savannah Marker

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Savannah in Chatham County, Georgia — The American South (South Atlantic)

The Battle of Savannah

By Mike Stroud, March 2009

1. The Battle of Savannah Marker

Inscription. The 1779 Battle of Savannah was one of the deadliest of the entire American Revolution. The overwhelming defeat of French and American forces resulted in an allied withdrawal and in approximately 800 wounded or killed, with British losses totaling 55 wounded or dead.
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The British victory in Savannah rekindled England's spirit for the war, in part because the victory defeated troops of the regular army of France as well as American rebels. The battle marked the first time French regular army units fought on American soil in the Revolutionary War.
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The international conflict that most Americans call the Revolutionary War involved British, French, Hessian, Irish, Polish, Hiatian, Spanish, Dutch, Scotish, Native Americans and Americans of European and African heritage,many of whom were represented in Savannah.
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Polish nobleman Casimir Pulaski, who held a brigadier general's commission from Congress, had fought unsuccessfully for Polish independence. He commanded the American cavalry and lost his life from a wound he received in the battle.
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A young Henry Christophe participated with the allied army in Savannah. He went on to fight for the independence of Haiti from France and later became

The Battle of Savannah upper right picture Photo, Click for full size

By The Battle of Savannah Marker

2. The Battle of Savannah upper right picture

The battle of Spring Hill Redoubt may have looked much like this scene of Americans attacking a British redoubt at Yorktown, Virginia.
Courtesy of the Army Art Collection, U.S. Army Center of Military History.

King Henry I of Haiti. He was one of the first heads of state of African descent in the Western Hemisphere.
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( Right text )
The largest unit of black soldiers to fight in the American Revolution, the Chasseurs- Volontaires de Saint- Domingue ( now Haiti), fought in Savannah. Many of these free men and volunteers went on to lead Haiti's fight for independence.
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British Major General Augustin Prevost was a Swiss professional soldier of French Huguenot descent with a French wife. His loyalty to the British Crown was never questioned.
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Arthur Dillon, an Irish nobleman and expatriate, commanded a regiment that included Irish soldiers serving the King of France. He and his regiment were prominent in the Battle of Savannah.
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The Swedish Baron Curt von Stedingk was wounded leading a French column in the attack. He was intimate in the court of Gustavus III, Louis XVI and Catherine the Great .
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The day before the battle, Pierre Charles L'Enfant, who later designed Washington, D.C., tried to dismantle and set fire to the abatis, a barrier of sharpened tree limbs designed to slow attackers.
(Bottom)
Ancestors of people represented by these modern flags fought in the Battle of Savannah.
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The Battle of Savannah picture Photo, Click for full size

By Mike Stroud

3. The Battle of Savannah picture

( Far left )
This [ upper ] is a button of the 60th Regiment, one of the regiments led by the British Major General Augustin Provost. Under his leadership, the British improved and built redoubts around Savannah in 1779.
This [lower] is a button worn by soldiers in the U.S. Continental Army. Some of these troops fought in the Battle of Savannah.

Flags: United States,France, United Kingdom, Haiti, Scotland, Poland, Ireland, Germany ]

Erected 2008 by The City of Savannah, Sons of the Revolution in the State of Georgia.

Location. 32° 4.531′ N, 81° 5.968′ W. Marker is in Savannah, Georgia, in Chatham County. Marker is on Martin Luther King Boulevard (West Broad Street), on the right when traveling south. Click for map. Between Louisville Rd. W. Harris St. (Between Savannah Visitor Center and Savannah Roundhouse Museum ). Marker is in this post office area: Savannah GA 31401, United States of America.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within walking distance of this marker. Central of Georgia (within shouting distance of this marker); Great Indian Warrior / Trading Path (within shouting distance of this marker); a different marker also named Battle of Savannah (within shouting distance of this marker); Savannah’s African-American Medical Pioneers (about 400 feet away, in a direct line); Memorial To The American Revolution (about 500 feet away); Colonel Mordecai Sheftall (about 500 feet away); General Casimir Pulaski Sergeant William Jasper (about 600 feet away); Attack on British Lines (about 600 feet away). Click for a list of all markers in Savannah.

Also see . . . The Battle of Savannah. (Submitted on April 24, 2009, by Mike Stroud of Bluffton, South Carolina.)