Johns Island, South Carolina
Johns Island, South Carolina
JOHNS ISLAND, SOUTH CAROLINA. 28-29 December 1781. When Major James H. Craig evacuated Wilmington in November 1781, he was posted with some additional infantry and cavalry on Johns Island, near Charleston. The main American army was now located at Pompon on the Stono River, opposite Craig's position. Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee conceived an intricate plan of attacking Johns Island. It was to take advantage of the fact that on one or two nights of the month, the tide was low enough for troops to ford the Wapoo River, which separated the island from the mainland. The project was assigned to Lee and Colonel John Laurens. Detachments of Continental troops reinforced Lee's Legion to about seven hundred. Lee's column crossed according to plan but had to be recalled and the operation abandoned when a second column, under Major James Hamilton, got lost and arrived too late to ford the river.
revised by Michael Bellesiles