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- Day 114
- Tuesday, August 5, 2025
- ☁️ 32 °C
- Altitude: 12 m
United StatesSavannah32°5’8” N 81°5’47” W
Aug 5: Of redoubts and railroads
August 5 in the United States ⋅ ☁️ 32 °C
A wander through local history today. I came to the Georgia/South Carolina Low Countries out of an interest in the American Civil War, southern railroads in that era, and aspects around slavery.Read more
Traveler
This battle occurred during the Siege of Savannah on October 9, 1779, which was aimed at retaking Savannah from the British. With the approach of an allied French and American (local militia) army, the British defenders constructed a series of 14 redoubts and cannon emplacements outside the town. The attack and was one of the bloodiest engagements of the war. The British troops were protected inside the redoubt, and their musket and cannon fire could sweep the space between the redoubts. When a breakthrough occurred, British infantry troops in the rear would charge and drive back the attackers. Five columns attacked the British around the actual Spring Hill Redoubt and were beaten back with vicious hand-to-hand fighting. Approximately 800 of the attackers were cut down by artillery and small arms fire; the casualties littering the intervening space between the redoubts. The attack was ultimately repulsed by the British, and the siege was lifted a week later. London rejoiced when news of the victory reached England, and the Revolutionary war would continue for another four years. The Spring Hill Redoubt is now part of the Battlefield Memorial Park, where visitors can see markers and monuments commemorating the battle.
Traveler
Inscribed on the stones are the names and stories of people from many of the states, countries, and cultures involved in the Revolutionary struggle throughout the entire war.
Traveler
This is one of the slabs. It memorialises the part played in this action by Polish General Tadeusz Kościuszko [should be pronounced Kosh-CHUUSH-koh but never is by Australians]. Mt Kościuszko, Australia’s highest, was named by the Polish explorer Paweł Edmund Strzelecki [should be pronounced Sh-steel-ETSKY, but never is by Australians] in 1840, to honour General Kościuszko, whom Strzelecki viewed as a hero of the Kościuszko Uprising and the American Revolutionary War.