The siege of Ninety Six was a siege in western South Carolina late in the American Revolutionary War. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 troops in a siege against the 550 Loyalists in the fortified village of Ninety Six, South Carolina. The 28-day siege centered on an earthen fortification known as Star Fort. Despite having more troops, Greene was unsuccessful in taking the town, and was forced to lift the siege when Lord Rawdon approached from Charleston with British troops. The area is now protected as Ninety Six National Historic Site and was designated a National Historic Landmark. Many of the surviving Loyalists were later relocated by the Crown and granted land in Nova Scotia, where they named their township Rawdon to commemorate their rescuer. Background The British Army's "southern strategy" for winning the American Revolutionary War, which had been successful in taking Charleston and winning submission of much of South Carolina and Georgia, hit a stumbling block in March 1781, after General Lord Cornwallis defeated Continental Army General Nathanael Greene at the Battle of Guilford Courthouse in Greensboro, North Carolina. Cornwallis had suffered significant casualties and subsequently moved his army to Wilmington, North Carolina. Greene, whose army was still largely intact after that battle, took advantage of Cornwallis' move to march into South Carolina and begin operations to eliminate the British from that state. With the assistance of militia commanders Thomas Sumter, Francis Marion, and Andrew Pickens, the Patriot forces took a number of British outposts in the backcountry of South Carolina; others were abandoned to them. By mid-May, the only places in the state with significant British garrisons were Ninety Six, in the northwestern part of the state, and the port of Charleston, nearly 200 miles southeast on the Atlantic coast. Order of Battle The order of battle for the forces involved in the battle was: Continentals Commanding Officer, Major General Nathanael Greene Lee's Legion (150 mounted & foot) 1 Company from the Delaware Regiment 4 6-pounder cannons South Carolina Militia commanded by Brigadier General Andrew Pickens North Carolina Militia Maryland Brigade, commanded by Colonel Otho Holland Williams 1st Maryland Regiment 2nd Maryland Regiment Virginia Brigade, commanded by Brigadier General Isaac Huger 4th Virginia Regiment 5th Virginia Regiment British Commanding Officer, Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger 1st Battalion of De Lancey's Brigade 2nd Battalion of New Jersey Volunteers South