South Carolina Campaign - Turn 9

We are now on Turn 9 of 12 in the South Carolina Campaign of 1780. On the previous turn, the Rebels inflicted a minor defeat on Lord Rawdon's supply/reinforcement march from Nelson's Ferry to Camden, with Rawdon losing one of his four SPs.

Turn 9 map moves (click to enlarge the view)

British Map Moves - Turn 9

* Lord Rawdon lost 1SP in the action at Westbury Plantation on Turn 8, so he moves his remaining 3SPs to Camden.

* Tarleton returns to Camden with 3SPs

* Camden now has a total of 9SPs, with Lord Rawdon taking command

* Cornwallis moves south through Cheraw and then turns southeast on the road to Kingston, where he believes that Gates might be.

* Garrisons at Fort Granby and Fort Motte abandon their forts and move south to Fort Watson, which now has 3SPs.

* Stewart remains in Charleston with 6SPs

* Maitland remains in Georgetown with 3SPs

* Campbell remains in Savannah, GA with 2SPs

American Map Moves - Turn 9

* Gates remains at Kingston with 4SPs - he is still out of supply and can only move one dot per turn.

* DeKalb remains at the newly captured Fort Granby with 7SPs

* Marion moves south to Nelson's Ferry with 3SPs. This puts Fort Watson out of supply.

* Williams remains in Charlotte with 3SPs

* Sumter remains in Ninety Six with 2SPs

* Augusta, GA garrison has 1SP

* PARTISAN UPRISING! - Andrew Pickens added to the map with 3SPs at the dot between Augusta and Orangeburg. He must remain there for his first turn in the campaign.

Summary Analysis

It would appear that the Americans are reluctant to face the British in any battle against Cornwallis (a wise move it would seem). Thus DeKalb does not move to capture the British supply depot at Camden, because Cornwallis can reach Camden in one turn.

Gates is in trouble at Kingston because he is out of supply and is trapped between the British fort at Georgetown and the approaching army of Cornwallis.

There is a new partisan uprising, adding Andrew Pickens and 3 SPs to the American side. In general, the Americans control most of the back country while the British control the tidewater coastal areas of South Carolina.

There are no battles on Turn 9 so we shall continue on to Turn 10 within the next couple of days.

Campaign Points Summary

The British lead in campaign points with 16 to 15 for the Americans.

Towns Controlled: British (7); Americans (8)
Forts Controlled:  British (1);  Americans (3)
Supply Bases Controlled: British (4); Americans (3)
Captured Leaders  British (1); Americans (1)
Victories  British (3);  Americans (2)
Prisoners Held  British (4); Americans (3)
SPs Lost  British (net minus 4 ); Americans (net minus 5)

Total Campaign Points:  British (16); Americans (15)

Points Analysis: The Americans are benefitting from controlling a large number of towns in the backcountry, which the British have not contested. The Americans also captured the two forts at Ninety Six and Fort Granby, while Fort Motte has been abandoned by the British. These categories help to offset the advantages that the British have in supply bases, victories and prisoners held.

The British will have to pay more attention to controlling more towns over the final three turns or else they could likely lose the campaign. So far, the British have been more concerned about keeping larger armies in the field than they have with controlling towns. The Americans might be less inclined to offer battle to the British as they seem to have a higher probability of losing set piece battles to the redcoats.

One might suspect that the British will start to spread out their forces in order to capture or control more towns and rely less on field victories. The Americans might be wise to avoid battles and focus on controlling towns. This seems to place a greater importance for the British re-establishing control over the forts along the Santee River in central South Carolina and maybe recovering the supply base at Augusta or the fort at Ninety Six.