You're listening to an Airwave Media Podcast. Hello and thank you for joining the American Revolution.

This week episode 248 Charleston Falls. In our last episode we left the British having positioned themselves around

Charleston. General Henry Clinton along with General Cornwallis and

Admiral Arbuthnot had positioned their forces all around the city ready by the end of April 1780 to blast the American defenses and take Charleston for the king.

The American commander, General Benjamin Lincoln, remained in Charleston awaiting the British attack.

Lincoln had assigned Lieutenant Colonel William Washington to command the Light Infantry Forces outside of the city

to skirmish with the advancing British and Hessions. Colonel Washington came from Virginia,

a distant cousin of the commander-in-chief.

He had some combat experience, one of the few Americans wounded at Trenton during a daring

cavalry charge.

In 1780, Washington was still in his late 20s. General Lincoln believed

he would serve as an effective commander of the Light Infantry around Charleston. Also outside of Charleston was Brigadier General Isaac Yuge.

Although Yuge was a Continental General, he was given command of about 500 South Carolina militia who had been called up to oppose the British attack.

With these forces, Yuki secured a position at Monks Corner, a crossroad along the Cooper River, a little more than 30 miles north of Charleston.

American Control kept supply lines and communication lines from Charleston open to the north.

But despite the importance of this position,

Ugy found that his militia were woefully inadequate to face any attack.

He reported that two of his companies did not even have muskets.

A third had muskets but no ammunition.

These men were largely untrained and untested in battle.

Yuki put his militia in battle.

Yuki put his militia in reserve on the far bank of the river,

...