Battle of Fishing Creek

Battle of Fishing Creek
Part of the American Revolutionary War
Lieutenant-Colonel Banastre Tarleton by Sir Joshua Reynolds
Date August 18, 1780 Location Chester County, north of present-day Great Falls, South Carolina 34°38′6″N 80°54′21″W / 34.63500°N 80.90583°W / 34.63500; -80.90583Coordinates: 34°38′6″N 80°54′21″W / 34.63500°N 80.90583°W / 34.63500; -80.90583 Result British victory
Belligerents
United States	Great Britain Loyalists
Commanders and leaders
Thomas Sumter	Banastre Tarleton
Strength
100 regulars 700 militia 2 guns	160 regulars and militia
Casualties and losses
over 150 killed 300 captured	16 killed and wounded

 Great Britain

100 regulars
700 militia

The Battle of Fishing Creek, also called the Battle of Catawba Ford, was an American Revolutionary War battle fought on August 18, 1780, between American and British forces including the 71st Foot. It was fought near the junction of Fishing Creek and the Catawba River in South Carolina. British forces under Banastre Tarleton surprised the militia company of Thomas Sumter, killing a significant number, taking about 300 captives, and very nearly capturing Sumter, who some say was asleep at the time of the attack.

Following the routing of Continental Army forces from South Carolina in the May 1780 Battle of Waxhaws, the British "southern strategy" for reconquering the rebellious United States in the American Revolutionary War appeared to Lord Cornwallis, the British commander in the south, to be going well. British and Loyalist outposts were established throughout South Carolina and Georgia.

In the absence of Continental Army units in South Carolina, militia commanders like Francis Marion, Andrew Pickens, and Thomas Sumter began to form units to contest the British presence. Sumter had been particularly successful in the northern part of the state, making attacks on Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock in early August 1780. In August a new Continental Army threat began to form in North Carolina, as General Horatio Gates began moving a regrouped army formation, accompanied by a large number of militia, south to dispute the British outpost at Camden, South Carolina. Cornwallis moved reinforcements to Camden from Charleston, while Sumter, in some coordination with Gates' movements, harassed British communication and supply lines. The armies of Gates and Cornwallis met north of Camden on August 16, and Gates was decisively routed.

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