User:Historian 2400/Siege of Savannah

There were many reasons why the British wanted to invade the Southern colonies. Although part of America, the Southern colonies tended to be more sympathetic to the British than to the Americans. The British were hoping that ordinary citizens of the Southern colonies would continue their support of the British army during the southern campaign, as they had in prior years. Moreover, the British were promising that any enslaved African Americans who fought for the British would be given freedom, which helped gain support for the British among southern slaves. Finally, the British wanted to gain control over the South for economic reasons. The South grew many profitable crops, such as rice, indigo, and tobacco. The American revolutionaries were using the money made from those crops to buy military supplies from Europe. Taking over the south would not only isolate New England, but also give the British access to those resources.

When British generals were scouting the coast, they spotted the first French ships sailing to Charleston, South Carolina. However, General Augustin Prevost mistakenly reported that the French ships had disappeared. He did not realize that the ships he saw were the faster ships of a group sent by French general d'Estaing to tell the American army they had arrived in Georgia. Prevost had been previously informed that a French army had arrived in Georgia. However, this information was not backed up by other intelligence. As a result, the British were unprepared for a possible French attack. Most of the British troops were in Beaufort or Sunbury, and fewer men were defending Georgia.