Editing Francis Marion (section)

===Siege of Charleston===

A British force led by Sir [[Henry Clinton (British Army officer, born 1730)|Henry Clinton]] entered South Carolina in the early spring of 1780 and [[Siege of Charleston|laid siege]] to [[Charleston, South Carolina|Charleston]]. Marion was not captured with the rest of the city's garrison when Charleston capitulated on May 12, 1780, as he had broken an [[ankle]] in an accident and had left the city to recuperate. Clinton led part of the force that had captured Charleston back to [[Province of New York|New York]], but a significant number stayed for [[Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War|operations]] under Lord [[Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis|Charles Cornwallis]] in the [[Carolinas]]. After the loss of Charleston and the defeats suffered by [[Isaac Huger]]'s men at the [[Battle of Monck's Corner]] and [[Abraham Buford]]'s troops at the [[Battle of Waxhaws]] (near the [[Province of North Carolina|North Carolina]] border, in what is now [[Lancaster County, South Carolina|Lancaster County]]), Marion organized a small military unit, which at first consisted of between 20 and 70 men and was the only force then opposing the British in the region. At this point, Marion was still hobbling on his slowly healing ankle.<ref name="EB1911"/>