Andrew Davis> The site of one of the American Revolutionary War's longest sieges remains in incredibly pristine condition today!

Adrian Stewart> As far as the American Revolution part of the park goes definitely the "Star Fort" is one of the most important things that we have here.

It is, as far as we know, the only remaining star shaped earthen fort from that time period.

And then as far as we know, Kosciuszko's Tunnel is the only military tunnel from the American Revolution that I believe we ever know of actually being constructed, let alone actually still existing!

The British capture of Charleston, South Carolina, in 1780 kicked off the Southern Campaign of the Revolutionary War.

However, the Palmetto State saw some action before the war officially started.

In the northwest area of South Carolina, Ninety-Six was the site of not one but two battles: one in November, 1775 and then the Siege of Ninety-Six, taking place between May and June, 1781.

Visitors to the Ninety-Six National Historic Site can observe some rather hard to miss features: A siege tower, an unusually shaped roped-off path and a massive star-shaped earthen mound.

These remnants not only serve as testaments to the valor of the Patriots and Loyalists who fought here, but also to a battle of wits between military engineers.

I'm your host, Andrew Davis.

In today's adventure of "Curiosity Trek!

", we are going to connect the dots on these artifacts by taking a trip to the Ninety-Six National Historic Site in Greenwood County, South Carolina.

Greenwood isn't too far from Columbia, only about a 90 minute drive.

Ranger Adrian Stewart joins us to elaborate on the significance of this location's ties to the American Revolution.

Stewart> My name is Adrian Stewart, and I am a park ranger at Ninety-Six National Historic Site.

Davis> Thanks for joining us today, Adrian.

Stewart> Thanks for having me.

Davis> It's a beautiful day out here in Ninety-Six S.C.!

Stewart> It is!

A little windy.

Davis> So what is the significance of the name "Ninety-Six"?

Where did it come from?

Stewart> Yeah, a lot of people ask that.

We don't know for sure.

But the most accepted theory is that people thought it was 96 miles from the Cherokee town of Keowee, that they would have been traveling the trading routes, to get up there.

Davis> After guests pass by some markers commemorating the 1775 Battle of Ninety-Six, the park opens up to reveal the Star Fort, the roped-off path and siege tower, along with a few cannons.

This is where the 1781 siege occurred, one of the longest sieges of the American Revolution.

Around when was the star fort first built?

Stewart> So the Star Fort construction was started in December of 1780, and it was finished in early 1781.

It was designed by Colonel Henry Haldane who was an aide to Cornwallis.

It was built, however, by local enslaved African Americans.

Davis> Why did Colonel Haldane decide on a star-shaped fort instead of a more traditional square shaped one?

Stewart> He decided to go with the especially eight-pointed star shaped fort because it helps to cover larger areas.

and you get some crossfire that you don't get with square forts.

Especially here, you've got a very large area that you're trying to protect.

which really helps with attacks.

The fort was built primarily to protect the town of Ninety-Six as well as the water source, which was Spring Branch.

And then you also had the Island Ford Road, which is running just behind us.

And that is the road that a lot of troops would have taken.

So it provided protection on that road, and kept the enemy from approaching.

So it was only involved in one, we call a siege.

So it's multiple days about 28 days, but it is only one siege.

And then the final attack on June 18th.

In the fort of Ninety-Six on the loyalist side, you have Lieutenant Colonel John Harris Cruger from New York.

And then on the Patriot side, you have General Nathanael Greene from Rhode Island.

All total on the Loyalist side, you're looking at around 500, and then on General Greene's Patriot side when he first gets here, you're looking around a thousand, and then there's another about 500 that join in when Andrew Pickens and "Light Horse Harry" Lee come up from Augusta.

Davis> What factors led to General Nathanael Greene failing to take the fort in the 1781 siege?

Stewart> One of the largest factors is probably just lack of time.

He's really close to actually having a successful siege, but he just runs out of time.

Part of what plays into that is Marion and Sumter and their militias failed to slow down the reinforcements that are coming up from Charleston.

So because of that, Greene is, forced to move quicker.

Also when he first started the siege, he didn't cut off the water supply because he assumed that there was a well in the fort, when in fact, they were getting water from the Spring Branch.

So if he cut off that spring branch supply sooner, especially being May and June when it's hot in South Carolina, they may have had to give up the fort much quicker.

And then also, there's a lack of men.

There were supposed to be reinforcements coming down from Virginia, but Thomas Jefferson countermanded them and sent them elsewhere.

With those four things, it's really a tough spot that Greene is in, but really, I think the lack of time is probably the most critical.

Davis> The appearance of this oddly shaped, roped-off path may confuse some park visitors at first, but this is the location of Polish engineer Thaddeus Kosciuszko's tunnel.

Kosciuszko, General Nathanael Green's engineer devised a plan to blow up the Star Fort from underground.

Stewart> He's actually kind of the first foreign aid to come to America to help.

So he's all over the place making a name for himself as a military engineer.

General Greene relies on him heavily.

It was Kosciuszko's idea from the get-go, it was kind of his goal to dig a tunnel to the point where the chamber was under the walls of the star fort so that they could take gunpowder, pack it in there, seal it off and blow a giant hole in the walls of the fort.

All of Greene's men, at least the thousand that initially were here to start with, were working around the clock either to protect the men digging the trenches and the tunnel, or doing the digging themselves.

They're short of the fort by maybe like 50 yards, maybe not even that 30 yards.

Not extremely far from their goal.

Primarily, it had to do with time.

Always comes down to time.

If you don't have enough time to finish your work, you're not going to succeed.

But there's also a lack of men and supplies Even if he had managed to get to the walls, we're not sure that they would have had enough gunpowder to actually make it work.

But they never had the chance to find out because they never got that far.

Davis> When park guests view Ninety-Six National Historic Site's monuments and artifacts, Ranger Stewart encourages visitors to take to heart the bravery of the men on both sides who fought and died here.

Stewart> As far as the American Revolution part of the park goes definitely the Star Fort is one of the most important things that we have here.

It is, as far as we know, the only remaining star-shaped earthen fort from that time period.

And then, as far as we know, Kosciuszko's Tunnel is the only military tunnel from the American Revolution that I believe we ever know of actually being constructed, let alone actually still existing!

I hope they take away appreciation of the perseverance that the Patriots had.

Especially under the command of General Greene during the Southern Campaign.

They're not normally winning.

But the way Greene goes about conducting himself actually leads to winning in the end.

The end result to win, despite the battles themselves being losses.

On the Loyalist side, it's kind of the same thing.

They persevere.

They're surrounded by the enemy, yet they refuse to give up and hold out.

And they are successful at waiting out the siege.

So definitely perseverance on both sides.

Davis> We hope you enjoyed this tour of the Ninety-Six National Historic Site's hallowed grounds, and the stories it has to tell.

Any history or military enthusiast who would like to check out the park for themselves absolutely should!

I personally recommend going on a day that is not quite so windy...

I'm Andrew Davis.

With all the artifacts the Palmetto State has to offer, where will we go next?