In 1780, the British, stalemated in the north and facing pressure from home to end the war, embarked on a plan of action that would come to be known to historians as "The Southern Strategy." They planned to trap George Washington's troops by pushing their troops up from the South while Washington defended himself in the North. The British landed a major expeditionary force south of Charleston, landing on John's Island, moving to James Island, and then besieging Charles Town. General Benjamin Lincoln defended the city during a two-month siege but was forced to surrender almost all the Continental forces in the Carolinas to General Clinton. Henry Middleton, once president of the Continental Congress, was forced to take an oath of allegiance to the Crown as a prisoner.