From The Waxhaws To The Cowpens: The Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War In Upstate South Carolina 1780 - 1781

Southern Whigs (Patriots) facing British Provincials (Loyalists)
  at the Battle of Kings Mountain -- Saturday, October 7, 1780.

 

From The Waxhaws To The Cowpens 

The Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War
In Upstate South Carolina 1780 - 1781

By: C.W. Roden

This series honoring the 240th anniversary of the American Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign in upstate South Carolina is dedicated to the memory of my friend, Mr. Michael Charles "Mike" Scoggins (1953 - 2019) of the Culture & Heritage Museums of York County (SC), historian and author who provided much of the research for this series. 

When people talk about the American Revolutionary War (1775 - 1783) many Americans today still erroneously believe that it was a largely northern war fought in the north and won by Northern-born patriots and French allies.

The War for American Independence certainly began in the north, and while its true that most of the prominent battles in the early part of the war were fought in New England, New York, New Jersey, and Pennsylvania; its also true that American independence from Great Britain was largely won in battles down here in the American South -- particularly in my home state of South Carolina -- in the years 1780 - 1781.

In many American history books, the battles of the Southern Theater of the war sometimes only read as mere footnotes on the path to the final American victory at the siege of Yorktown, Virginia in October 1781. There is a huge irony to this since nearly all of the American Revolution's southern battlefield sites are protected as national, or state parks, while many of the larger and more famous battlefields of the north like: Bunker and Breed's Hill, Long Island, Harlem Heights, White Plains, Germantown, Trenton, and much of Brandywine, are all chiefly lost to urban growth, or lie largely unprotected. 

Other Revolutionary War sites have been unintentionally obscured by land development, much of this largely due to their owner's lack of awareness of the historical significance of these locations. Here in South Carolina we owe a huge debt to the local chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution (SAR), the Daughters of the American Revolution (DAR) and other local historical societies who placed granite markers on the local sites.

Battlefield tourists visiting the Carolinas and Virginia are very fortunate. Today one can visit every major southern battlefield site from Ninety-Six and Moores Creek, to Camden, Cowpens, Guliford Court House, Hobkirk's Hill, and Yorktown and still see the land much as it was during the late 18th century. Much of this preservation is partially due in large part to the South's traditional respect for its cultural and military historical heritage and its significance.

The first major skirmish of the war fought outside of New England took place in the rugged hills of the South Carolina backcountry on Sunday, November 19, 1775, when the tension between American Loyalist and Patriot militias erupted into three days of indecisive armed conflict at the Cherokee trading town of Ninety Six in modern-day Greenwood County. This would be the beginning of what would be referred to as the Snow Campaign (a reference to the heavy snowfalls that took place during the later half of the campaign).

The result of the Snow Campaign was the first major victory for South Carolina's Patriots at the Battle of Great Cane Break on Friday, December 22, 1775, but the conflict would later foreshadow the partisan militia conflicts that would erupt into an ugly civil war across South Carolina's backcountry later in the war.

The Battle Of Sullivan's Island in Charleston Harbor
on Friday, June 28, 1776.

On Tuesday, March 26, 1776, the South Carolina Provisional Congress in Charleston (then called Charles Town) declared independence and approved its own State constitution. The Provisional Congress renamed itself the South Carolina General Assembly. This made South Carolina one of the first of the former British Colonies to declare itself an independent State. The General Assembly elected John Rutledge as President, Henry Laurens as Vice President, and John Huger as Secretary of State to govern South Carolina and prepare defenses against British attack. 

Eight months after the Snow Campaign, the first major battle of the American Revolution's Southern theater took place at Sullivan's Island near the mouth of Charleston harbor on Friday, June 28, 1776 where a small force of Continental soldiers and South Carolina militia manning a hastily-built shallow fort made of sand, soil and Palmetto logs successfully defended and fought off a large British armada attempting to invade and occupy the city of Charleston.

Less than a week later, the Declaration of Independence would be ratified by the Second Continental Congress in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania on Thursday, July 4, 1776. South Carolina and twelve other American colonies declared themselves free and sovereign independent -- yet United -- States of America, effectively ending over 250 years of rule by the British Crown. 

After the Battle of Sullivan's Island, the war in the Southern Theater largely quieted down, with the exceptions of the capture of and later Siege of Savannah, Georgia and a few other minor skirmishes in the South Carolina low country. For the next four years following Sullivan's Island, the people of South Carolina would be more concerned with border skirmishes with the Cherokee Nation while the British military forces would instead be largely focused on destroying George Washington's Continental Army and other Patriot forces in the rebellious colonies in the north.

 All of that would suddenly change in the year 1780. 

Over the course of a year and a half, between the summer of 1780 till the fall of 1781, over 250 separate battles and skirmishes would be fought in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, more than any other single State in the entire war. Most of these battles would be bitter struggles between small forces of Patriot partisans against British garrisons and Loyalist militia forces, with only a few pitched battles involving Continental units.

Many of the leaders of these partisan bands would become legends in the Carolinas, if not the nation: Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion, Thomas "Gamecock" Sumter, Andrew "Wizard Owl" Pickens, William Richardson Davie, Isaac Shelby, and John Sevier. After the war, grateful citizens would name counties and towns after them.

While many today are somewhat familiar with the guerrilla exploits of the partisan band led by Francis "Swamp Fox" Marion in the South Carolina lowland region, much of the war in the South Carolina back country were fought by leaders whose names were soon forgotten: John McClure, William "Billy" Hill, William Bratton, Andrew Neel, Edward Lacey and Richard Winn.

They led fewer men, participated in seemingly less significant battles, or simply lacked talented storytellers to spread their fame. Yet these Patriot partisan leaders had the same effect as Sumter or Marion, though perhaps on a smaller, though no less important scale.

They kept the Loyalists at bay, disrupted British supply lines, never allowing the invading redcoats the time needed to implement the British southern strategy and bought this new confederation of independent States the time they needed to regroup and fight back.

Growing up in South Carolina's upcountry I was very fortunate indeed to be surrounded by so much Southern and American history -- much of which played a large part in helping to secure the independence of the nation that I live in today. Some of the most significant battles of that Southern campaign took place within 30 to 50 miles of where I live. 

The major role that defiant Scotch-Irish Presbyterian settlers and Southern-born American patriots played in upstate South Carolina in the year between the summer and fall of 1780 keeping the British and Loyalist occupation forces off balance helped turn the tide of the American Revolutionary War from a standstill in the north to the final victory against British invasion and occupation of the thirteen original American States.

In this chronological series, I will share with y'all a series of stories about some of those small but important battles and campaign that took place in the South Carolina upcountry -- particularly in modern-day York, Chester, Lancaster, Kershaw, Fairfield, Union and Cherokee counties -- between the summer and fall of 1780 till the winter of 1781 and their overall significance in the Southern Campaign.

Any factual errors in the telling of these stories is mine alone, though this blogger takes every effort to write the truth and to use all significant details necessary to report what happened. As always if anyone can site an error and provide details backing up their claims, this writer will provide correction and give credit to the person -- or persons -- who offer the correct information.

The following are the chapters detailing the most significant battles and engagements in the area, the links to which will be added as the series continues:

(1) The Massacre At The Waxhaws: The Revolutionary War Arrives In The SC Backcountry -- Monday, May 29, 1780 
(2) Defiance At Alexander's Old Field: The Backcountry Resist The Crown -- Tuesday, June 6, 1780 
(3) The Raid On Mobley's Meeting House: The Loyalists Routed -- Thursday, June 8, 1780 
(4) The Burning Of Justice Gaston's Home: The Loyalists Strike Back -- Sunday, June 11, 1780
(5) The Destruction Of Hill's Ironworks: Huck's Reign Of Terror Continues -- Saturday, June 17, 1780
(6) The Battle Of Williamson Plantation: Huck's Defeat In The Backcountry -- Wednesday, July 12, 1780 
(7) The Battle Of Rocky Mount: Sumter Goes On The Offensive -- Tuesday, August 1, 1780
(8) The Battle Of Hanging Rock: Patriot Victory In Lancaster County -- Sunday, August 6, 1780
(9) The Battle Of Camden: Cornwallis Defeats Gates -- Wednesday, August 16, 1780 
(10) The Battle Of Fishing Creek: "Bloody Ban" Routes Sumter -- Friday, August 18, 1780 
(11) The Battle Of Musgrove's Mill: The Prelude To Kings Mountain -- Saturday, August 19, 1780
(12) The Battle Of Kings Mountain: The Turning Point Of The Southern Campaign -- Saturday, October 7, 1780
(13) The Battle Of Fishdam Ford: Sumter Returns -- Thursday, November 9, 1780
(14) The Battle Of Blackstocks: The Gamecock Routes Tarleton -- Monday, November 20, 1780
(15) The Battle Of Cowpens: Continental Victory In The Backcountry -- Wednesday, January 17, 1781