The Battles Of Hanging Rock: Patriot Victory In Lancaster County -- August 6, 1780

The Hanging Rock near Heath Springs, South Carolina, site of
a major Patriot victory in the Southern Campaign of the
American Revolutionary War.

The Battle of Hanging Rock

Patriot Victory In Lancaster County 
Sunday, August 6, 1780

By: C.W. Roden
 

(Part 8 of a 15 part series)

On Saturday, August 5, 1780 following his aborted attempt to capture the British outpost at Rocky Mount, General Thomas Sumter and his backcountry partisans again joined up with Major William Richard Davie and his Whig troops at Land's Ford (Landsford) on the Catawba River to discuss strategy.

Still smarting from his repulse at Rocky Mount, Sumter was determined to strike at one of the British outposts. Both he and Davie weighed the strengths and weaknesses of each. Although the garrison at Rocky Mount was smaller, its defenses were formidable. There were more British and Loyalists at Hanging Rock, but there were largely camped in an open field.   

Because of the initial success that Davie's men had days before, it was decided that the combined Patriot force of just over 600 would attack the British and Loyalists at Hanging Rock.

On the evening of Saturday, August 5th, the force set out under the moonlight across the Catawba River towards Hanging Rock.  

The name Hanging Rock is somewhat misleading. The large boulder doesn't hang, it is firmly planted and is more accurately described as an overhang formed as though a triangular slice had been taken out of the bottom leaving a peaked roof above. The opening is large enough to shelter over 50 men from the elements.

More than 1,400 British troops, including the 500 man Prince of Wales American Volunteer Regiment, a Loyalist unit of the British Army, local Loyalist militia, and some dragoons from the British Legion were stationed there. These forces were under the overall command of Provincial Major John Carden. Colonel Thomas Brown's regiment was also there -- both camped at the center of the line, in and around some houses. The Prince of Wales' American Regiment secured the right side. The left side, separated from the center by some trees, was held by North Carolina Loyalists. Part of this unit had been cut to pieces by Davie's forces days before. The entire front of the camp was covered by an excellent natural defense -- a deep ravine and creek.

The Battle

Sumter halted his men around midnight on Saturday August 5th within two miles of the enemy camp and began marching his men at daylight the next morning. Using the information that Davie had on the layout of the British defenses, he decided on a plan to assault the camp by dividing his command into three columns, each planning to attack the corresponding enemy unit on the left, center, and right. Davie disagreed with the plan, though Sumter's will prevailed.

The attackers had to negotiate Hanging Rock Creek and the steep ravine in order to reach the camp. It could have proven a disaster, however in avoiding enemy pickets, the guides became confused and the entire command struck the Loyalists on the left side of the camp at the weakest sector of the British defenses early in the morning.

Major Richard Winn commanding his Fairfield Regiment and Major Davie's men completely routed Loyalist militia Colonel Samuel Bryan's troops. Captain McCulloch's company of the British Legion, after presenting a volley, was also routed by Sumter's riflemen. These immediately broke and ran to the center, hotly pursued by Patriots. The Legion infantry and some of Colonel Brown's men tried to make a stand, but they were over-run and soon joined the fleeing Loyalists.

Other companies of Colonel Brown's regiment took advantage of the trees between the center and the Loyalist camp and worked around to the flank of the Patriots and offered deadly fire. The Patriot riflemen concentrated on officers and within minutes none were left to give any orders. By this time, many of the Provincials had also fallen and the remainder, being offered quarter, surrendered.

The Prince of Wales Regiment also came under heavy fire and suffered very severe losses. Part of the Prince of Wales Regiment then came up, and having cleverly deployed themselves in some woods, checked the rebel assault with a surprise crossfire. This allowed the Provincials on the right to form a square in the center of the cleared ground, and to further protect themselves with a two three-pound field pieces which had been left by some of Rugeley's Camden militia. 

The Battle of Hanging Rock. Sunday, August 6, 1780.

In the heat of the battle, Major Carden lost his nerve and surrendered his command to one of his junior officers. This was a major turning point for the Americans. At one point, Captain Rousselet of the British Legion Infantry led a bayonet charge that forced many of Sumter's men back. The battle raged for just over three hours without pause, causing many men on both sides to faint from the heat and thirst.

Lack of ammunition made it impossible for Sumter to completely knock out the British. His men were out of range and refused to cross into the line of fire from the cannons. A group of Sumter's Patriots looted the Loyalist camp and came across a storage of rum. Some became so intoxicated they could not be brought back into the battle, to the mortification of Major Davie.

Sumter then decided to withdraw, having received Carden's surrender. He gave orders to look the camps of anything needed, take the paroles of the officers, and then prepare the litters for the wounded. Prisoners were also gathered up.

Under the watchful eyes of the squared Provincials, Sumter's men began a leisurely retreat with their captured prisoners and booty back towards the Catawba River.

At the end, the British Provincials and Loyalists lost an estimated 192 men killed and wounded with 73 taken prisoner. Sumter and Davie's Patriot forces lost around 40 men killed and 41 wounded.


Aftermath

The Battle of Hanging Rock is seen as a victory by the upcountry Patriots, though an indecisive victory because Sumter, Davie and their men withdrew before destroying the entire Loyalist force. 

Marker for the Battle of Hanging Rock at the site
of the battle near Heath Springs, SC.

   
Historian Lyman C. Draper wrote, "Cornwallis was heard to say that no battle fell heavier on the British, considering the numbers engaged, the battle of Bunker Hill excepted."

The Prince of Wales' American Regiment suffered heavy casualties and was no longer considered an effective fighting force, having been virtually wiped out. In addition, Major Carden was disgraced by resigning his command in the heat of battle. The British Legion had sixty-two of their men killed and wounded. Many of the Loyalists militia simply fled from the field. The British prisoners and wounded were taken to Charlotte to keep them out of striking distance of the British Regulars.

Major Davie later wrote that his corps, "suffered much while tying their horses under a heavy fire from the Tories." Also, despite his respect for Major Winn, Davie also vowed he would never serve under the arrogant Thomas Sumter again.

One tragic loss in the battle stands out among others. Major John McClure, the man who led the first act of defiance against the British occupation of the South Carolina upcountry at Alexander's Old Field two months before, was mortally wounded in the battle at Hanging Rock. He was taken to Charlotte, where he died two weeks later and buried in an unknown grave.

Soon General Sumter and his men would be back in the saddle again, this time offering their assistance to the new Southern Continental Army commanded by General Horatio Gates as they marched from North Carolina towards the British post at Camden, South Carolina in their ill-fated campaign to liberate South Carolina which we will be covered in greater detail in the next chapter of this series.
 

SC highway marker to the Battle of Hanging Rock on August 1/6,
1780. The marker is located on the intersection of SC Hwy 15 and
US Hwy 521 in the town of Heath Springs in Lancaster County.

For more information about the Battle of Rocky Mount and its significance to American history please consult the following sources that were used to help with this blog post:

 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar (2001) ISBN 0-308-97760-5
South Carolina's Revolutionary War Battlefields: A Tour Guide by R.L. Barbour (2002) ISBN 1-58980-008-7

Monday Meme: No Intelligent Life Here

The Battle of Rocky Mount: Sumter Goes On The Offensive -- August 1, 1780

A simple granite marker on the spot where the
British outpost at Rocky Mount sat in 1780-81
marks the site of the battle of Rocky Mount on
Thursday, August 1, 1780.
The marker is located on SR 20 2.4 miles from
HWY 21 in Fairfield County, just south of the
town of Great Falls, SC.

 
The Battle Of Rocky Mount

Sumter Goes On The Offensive

Tuesday, August 1, 1780

By: C.W. Roden 

(Part 7 or a 15 part series) 

In the aftermath of Huck's Defeat at Williamson Plantation, General Thomas Sumter received word from his camp at Old Nations Ford near Charlotte, North Carolina that Major General Horatio Gates "The Hero of Saratoga" had arrived in North Carolina, and assumed command of the Southern Department from Major General Johann de Kalb. Gate's Southern Army now consisted of around 1,200 Maryland and Delaware Continentals, 120 dragoons, and three artillery companies.

Intelligence gathered by Sumter's partisans showed that the British army stationed at Camden has only around 700 soldiers. Gates would soon begin a campaign to invader and take back the State of South Carolina from the British occupation.

Sumter, now with a brigade of around 600 Patriot militia under his command, was eager to start his own campaign to drive the British and Loyalist forces from their northern outposts at Rocky Mount and Hanging Rock.

Sumter's forces consisted of the militia from the upper Broad and Catawba River district (Chester County) were commanded by now Colonel John McClure, while Colonels Andrew Neel and William "Billy" Hill commanded the reconstituted New Acquisitions District (York County). Colonel William Bratton now commanded a smaller battalion of volunteers formed from the congregations of Bethesda, Beersheba, and Bullock's Creek churches. Also joining Sumter's forces were 35 Catawba Indians led by General New River, with General Billy Ayers and Major Jacob Ayers. 

Sumter had learned from a spy that the defenses might be susceptible to small arms fire, a clear benefit since Sumter lacked any sort of field artillery. While the latter was certainly true, the former it turned out was misinformation and the spy might well have been a double-agent working for the British commander of Rocky Mount, Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull of the New York Volunteers.

On Friday, July 28th, he broke camp and moved his brigade down to Land's Ford (now Landsford Canal State Park) an important crossing on the Catawba River between modern-day Chester and Lancaster Counties, where he was joined by Major William Richardson Davie and his dragoons, along with additional militia from Mecklenburg, Rowan, and the Waxhaws at their camp at Waxhaw Presbyterian Meeting House.

Y'all might recall the two months before Virginia Continental soldiers wounded during the Battle of the Waxhaws (Buford's Massacre) were brought to Waxhaw Presbyterian Meeting House where some died and are still buried in the historic cemetery on the site of the modern-day Historic Waxhaw Presbyterian Church.

Born into a Scottish family in Cumberland, England, William Richardson Davie emigrated with his family to America and grew up from age five in South Carolina. Because he carried out his civil and political life in North Carolina and later in life retired to Lands Ford (Landsford) on the Catawba River in South Carolina, Davie is claimed by both States. Among other achievements after the war, Davie would become governor of North Carolina and the founder of the University of North Carolina.

During the summer and fall of 1780, Davie used his own funds to raise and equip his own force of cavalry and mounted infantry. Noted for his dash and courage, as well as his excellent swordsmanship, by the end of the war Davie was reputed to have killed with his own saber more of the enemy than any other officer in the American army.

Also among Major Davie's militia was 13-year-old boy Andrew Jackson, the future 7th President of the United States of America and resident from the Waxhaws who'd previously witnessed the bloody results of Buford's Massacre. Jackson served as a courier for Davie's militia and often had to deliver dispatches through hostile backcountry territory in the summer and fall of 1780.

There along the banks of the Catawba River on the afternoon of July 30th, Sumter made the plans for the campaign. His forces would attack the Rocky Mount outpost, while Davie's militia would move towards Hanging Rock and later be joined by Sumter once Rocky Mount was secure. 


The Battle

Rocky Mount itself sat on a hill overlooking the Catawba River and consisted of three logs buildings surrounded by wooden and earthen abatis as fortification against attacks. The buildings themselves were wooden clapboard siding on the outside, but another wall had been built on the inside to fortify them better against rifle fire.

Since learning the news of Huck's defeat, Colonel Turnbull predicted that the rebels would soon pay him a visit and made efforts to strengthen his defenses against an attack by Patriot militia. He had in his garrison about 150 British Provincials, including the remaining members of Huck's unit of the British Legion cavalry and New York Volunteers that escaped the disaster at Williamson Plantation, along with some local Loyalist militia that he no longer held any confidence in. He also sent a messenger to Camden requesting reinforcements.

Sumter's force of 600 Patriot militia arrived at Rocky Mount early on the morning on August 1st. Major Richard Winn, with his Fairfield Regiment leading Sumter’s advance, first ran off 100 Loyalists camped outside the fort, many leaving their horses which were captured by the Patriots.

Believing that the intelligence he received that the wooden buildings of Rocky Mount were of flimsy construction Sumter ordered a bold frontal attack. Sumter's force had no cannons, and attempted to penetrate the abatis and the buildings with rifle fire. 

Colonel William Hill later wrote: "This was made under the impression that the enemy was in a large framed house; the walls of which were only thin clapboards, and we supposed that our balls have the desired effect by shooting through the wall…but the enemy…had placed small logs about a foot from the inside of the wall and rammed the cavity with clay…we injure them in no way, but by shooting in their port holes."

With their riflemen providing cover, the patriots under Lieutenant Colonel Andrew Neel charged twice more towards the fortifications with the intent to cut through the abatis. What brief success came with breaking through the tangled obstructions came at a price as Neal, two militiamen, and their Catawba Indian guide were killed. Neel was shot through the hip and fell from his horse dying close to the Loyalist position.

Planning to continue his assault, Sumter sent a message off asking for Turnball’s surrender of the fort. The shooting ceased for an hour before Turnball rejected Sumter’s request by stating, "Duty and inclination induce me to defend this place to the last extremity."

Over the next eight hours, there were several repeated attempts by the Patriots to break through the abatis, or destroy the buildings. Sumter found to his dismay that the intelligence about the strength of the fort was wrong.

A final plan was hatched where two men would cross over open ground under cover fire from their comrades, get behind a large rock near the buildings and attempt to set the buildings on fire with torches and smoke out the Loyalists.

Colonel William Hill himself volunteered for the desperate venture along with a young soldier, Sergeant Jemmy Johnson. Hill and Johnson raced the 100 yards of open ground to the bolder under intense fire from the three houses. Before they could ignite and hurl their firebrands, the Loyalists rushed out of the house and drove the two men back to the Partisan lines with their bayonets. The two volunteers tried again, this time protected by a heavy covering fire from an advanced screen of riflemen. The two men again reached the rock, lit the brands, then threw them onto the shingles of the smaller log house.

The plan seemed to work, despite Johnson being seriously wounded in the action. The roof of the smaller house began to smoke, and then a small blaze began. However one of the South's infamous summer downpours occurred shortly afterwards and extinguished the fire before it could do serious damage.

Completely frustrated in his failure to storm the post, Sumter was then forced to accept defeat and ordered his men to withdraw, suffering eight dead and several wounded. After leaving Rocky Mount, Sumter moved his men back to Lands Ford and his planned rejoining with Davie's forces.

Richard Winn wrote that on Wednesday, August 2nd the Rocky Mount garrison was reinforced with "eight hundred men and two field pieces." These troops were the Prince of Wales American Regiment, a Loyalist Provincial force under the command of Major John Carden, which had marched from the British base at Camden to reinforce Hanging Rock. 


The Hanging Of William Stroud Jr.

Sumter was unable to move his campsite until Thursday, August 3rd, due to the high water at Rocky Creek caused by all the rain. At 11 o’clock in the afternoon Sumter crossed the creek with his force, and halted. The partisans "turned out their horses and scattered about in search of roasting ears and green peaches." This was all the men had to eat at the time.

While they were searching for food an alarm was sounded that Carden’s force was less than a mile away, and they had two pieces of artillery. Carden had stopped at Rocky Mount prior to continuing his march to Hanging Rock. Sumter was caught in the open and decided wisely not to fight the Loyalists.

He ordered Major Winn to take 100 men and delay Carden until they could all withdraw. Winn sent two men ahead, while he gathered the first 100 men who reached their horses. The two men that Winn sent ahead was a Captain Coleman from Georgia, and young William Stroud Jr. of Chester County. These two men ventured too close to the British and were captured. The Loyalists had them striped naked and immediately hung by the side of the road.

According to oral history, Stroud's body was left to hang for six weeks as travelers rode by as a warning. His mother Sarah Stroud, sister Nancy Morris, and Captain Edward Lacey, later cut him down and buried him beneath the tree from which he was hung on a dark, moonless night.

Granite marker honoring the memory of young
William Stroud Jr., a sharpshooter in Colonel Edward
Lacey’s Rocky Creek Militia, hanged on
Thursday, August 3, 1780 about two miles
from Hanging Rock battlefield. 

The two sides exchanged long-range fire, but did not get close enough to become engaged in a major skirmish. Major Carden did not anticipate finding hundreds of mounted partisans, and withdrew down the road back to Rocky Mount. Winn pursued them at a distance, but broke off as they neared Rocky Mount. The day after the skirmish Colonel Hawthorne was sent under a flag of truce to bury Colonel Neel.


Diversionary Engagement At Hanging Rock

At the same time as Sumter's assault on Rocky Mount, Major Davie with his force of less than 100 mounted infantry and dragoons planned a diversionary attack 15 miles east at Hanging Rock.

Davie knew his force was too small to take on the and British Provincials and Loyalist militia at the post, but he did find three companies of North Carolina Loyalists under Colonel Samuel Bryan at a farmhouse some distance from, but still in view of, the main camp at Hanging Rock.

Taking advantage of the fact the neither the Patriot or Loyalist militia wore uniforms, only their common farmer and civilian attire, Davie sent half of his men past the sentries and the house. They were not stopped, or even questioned at all. They rode unchallenged past the Loyalist sentinels, dismounted in a lane near the buildings, and opened fire. The other half waited until their comrades opened fire, catching the surprised Loyalists in a deadly crossfire.

The Loyalists fled toward the other end of the lane, but Major Davie had sent his dragoons on a circular path through the woods in anticipation. Cut off at both ends, the Loyalists tried the middle, but Major Davie also predicted that move and sent a small number of dragoons to close that escape route.

The Loyalists were cut to pieces within sight of their companions in the main camp. Before the main Tory force could be organized, Major Davie's troops remounted and withdrew from the scene back towards Lands Ford. Loyalist casualties are not recorded. Major Davie did not lose a man.


Aftermath

The final toll of the battle and subsequent skirmishes were twelve Patriots and twenty Loyalists killed and wounded -- all Americans as was the tragedy of the bloody civil war in the South Carolina backcountry in that dreadful summer and autumn of 1780.

The failed attack on Rocky Mount cost the backcountry Patriot militia one of their best militia commanders in Colonel Andrew Neel, though the destruction against the Loyalists inflicted by Davie near Hanging Rock made up somewhat for the loss.

Sumter was now moving to join up with Davie a few days later and their combined strength would be enough to take on the main British forces at Hanging Rock on Sunday, August 6, 1780, which will be explored in the next chapter in this series.

Colonel Andrew Neel is buried with his two brothers and father
at the Historic Bethel Presbyterian Church Cemetery in York County,
South Carolina -- all died in service during the
American Revolutionary War's Southern Campaign.

 

For more information about the Battle of Rocky Mount and its significance to American history please consult the following sources that were used to help with this blog post:

The outstanding books: The Day It Rained Militia by Michael C. Scoggins (2005) ISBN 1-59629-015-3

 Partisans & Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned The Tide of the American Revolution by Walter Edgar (2001) ISBN 0-308-97760-5
South Carolina's Revolutionary War Battlefields: A Tour Guide by R.L. Barbour (2002) ISBN 1-58980-008-7

Monday Meme: Too Tired To Adult

Night Sky Photography -- 07-21-2025 -- The Moon & Venus With Taurus The Bull Before Sunrise

About 90 minutes before sunrise this morning, I was able to capture this outstanding shot of the moon and Venus rising in the east with all the major stars of the Constellation Taurus The Bull -- including all the stars of the Hyades Star Cluster and the nearby Pleiades high overhead. I also managed to capture the nearby bright star Capella, which is the major star of the Constellation Auriga The Charioteer.

Venus is inside Taurus and will be for the rest of July. The bright red star, Aldebaran -- the Eye of the Bull -- can be seen next to Venus and marks the arrow-shaped Hyades Star Cluster.

Monday Meme: Summer Here In The Carolinas

Night Sky Photography -- 07-20-2025 -- Luna Occultation Of The Pleiades Star Cluster

Early this morning, about an hour before sunrise here in South Carolina, I set up my camera and tripod and captured these outstanding shots of the Waning Crescent Moon with Venus rising in the eastern sky just 45 minutes ahead of the Sun.

The first photo is a really beautiful shot of Luna overhead with bright, beautiful Venus between the branches of the trees. Venus is currently inside the Constellation Taurus The Bull.

The planet Uranus is also currently close to Luna in the moon's orbit as seen from here on the Earth. Uranus is too far away to be visible in the shot -- about 1.86 billion miles (or 3 billion kilometers, or 19 astronomical units (AU) away -- but I labeled the current location of the 7th planet of our Solar System where it could be seen with a good telescope.

When I downloaded the photos to edit and label them, I noticed that I'd also captured the bright star Aldebaran -- the Eye of the Bull -- clearly visible through the leaves of the trees. In my second photo I captured a close-up of Venus and saw that Aldebaran was visible in that one as well.

The main event, the reason that I was up so early, was to capture the moon as it passed in front of the Pleiades Star Cluster (or "Seven Sisters") in its orbit around the Earth. I perfectly captured the moment when Luna was almost dead center in its occulation with the Seven Sisters catching all of the major stars of the cluster, except for Maia which is hidden by the moon. 

Finally, this morning at around 10 a.m. EDT Luna reached perigee -- the moon's closest point to Earth in its elliptical orbit -- at approximately 228,690 miles (or 368,041 km) away.

Tomorrow at about the same time, Luna will move lower towards the east and the sunrise between Venus and Aldebaran in the morning sky. If clear skies permit I will try and capture a good photo of that celestial event as well. Till then keep your eyes to the skies, y'all!

Northern Cardinals And Other Beautiful North American Backyard Birds

Today, I bring y'all some more photos of the awesome North American birds native to my little corner of Dixie that are visiting my back yard feeders this summer.

The majority of the following photos are the male and female Northern Cardinals (Cardinalis cardinalis), the rest of these beautiful backyard beauties also include: Carolina Chickadees (Poecile carolinensis), Northern Mockingbirds (Mimus polyglottos), House Finches (Haemorhous mexicanus), Mourning Doves (Zenaida macroura), Brown Thrashers (Toxostoma rufum), and the Tufted Titmouse (Baeolophus bicolor) seen in the title photo. 

I hope y'all enjoyed my photographs of these amazing creatures. I'm hoping to capture some more shots over the remaining summer months. Till next time y'all have a wonderful Dixie day, ya hear.