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The American Spirit Is Alive in South Carolina

The American Revolution was won in South Carolina. Over 200 battles were fought in the Palmetto State between 1775 and 1782—more than in any other state. South Carolinians understand this, but these facts are often lost in other places. Many of us are working to rectify this as we celebrate the nation’s Semiquincentennial.

After the American victory at the Battle of Sullivan’s Island on June 28, 1776, it was relatively quiet for a year or so in South Carolina. Focus shifted to Brooklyn, Saratoga, Trenton, and Valley Forge. These battles and stories are known by Americans with even a moderate interest in our early history. 

But there were crucial events going on at the same time in the South; strategies, suffering, defeats, and victories that led to Yorktown. In 1778, the British launched their “Southern Strategy” by capturing Savannah, Georgia. Despite American patriots fighting heroically, the British became stronger and rallied Loyalist support in the region. American and French forces failed to retake Savannah in 1779.

In the spring of 1780, the British laid siege to Charleston, South Carolina, taking over 5,000 prisoners in the jewel of the American South. This largest defeat of American forces in our Revolution devastated patriots.  Out of desperate need for survival, many of them defected to the British due to threats to their families and property. Others held firm but were forced into an underground, covert strategy.

Just three months later, in August 1780, the Battle of Camden dealt our ancestors another bitter blow. Gen. Horatio Gates, the Hero of Saratoga, failed to live up to his reputation that summer in central South Carolina. Without enough provisions on hand, he marched his men through unforgiving terrain and extreme heat.

Accounts exist of the hungry, depleted men........

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