South Carolina In The War

1767

Sometimes called the First World War because battles were fought on multiple continents, the conflict in the American colonies was known as the French and Indian War and sometimes simply the Cherokee Wars. The main conflicts in SC occurred in 1759-1761. South Carolina militia and provincial officers gained military experience that they would soon use again.

November 1763

John Stuart, British Superintendent of Indian Affairs, negotiated this treaty between governors from southern colonies and native people from the Cherokee, Creek, Catawba, Chickasaw, and Choctaw Nations. The treaty defined a southern boundary with the Cherokee and established a 225-square mile reservation for the Catawbas in present-day York County. This and subsequent treaties such as the Treaty of Hard Labor Creek failed to keep European settlers from encroaching on Indian lands.

1765

Greatly in debt after the Seven Year’s War, the British Empire sought to raise revenue with the Stamp Act, which called for a tax on all paper documents, playing cards, etc. South Carolina Patriots forced British to remove stamps from Fort Johnson in Charleston harbor.

After the Stamp Act was repealed, British government tried again to cover their cost of “protecting” the colonies with a series of duty fees. Under the mercantile system, colonies were “required” to buy goods only from the mother country.  Boycotting British goods became a symbol of defiance for the colonialist. Wearing “Made in the USA” cloth would later become a symbol of patriotism.

December 8, 1769

An eleventh hour compromise passed South Carolina Commons House to pay $1500 towards debts owed by British journalist and radical politician John Wilkes. This would become known as the Wilkes Fund Controversy and bring to the British government’s attention that the South Carolina Commons House was issuing money from the South Carolina Treasury and repaying it with the next year’s taxes to avoid having to get the British Governor’s approval.

March 5, 1770 

Anti-British mob attacked guard at the Custom House on King Street. The encounter quickly escalated into a riot with British soldiers killing five colonists including Crispus Attucks, who would become lauded as the first African American Patriot.

April 14, 1770

Britain’s Whitehall responded to the Wilkes Scandal with a special instruction forbidding the South Carolina Treasury to issue any money without the governor’s signature. The House refused to comply. British Government in SC came to a halt.

December 3, 1773

A mass meeting in South Carolina agreed to boycott the new Tea Act, which gave a monopoly on tea to the East India Company. This meeting would lay the groundwork for independent government in South Carolina.

December 16, 1773

This unique protest of the Tea Act, which saw thousands of pounds of tea dumped into the Boston Harbor, inspired similar events including in South Carolina.

May-June, 1774

These punitive laws were passed against Massachusetts following the Boston Tea Party. Patriots called for general meetings in all the colonies.

July 6, 1774 

A general meeting in Charleston selected five delegates to the First Continental Congress and created the Committee of 99. This Committee became the de facto government in South Carolina. The South Carolina Commons House members supported these actions and appropriated funds for the congressional delegation.

November 6, 1774

William Henry Drayton, while serving as Judge, travels to South Carolina districts asking each Grand Jury to declare their list of grievances with the British Government. Camden District is the first to sign a Resolves, soon followed by Cheraw and other districts. While not specifying independency, these Resolves, which were printed in the newspaper with the signers’ names, were a bold step.

April 19, 1775 

Hundreds of British soldiers marched from Boston to nearby Concord to seize an arms cache. Paul Revere and others made their famous rides. Confrontation on the Lexington green was the beginning of the shooting war. The Colonial militia chased the British all the way back to Boston.

April 21, 1775

Following the actions at Lexington and Concord, the South Carolina Secret Committee began capturing British arms starting with those stored in the State House in Charleston. Magazines at Fort Johnson, Hobcaw and Robert Cochran’s on Charlestown Neck soon followed.

July 9, 1775

While not as bloody this time, near Bloody Point on Daufuskie Island, Patriots took the HMS Phillippa without injury in this early naval engagement. The Council of Safety had received word that the ship was loaded with munitions bound for Savannah.

July 12, 1775

In a continued effort to capture munitions, the Council of Safety sent Major James Mayson to capture this fort on the Savannah River. British Capt. George Whitefield surrendered without bloodshed.

August – November 1775

Armed Loyalists (Tory) bands assembled under Patrick and Richard Cunningham, Thomas Fletchall, Moses Kirkland and Thomas Brown.  Henry Drayton led a group also including Misters Tennent, Hart, Richardson and Kershaw into the South Carolina Backcountry to rally Patriots and mitigate tensions with Loyalists. However, the British and Loyalists attacks would later turn out to be the best recruiter for the Patriots.

August 23, 1775

King George III rejected the Continental Congress’s petition and declared the colonies in open rebellion.

November 19-21, 1775

Whigs and Tories engaged in a battle on the South Carolina frontier at the Star Fort in Ninety-Six, South Carolina. Patriot Colonel Richard Richardson raised over 4,000 militiamen to subdue Loyalists in what became known as the Snow Campaign.

March 26, 1776

South Carolina’s Provincial Congress adopted its own plan of government on March 26, 1776 — more than three months before the signing of the Declaration of Independence. The agreement was designed to last until conflicts with the British ended.

June 28, 1776

British Major General Sir Henry Clinton and Commodore Sir Peter Parker attempted to capture Charleston (then the richest city in the US). Patriots repelled the British at the Battle of Fort Sullivan (later renamed Fort Moultrie for the Patriot commander who led the defense). South Carolina’s state flag would later be adopted from Moultrie’s flag, which included a crescent. A palmetto tree was added to the state flag to symbolize the British cannonballs being absorbed by the Palmetto logs used to construct Fort Sullivan.

July 4, 1776

A pivotal moment in world history, marking the formal declaration of the American colonies’ intent to separate from British rule and establish themselves as independent states.

July, 1776 

Fed by long held rivalries, SC’s Native Americans split their loyalties. The Cherokee once again sided with the British and Loyalists (Tory).  The Catawba sided with the Patriots (Partisans/Whigs). In response to Tory and Cherokee attacks in the Backcountry, Andrew Williamson led Partisan militia against the Cherokee, destroying most of their towns east of the mountains.

May 20, 1777

The Overhill Cherokee sued for peace and were forced to sign over land east of the Blue Ridge Mountains.

December 29, 1778

In 1778, the British decided to refocus their efforts on the southern colonies. Not only was Savannah an important strategic port, they believed the crown could benefit from the support of a large Loyalist population. Despite Franco-American coordination, allied forces lost about 1,000 men compared to 150 for the British. Savannah remained under British control.

The militia law was revised so that one-third of the militia could be slaves (only in support roles). Famously, John Laurens advocated for Patriot service as a path to freedom for slaves, but this struck fear in many white South Carolinians as African Americans well outnumbered them, particularly at the coast. Feeding on this fear, the British would offer freedom for military service and would use African Americans not only as engineers (labor constructing siege trenches, river pilots, etc.) but would later create the Carolina Corp of British Black Dragoons. After the war, the Carolina Corps would serve in the Caribbean and inspire the West India Regiments of the British Army, which were not disbanded until the 20^th century. On the Patriot side, there were black soldiers in Francis Marion’s partisan band and in militia units fighting in all the major battles in South Carolina, including King’s Mountain and Cowpens.

December 26, 1779

Sir Henry Clinton and Lord Cornwallis sailed from New York with 8,000 men to launch the Southern Campaign, a British strategy to call upon Southern Loyalists to quickly gain control of the Southern colonies and restrict resources and support from reaching the North.

April 1 – May 12, 1780

Under the direction of Sir Henry Clinton, the British trekked across swamps and crossed several rivers to quickly shut off the peninsula. After a brief siege, Charleston fell to British control.

June 1780 to September 8, 1781

Thomas Sumter (the “Gamecock”), Francis Marion (the “Swamp Fox”), Andrew Pickens (the “Wizard Owl”) and others rallied local militia for battles and skirmishes and used guerrilla tactics to disrupt British supply lines and communication.

May 29, 1780

After taking Charleston, the British, now under the command of General Cornwallis, quickly worked to establish a defensive line. They marched toward Camden and the area known as the Waxhaws (present-day York and Lancaster). The Battle of the Waxhaws was a British victory, but the events of that battle would become a rallying cry for the Patriots. British Dragoon officer Banastre Tarleton had already garnered a reputation for not offering quarter during a bloody skirmish at Monck’s Corner. That reputation would be solidified by what would become known as Buford’s Massacre. The cries of ‘Buford’s Revenge’ and ‘Tarleton’s Quarter’ would haunt the British troops for the rest of the wear.

July 1780

Scotch-Irish backcountry settlers helped turn the tide for the Patriots at Williamson’s Plantation.

August 15-16, 1780

Cornwallis and General Horatio Gates clashed north of Camden, resulting in a crushing British victory. Gates fled with the remaining Continentals to North Carolina, where he awaited his replacement.

October 7, 1780 

Britain’s Major Patrick Ferguson and his Loyalist militia were ordered by Cornwallis to sweep west, resulting in a clash with South Carolina militia and frontiersmen from Tennessee, North Carolina and Virginia, known as the “Overmountain Men”. Symbolic of the southern campaign where militias were used on both sides, the only British national at the battle was Major Ferguson, who would be killed in action. This major Partisan victory was a turning point in the war in the South. Forced to abandon his North Carolina campaign, Cornwallis returned to SC.

January 16, 1781 

Understanding how to use militia to draw the British into the fray, Daniel Morgan led the Patriots to victory against the vilified but often victorious Tarleton, British regulars, and Tory militia. This British defeat is cited as a major turning point in the war.

January to March 1781

Greene steadily withdrew north, going as far as to cross the Dan River at the North Carolina and Virginia border, Greene’s maneuvering wore down the British troops. Cornwallis even ordered the burning of his baggage and extra supplies in an attempt to catch Greene and corner him into a battle.

March 15, 1781 

Patriots under Greene lost the battle, but Cornwallis and the British troops were decimated. They retreated to Wilmington, NC and Cornwallis set his sights on Virginia and one battle to win it all.

April 25, 1781

Greene once again grasped victory from defeat. The British won the field but would soon evacuate Camden for Charleston.

May 22 – June 18, 1781

This would become the longest siege of the war. The British were able to lift the siege thanks to reinforcements from Charleston, but once again retreated when they were unable to maintain their ground.

October 19, 1781

While Yorktown was the last major battle of the war, South Carolina faced fourteen additional months of bloody conflict before the British finally departed.

December 14, 1782

British loyalists, including former slaves who had joined the British cause, scrambled to evacuate, many initially ending up in Nova Scotia.

September 3, 1783 

This treaty formally ended the American Revolutionary War as the British recognized the independence of the thirteen colonies. Many of the same points of contention would boil over again as the British and United States battled in the War of 1812.