Skirmish at Hill’s Iron Works

On June 18th, 1780, two men warned the militia of Iron Works, a South Carolina backcountry settlement established by Col. William Hill and Isaac Hayne in anticipation of the war, about an approaching force of hundreds of British dragoons. The British arrived undetected and surprised the militiamen with gunfire. Believing these were the advance guard of a larger force they had been warned about, the militia briefly skirmished before fleeing. Capt. Christian Huck burned Hill’s Iron Works and seized 90 enslaved laborers.