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Sullivan's Island, Stono Ferry, Charleston, Camden, King's Mountain, Blackstocks, Cowpens — over 200 skirmishes and battles were fought in every corner of South Carolina from 1775 to 1782. Homes divided, families finding themselves on opposite sides of the war, facing one another across the firing line.
Battle scars that lasted for a generation and staggering war debt that threatened economic catastrophe were among the legacy’s of the Revolution in South Carolina. Many people are unaware of the crucial role that the Palmetto State played in the struggle for American independence. None of the colonies suffered more in the conflict than did South Carolina.. Left to her own resources while Washington's army operated elsewhere, the British and Americans battled across the state, causing ruin wherever they went.
When the British attacked Sullivan's Island in 1776, Charleston was America's fourth largest city, and South Carolina was the Crown's richest possession in North America. Seven years and 214 battles later, this state had the highest per capita war debt in America, nearly 5.5 million dollars.
Yet much of the final victory and independence is due to South Carolina. The outgunned patriots at Sullivan's Island provided the first major victory for the American cause in the South, and the daring victory won by backwoodsmen at King's Mountain in York County in 1781 proved to be a turning point for the war. Francis Marion and his partisan band exhausted the British in the lowcountry, where he earned immortal fame as the "Swamp Fox," and Daniel Morgan routed the British at Cowpens, a blow that forced Cornwallis north to Guildford Courthouse, North Carolina, and final defeat at Yorktown, Virginia..
As we prepare to celebrate the victory of the American forces at a fort built only of palmetto logs on this coming Carolina Day, we ask all South Carolinians to remember the heroic sacrifices made by these brave men by joining us in the commemorative activities held in and around Charleston on June 28.
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South Carolina's Revolutionary Heritage |
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