South Carolina offers so much to the beginner and seasoned traveler of life. One can start the morning off with a sunrise on one of our wonderful beaches, walk along the riverwalk in the capital city at lunchtime, and then catch the sunset in the mountains to complete the day. But the streets and towns have a deeper story to tell and weave a tapestry of history for freedom loving people everywhere.
To the casual observer county, city, and street names are nothing more than markers for the GPS to route the car from point to point. However, for the more intrepid explorer, they are waypoints of our story as South Carolinians.
As we approach the 250th anniversary of our independence as a country, these waypoints have special significance. They illuminate the rich history the Palmetto State played in the formation of the United States of America and how the world understands freedom. The heroic nature in all of us will find affirmation in the story of our state.
South Carolina is filled with heroic stories that reach back to our founding in 1670. Three of our most prominent Revolutionary War heroes of the state are Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens. Their county namesakes are connected to the general regions associated with their exploits. Each had a unique story and all championed independence from Great Britain during that pivotal conflict.
Francis Marion was born in Berkeley County, South Carolina in 1732 and is considered a true son of the Palmetto State. His father, Gabriel, emigrated from France to South Carolina. Gabriel Marion reportedly was fleeing the crackdown on those of the Huguenot faith by French King Louis XIV. The French royal had revoked the Edict of Nantes that granted freedom of worship to the Huguenots. The Huguenots were Protestant Calvinists who had been living in an uneasy peace with predominantly Roman Catholics in France. South Carolina was a sanctuary for their faith.
At the age of fifteen, the young Francis Marion went to work on a merchant ship. However, disaster struck and he became shipwrecked at sea for a week. He returned home to help manage the farm.
In 1756, he became active in the local St. Johns Parish militia and served in the war between South Carolina and the Cherokee (1759-1761). His service took him into the mountains far beyond the swamps and rivers of his youth.
During the Revolutionary War, Marion became a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army. When Charleston fell in May 1780, he fled to North Carolina with a handful of men and boys. They linked up with Continental General Horatio Gates, who sent Marion and his band behind enemy lines to wage a partisan war with local militia against the British.
At a time when he and his men were one of the only forces opposing the British in South Carolina, he gathered intelligence on enemy movements throughout the state. His network of spies and informants were made up of American sympathizers from Georgetown, the banks of the Pee Dee River, and beyond. He helped supply valuable information to Continental forces under Generals Gates and Nathanael Greene.
Marion fought throughout the conflict. He and/or his men participated in well over 40 battles and skirmishes. He was promoted to brigadier general in the South Carolina militia because of his professional leadership. Marion’s stature and fame rose from his actions at Fort Sullivan, Fort Motte, the Great Savannah, the Blue Savannah, Parker’s Ferry, Tearcoat Swamp, Eutaw Springs, and other battles.
Famed British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton was sent to capture Marion, but is said to have only seen him twice. Tarleton would later call Marion a fox, and legend bestowed upon him the name “Swamp Fox.”
Marion’s success behind enemy lines cemented his legacy in the minds of freedom loving Patriots of the new nation. A ceremony honoring his life is held annually on February 27th at the Belle Isle cemetery outside of Pineville, South Carolina.
Thomas Sumter was born on August 14, 1734 and spent his childhood on Preddy’s Creek in Louisa County, Virginia. His father may have been an indentured servant.
William Martin, a childhood associate of General Sumter, would say that Thomas “seems as if he felt mortified at the idea of his low birth (his father being a miller, and his mother a mid-wife) and that he wished everything connected with his early life be forgotten.”
Sumter would play a role in the capture of Fort Pitt in the French and Indian War. At the conclusion of that conflict, Sumter would embark on another journey as an escort of Cherokee chiefs to London, England. When he returned, he found himself in some financial trouble while waiting to be paid by the Royal government. He would end up settling near the Eutaw Springs in South Carolina.
He became a merchant and sought to move up in social standing in his new colony. He married Mary Cantey and increased his property. He was a planter, a trader and even a ferry operator. He made business and social connections that would turn into political collateral later. He was elected as a delegate to the first Provincial Congress in December, 1774 for the District Eastward of Wateree River.
After the fall of Charleston in May of 1780, the British burned the future General out of his home just northeast of Sumter, South Carolina. At the time he had resigned his commission as a Continental officer. Left homeless with his physically challenged wife and young son, he made the decision to return to the fight at the age of 46.
Sumter’s men operated primarily in the middle portion of the state, from present-day York county to Orangeburg. At a time when there was no unified force to oppose the British invasion, he and/or his men gave battle to them at Williamson Plantation, Rocky Mount, Hanging Rock, Cary’s Fort, Fishing Creek, Kings Mountain, Fishdam Ford, and Blackstock’s. They killed, captured, or defeated British Captain Christian Huck, North Carolina Loyalist Colonel Samuel Bryan, Loyalist Lieutenant Colonel James Cary, British Major Patrick Ferguson, British Cavalry Major James Wemyss and British Legion Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton.
General Sumter continued his war efforts despite being wounded twice. He would help supply the war effort with intel and provisions, even when he was not in the field fighting. However, his preference of independent command often put him at odds with American General Nathaniel Greene.
After the war he was an advocate for the Bill of Rights and sought to include them in the United States Constitution. He served the citizens of South Carolina for five terms in the House of Representatives in Washington, DC. He also was elected to the United States Senate and served till 1810.
His gravesite can be found in Stateburg, South Carolina in the old family cemetery. The small park, situated in what was called the High Hills of the Santee, continues to be a reverent reminder of his heroic work for freedom.
Andrew Pickens Jr. was born on September 19, 1739 in Paxtang Township, Pennsylvania. His family would move the next year to Augusta County, Virginia as part of the Scotch-Irish migration southward in the new world. Andrew’s father and uncles became leading men in their communities, becoming Justices of the Peace in that Shenandoah Valley county.
The Scotch-Irish history of oppression by the British toward their Presbyterian beliefs served to bind the Pickens family together. As they moved from Pennsylvania, through Virginia, and into the Waxhaws of the Carolinas, Andrew Jr. grew up in this culture of theology and history.
Their Calvinists beliefs also put them at odds against the British monarchy. He very much adhered to the teachings of faith and a desire for independence.
Andrew Pickens, Jr. was a Lieutenant in the Ninety-Six militia in 1761 and fought with Henry Laurens against the Cherokee. He would marry Becky Calhoun in March of 1765 and move to the Long Canes community, in present-day Abbeville, South Carolina.
During the American Revolutionary War, Andrew Pickens was a favored Captain of Major Andrew Williamson. As a colonel he led a force to victory at the Battle of Kettle Creek, Georgia in 1779. When Charlestown fell in May of 1780, he begrudgingly took the British parole at the suggestion of, then, General Williamson.
When his farm was burned in late 1780 he considered the terms of his parole to have been violated by the enemy. He informed the British of his return to the field. Promoted to Brigadier General, he continued to be a stalwart of the backcountry efforts to defeat the British. He would fight at Cowpens, the Battle of Haw River, the Siege of Augusta, the Siege of Ninety-Six, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs.
After the war he represented South Carolina in politics on a number of levels. He settled in the South Carolina Tamassee Valley where his famous “Ring Fight” had occurred. He was called the “Wizard Owl” by the Cherokee and the “Fighting Elder” by his peers. He is buried in the cemetery of the Old Stone Church in Clemson, South Carolina.
These three heroic men of South Carolina stood in the breach when all seemed lost in the fight for our country’s independence. The Palmetto State has memorialized these men, and many others, in the names attributed to roads, towns, and counties. From Marion county in the swamps of the coastal region, to Sumter County in the midlands, and Pickens County in the upstate, these men are rightfully honored.
And these are not the only names of bravery etched in the fabric of our state. We proudly say we did not start or end the American Revolutionary War, but our numerous battles and heroes prove that it was won here. And to travel our state is to literally walk in the footsteps of heroes.
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For more South Carolina history about Franics Marion, Thomas Sumter, and Andrew Pickens check out:
Parker, John Jr., Parker’s Guide to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, Infinity Publishing, 2013
Bass, Robert D. Swamp Fox: The life and campaigns of General Francis Marion. Orangeburg, South Carolina: Sandlapper Publishing, 1974
Crawford, Amy. “The Swamp Fox.” Smithsonian Magazine (June 30,2007)
Smith, Steven D. Francis Marion and the Snow’s Island Community: Myth, History and Archeology. Asheville, North Carolina: United Writers Press, 2021
Barry, Richard. Mr. Rutledge of South Carolina. New York: Books for Libraries Press, 1971
Gregorie, A (1931) Thomas Sumter, RL Bryan Company (pg. 4)
Jones, R (2011) Before They Were Heroes at King’s Mountain, Daniel Boone Footsteps Publishing
Gregorie, A (1931) Thomas Sumter, RL Bryan Company (pg. 39)
Rod Andrew Jr., The Life and Times of General Andrew Pickens, Revolutionary War Hero, American Founder, UNC Press, 2017.
Alice Noble Waring, The Fighting Elder, Andrew Pickens (1739-1817), University of SC Press, 1962.