1. SC & THE BATTLES OF
THE REVOLUTIONARY
WAR
8-2.5—Summarize the role of South Carolinians in
the course of the American Revolution, including
the use of partisan warfare & the battles of
Charleston, Camden, Cowpens, Kings Mountain, &
Eutaw Springs
2. SC CONFLICTS THAT EFFECTED THE WAR
American forces thwarted the British attempt the
split the colonies & won the a victory at Saratoga,
NY
A turning point in the war for the Americans
Victory resulted in an American alliance with France
Afterward, the British turned to SC in hopes finding a
large number of Loyalists
Video: Battle of Saratoga (9:55)
3. BATTLE OF CHARLESTON
1st British attempt to take Charleston
failed due to tides & resistance from
the palmetto log fort protecting the
port (Fort Moultrie)
2nd attempt was successful after sieging for several
days
The British blockaded and cut off supply lines that
lead from Charleston Harbor
Patriot troops who were trapped on the peninsula
were forced to surrendered in May 1780
Other Patriot soldiers surrenders and were paroled
4. BRITISH RESPONSE TO SC
British hoped that they would gain control of the
state through large numbers of state Loyalists and
the neutral colonists to help win the war
But, the British changed their parole terms and
forced paroled Patriots to take up arms against their
countrymen
At the same time, The British, along with American
Tories, treated SC harshly: they burned churches,
looted & confiscated homes, harassed and exiled
citizens
This behavior turned South Carolinians against the
British. Partisan bands were formed as a result.
5. Patriot partisans
led by Francis
Marion, Thomas
Sumter, Andrew
Pickens, & William
Harden were
fighting both the
British regular
troops and the
Loyalists forces
using hit & run
tactics all over the
state
6. BATTLE OF CAMDEN
Major defeat for the Continental Army
It signified that almost all of SC was controlled by the
British
The SC partisans were not prepared & turned and ran
when faced with the regular British troops
Resulted in Horatio Gate’s command of the southern arm
of the Continental Army be transferred to Nathaniel
Greene
Greene coordinated work with
the state’s partisans in order to
fight a destructive war of attrition
(“mobile war”) that would
unbalance & eventually destroy
the British war efforts
8. BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
British & Loyalist forces had stopped on the top of
Kings Mountain in a place they thought was safe to
set up camp
Mountain men from North and South Carolina were
fed up with the harsh behavior of the Tories and
British decided to put a stop to it
The “Over Mountain Men” (Patriots) fought Guerilla
warfare against the camp on Kings Mountain from
behind the same rocks and trees the British thought
were keeping them safe
The British & Tories sustained heavy casualties
9. BATTLE OF KINGS MOUNTAIN
The British tried to surrender, but were offered no
quarter by the Patriots in retaliation of the harsh
treatment the British had bestowed upon the
Patriots throughout SC
The Battle of Kings Mountain is considered a
turning point in the Revolutionary War because the
British forces began to retreat from the upcountry
11. THE BATTLE OF COWPENS
Showed a cooperation between the Continental
Army and the partisan forces
Partisans had a reputation among the British for
turning tail and running
The American commander (Andrew Pickens)
counted on this reputation for his battle plans
Pickens led the attack and fled back into the field
He tricked the British forces into thinking they were
retreating again
Instead, the partisans lured the British forces into
their guns, taking a victory!
Resulting in the first time a British force of mostly
regular troops had been defeated by the Americans
12. THE BATTLE OF COWPENS
Cornwallis and the British retreated to North
Carolina to fight and wait for supplies
Eventually they retreated back to Virginia leaving
their remaining forces in the SC backcountry to be
evacuated or reclaimed by the partisan forces
and/or Greene’s Continental Army that was pushing
toward the coast
13. COLONEL ISAAC HAYNE
Partisan parolee Colonel Isaac
Hayne was captured near
Charleston in July 1781
The British used his punishment
as an example to help stem the
Patriot advance
They hanged him as a traitor of
the British crown after only a brief
trial
Nathaniel Greene issued a
proclamation stated that he would
retaliate against the British forces
14. BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS
After the Battle of Eutaw Springs, Greene had captured
enough British officers to ensure that no more Patriot
executions would occur
This battle was not one of the last 137 battles fought in
SC, nor a technical victory( b/c of the unsoldierly
plundering behavior of the hungry and nearly naked
Continental soldiers)
Irreplaceable British troop loses made this battle
strategically the major final battle in the beleaguered
state
American contemporaries view this battle as a Pyrrhic
victory for the British b/c it marks the clearance of the
British from the battleground state and region (except for
few enclaves near the coast that evacuated after peace
proceedings in 1782)
15. BATTLE OF EUTAW SPRINGS
Americans viewed the battle as a victory b/c of its
positive tactical results
This can be seen both in the striking of a
commemorative medal and the commissioning of a
tribute door panel of the Capital building in the early
years of the new republic