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Photo by Mic Smith
Reenactors with the South Carolina Independent Rangers portray Patriot militiamen during Festifall at Walnut Grove Plantation.
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Revolutionary War Field Days at Historic Camden attract hundreds of reenactors who bring the outdoor museum to life.
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Photo by Mic Smith
Battle reenactments at Revolutionary War Field Days play out in front of the restored Joseph Kershaw mansion, where British commander Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis established his headquarters in August 1780.
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Photo by Mic Smith
The annual Festifall living history weekend at Walnut Grove Plantation features civilian reenactors who demonstrate Colonial cooking, games, music and crafts.
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Photo courtesy of Historic Brattonsville
Reenactors portraying Capt. Christian Huck and his staff ride onto the field during the Battle of Huck’s Defeat. Each July, Historic Brattonsville holds a living history weekend and reenactments of the 1780 battle.
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Photo by Keith Phillips
The restored home where Martha Bratton was threatened by Loyalist troops under Christian Huck still stands at Historic Brattonsville.
The idea of independence from Great Britain had percolated throughout the American colonies for more than a decade, but it was not until April 19, 1775, that the first shots of the Revolutionary War were fired in Massachusetts at Lexington and Concord.
The conflict soon moved to the rugged hills of South Carolina when, on Nov. 19, 1775, the tension between Palmetto State Loyalists and Patriots erupted into three days of armed conflict at the Cherokee trading town of Ninety Six. It was the first major skirmish fought outside of New England, but far from the last. More than 200 battles or skirmishes were fought in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, including the Battle of Kings Mountain, which changed the course of the war and led to Patriot victory.
As our country approaches the 240th anniversary of its independence, South Carolina Living presents this travel guide to the state’s top Revolutionary War battle reenactments and living history weekends—events where families can experience what life was like during the Revolution and feel a sense of pride at the Palmetto State’s vital role in the fight for freedom.
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Revolutionary War Field Days
Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site | Nov. 7–8, 2015
One of America’s most devastating defeats during the Revolution occurred at Camden on Aug. 16, 1780. Continental Army troops under Gen. Horatio Gates were mauled by Redcoats commanded by Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis during the sweltering heat of a South Carolina summer day.
After his exhausted troops fell, Gates fled north, and he was later relieved of command of the Southern Army. His replacement, Gen. Nathanael Greene, expertly managed the war in the South, and his strategy—one of harassment and selective offensive operations using militia— was instrumental in leading the Americans to victory.
Cornwallis and 2,500 Redcoats occupied Camden for nearly a year until Greene attacked on April 25, 1781, in the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill. The British held their ground, but at great cost, and soon abandoned the city.
The rich history of Camden’s role in the struggle for independence is told at the Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site, a 106-acre outdoor museum featuring several replica buildings, including a full-sized reconstruction of the Joseph Kershaw mansion where Cornwallis established his headquarters.
Each November, the park comes alive during Revolutionary War Field Days as approximately 500 living historians portray life in Camden during the war. One of the largest reenactments in the Southeast, the event includes civilian camps, sutlers making and selling Colonial-era goods, artillery demonstrations and mock battles based on the events that took place in and around the city, says Joanna Craig, director of Historic Camden.
Throughout the weekend, guests are free to roam through the camps and interact with the reenactors, who are sticklers for recreating life exactly as it was during the Revolution.
“They are dedicated, and they like sharing their knowledge,” Craig says. “Anyone who visits leaves with a new appreciation and knowledge of history, and they had a darn good time.”
The Historic Camden Revolutionary War Site is located at 222 Broad St., Camden. Admission during Revolutionary War Field Days is $10 for adults, $5 for seniors, military and children age 6–15. Children under 6 admitted free. Family packages (two adults and three kids under age 15) are $30. Pets not allowed. For more information, call (803) 432-9841 or visit historic-camden.net.
Festifall
Walnut Grove Plantation | Oct. 3–4, 2015
Settled in 1767, Walnut Grove was the home of Patriots Charles and Mary Moore, who farmed and raised livestock with their 10 children and 15 enslaved Africans. According to family lore, their eldest daughter, Margaret Catharine, warned local Patriots of the arrival of the British Army before the Battle of Cowpens. The family home was also the site of a November 1781 raid by Loyalist militia commander Maj. William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham, who executed three Patriot soldiers at the farm.
Complete with the restored manor house and replicas of other farm buildings, Walnut Grove is now a living history museum operated by the Spartanburg County Historical Association (SCHA). Each October, the park hosts the Festifall celebration, part of the multi-site Revolutionary War Weekend.
During Festifall, more than 100 living historians demonstrate how Colonial settlers lived, fought and died for freedom during the Revolution, says Julius Dargan, SCHA’s operations and programming manager. While the reenactment of Cunningham’s raid and mock battles between Patriot militia and Redcoats is always a big draw, the best part of Festifall is engaging with the living historians, who demonstrate a variety of Colonial trades, music and games.
“We turn Walnut Grove into a living Colonial village,” he says. “Any kind of Colonial-era craft you can think of, we have it out there.”
Walnut Grove Plantation is located at 1200 Otts Shoals Road in Roebuck. Festifall 2015 takes place Oct. 3 from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m and Oct. 4 from 10 a.m. to 4 p.m. Admission is $10 for adults, $5 for kids ages 5–17. SCHA members receive $1 off each ticket. For more information, visit spartanburghistory.org or call (864) 591-5596.
The Battle of Kings Mountain Anniversary Encampment
Kings Mountain National Military Park | Oct. 3–4 and Oct. 7, 2015
A decisive win for the Patriots, Kings Mountain was the largest single battle fought between forces consisting of only Americans. The only European in the conflict was Maj. Patrick Ferguson, a Scot commissioned in the British Army and assigned to raise Loyalist militia forces along the North Carolina/South Carolina border.
When Ferguson arrived in the region in the fall of 1780, he issued a threat to the rebel militias to lay down their arms or he would “hang their leaders and lay waste to their country with fire and sword.” The tactic of intimidation backfired. Local Patriot commanders put out a call to arms that was answered by backwoods militia soldiers from the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia.
Notable among the Patriots in the battle were 400 militia fighters from Virginia and about 500 from the “over the mountain” region of North Carolina. Collectively known as the Overmountain Men, the sharp-shooting Patriots mustered in Abingdon, Va., and at Sycamore Shoals, N.C., (now Tennessee) and marched 300 miles to join the fight.
The Patriots surrounded Ferguson’s troops and attacked at about 3 p.m. on Oct. 7, 1780, inflicting heavy casualties. One hour later, Ferguson was dead and his soldiers were forced to surrender. The surprising victory was a pivotal moment in the Southern Campaign. It reversed a string of rebel defeats, boosted Patriot morale and forced Cornwallis to redirect his army.
Each fall, the park offers a full weekend of living history events as part the Revolutionary War Weekend. On Oct. 3–4, visitors can explore camps of reenactors portraying both Loyalist and Patriot units, watch black-powder rifle demonstrations and take ranger-led tours of the battlefield. This year’s event marks the 235th anniversary of the battle, and the celebration culminates on Oct. 7 when reenactors with the Overmountain Victory Trail Association march into the park to participate in a wreath-laying ceremony.
Kings Mountain National Military Park is located at 2625 Park Road in Blacksburg. For event details, visit nps.gov/kimo or call (864) 936-7921. Admission is free.
The Battle of Cowpens Colonial Demonstrations
Cowpens National Battlefield | Oct. 3–4 and Oct. 6, 2015; Jan. 16–17, 2016; July 4, 2016
The Battle of Cowpens was a decisive American victory that occurred on Jan. 17, 1781. Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan and his 600 Continental soldiers, with the help of the 1,000 militia men, defeated British Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton and 1,100 British Regulars.
Morgan devised a plan that allowed American forces to surround the British on two sides. The battle lasted less than half an hour and resulted in 110 British killed, 229 wounded and 600 captured or missing. Upon recounting the events, Morgan stated that he had given Tarleton “a devil of a whipping.”
The 845-acre Cowpens National Battlefield will host a celebration of the victory as part of Revolutionary War Weekend with reenactors on site Oct. 3–4. A unique part of the Cowpens celebration is the performance of an outdoor drama, The Night Before Kings Mountain, staged by the reenactors of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association on Tuesday, Oct. 6, at 6 p.m.
“The Overmountain Men marched through Cowpens before the Battle of Kings Mountain. They stopped here to rest and to eat,” Blewett says. “Here at Cowpens is where they decided to choose their best men to continue on to Kings Mountain.”
Each January, on the weekend closest to the date of the battle, the park hosts another living history encampment. The next event, marking the 235th anniversary of the conflict, takes place Jan. 16–17, 2016. The rangers and volunteers at Cowpens also put on an annual July 4 Celebration of Freedom, including ranger-guided tours of the battlefield, weapons-firing demonstrations and a reading of the Declaration of Independence.
To reach Cowpens National Battlefield via GPS, use 4001 Chesnee Highway as the address. The park is open 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., year-round. All programs are free and open to the public. For more information, visit nps.gov/cowp or call (864) 461-2828.
Ninety Six Crossroads Event
Ninety-Six National Historic Site | April 2–3, 2016
Throughout the war, the small trading town of Ninety Six remained an important outpost for Loyalist forces, and in 1780, British troops erected a small, eight-point star fort to hold their position.
Seeking to push the British out of their last stronghold in South Carolina, American Gen. Nathanael Greene attacked on May 22, 1781. Anticipating Greene’s arrival, Loyalist soldiers erected additional barriers atop the earthen walls of the fort and settled in for what became the longest field siege of the American Revolution. In a last desperate attempt to storm the fort on June 17, 1781, Greene’s troops suffered heavy losses and were forced to withdraw, but the engagement had a surprising outcome. Loyalists soon evacuated Ninety Six, abandoning the fort and burning the town as they left.
The 1,120-acre Ninety Six National Historic Site features the remains of the star fort, the trenches the Patriots dug during the siege, a restored log home and tavern and a replica of the split-rail stockade that once surrounded the village.
Each April, the park hosts the Ninety Six Crossroads Event, a living history weekend with black-powder firing demonstrations and reenactors camping on site, says park ranger Margo Blewett. While NPS policies prohibit battle reenactments, the living historians tell the site’s unique history and demonstrate what daily life was like for settlers on the western frontier of South Carolina during the Southern Campaign. The celebration also kicks off a summer season of monthly living history days every third Saturday from May to September.
Ninety Six National Historic Site is located at 1103 Highway 248 South in Ninety Six. The park grounds are open year-round from dawn to dusk except for Thanksgiving Day, Christmas Day and New Year’s Day. The Visitor Center is open Wednesday to Sunday from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Park gates close at 5 p.m. Visit nps.gov/nisi or call (864) 543-4068 for up-to-date operating hours and information on monthly programs.
The Battle of Huck’s Defeat
Historic Brattonsville | July 9–10, 2016
After the fall of Charleston in 1780, the British advance into South Carolina seemed unstoppable. That summer, Loyalist cavalry units under Capt. Christian Huck rode into York County, roughing up civilians, burning homes and demanding Upstate settlers declare allegiance to the crown.
On July 11, Huck raided the home of militia leader Col. William Bratton. In spite of threats to her life, Martha Bratton refused to give up her husband’s location, and when Huck’s men set up camp at a neighboring farm, she sent a young slave named Watt to inform Patriot commanders.
Furious at Huck’s tactics, Upstate militia units banded together to surround the encampment during the night. The Patriots, hidden behind trees and fences, opened fire at sunrise on July 12, 1780, soundly defeating the surprised Loyalists in a 10-minute rout that killed most of the men, including Huck. The victory boosted Patriot morale in the Upstate and rallied settlers to join the Patriot cause, says Historic Brattonsville interpreter Bob Bemis.
Visitors to the 819-acre living history park can watch the battle unfold each summer during Battle of Huck’s Defeat living history weekends. The park, which served as a set during the filming of The Patriot, features 30 restored or replica structures, including the original Bratton home where William and Martha lived with their five children. The tangible sense of history and a new walking trail through the battlefield site help visitors and reenactors feel transported to the 1700s, Bemis says.
“It’s not often that you get to see—better yet, stand on—the front steps, where Christian Huck threatened Martha Bratton,” he says. “You can read about history and battles all day long, but when you actually stand there, it’s a game changer.”
Historic Brattonsville is located at 1444 Brattonsville Road in McConnells. The site is open year-round Tuesday to Saturday, from 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.; Sunday, from 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Admission is $6 for adults 18–59, $5 for seniors 60 and older, $3 for children ages 4 to 17, and free for children age 3 and younger. For more information, call (803) 628-6553 or visit chmuseums.org/brattonsville.
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Revolutionary War Weekend | Oct. 2–7, 2015
S.C. historic sites join forces to tell the story of the Revolution in the Upstate
One of the largest celebrations of Revolutionary War history in South Carolina actually originates in Abingdon, Va., where reenactors of the Overmountain Victory Trail Association (OVTA) gather each fall to retrace the march of Patriot militiamen who journeyed to South Carolina for the Battle of Kings Mountain in 1780.
The reenactment march concludes with several stops at Upstate living history events collectively known as Revolutionary War Weekend. A joint partnership of the City of Gaffney, Cherokee County History and Arts Museum, National Parks Service and Spartanburg County Historical Association, Revolutionary War Weekend is designed to celebrate the common thread of history running through multiple celebrations, says organizer Margo Blewett, a ranger with the National Park Service.
“Each site is one little piece of a larger story,” she says.
The partnership’s website—rev-war-weekend.com—is an invaluable resource for everything from driving directions to the dates and times of events held Oct. 2–7 at Walnut Grove Plantation, Cowpens National Battlefield, Kings Mountain National Military Park and in downtown Gaffney.
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Key moments in the American Revolution
- April 19, 1775 – Battle of Lexington and Concord – The first shots of the American Revolution are fired in Massachusetts.
- Nov. 19–21, 1775 – First Battle of Ninety Six – Upstate Loyalists and Patriots engage in a three-day skirmish at the Cherokee trading town on the western frontier. The conflict foreshadows the partisan militia conflicts that erupt across S.C. later in the war.
- June 29, 1776 – Battle of Sullivan’s Island – A British armada attempts to take Charleston by sea but fails when their cannonballs bounce off the Patriot fortress built from sand and palmetto logs on the tip of Sullivan’s Island.
- July 4, 1776 – The Continental Congress, meeting in Philadelphia, ratifies the Declaration of Independence.
- April 2 to May 12, 1780 – Siege of Charleston – The second British attempt to invade Charleston is a success, destroying the largest contingent of Continental Army troops in the South and giving Lt. Gen. Charles Cornwallis control of the state. Three junior officers—Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, Maj. John Ferguson and Capt. Christian Huck—become infamous for their brutal tactics against civilians and inspire many to join the Patriot cause. The battles that follow are fought primarily by American colonists organized as Loyalist and Patriot militia units.
- July 12, 1780 – Battle of Huck’s Defeat – Capt. Christian Huck rides into York County, terrorizing Scots-Irish settlers. Enraged Patriots surround the Loyalist encampment during the night, killing Huck and most of his troops.
- Aug. 15–16, 1780 – Battle of Camden – Gen. Horatio Gates attacks Cornwallis at Camden, but his exhausted and ill troops are no match for the Redcoats. Cornwallis crushes the last sizable force of Continental Army troops in the South and makes Camden his headquarters. Gates is replaced by Gen. Nathanael Greene, who effectively organizes Patriot militia forces in the South.
- Oct. 7, 1780 – Battle of Kings Mountain – Considered the turning point of the war, this battle unites Patriot militiamen from the Carolinas, Virginia and Georgia, who join forces to soundly defeat Loyalist troops commanded by Capt. John Ferguson. Cornwallis abandons plans to move north, and the Patriot victory boosts morale throughout the colonies.
- Jan. 17, 1781 – Battle of Cowpens – Continental Army troops and Patriot militia under Brig. Gen. Daniel Morgan make a stand at the grazing lands near Chesnee. Using the terrain to his advantage, Morgan attacks British troops under Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton on two sides, winning a decisive victory in less than 30 minutes.
- April 25, 1781 – Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill – Patriot troops return to Camden and attempt to drive the British from the city. The Redcoats win the battle but suffer more than 250 casualties. Days later, the British abandon Camden and retreat to Charleston.
- May 22–June 19, 1781 – Siege of Ninety Six – Gen. Nathanael Greene attacks the eight-point star fort built by Loyalist troops occupying the town, only to become mired in a 28-day siege. After suffering heavy casualties, the Patriots withdraw without taking the fort, but the engagement compels the British to abandon Ninety Six.
- Oct. 19, 1781 – Surrender at Yorktown – Driven out of the South, Cornwallis consolidates his forces in Virginia, where he is trapped between George Washington’s Continental Army and French warships. Cornwallis’ surrender brings about negotiations that formally end the war in 1783.
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Related stories
S.C. Revolutionary War historic sites – Don’t miss this round-up of state parks, museums and monuments honoring South Carolina’s role in the American Revolution.
History as a hobby – Learn more about Revolutionary War reenacting from the living historians who make these events come to life.