1 of 8
As the country celebrates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence, reenactors commemorate a battle between Patriots and Loyalists at Ninety Six National Historic Site on Nov. 15, 2025.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
2 of 8
Historical reenactor Matt Varnes dresses in colonial attire during the Ninety Six reenactment event on Nov. 15, 2025.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
3 of 8
The Ninety Six historical site offers a window to colonial history, beyond just the Revolutionary War battles that were fought there.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
4 of 8
Mike Nelson, Daniel Aston, Sharon Hollis and Ken Hollis perform Nov. 15, 2025, during the commemoration of the 250th anniversary of the first battle at Ninety Six.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
5 of 8
Visitors explore some of the 1,000 acres at Ninety Six National Historic Site.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
6 of 8
Samantha Richards (left) and Kathryn Sellers demonstrate to visitors how to make bread.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
7 of 8
Revolutionary War reenactors talk in front of the Logan Log House at the Ninety Six National Historic Site.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
8 of 8
Two noteworthy sieges took place at the earthen fort in Ninety Six during the Revolutionary War. Today’s Ninety Six National Historic Site still boasts the original fort, remains of siege trenches and other markers of the fighting that took place here.
Photo by Sam Wolfe
Rick Wise walks a newly cleared path in the piney woods of Kershaw County to the place where, on Aug. 16, 1780, nearly 6,000 soldiers faced off in the Revolutionary War’s Battle of Camden.
He breaks away as he sees two visitors reading a nearby sign explaining the battle. Wise launches into an animated presentation to the men. He describes how British troops under Lord Cornwallis routed Americans led by Horatio Gates, and more than 2,000 Americans were killed, wounded or captured compared to just 324 British troops in a crushing defeat for the Patriot cause.
“I can’t help it,” says Wise, interim director of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Society, after the men continue down the trail. “The war is in my blood.”
This year marks the 250th anniversary of the signing of the Declaration of Independence and the birth of the United States of America. The milestone will be celebrated with events and commemorations throughout the nation. In South Carolina—one of the original 13 colonies and home to four signers of the Declaration—those remembrances will hold special significance.
Nearly 200 battles and skirmishes took place in South Carolina, more than any other state, Wise says. And most of those battles were fought in what was called the Backcountry—the Upstate, Midlands and Pee Dee today. The vast majority of those battles pitted Americans loyal to the Crown against Patriots who sought independence.
The fights were often small and ugly, where old scores were settled, atrocities were committed and families torn apart. “In every respect, it was a civil war,” Wise says. “It was brother against brother, father against son, and it was brutal.”
The war in South Carolina
The history of the Revolutionary War in South Carolina is complex. But in a nutshell:
In 1775, Patriot leaders, angered by the imposition of new taxes, had driven the royal governor from Charleston, which was the fourth-largest city in the American colonies and the richest.
In 1776, the British tried to retake the Holy City, at that time the capital of South Carolina. But they were defeated in the Battle of Sullivan’s Island, in which Patriot troops under Col. William Moultrie built a sturdy fort of palmetto logs and repelled the mighty British fleet. It is why the palmetto tree is featured on the state flag and South Carolina is known as the “Palmetto State.”
In 1780, the British, mired in a stalemate in the North, decided to embark on a “Southern Strategy,” thinking that more folks in the Backcountry of the Carolinas were loyal to the Crown than in more radical New England. In South Carolina, “about 40% of people were Loyalists, 40% were Patriots and 20% just wanted to be left alone,” Wise says.
That year, the British returned in greater numbers and took Charleston by siege. Once re-established in the city, they built a series of forts in the Backcountry in an attempt to control the colony and draw Loyalists to their cause. Patriots wanted to capture those forts, disrupt British supply lines and force the British back into Charleston.
There were big battles such as Camden, Kings Mountain and Cowpens. And partisan leaders whose names have become iconic in the Palmetto State—Andrew Pickens in the Upstate, Thomas Sumter in the Midlands and Francis Marion in the Pee Dee—conducted relentless raids against the British and their local Loyalist allies.
In South Carolina, “The war began and ended in Charleston but was won in the Backcountry,” historian Walter Edgar likes to say.
Here are a few essential sites across the state that represent the war for casual visitors and history buffs alike.
Historic Brattonsville
Located outside of Rock Hill in York County, Historic Brattonsville is a complex of 30 buildings from the 1700s and 1800s with an emphasis on the Revolutionary War.
Here, on July 12, 1780, about 250 Patriots attacked about half their number of Loyalist cavalrymen commanded by Capt. Christian Huck, who was known for his brutal tactics in trying to quell Patriot activities in the Backcountry.
In the battle, the British were easily defeated, and Huck was killed. It was one of the first Patriot victories in the Southern campaign and is a good example of American-on-American fighting in the War for Independence.
“It was a big morale booster,” says Zach Lemhouse, Brattonsville’s historian. “Afterward, Patriot numbers began to swell.”
The compact battlefield here is well interpreted and easily walked, and it gives a complete overview of the battle. It also provides an enjoyable hike through the hilly, densely forested Piedmont countryside.
The original Bratton family home is here and was featured in the Mel Gibson movie “The Patriot.” The complex also includes a visitors center, larger homes built by subsequent Bratton family members, a working farm with livestock and a burial ground containing the graves of 481 enslaved people.
Ninety Six National Historic Site
The tiny town of Ninety Six in Greenwood County was one of the most significant settlements during the Revolutionary War in the Backcountry. Its star-shaped earthen fort was the site of two noteworthy sieges.
In the largest, on May 21, 1781, a Patriot army of about 1,000 men, commanded by Gen. Nathanael Greene, attempted to take the Star Fort, defended by about half as many Loyalists. But the eight-pointed fort was a daunting challenge. Greene’s men dug trenches to get close to the fort, built a siege tower to fire into it and then unsuccessfully assaulted it. The siege was abandoned when Greene learned that 2,000 British reinforcements had been dispatched from Charleston.
In addition to the original fort, the 1,000-acre site includes a 1-mile walking trail, remains of siege trenches and other earthworks, an observation tower, a cluster of colonial structures and a visitors center operated by the National Park Service.
Beyond the battle, Ninety Six tells the story of colonial life in the Backcountry and struggles between settlers and Native Americans.
“Life was difficult back then,” says Eric Williams, a former park ranger at Ninety Six and a Revolutionary War reenactor for nearly 50 years. Ninety Six “gives a glimpse of what America was like in its infancy.”
No one knows exactly how Ninety Six got its name, but it’s believed to stem from its distance from a main Cherokee town of Keowee, once located near Clemson.
Fort Fair Lawn
Hidden away in the swampy lowcountry of Berkeley County near Moncks Corner is Fort Fair Lawn. The large, rectangular fort was built in 1780 by the British at the headwaters of the Cooper River, 30 miles inland from Charleston. Its strategic location made it a lightning rod for battles throughout the war.
Today, the fort is one of the most complete Revolutionary forts in the nation. Its 9-foot-tall earthen walls and moat remained largely untouched for more than two centuries due to its remote location in rural Berkeley County’s dense woods and swamps. For the 250th commemoration, a new graveled path, interpretive markers and virtual reality features have been installed to explain the fort’s significance in the war.
The battles of Moncks Corner and Eutaw Springs were fought near here. Patriot leader Francis Marion, known as “the Swamp Fox,” made numerous raids around Berkeley County to isolate and harass the fort’s garrison. He is buried at Belle Isle Plantation Cemetery in Pineville.
Mepkin Abbey, a Trappist monastery, is nearby. It was originally home to wealthy planter and merchant Henry Laurens, president of the Continental Congress, and his son John, a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army and an aide to George Washington. They are also buried there.
The fort is adjacent to Old Santee Canal State Park and the Berkeley County Museum and Heritage Center. The 196-acre park offers canoeing, hiking trails and abundant bird-watching. The museum features an interactive map of the war in the area and displays highlighting Marion’s life and career and Berkeley County’s role in the Revolutionary War.
Camden
Camden in Kershaw County is the state’s oldest inland city. It was located on Old Wagon Road, a major thoroughfare for pioneers migrating into South Carolina from the northern colonies. Like Ninety Six, Camden was a main British outpost in the Backcountry.
In addition to the sites of the Battle of Camden and the Battle of Hobkirk’s Hill, both on the city’s north side, Camden hosts a Revolutionary War Living History Park.
The 104-acre complex features a visitors and conference center as well as a museum focused on Camden’s significant role in the Revolution. The park has several colonial-era structures, including original Revolutionary War earthworks and a reproduction of Joseph Kershaw’s home, which served as British Gen. Cornwallis’ headquarters during the war.
The park also boasts a statue of Revolutionary War hero Baron Johann DeKalb, who was killed at the Battle of Camden. He is buried in Bethesda Presbyterian Churchyard in Camden with a marker by Robert Mills, America’s first national architect and designer of the Washington Monument. Many American municipalities were named after DeKalb, including DeKalb County, Georgia, and the city of DeKalb, Illinois.
In 2023, the bodies of 14 soldiers killed in the Battle of Camden—12 Patriots, one British soldier and a Catawba Indian loyal to the British Crown—were recovered and reinterred in Camden’s Old Presbyterian Graveyard with full American and British military honors. The Native American soldier was transferred to the Catawba Nation for burial.
Together, Brattonsville, Ninety Six, Fort Fair Lawn and Camden offer a complete narrative of the war in South Carolina and can serve as launching points for more in-depth exploration of the War for Independence in the Palmetto State.
___
The Liberty Trail
Throughout this year, the South Carolina 250th American Revolution Commission will shine a spotlight on battles and events central to the Revolution. Events and commemorations are planned in all 46 counties, many celebrating the often overlooked contributions of women, Black Americans and Native Americans in the struggle.
The commission’s website, www.southcarolina250.com, has a wealth of stories about the Revolution in the state, a listing of public events and a detailed timeline of significant milestones.
Many Revolutionary War sites have received facelifts, including new trails and signage and interactive features and displays, thanks to organizations such as the South Carolina Preservation Society, the American Battlefield Trust and local historical societies and grants.
The organizations have also established the Liberty Trail, a statewide driving tour that winds between many battlefields and historic sites. It is part of a larger Liberty Trail network that extends nationally. An interactive map and detailed information about battles and events in South Carolina can be found at www.thelibertytrail.org/sc.