SC250: Additional Resources

This record consists of 11,170 documents presented by citizens to the treasury in support of claims for military service, supplies, and other contributions rendered during the latter part of the Revolutionary War. Most of the files contain an auditor’s cover paper, which includes the name of claimant, a brief description of their service provided, and the amount of their claim and its adjusted value. Additionally, if an indent was issued, its number and the claimant’s signature verifying its receipt were also included as well as receipts and affidavits to the validity of the claim.
These records are available online through SCDAH.

The digital collections of the Library of Congress contain a wide variety of primary source materials associated with the American Revolution era (1763-1783), including manuscripts, broadsides, government documents, books, images, and maps. Provided here is a link to the home page for each relevant digital collection along with selected highlights.

The Gilder Lehrman Collection contains materials written by over 2,000 individuals who fought in and lived through the American Revolution. These firsthand accounts were written by leaders, soldiers, and civilians and include the perspectives of American Indians, African Americans, and women. The documents discuss not only the military and political aspects of the war, but also the private opinions of contemporary people and events. The experiences of soldiers, loyalists, and prisoners of war are recorded in numerous letters, diaries, orderly books, and other manuscript journals. A comprehensive research database of the Collection with images is available to universities and libraries by subscription through digital publisher Adam Matthew.

This digital collection brings together material from numerous South Caroliniana Library collections to document the experiences of South Carolinians during the American Revolutionary War—both within and outside of the state. Materials contained in the collection include the personal papers of soldiers, statesmen, merchants, planters, and diplomats, and prints, paintings and other artwork drawn from the extensive visual image archive of the South Caroliniana Library. The personal papers of Moultrie, Sumter, and Marion held by the South Caroliniana Library are all part of this digital collection. Though many of Henry Laurens’s papers were published in the sixteen-volume "Papers of Henry Laurens," this collection contains all his personal, political, and business papers held by the South Caroliniana Library–including as of yet unpublished material.

Gibbes provides a collection of transcribed primary sources relating to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, including letters from Charles Cotesworth Pinckney, Francis Salvador, William Drayton, and others.

Peter Horry (1744-1815), a Georgetown rice planter and slaveholder, was one of the founding fathers of South Carolina and one of the state's early chroniclers of the War of Independence. During the American Revolution he served with distinction under the commands of General Francis Marion and General Nathanael Greene, proving himself an able officer and leader. He represented Prince George Winyah Parish in the state House of Representatives in 1782 and from 1792 to 1794, and in the state Senate from 1785 to 1787. In addition he commanded the state militia's South Brigade. In 1801, as new electoral districts were established, the legislature honored Horry's wartime service by creating Horry District, now Horry County. Horry began keeping a private journal in 1812, a practice he continued until his death. Portions of the journal previously appeared in the South Carolina Historical and Genealogical Magazine during the 1930s and 40s. Editors Roy Talbert Jr. and Meggan A. Farish have restored to print all of Horry's extant journal entries, offering the modern reader detailed insights into the daily life, agricultural practices, and the culture of South Carolina during its early statehood years. Horry also provides accounts of his dealings with his household slaves and of plantation life in the lowcountry and midlands. The journal vividly portrays life on North Island near Georgetown. Horry's writings also provide a firsthand local account of the War of 1812, describing the military units stationed nearby as well as the war's impact on coastal society and economy. After leaving Georgetown, Horry moved to Columbia to be with his wife's family, the Guignards. He chronicles the social, political, and religious affairs of the capital city and comments on the new South Carolina College, the antecedent to the University of South Carolina. His Columbia home, later named the Horry-Guignard House, stands to this day. Augmented with a detailed introduction and annotations, Dear Reader fills an important gap with its firsthand accounts of an influential soldier, statesman, and planter too often neglected in American historiography.

The First Continental Congress met from September 5 to October 26, 1774. The Second Continental Congress ran from May 10, 1775 to March 2, 1789. The Journals of the Continental Congress are the records of the daily proceedings of the Congress and include the text of ordinances, such as the Northwest Ordinance, reports to Congress and correspondence with the colonies, states, foreign powers and others. The Journals were kept by the office of its secretary Charles Thomson. The Journals were printed contemporaneously in different editions and in several subsequent reprint editions. None of these editions, however, includes the "Secret Journals" (confidential sections of the records), which were not published until 1821. This complete edition, published by the Library of Congress from 1904 to 1937, is based on the manuscript Journals and other manuscript records of the Continental Congress in the Manuscript Division of the Library of Congress. Further information on how this edition was assembled and notes explaining features introduced by the editors are in the Prefatory Note to volumes 1 and 2.

Drayton provides a comprehensive synopsis of South Carolina's role in the Revolution, including some of his own first-hand experiences living during the period.

Moultrie provides an account of his experiences as a general and prisoner of war during the Revolution.

This collection of documents from the Library of Congress covers the Southern Front of the War, from the occupation of Savannah in late 1778 to early peace negotiations in 1781.

The Washington Papers was established in 1968 at the University of Virginia, under the joint auspices of the University and the Mount Vernon Ladies’ Association of the Union, to publish a comprehensive edition of George Washington’s correspondence. Forty years later, the project broadened that scope to include other significant editions, such as the George Washington’s Financial Papers, the Martha Washington Papers, and Washington Family Papers projects. Today there are copies of over 135,000 documents in the project’s document room. This is one of the richest collections of American historical manuscripts extant. There is almost no facet of research on life and enterprise in the late colonial and early national periods that will not be enhanced by material from these documents. The publication of the Washingtons’ papers will make this source material available not only to scholars, but to all Americans interested in the founding of their nation.

George H. McDaniel of the South Carolina Batteground Preservation Trust helped in locating the long-long miniature portrait of Colonel Richard Lushington and arranging its donation to the Charleston Library Society. Lushington, who commanded an all-Jewish regiment during the Revolution, led Patriot forces to a pivotal victory at the Battle of Port Royal Soundin 1779.

This article, available as text and as a podcast, looks at the sparks that ignited the American Revolution in Charleston in the spring of 1775. It begins with some historical background to establish the context, and then focuses on events that unfolded on the streets of Charleston between April 14th and April 21st. At the same time Paul Revere was making his famous midnight ride, and British soldiers were battling Massachusetts militiamen at Lexington and Concord, events were taking place in Charleston that represent South Carolina’s first acts of rebellion.

In December 1780, former Quaker turned general Nathanael Greene took command of the entire Southern Department. He reported only to George Washington himself. Leadership of the southern states to that point in the American Revolution had failed, as the British held all major southern cities, including the important port city of Charleston. Greene faced the British in several key battles in South Carolina in 1781 and ultimately was able to rid the state of the British and free Charleston, but not until 1782, long after the victory at Yorktown. Join author and historian Leigh Moring as she tells the forgotten story of General Nathanael Greene and the liberation of the Lowcountry at the end of the American Revolution.

This comprehensive biography of Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox, covers his famous wartime stories as well as a private side of him that has rarely been explored In the darkest days of the American Revolution, Francis Marion and his band of militia freedom fighters kept hope alive for the patriot cause during the critical British "southern campaign." Employing insurgent guerrilla tactics that became commonplace in later centuries, Marion and his brigade inflicted enemy losses that were individually small but cumulatively a large drain on British resources and morale. Although many will remember the stirring adventures of the "Swamp Fox" from the Walt Disney television series of the late 1950s and the fictionalized Marion character played by Mel Gibson in the 2000 film The Patriot, the real Francis Marion bore little resemblance to either of those caricatures. But his exploits were no less heroic as he succeeded, against all odds, in repeatedly foiling the highly trained, better-equipped forces arrayed against him. In this action-packed biography we meet many colorful characters from the Revolution: Banastre Tarleton, the British cavalry officer who relentlessly pursued Marion over twenty-six miles of swamp, only to call off the chase and declare (per legend) that "the Devil himself could not catch this damned old fox," giving Marion his famous nickname; Thomas Sumter, the bold but rash patriot militia leader whom Marion detested; Lord Cornwallis, the imperious British commander who ordered the hanging of rebels and the destruction of their plantations; "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, the urbane young Continental cavalryman who helped Marion topple critical British outposts in South Carolina; but most of all Francis Marion himself, "the Washington of the South," a man of ruthless determination yet humane character, motivated by what his peers called "the purest patriotism." In The Swamp Fox, the first major biography of Marion in more than forty years, John Oller compiles striking evidence and brings together much recent learning to provide a fresh look both at Marion, the man, and how he helped save the American Revolution.

Crescent Moon over Carolina examines the life of Major General William Moultrie (1730-1805) who is best remembered for his valiant defense of an unfinished log fort on Sullivan's Island at the entrance to Charleston harbor against a determined British naval attack on June 28, 1776. While the Continental Congress in Philadelphia considered a draft of the Declaration of Independence, Moultrie and his garrison of South Carolinians proved that untested, but courageous, American soldiers could stand firm and prevail against British might. Every fort that has since occupied the site has borne his name, but Moultrie was more than the iconic defender of Charleston. Postwar he served two terms as governor and became one of South Carolina's most influential elder statesmen during the early years of the American Republic. In this first and only book-length biography of William Moultrie, C. L. Bragg combines a scholarly survey of lowcountry South Carolina culture, the American Revolution, and the early political history of the state and the United States. Bragg also brings to light primary sources that are published here for the first time--revealing documents that provide fresh insight into the political and cultural values of Moultrie and his fellow South Carolinians. Crescent Moon over Carolina offers engaging narrative, detailed maps, and beautiful illustrations that will stand as an important addition to the body of literature for those interested in Revolutionary South Carolina. Bragg leaves us with a clearer understanding of Moultrie--a political and military leader who counted among his friends, associates, and correspondents many of our nation's ardent patriots and founding fathers. Moultrie's service to state and country has earned him a respected place in history.

In 1781 South Carolina patriot militiamen played an integral role in helping the Continental army reclaim their state from its British conquerors. Martyr of the American Revolution is the only book-length treatment that examines the events that set an American militia colonel on a disastrous collision course with two British officers, his execution in Charleston, and the repercussions that extended from the battle lines of South Carolina to the Continental Congress and across the Atlantic to the halls of British Parliament. On August 4, 1781, in Charleston, South Carolina, the British army hanged Col. Isaac Hayne for treason. Rather than a strict chronological retelling of the events, which led to his execution during the British occupation of Charleston, what is offered instead is a consideration of factors, independently set in motion that culminated in the demise of a loving father and devout patriot. Hayne was the most prominent American executed by the British for treason. He and his two principal antagonists, Lt. Col. Nisbet Balfour and Lt. Col. Francis Lord Rawdon, were unwittingly set on a collision course that climaxed in an act that sparked perhaps the most notable controversy of the war. Martyr of the American Revolution sheds light on why two professional soldiers were driven to commit a seemingly wrongheaded and arbitrary deed that halted prisoner exchange and nearly brought disastrous consequences to captive British officers. The death of a patriot in the cause of liberty was not a unique occurrence, but the unusually well-documented events surrounding the execution of Hayne and the involvement of his friends and family makes his story compelling and poignant. Unlike young Capt. Nathan Hale, who suffered a similar fate in 1776, Hayne did not become a folk hero. What began as local incident, however, became an international affair that was debated in Parliament and the Continental Congress.

America's popular memory of the Revolutionary War casts New England minutemen facing off against redcoats at Concord Bridge and George Washington's frostbitten soldiers huddled together at Valley Forge, but David K. Wilson's new study challenges the generally accepted notion that the war was fought primarily in the North. Recalling that the ramparts of Savannah were no less bloodstained than Bunker Hill and the siege of Charleston no less important than the battle for New York, Wilson considers the waging of war in the southern colonies during the critical and often overlooked period from 1775 to the spring of 1780. He suggests that the paradox of the British defeat in 1781 - after Crown armies had crushed all organized resistance in South Carolina and Georgia - makes sense only if one understands the fundamental flaws in what modern historians label Britain's Southern Strategy. Wilson closely examines battles and skirmishes in North Carolina, South Carolina, and Georgia to coristruct a comprehensive military history of the American Revolution in the South through May 1780. battle maps and orders of battle for each engagement. Appraising the strategy and tactics of the most significant conflicts, he tests the thesis that the British could raise the manpower they needed to win the war in the South by tapping a vast reservoir of southern Loyalists. According to Wilson, the policy was flawed in both its conception and execution. The sheer amount of empirical data Wilson has amassed here distinguishes this work and makes Wilson's recounting an invaluable guide to the war in the South.

The American Revolution was a vicious civil war fought between families and neighbors. Nowhere was this truer than in South Carolina. Yet, after the Revolution, South Carolina's victorious Patriots offered vanquished Loyalists a prompt and generous legal and social reintegration. From Revolution to Reunion investigates the way in which South Carolinians, Patriot and Loyalist, managed to reconcile their bitter differences and reunite to heal South Carolina and create a stable foundation for the new United States to become a political and economic leader. Rebecca Brannon considers rituals and emotions, as well as historical memory, to produce a complex and nuanced interpretation of the reconciliation process in post-Revolutionary South Carolina, detailing how Loyalists and Patriots worked together to heal their society. She frames the process in a larger historical context by comparing South Carolina's experience with that of other states. Brannon highlights how Loyalists apologized but also went out of their way to serve their neighbors and to make themselves useful, even vital, members of the new experiment in self-government and liberty ushered in by the Revolution. Loyalists built on existing social ties to establish themselves in the new Republic, and they did it successfully. By 1784 the state government reinstated almost all the Loyalists who had stayed, as the majority of Loyalists had reinscribed themselves into the postwar nation. Brannon argues that South Carolinians went on to manipulate the way they talked about Loyalism in public to guarantee that memories would not be allowed to disturb the peaceful reconciliation they had created. South Carolinians succeeded in creating a generous and lasting reconciliation between former enemies, but in the process they unfortunately downplayed the dangers of civil war-which may have made it easier for South Carolinians to choose another civil war.

In The Road to Guilford Courthouse, one of the most acclaimed military histories of the Revolutionary War ever written, John Buchanan explored the first half of the critical Southern Campaign and introduced readers to its brilliant architect, Major General Nathanael Greene. In this long-awaited sequel, Buchanan brings this story to its dramatic conclusion. Greene's Southern Campaign was the most difficult of the war. With a supply line stretching hundreds of miles northward, it revealed much about the crucial military art of provision and transport. Insufficient manpower a constant problem, Greene attempted to incorporate black regiments into his army, a plan angrily rejected by the South Carolina legislature. A bloody civil war between Rebels and Tories was wreaking havoc on the South at the time, forcing Greene to address vigilante terror and restore civilian government. As his correspondence with Thomas Jefferson during the campaign shows, Greene was also bedeviled by the conflict between war and the rights of the people, and the question of how to set constraints under which a free society wages war. Joining Greene is an unforgettable cast of characters-men of strong and, at times, antagonistic personalities-all of whom are vividly portrayed. We also follow the fate of Greene's tenacious foe, Lieutenant Colonel Francis, Lord Rawdon. By the time the British evacuate Charleston-and Greene and his ragged, malaria-stricken, faithful Continental Army enter the city in triumph-the reader has witnessed in telling detail one of the most punishing campaigns of the Revolution, culminating in one of its greatest victories.

A brilliant account of the proud and ferocious American fighters who stood up to the British forces in savage battles crucial in deciding both the fate of the Carolina colonies and the outcome of the war. ""A tense, exciting historical account of a little known chapter of the Revolution, displaying history writing at its best.""--Kirkus Reviews ""His compelling narrative brings readers closer than ever before to the reality of Revolutionary warfare in the Carolinas.""--Raleigh News & Observer. ""Buchanan makes the subject come alive like few others I have seen."" --Dennis Conrad, Editor, The Nathanael Greene Papers. ""John Buchanan offers us a lively, accurate account of a critical period in the War of Independence in the South. Based on numerous printed primary and secondary sources, it deserves a large reading audience."" --Don Higginbotham, Professor of History, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill.

A study of early transatlantic trade in South Carolina that exposes the divisive complexity that led to war. London's "Carolina traders," a little-known group of transatlantic merchants, played a pivotal but historically neglected role in the rise of tensions in the South Carolina lowcountry. In Trade, Politics, and Revolution, Huw David delves into the lives of these men and explores their influence on commerce and politics in the years before and after the American Revolution. Beginning in the 1730s, a few select merchants in Charleston fueled South Carolina's economic rise, used their political connections to prosper in British-Carolinian trade, and then relocated to London, becoming absentee owners of property, plantations, and slaves. Using correspondence, business and slave trade records, newspapers, and a wealth of other sources, David reconstructs the lives of these Carolina traders and demonstrates their shifting but instrumental influence over the course of the eighteenth century. Until the 1760s these transatlantic traders served as a stabilizing force, using their wealth and political connections to lobby for colonial interests. As the British Empire flexed its power and incited rebellion with laws such as the so-called Intolerable Acts, South Carolinians became suspicious of the traders, believing them to be instruments of imperial oppression. Trade, Politics, and Revolution offers a fresh understanding of trade in South Carolina's early history and the shifting climate that led to the American Revolution, as well as reaching beyond the war to explore the reconstruction of trade routes between the newly founded United States and Great Britain. By focusing on one segment of transatlantic trade, David provides a new interpretive approach to imperialism and exposes the complex, deeply personal rift that divided the Carolina traders from their homeland and broke the colonies from the mother country.

This work shows how encounters with Native Americans and Continental troops and British regulars, fought between 1775 and 1783, were critical to South Carolina's winning the struggle that secured America's independence from Great Britain.

Exploring the contributions and fates of loyalists, Indians, and slaves who stood with the British Empire in the Deep South colonies during the American Revolution, this book challenges the traditional view that British efforts to regain control of the southern colonies were undermined by a lack of local support.

Parker's Guide describes the wheres, with the whats and the whens of the known actions in South Carolina. Some of the actions are undocumented because the records were lost or the participants were illiterate. Parker's Guide takes you to the actual places where these historic events unfolded. Charles B. Baxley, Publisher Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution.

The Liberty Trail—developed through a partnership between the American Battlefield Trust and the South Carolina Battleground Trust—connects battlefields across South Carolina and tells the captivating and inspiring stories of this transformative chapter of American history. The vision for The Liberty Trail is ambitious, with the goals of permanently protecting more than 2,500 acres of battlefield land and ultimately linking nearly 80 sites. The Liberty Trail tour guide app connects 30 National Parks, SC State Parks, and local sites with a series of new battlefield parks being developed through The Liberty Trail partnership.

This research shares an inclusive history of life in Charleston under British control, exploring the positive and negative aspects of occupation, the built environment/places of activity, and providing vignettes of the experiences of the city’s occupants. Charleston had a diverse population including enslaved Africans and African Americans, Native Americans, free people of color, elite whites, women, children, tradespeople, and working-class Charlestonians of various religions, ethnicities, and political ideologies.

The exhibit highlights the heroes of Anderson County and its rich military history. This permanent exhibit zooms in on the personal experiences of those who were there, giving visitors a chance to live these stories rather than simply read them. Each tale included in this exhibit offers a unique window into our military past, from the Revolution to the modern day. The museum's hope and mission is to preserve the stories of America’s veterans, past and present, and to inspire appreciation for the sacrifices they have made for the betterment of this county, state, and nation.

The Revolutionary War Visitor Center at Camden tells the story of the real turning point of the Revolution – The Southern Campaign. Discover Friends and Foes of the cause as well as the hard-fought battles by determined patriots with their hearts set on liberty.

Enter into General Marion’s secret camp of Snow’s Island. Scan your way through the swamplands of the Pee Dee and meet the characters that were present around the campfire. Discover how their stories are told through this immersive and interactive exhibit.