The American Revolution in South Carolina

All Known Engagements Within SC - Battles & Skirmishes


SC Units in Battles/Skirmishes Outside of SC

Each historian, professional or amateur, has their own criteria for what constitutes a skirmish versus a battle, or what is not even worth mentioning either way. To this website's Author, if a Loyalist "murdered" a single Patriot (or vice versa), this was NOT a battle or a skirmish - it was pure and simple murder, and a heinous act on either side. However, if a group of one party slaughtered a group of the other party, then this may have been "pure and simple murder" once again, but to me it is worthy of including herein since it clarifies some of the barbarity that war brings with it.

Some of the engagements included herein do not include the killing or maiming of anyone, but do describe "meaningful encounters" that also offers the reader with other noteworthy activities and events which provides more clarity about the overall aspects of the war. These are kept to a minimum herein, but do move the story along in each instance.

For the most part, South Carolinians fought in South Carolina. South Carolina did provide State Troops for the Continental Army, but these South Carolina Continentals again fought mostly on South Carolina soil. It took an Act of the state legislature to allow South Carolina Continentals and Militia to leave the state. When Savannah and Augusta were captured and garrisoned by the British army, South Carolina sent State Troops, Continentals, and Militia to assist the state of Georgia, as they did on a few other occasions. South Carolina also assisted North Carolina as well with considerable numbers of Militia in her times of need.

However, as a general rule, South Carolina did not send men to the Northern Campaign to fight in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, New York, or any other of the northern states - they simply had enough "fighting" going on at home and could not afford to send men elsewhere. A few singular and sometimes noteworthy South Carolinians did go north and join the Continental Army, but very few.

Many South Carolinians who resided near the borders of Georgia and North Carolina also joined Militia units and State Troops in those two states, and they fought alongside their neighbors as if fighting for their own soil.

As one of the few states with its own Navy, South Carolina also sent ships and men all over the Caribbean and the Atlantic seaboard to take the fight to the British on the seas. Quite a few privateers originated from South Carolina, and they too did what they could on the open seas to aid the Patriot cause.

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