Wednesday, October 26 (7:30 PM) thru Saturday, October 29 (5 PM)
Headquartered in Columbia, SC
Led by Joshua Howard, David Reuwer and Bruce Venter
In 2009 our former tour company, Stars & Stripes Events offered its first Revolutionary War tour in South Carolina entitled The Swamp Fox: Francis Marion, Revolutionary War Hero of South Carolina. It was our most popular tour. This year we’re returning to the Palmetto State to explore the military career of another fearless South Carolinian, Thomas Sumter. Popularly known as the “Fighting Gamecock,” Sumter sometimes knocked heads with Francis Marion by his unconventional style. However, he also prompted his British adversary, Lt. Gen. Charles Lord Cornwallis to write to Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, claiming Sumter “certainly has been our greatest plague in this country.” While Marion was made a popular hero by Walt Disney’s “Swamp Fox” TV series of the 1950’s, Sumter’s contribution to the War for Independence has remained in the shadows, except perhaps for South Carolinians. Our “Gamecock” tour seeks to remedy this perception.
Our first day will start with a visit to Williamson’s Plantation or Huck’s Defeat where contingents from General Sumter’s command defeated troops under Captain Christian Huck of Tarleton’s Legion. Then it’s on to Hanging Rock where Sumter successfully attacked Loyalists under Maj. John Carden, despite the fact that Sumter lost control of his men when they stumbled into a store of British liquor. A future U.S. president, Andrew Jackson served as a 13-year old courier for the Patriots. Next we’ll stop at Fishdam Ford where British Maj. James Weymss sought to trap the “Gamecock,” but his plans fell apart when the Redcoat commander suffered debilitating wound. The Rebels were again successful but Sumter barely missed being captured in the attack. We plan to end the day at Blackstock’s Plantation, a pristine battlefield where Tarleton switched from chasing the Swamp Fox to pursuing the Gamecock. Sumter turned the tables on “Bloody Ban” but was wounded in the fight. We’ll descend into the wooded ravine where Tarleton initiated his attack and trace the fight uphill to the site of Blackstock’s outbuildings where the British were stopped.
Our second day will include a stop at Sumter’s Tomb, the ruins of Biggin Church, a British supply depot burned in the summer of 1781 as British Lt. Col. John Coates was retreating back to Charleston. Coates caught Light Horse Harry Lee at Quinby’s Bridge and nearly defeated him. It was at Shubrick’s Plantation where Sumter ordered Marion and Lee to make a disastrous attack which caused the Swamp Fox to desert his commander after the fight.
Our third day will start at Fort Granby, the scene of Sumter’s unsuccessful siege in February 1781. Another debacle for Sumter was his attempted siege of Fort Watson in March 1781 when the Gamecock was unaware that the fort had been recently reinforced. We also plan to stop at Orangeburg where Sumter laid siege to another British outpost and this time successfully captured it.
Along the way, you’ll see numerous lesser known Revolutionary War places associated with Sumter including Carey’s Fort, Belleville, Radcliffe Bridge and the site of Sumter’s Plantation which was burned during the war.
Registration Fee: $475.00
What’s included: motor coach transportation, three lunches, beverage and snack breaks, a map and materials package, all admissions and gratuities, and the services of three experienced tour guides-historians. Our headquarters hotel will provide a complimentary breakfast buffet each morning. Tour participants are responsible for transportation to the headquarters hotel, and securing a room reservation, if necessary. Dinner is on your own. Tour goes out rain or shine. Please see our policy page for information about cancellations.
Hotel: We have arranged with the headquarters hotel for a group rate of $69 per night plus tax. Please call the Wingate Hotel, 217 Lanneau Court, Columbia, SC 29212 directly at 803-407-6166 and ask to reserve your room at the America’s History group rate. This rate will be guaranteed up to 30 days prior to the tour, so please make your reservations soon.
Our Tour Guides/Historians:
Joshua Howard is a military historian and co-author of two books on the Revolutionary War with Larry Babits. The first was Fortitude and Forbearance: The North Carolina Continental Line in the Revolutionary War, 1775-1783. The most recent is, Long, Obstinate, and Bloody: The Battle of Guilford Courthouse, March 15, 1781. It was recently awarded the 2010 United States Army Historical Foundation Distinguished Writing Award. The North Carolina Historical Review has called it:”… one of the best [books] ever written on the American Revolution.” He is a research historian for the North Carolina Office of Archives and History. He is currently completing research on another book on Greene’s 1781 South Carolina campaign and the Battle of Eutaw Springs.
David Reuwer is president and founder of the American Revolution Association and publisher of American Revolution magazine. He frequently leads battlefield tours for Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, an organization dedicated to promoting research, scholarly debate and the preservation of Revolutionary War sites.
Dr. Bruce M. Venter, CEO of America’s History, LLC is an experienced Revolutionary War tour leader. He led a Swamp Fox tour in 2009. His article, “Behind Enemy Lines: Americans Attack Burgoyne’s Supply Line” will appear in the May/June issue of Patriots of the American Revolution magazine.
To register:
Register By Phone:
Phone: 1-855-OUR-HISTORY (687-4478)
Register by e-mail:
info@AmericasHistoryLLC.com
Register by Postal Mail:
America’s History LLC, P. O. Box 1076, Goochland, VA 23063
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