History of the American Revolution
More a major skirmish, the Battle of Black Mingo, just prior to midnight, September 28, 1780, [some accounts incorrectly give the date as September 14th] helped propagate the legend of one who would be termed the ‘Swamp Fox.’ Lt. Colonel Francis Marion was a militia leader and obstinate patriot who preferred to fight his war …
To call the fight there a battle would lend it a formality it did not possess. It was a clash of two armed mobs. Toward the end the fighting resembled an old-fashioned Pier 6 brawl between longshoremen and strikebreakers. Historian/Author John Buchanan The Battle of Ramsour’s Mill, also spelt Ramseur, and Ramsaur, for Derick Ramsaur, …
Battle of Tearcoat Swamp (also known as Tarcote and Tarcot), fought Oct. 25, 1780, was one of a string of battles that highlighted the military ingenuity of what legend has labeled, the Swamp Fox. By the fall of 1780, it became apparent that the new American Congress had blown it in selection of commanders of …
The Battle of Beaufort, also known as the Battle of Port Royal Island, February 3, 1779, near Beaufort, South Carolina, was considered an American victory that, along with the Battle of Kettle Creek, Georgia, exactly one month later, on March 3, 1779, was a shot in the arm for American forces in the south. As …
The Battle of Kettle Creek, February 14, 1779, was a partisan clash of arms between Loyalists and Patriot militias; approximately sixty-five miles northwest of Augusta and eight miles west of present-day Washington, Georgia. By 1778, the southern colonies of the American Revolution had become a battleground of partisan warfare. A bloody civil war had erupted …
Steno Ferry was fought on June 20, 1779 just southwest of Charleston, South Carolina, between the British and a slightly larger American force. It was a battle ill-conceived and did nothing to alter the situation of the two opposing armies. England’s troops were completing their retreat from ‘rebel’ defenses outside Charleston, South Carolina, when American …
An escape artist who slipped free of Patriot shackles a total of fourteen times, Loyalist Colonel David Fanning was a master of partisan warfare who became one of the most feared champions of the British cause. His dominance over North Carolina in 1781 led to the capture of the state capitol. This included Governor Butler …
February 24, 1781. Lt. Col. Henry “Light Horse Harry” Lee, Virginia patriot leader of cavalry and light infantry, rode before four hundred North Carolina loyalists. The militia, eager to join British Lt. General Charles Cornwallis’ army, had lined up for review. With Lee’s cavalry by his side, the Continental Army commander was enthusiastically greeted by …
“For damned fighting and drinking, I’ll match you against the world!” Lt. Col. William Meadows cries out leading the 23rd at the Battle of Brandywine Creek, Sept. 11, 1777. The British 23rd Regiment of Foot (Royal Welch Fusiliers) played a crucial role in nearly every major battle during the American Revolution; from the very beginning …
Foreign Soldier in America’s Continental Army It is April 20th, 1777. The morning sun shimmers through the lifting fog as the fifty five year old battle scarred German warrior stands along the stone promenade of an ancient wharf in the small Spanish Port of Passage. He gazes out at the French ship Victoire as she …