As one of the 13 original colonies, South Carolina took a lead in the Revolutionary War, with more than 200 Revolutionary War battles fought in South Carolina, along with countless military engagements recorded on South Carolina soil. These Revolutionary War battles in South Carolina, often dramatic and pivotal in the ultimate outcome of the war, helped transform the King's colonies into a union of states.
South Carolina's state parks offer guests a chance to revisit some of the most pivotal Revolutionary War sites and events that took place during the war.
The Andrew Jackson Museum details the life and boyhood home of the nation’s seventh president, Andrew Jackson. Educational programs and living history demonstrations tell of Jackson’s life in the Waxhaws of the South Carolina backcountry during the Revolutionary War.
Hampton Plantation is home to an 18th-century plantation that was one of the many Revolutionary War sites that served as a place of refuge for women and children during the war, and the rice fields surrounding the property hid Francis Marion from when British troops arrived at there in search of him.
Long before the park served as an attraction for paddlers and spider lily enthusiasts, Landsford Canal was a site traversed by both Patriot and British troops on their way to Revolutionary War battles in South Carolina. Both sides stood on the bank of the Land’s Ford crossing to cross the Catawba River on their way to battle.
The Battle of Musgrove Mill took place on August 19, 1780. A small force of around 200 South Carolina, Georgia, and Overmountain Man Patriot militia fought and defeated a larger force of 200 Loyalist South Carolina militia and 300 Provincial soldiers from South Carolina, New York, and New Jersey in a short but pivotal battle. This surprising Patriot victory was a major turning point during the Revolutionary War. This victory boosted the failing morale of South Carolina Patriots and dispelled the British high command’s belief that they had crushed all Patriot resistance following the major Patriot defeats at Camden on August 16, 1780 and Fishing Creek on August 18, 1780.
Today the battle and the history of the Revolutionary War in the South Carolina Backcountry is detailed through interpretative signage in the site’s Visitor Center and along the 1-mile British Camp Trail and a 1.5-mile Battlefield trail.
Other state park properties with Revolutionary War sites and history include: