Well over 400 land engagements, a series of battles and skirmishes, took place in South Carolina during the American Revolution.
The first major battle centered around British efforts to seize Charlestown in June 28, 1776, when the Patriots held off the combined land and sea forces at the Battle of Fort Moultrie, the Battle of Fort Sullivan and the associated Breech Inlet Naval Battle. A second British assault failed in 1779, but a third Siege of Charlestown in the Spring of 1780 ended in a British victory.
Patriot forces suffered another serious setback in the battle of Camden in August of 1780. Major General Horatio Gates’ night-time march failed to surprise the British. The Patriots suffered nearly 1,000 soldiers killed or wounded and about the same number captured. The resulting withdrawal left most of South Carolina in British hands.
The tide turned in the Patriots’ favor on October 7, 1780, with the victory at King’s Mountain and on January 17, 1781 at Cowpens Later in 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene commenced a drive that pushed the main British force out of South Carolina, through North Carolina, and into the state of Virginia. Smaller British contingents remained behind and participated in the continuing struggle between the Patriot and Loyalist soldiers.
Hamilton Historical Records 