Rocky Mount, South Carolina

ROCKY MOUNT, SOUTH CAROLINA. 1 August 1780. Following the destruction of Loyalist Captain Christian Huck's detachment at Williamson's Plantation on 12 July 1780, more Whigs joined Thomas Sumter's Patriot force. With Continental troops approaching, Sumter felt he could operate more boldly against British lines of communications between Charleston and Camden and other interior posts. After notifying Major General Johann De Kalb about the possibilities, Sumter moved against Rocky Mount with about 600 men on 30 July, while Major William R. Davie threatened Hanging Rock, to the north. At that time, these two posts were garrisoned only by Loyalist provincial troops, because British regulars had been drawn closer to Camden.

Sumter's troops included South Carolina militia under the leadership of Colonels William Hill and Andrew Neale. In addition, he had the North Carolina militia of Colonel John Irwin. At Rocky Mount, Lieutenant Colonel George Turnbull held a strong, naturally defensible position with 150 New York Volunteers and 150 South Carolina Loyalist militia. Two fortified houses and a strong building with loopholes had been built on the knoll and were surrounded by an abatis (a defensive construction made of felled trees pointing outward toward the enemy). Sumter arrived at Rocky Mount early on 1 August and, rather than immediately attacking, called on Turnbull to surrender. Already alerted, the Tories told Sumter to "come and take it."

The post was assaulted repeatedly, although without the benefit of artillery, and the abatis was finally penetrated. During the initial action six men were lost, including Colonel Neale, from the Patriot side. Once through the outer defense, the attackers found the buildings well defended by heavy musket fire. Sumter sent men to burn the houses, even rolling a wagon filled with combustibles against one. Once the fire took hold, the defenders tried to surrender. A sudden rainstorm put out the fire and the Tories resumed fighting. Frustrated, Sumter withdrew to his camp near Land's Ford on the Catawba.

The engagement lasted almost eight hours, but was largely carried out through long-range skirmishing because few wished to overly expose themselves to injury. By the end of the battle, both sides had lost approximately a dozen killed and wounded. After a brief respite, Sumter went on to attack Hanging Rock, North Carolina, on 6 August 1780.

SEE ALSO Camden Campaign; Hanging Rock, South Carolina.

BIBLIOGRAPHY

Robinson, Blackwell P. The Revolutionary War Sketches of William R. Davie. Raleigh: North Carolina Department of Cultural Resources, Division of Archives and History, 1976.

Tarleton, Banastre. A History of the Campaigns of 1780 and 1781 in the Southern Provinces of North America. London, 1787. Reprint. Spartanburg, S.C.: Reprint Company, 1967.

                           revised by Lawrence E. Babits