Through the South

     I have just returned from a college retrieval to and from Clemson, and visited Moore's Creek Bridge, (NC), Wilmington (NC), Camden (SC), Ninety Six (SC) and Musgrove's Mill (SC).  Previously, I've been to King's Mountain, Ramsour's Mill, Guilford Courthouse and Cowpens.  Eutaw Springs and Charleston, as well as Augusta (GA) will need to abide another trip.

     Here is a view of the Patriot position, with one of the two light artillery pieces aimed towards the bridge.  I made two visits, one in twilight as the park was closing, and in the morning when a slight fog covered the creek.  What is striking about this battle, as many in the Carolinas, was that it was truly demonstrative of the civil war nature of the Revolution.  It also demonstrates something the contemporary wisdom about the Revolution seems to ignore--that Loyalists were also Americans (though not designated "Patriots") and fought as fiercely and from the same kind of core beliefs or economic interests.  The fighting at Moore's Creek was intense, though the Loyalists took the worst of it by far.  The Patriot victory here compelled a very different strategy for the British commanders.