Thomas Sumter (1734-1832) grew up poor in Virginia and devoted his life to obtaining wealth and position. He served with the Virginia militia during the Seven Years’ War and again during the Cherokee War of 1760-1761, rising to the rank of sergeant. After delivering a treaty to Cherokee territory, he was asked to escort several Cherokee chiefs when they visited London in 1762. His career was going well until he was imprisoned for not repaying the loan that had financed his original journey into Cherokee territory, as well as other debts. Sumter escaped and fled to South Carolina, a common destination at the time for men seeking to avoid trouble with the law. Fortunately, a generous settlement from the British government for the Cherokee journey settled his debts and financed the establishment of a store at Eutaw Springs. He became a successful merchant, and became richer when he married a wealthy, older widow in 1767. His wife’s family was powerful in the region, so he was elected to the first Provincial Congress in 1775.

Despite his connections, friendship with a Tory leader, Moses Kirkland, limited his revolutionary career at first, but he raised a company of militia, and served well as adjutant under Colonel Richard Richardson. In 1776, Sumter was promoted to Lt. Colonel and raised a regiment, but he saw no combat during the British attack on Fort Sullivan in 1776 and the campaign against the Cherokee the same year. With South Carolina not threatened by the British at that time, he resigned his commission in 1778, and he played no role in the defense of Charleston. It is unknown whether he would have stayed out of the war, but the British gave him little choice and Tarleton’s men burned his house when he could not be found. He linked up with other rebel officers willing to continue the fight and on June 15, 1780, he was elected head of the South Carolina militia with the rank of brigadier-general.

Sumter quickly raised several hundred men but he proved to be a better recruiter than tactician, preferring to rely on frontal charges rather than carefully planned ambushes. While his battlefield record was not impressive, he clearly did not lack courage or resolve, since he continued fighting despite the destruction of a second patriot army at Camden on August 16. Without an organized army to oppose the British, rebel partisans took the full weight of opposing the British. This strategic situation called for guerrilla tactics, but unlike his fellow partisan Francis Marion, patience and caution were not among Sumter’s attributes. As a result, two days after Camden, Tarleton literally caught Sumter napping, and killed or captured almost all of his men. This crushing defeat did not prevent the governor of South Carolina from making him commander of all South Carolina militia, which enabled him to recruit more men.

Sumter’s reputation improved when he won a victory over Major James Wemyss who was rash enough to attack his camp at night on November 9. This defeat of British regulars not only attracted more recruits but also the unwelcome attention of Tarleton, the bane of partisans in the Carolinas. However, Elijah Clarke and his Georgia militia had swelled Sumter’s force to over 1,000 men, so they gave Tarleton a bloody nose when he attacked them when they were dug in at Blackstone’s Farm even though he was outnumbered 4 to 1 and lacked artillery. Despite receiving a serious wound during the battle, Sumter still had enough energy to be offended when Nathanael Greene, the new commander of the Southern Department, ordered him to serve under Daniel Morgan.

Fortunately, Sumter’s refusal to send men or supplies did not prevent Morgan from inflicting a crushing defeat on Tarleton at Cowpens on January 17, 1781. While the other partisan leaders like Marion, Andrew Pickens and Elijah Clarke followed Greene’s strategy to force the British to abandon their series of posts across South Carolina, Sumter went out of his way to follow his own strategy, refusing to send men when ordered by Greene, which was a factor in Greene’s defeat at Hobkirk’s Hill on April 25. Sumter was so self-centered that he threw a hissy fit when Light Horse Harry Lee dared capture a Tory fort in his territory, thus proving that he was not a team player. His petulant stubbornness meant that while the other partisan leaders and Greene’s commanders won a stream of victories, Sumter had a steady stream of defeats. It took an official order from Greene to force Marion and Lee to work with him, but when Sumter’s love of frontal assaults caused heavy casualties at Monck’s Corner in early August, the blatant incompetence drove Marion and Lee to lead their men away and one of Sumter’s own officers to swear to never serve under him again. Sumter reacted by retiring from the war.

While Sumter was more of a danger to his men than the enemy during the war, he proved to be a skillful politician during the peace. He won election to the House and then the Senate, where he ensured that his son was appointed Minister to Portugal and later Brazil. He died aged ninety-eight, an astonishing lifespan for the time.

Further Reading:

The Road to Guilford Courthouse: The American Revolution in the Carolinas-John Buchanan, New York: John Wiley & Sons, Inc., 1997.

The author’s descriptions of the terrain show that he has spent a great deal of time visiting historical sites in the Carolinas, which bring the terrain to life for the reader, although the overly detailed descriptions can be a bit distracting at times. Although it focuses on the Carolinas Campaign (February 1780 to August 1781), the author provides brief but insightful biographical sketches and portraits of all of the major leaders in the South on either side in order to provide more depth. It is not a one stop examination of the Carolinas Campaign since it ends with the battle at Guilford Courthouse in March 1781, hence the name. Buchanan is the rare historian who is an excellent researcher and an entertaining writer, and he has produced a superb book that sets the standard for other works in the field.

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