Blackstock

A Savage War of Posts

Gen Thomas Sumter

The William Blackstock farm became the site of one of those "small" but violent clashes that made up the complex mosaic of the American Revolution in the South. The farm (several tobacco barns) sits just off the Tyger River, at the western edge of Union County, South Carolina. This backwater farm formed the backdrop to one of American General Thomas Sumter's most important battles. In November 1780, Georgia militia under Elijah Clark and John Twiggs reinforced Sumter, whose forces threatened Loyalist outposts north of the famed bastion at Ninety-Six. Sensing a threat to Ninety-Six could become untenable, the British commander in the south, Lord Cornwallis, ordered famed cavalry commander, Banastre Tarleton to break off contact with Francis (Swamp Fox) Marion's militia along the Pee Dee River. Tarleton rushed to his new assignment hoping to pin Sumter's force between him and the British at Ninety-Six. Fortunately, a British deserter gave warning to Sumter, who beat a hasty retreat out of the impending trap. Not to be outdone, the ever aggressive Tarleton pursued hell-bent to get the rebel force before it could elude him. To do this, he led his cavalry, leaving infantry and guns to follow.

A Defense Well Prepared

Elijah Clarke

Sumter's force reached the Tyger River at dusk on the 20th of November. The canny Sumter realized he had "good ground" and decided to establish defensive positions and frustrate his pursuers with a stout defense of the farm. The famed "Gamecock" distributed his 1,000 men in defensive positions. They did not have long to wait before Tarleton's Legion - 190 dragoons and 80 mounted infantry of
the British 63rd Regiment were observed moving at them. Realizing the rest of Tarleton's force was far behind, Sumter decided to surprise the lead forces with an attack. Sumter left his center to defend the high ground using the protection of the five log cabins and a rail fence. He sent Elijah Clark with his 80 Georgians around the advancing Tarleton's right flank to block the British troops coming up. Sumter led the main thrust with 400 militia against 80 regulars of the 63rd who had dismounted and taken up positions to the right of the British advance.

Sketch of the battlefield

A Back and Forth Struggle

Banastre Tarleton

Sumter's plans turned to dust when the British 63rd repulsed his militia who retreated back through the houses anchoring the center. Not to be undone, Sumter dispatched a force of mounted infantry under Colonel Lacey with orders to strike the British dragoons on the left. Lacey's men surprised the dragoons (who were admiring the work of the 63rd). Lacey's first volley inflicted 20 casualties on the troopers. But they quickly recovered and drove off Lacey's men.  Itching to dispatch the rebels, the 80 men of the 63rd attacked the center. A bayonet charge led by Major John Money sought to drive back the rebels but the 63d advanced too close to the farm buildings and came under fire from Colonel Henry Hampton's men inside, as usual aiming "at the epaulets and stripes." Money and two of his lieutenants were killed, and according to an officer of Fraser's Highlanders, a third of the privates as well. Meanwhile, other partisans worked their way around their right flank and attacked Tarleton's dragoons who were in their saddles but only watching the action. Now that  Hampton's South Carolina riflemen and some of the Georgia sharpshooters held the line and checked the British, Sumter's men began to rally around them. The British infantry was trapped under the muskets and rifles of an enraged patriot force. Seeing their distress, Tarleton led a desperate charge at the American center. The reckless uphill cavalry charge against riflemen firing from cover did not go well. One report recorded so many dragoons knocked from their horses that the road to the ford was blocked by the bodies of men and fallen chargers, the wounded, still targets, struggling back over their stricken comrades and kicking screaming horses. Still, the British forces fell back in good order.

Tarleton's cavalry attack repulsed by intense American fire

Change of Command

John Twiggs

Not without his own bravado, Sumter rode to the center of his line as the British dragoons were repulsed.  As they made their withdrawal, members of the 63d fired a volley at him and his officers. Sumter was severely wounded, taking rounds in the arm and the back, and had to relinquish command to John Twiggs. Realizing he would have no more success that day, Tarleton pulled back and awaited reinforcements hoping to launch another attack the next day. Fearing that troops from Ninety-Six would join with Tarleton to overwhelm them, the Americans retreated. To deceive the British scouts, Twiggs left campfires burning and withdrew under the cover of night. Tarleton claimed the battlefield, and the battle, the following day. But can sense his frustration as he was forced to bury the dead of both sides. The butcher's bill was lopsided: British casualties: 92 killed and 75-100 wounded. American casualties: 3 killed, 4 wounded, and 50 captured.

View of American defenses

After the Battle

The engagement at the Blackstock farm is little known, and for many years nearly forgotten. Tarleton boasted of his victory and the dispatching of the hated Sumter. Yet his regulars had failed to eject the rebel militia from the field and had suffered an unacceptable loss ratio. Moreover, Sumter would be back in action in a few months. Meanwhile, his wounding enabled General George Washington to appoint the New England fighting quaker Nathanael Greene as the overall commander of the Southern Department.

Nathanael Greene

The Battlefield Today

The Blackstock Plantation, once a series of tobacco barns, lies in a hilly, wooded region. In the eighteenth century, much of the land of the battlefield was cleared but has since overgrown with
small pines and brush. No above-the-surface evidence remains of Blackstock’s barn or house, which were located in the area of the historical marker that designates the battle site, and there are no modern buildings in the area of the battlefield. The site has 54 acres preserved with walking trails just south of the Tyger River.