In the early hours of November 9, 1780, the quiet woods along the Broad River in South Carolina erupted in musket fire. The British, led by Major James Wemyss, had crept toward what they thought was a sleeping rebel camp. Instead, they charged straight into the muzzle flashes of men who had learned their lessons the hard way.
This is the story of the Battle of Fishdam Ford, a small but fierce fight that changed the rhythm of the Southern Campaign. Brigadier General Thomas Sumter’s militia, hardened by earlier defeat, turned the tables on one of the most feared British officers in the Carolinas. Their twenty-minute stand in the firelight didn’t just save their camp. It restored faith that the Patriot cause could survive in the South.
Today on Dave Does History, we’ll walk that dark riverbank and hear how a few prepared men turned the tide.
