List of South Carolina militia units in the American Revolution

The South Carolina militia units in the American Revolution were established on January 17, 1775 by the South Carolina Provincial Congress. These militia units were subordinate to the South Carolina Council of Safety. Officers were selected by February 1775. In November 1775, the Militia units were renamed regiments. On March 28, 1778, the South Carolina General Assembly consolidated the regiments into four brigades, each led by a Brigadier General.^[1]

Siege of Charleston

BG Francis Marion, 2nd Brigade commander

BG Richard Richardson, 2nd Brigade commander

BG Thomas Sumter, 1st and 6th Brigade commander

Col William Moultrie, Charles Town District Regiment commander

Col Andrew Pickens, Ninety-Six Regiment commander

Militia units

The first sixteen militia were established in February 1775. While initially called just militia, they were renamed as regiments in November 1775. When Charlestown fell on May 12, 1780, most of the generals were taken as prisoners by the British and the regiments were left to fend for themselves. Most new regiments were Light Dragoons vice infantry. The known regiments, brigades, and independent units included:^[1][2]

South Carolina militia units in the American Revolution

Unit Name	Subordination	Date established	Disbanded	Original Commander, Rank	Refs
1st Brigade	Council of Safety	March 25, 1778	May 12, 1780	Stephen Bull, BG	[3][4]
2nd Brigade	Council of Safety	March 25, 1778	May 12, 1780	Richard Richardson, BG	[5][6]
3rd Brigade	Council of Safety	March 25, 1778	May 12, 1780	Andrew Williamson, BG	[7][8]
4th Brigade	Council of Safety	March 25, 1778	May 12, 1780	Alexander McIntosh, BG	[9]
Beaufort District Militia/ Regiment	1st Brigade (1778–1780)	February 1775		Stephen Bull, Col	[10][11]
Forks of Saluda District Militia/ Regiment[note 1]	3rd Brigade	February 1775		Robert Starke, Col	[12]
Camden District Militia/ Regiment	2nd Brigade (1778–1780) Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	February 1775		Richard Richardson, Col	[13][6]
Little River District Militia/ Regiment	3rd Brigade (1778–1780)	February 1775		John Lindsay, Col	[14]
Charles Town District Militia/ Regiment	1st Brigade (1778–1780)	February 1775		William Moultrie, Col	[15][16]
New Acquisition District Militia/ Regiment	2nd Brigade (1778–1780) Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	February 1775		Thomas Neel, Col	[17]
Cheraws District Militia/ Regiment	4th Brigade (1778–1780) Marion's Brigade (1781)	February 1775		George Gabriel Powell, Col	[18]
Upper Saluda District Militia/ Regiment[note 2]	2nd Brigade	February 1775	September 1775	Thomas Fletchall, Col	[19][20]
1st Spartan Regiment	2nd Brigade (1778–1780)	February 1777		John Thomas, Sr., Col	[21]
2nd Spartan Regiment	2nd Brigade (1778–1780) Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	February 1777		Thomas Brandon, Col	[22]
Georgetown District Militia/ Regiment	4th Brigade (1778–1780)	February 1775		Thomas Screven, Col	[23]
Berkeley County Militia/ Regiment	1st Brigade (1778–1780) Marion's Brigade (1781)	February 1775		Richard Singleton, Col	[24]
Ninety-Six District Militia/ Regiment[note 3]	3rd Brigade	February 1775		John Savage, Col	[25]
Upper Ninety-Six Regiment	3rd Brigade (1778–1780)	March 28, 1778		Andrew Pickens, Col	[26]
Lower Ninety-Six Regiment	3rd Brigade (1778–1780)	March 28, 1778		LeRoy Hammond, Col	[27]
Colleton County Militia/ Regiment	1st Brigade (1778–1780)	February 1775		Joseph Glover, Col	[28]
Orangeburgh District Militia/ Regiment	3rd Brigade (1778–1780) Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	February 1775		William Thomson, Col	[29]
Craven County Militia/ Regiment[note 4]	Council of Safety	February 1775	November 1775	Job Rotmahler, Col	[30]
Upper Craven County Regiment	4th Brigade (1778–1780) Marion's Brigade	November 1775		George Hicks, Col	[31]
Lower Craven County Regiment	4th Brigade (1778–1780) Marion's Brigade (1781)	November 1775		Job Rothmahler, Col	[32]
Fairfield Regiment	2nd Brigade (1778–1780) Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	February 1775		Joseph Kershaw, Col	[33]
Granville County Militia/ Regiment	1st Brigade	February 1775	June 1780	Benjamin Garden, Col	[34]
Upper Granville County Regiment	2nd Brigade	June 1780		William Harden, LTC, Col	[35]
Lower Granville County Regiment	2nd Brigade	June 1780		William Stafford, LTC	[36]
Kingstree Regiment[note 5]	4th Brigade (1780) Marion's Brigade (1781)	December 1779, January 1780		Archibald McDonald	[37]
Kershaw Regiment	Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	June 1780		James Postell, Col	[38]
Turkey Creek Regiment	Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)	May 1780		Edward Lacey, Col	[39]
Polk's Regiment of Light Dragoons	North Carolina's Mecklenburg County Regiment South Carolina State Troops[note 6]	July 1780		William Polk, Col	[40][41]
Hampton's Regiment of Light Dragoons	Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)[note 7]	July 1780		Henry/Wade Hampton, Col	[42]
Hill's Regiment of Light Dragoons	Col Sumter (backcountry) (1780)[note 8]	July 1780		William Hill, Col	[43]
1st Brigade (after fall of Charleston)	Council of Safety	Aug 1780		Thomas Sumter, Col/BG	[44]
2nd Brigade (after fall of Charleston)	Council of Safety	Aug 1780		Francis Marion, Col/BG	[45]
3rd Brigade (after fall of Charleston)	Council of Safety	July 1781		Andrew Pickens, BG	[26][46]
Horry's Light Dragoons	2nd Brigade	February 16, 1781		Peter Horry, LTC	[47][48][49][50]
Maham's Light Dragoons[note 9]	2nd Brigade	Mar 1781		Hezekiah Maham, Maj	[52][53][51]
Hammond's Light Dragoons Regiment	3rd Brigade[note 10]	April 1781		Samuel Hammond LTC/Col	[54]
4th Brigade (after fall of Charleston)	Council of Safety	September 1781		John Barnwell BG	[55]
Independent Company of Rangers	Independent	1775	1776	John Bowie, CPT	[56]
Independent Company of Rangers	Independent	1775		Robert Ellison, CPT	[57]
Independent Company of Rangers	Independent	1775	1776	Benjamin Tutt, CPT	[58]
Independent Company of Rangers	Independent	1775	1780	Ezekiel Polk, CPT	[59]
Indian Field Company	Independent	1775		John Fullerton, CPT	[60]
Catawba Indian Company of Rovers	Independent	1775	1776	Samuel Boykin, CPT	[61]
Charles Town Artillery Company	Independent	1775		Owen Robert, CPT	[62]
Racoon Company	Independent	1776	1780	John Allston, CPT	[63]
Indian Company of Rovers	Independent	1776		John Withers, LT/CPT	[64]
Charles Town Artillery Company	Independent	1778	1780	Sims White, CPT	[65]
Independent Company	Independent	1781	1781	William Clay Snipes, Maj	[66]

Notes:

1. The Forks of Saluda District Regiment was renamed the Lower District Regiment in November 1775. It was also referred to as the Dutch Forks Regiment
2. The Upper Saluda District militia was renamed the Spartan Regiment in September 1775. In November 1775, the Spartan Regiment was split into 1st Spartan Regiment and 2nd Spartan Regiment in February 1777^[19][20]
3. The Ninety-Six District militia was split into Upper Ninety-Six Regiment and Lower Ninety-Six Regiment on March 28, 1778.
4. The Craven County militia was split into Upper Craven County Regiment and Lower Craven County Regiment in November 1775.
5. The Kingstree Regiment was established in late 1779 or 1780.
6. Polk's Regiment of Light Dragoons was a subset of the North Carolina's Mecklenburg County Regiment of militia until in became part of the South Carolina State troops in April 1781
7. Hampton's Regiment of Light Dragoons became part of the South Carolina State Troops in April 1781
8. Hill's Regiment of Light Dragoons became part of the South Carolina State Troops in April 1781
9. Maham's Light Dragoons became the 3rd Regiment of State Dragoons in October 1781.^[51]
10. Hammond's Light Dragoons Regiment became part of the South Carolina State Troops in September 1781

Provincial and state units

For clarification and comparison purposes, the South Carolina provincial and state troop units are listed below:^[67]

Unit	Date established	Disbanded	Continental Line, Date	Original Commander, Rank	Ref
1st Regiment (Infantry)	June 6, 1775	May 12, 1780	Yes, November 4, 1775	Christopher Gadsden, Col	[68]
2nd Regiment (Infantry)	June 6, 1775	May 12, 1780	Yes, November 4, 1775	William Moultrie, Col	[69]
3rd Regiment (Rangers)	June 6, 1775	May 12, 1780	Yes, July 24, 1776	William Thomson, LTC	[70]
4th Regiment (Artillery)	November 14, 1775	May 12, 1780	Yes, June 18, 1776	Owen Roberts, LTC	[71]
5th Regiment (Rifles)	February 22, 1776	Feb. 1780	Yes, March 25, 1776	Isaac Huger, Col	[72]
6th Regiment (Rifles)	February 28, 1776	Feb. 1780	Yes, March 25, 1776	Thomas Sumter, LTC	[73]
Light Dragoons	February 1779	May 12, 1780	No	Daniel Horry, Col	[74]
1st Regiment of State Dragoons	April 1781	1783	No	Wade Hampton, I, Col	[75]
2nd Regiment of State Dragoons	April 1781	1783	No	Charles Myddleton, Col	[76]
Hampton's Regiment of Light Dragoons	April 1781	1783	No	Henry Hampton, LTC	[42]
Polk's Regiment of Light Dragoons	April 1781	February 1782	No	William Polk, LTC	[40][41]
Hill's Regiment of Light Dragoons	April 1781	1782	No	William Hill, Col	[43]
Hammond's Regiment of Light Dragoons	September 1781	1782	No	Samuel Hammond, Col	[54]
3rd Regiment of State Dragoons	October 1781	1783	No	Hezekiah Maham, LTC	[77]
4th Regiment of State Dragoons	October 1781	1782	No	Peter Horry, LTC	[50]

See also

• South Carolina in the American Revolution
• Southern Campaigns: Pension Transactions for a description of the transcription effort by Will Graves
• Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War
• South Carolina Line: 1st, 2nd, 3rd, 4th, 5th, 6th Regiments
• List of North Carolina militia units in the American Revolution
• List of United States militia units in the American Revolutionary War