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Sumter,
Thomas, military officer; born in Virginia in 1734; was a
volunteer in the French and Indian War, and was present at
Braddock's defeat in 1755. In March, 1776, he became
lieutenant-colonel of a
South Carolina regiment of riflemen, and was stationed in the
interior of the State to overawe the Indians and Tories. After the
fall of Charleston in 1780, Sumter hid in the swamps of the Santee;
and when his State was ravaged by the British, he retreated to
North Carolina, where
he raised a larger force than he could arm, and with these he fought
and defeated a British force at
Hanging Rock, and totally
routed a British force on the Catawba (July 12, 1780), but was
afterwards (August 18) surprised and defeated at
Fishing Creek by
Tarleton. He soon
raised another corps and repulsed Colonel Wemyss near the Broad
River (November 12), and at
Blackstocks defeated Tarleton, who attempted to surprise him. So
vigilant and brave was Sumter that the British called him the "South
Carolina Game-cock." Raising three regiments, with
Marion and Perkins he
dreadfully harassed the British and Tories in South Carolina. He
received the thanks of Congress, January 13, 1781.
Cornwallis,
writing to Tarleton, said of him, "He certainly has been our
greatest plague in this country." He captured the British post at
Orangeburg (May, 1781), and soon afterwards those at Dorchester and
Monk's Corner. General Sumter was a warm friend of the national
Constitution, and was member of Congress under it in 1789-93, and
again in 1797-1801. He was United States Senator in 1801-10, when he
was appointed United States minister to Brazil. He died at South
Mount, near Camden, South Carolina, June 1, 1832. |