Musgrove Mill State Historic Site was the site of the

Battle of Musgrove Mill The Battle of Musgrove Mill, August 19, 1780, occurred near a ford of the Enoree River, near the present-day border between Spartanburg, Laurens and Union Counties in South Carolina. During the course of the battle, 200 Patriot militiamen defeate ...

, an action in the

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was a major war of the American Revolution. Widely considered as the war that secured the independence of t ...

, which occurred on August 19, 1780, near the Enoree River, on what (in the 21st century) is the border between Spartanburg, Laurens, and

Union Union commonly refers to: * Trade union, an organization of workers * Union (set theory), in mathematics, a fundamental operation on sets Union may also refer to: Arts and entertainment Music * Union (band), an American rock group ** ''Un ...

Counties in South Carolina, approximately seven miles from Interstate 26. MusgroveMillBattlefield

In the August 1780, a group of 200 Patriot

militiamen A militia () is generally an army or some other fighting organization of non-professional soldiers, citizens of a country, or subjects of a state, who may perform military service during a time of need, as opposed to a professional force of r ...

attempted to strike what they thought was an equal number of Loyalists camped near a ford on the Enoree River. The Loyalists, however, had recently been joined by 300 more, two hundred of them provincial regulars from the British post at Ninety Six, South Carolina. Once discovered, the Patriots were unable to either retreat or make a frontal assault. Instead they took up a position behind logs and brush on a nearby ridge and lured the Loyalists into attacking them. A fierce fight ensued and turned into a near rout of the Loyalists. Nevertheless, when the Patriot militia learned that American forces had been defeated three days before at the

Battle of Camden The Battle of Camden (August 16, 1780), also known as the Battle of Camden Court House, was a major victory for the British in the Southern theater of the American Revolutionary War. On August 16, 1780, British forces under Lieutenant General ...

, they also retreated. North Carolina Patriot militia leader Col. Isaac Shelby, campaigning to Musgrove Mill from the area of present-day northeast Tennessee, fought at the Battle of Musgrove Mill with a small force of

Overmountain Men The Overmountain Men were American frontiersmen from west of the Blue Ridge Mountains which are the leading edge of the Appalachian Mountains, who took part in the American Revolutionary War. While they were present at multiple engagements in th ...

. After the battle, Shelby and his Overmountain Men returned over the Appalachia Mountains to the Sycamore Shoals (located at present-day Elizabethton, Tennessee). Shelby was one of the Patriot officers mustering weeks later at Sycamore Shoals on September 25, 1780, in advance of the early October 7, 1780

Battle of Kings Mountain The Battle of Kings Mountain was a military engagement between Patriot and Loyalist militias in South Carolina during the Southern Campaign of the American Revolutionary War, resulting in a decisive victory for the Patriots. The battle took plac ...

. The Musgrove Mill battle site was listed on the U.S.

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic v ...

in 1975. The park includes a visitor center with interpretive exhibits, a memorial to the legendary Mary Musgrove (featured in a popular early 19th-century novel), two marked trails, a picnic area, a fishing pond, a canoe launch, and a small waterfall.Park website
Substantial waterfalls are unusual in this part of the state.

References

External links

*
Musgrove Mill State Historic Site website

South Carolina Department of Archives and History, includes 9 photographs of the park and battle site. {{Protected areas of South Carolina Military facilities on the National Register of Historic Places in South Carolina American Revolutionary War sites Museums in Spartanburg County, South Carolina American Revolutionary War museums in South Carolina Protected areas of Spartanburg County, South Carolina South Carolina state historic sites National Register of Historic Places in Spartanburg County, South Carolina National Register of Historic Places in Union County, South Carolina American Revolution on the National Register of Historic Places