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South Carolina was one of the original 13 colonies, having been separated from North Carolina around 1712.  Originally the colony of Carolina was a part of Virginia.  The capital city is Columbia which is located in the center of the state.  South Carolina was the 8th state admitted to the Union, as an original colony that made it the 8th state to ratify the new Constitution.  It has a population of about 4.2 million people that live in an area of about 30,109 square miles - making it the 25th most populist state.

South Carolina's militias were a major factor in the Colonists winning against the British during the Revolutionary War.  One of the most famous militia leaders was Francis Marion.  Francis Marion, otherwise known as the Swamp Fox, was skilled in the art of guerilla warfare.

He was then about fifty years old, fearless in danger, though never rash in action, careful for his men's lives, but giving little thought to his own, and, though small in body, able to endure great hardships.  He had been a colonel in the regular army and would have been taken a prisoner when Charleston surrendered to the British, except that he had broken his ankle in an accident, and was away on leave. That was a lucky chance for the Americans.

When he recovered from this accident, the British were swarming into South Carolina, and he raised and drilled a company of neighbors and friends, eager to put in their stroke against the hated foe. They were known as "Marion's Brigade."

These men were without uniforms or tents, and served without pay. They did not look much like soldiers on parade, but were among the bravest and best fighters of the Revolution. Their swords were beaten out of old mill-saws, at the country forge, and their bullets were made largely from pewter mugs and dishes. They could go hours without food, and sleep on the bare ground. Their rations were very scant and simple. Marion, as a rule, ate hominy and potatoes, and drank water flavored with a little vinegar.

The story is told that one day a British officer came to the camp with a flag of truce. Marion, always the true gentleman, invited the visitor to dinner. We can imagine the officer's surprise when, on a log which made the camp-table, there was served a dinner of roasted sweet potatoes passed on pieces of bark! The officer was still more amazed to learn that even potatoes were something of a luxury.

Marion's brigade, who were farmers and hunters, seldom numbered more than seventy, and often less than twenty. But with this very small force, he annoyed the British beyond measure.

One day a scout brought in the report that a party of ninety British, with two hundred prisoners, was on the march to Charleston. Waiting for the darkness to conceal his movements, Marion with thirty men sallied out, swooped down upon the British camp, capturing the entire force and rescuing all the American prisoners.

It was the custom of Marion's men, when hard-pressed by a superior force, to scatter, each man looking out for himself. Often they would dash headlong into a dense, dark swamp, to meet again at some place agreed upon. Even while they were still in hiding, they would sometimes dart out just as suddenly as they had vanished, and surprise another squad of British near at hand.  "The Swamp Fox" and the brave and hardy men who gathered about his standard in the South Carolina swamps were true patriots, holding lightly their lives and their money in the service of their country.

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