Thomas Sumter (August 14, 1734 – June 1, 1832) was an American military officer, planter, and politician who served in the Continental Army as a brigadier-general during the Revolutionary War. After the war, Sumter was elected to the House of Representatives and to the Senate, where he served from 1801 to 1810, when he retired. Sumter was nicknamed the "Fighting Gamecock" for his military tactics during the Revolutionary War.
Early life
Thomas Sumter was born in Hanover County in the Colony of Virginia.[1] His father, William Sumpter, was a miller and former indentured servant, while his mother, Elizabeth, was a midwife. His father was born in England, and Sumter was of English and Welsh descent.[2] Most of Thomas Sumter's early years were spent tending livestock and helping his father at the mill, not in school.[3] Given just a rudimentary education on the frontier, the young Sumter served in the Virginia militia,[1] where he was present for Edward Braddock's defeat.[4]
At the end of the Anglo-Cherokee War, in 1761, Sumter was invited to join what was to become known as the "Timberlake Expedition", organized by Colonel Adam Stephen and led by Henry Timberlake, who had volunteered for the assignment.[5]: 38–39 The purpose of the expedition was to visit the Overhill Cherokee towns and renew alliances with the Cherokee following the war.[6] The small expeditionary party consisted of Sumter (who was partially financing the venture with borrowed money), Timberlake, an interpreter named John McCormack, and a servant.[5]: 38
According to Timberlake's journal, at one point early in the nearly year and a half long journey, Sumter swam nearly a half-mile in the icy waters to retrieve their canoe, which had drifted away while they were exploring a cave.[5]: 41–48 The party arrived in the Overhill town of Tomotley on December 20, where they were greeted by the town's head man, Ostenaco (or "Mankiller")[5]: 57–58 and soon found themselves participants in a peace pipe ceremony. In the following weeks, Sumter and the group attended peace ceremonies in several Overhill towns, such as Chota, Citico, and Chilhowee.[5]: 63–65
The party returned to Williamsburg, Virginia, accompanied by several Beloved Men of the Cherokee, arriving on the James River in early April 1762.[5]: 118–129
While in Williamsburg, Ostenaco professed a desire to meet the king of England,[5]: 130–133 and in May 1762, Sumter traveled to England with Timberlake and three distinguished Cherokee leaders, including Ostenaco. Arriving in London in early June, the Indians were an immediate attraction, drawing crowds all over the city.[7][5]: 130–136 The three Cherokee then accompanied Sumter back to America, landing in South Carolina on or about August 25, 1762.[5]: 143–147
Imprisonment for debt
Sumter became stranded in South Carolina due to financial difficulties. He petitioned the Virginia Colony for reimbursement of his travel expenses, but was denied. Subsequently, Sumter was imprisoned for debt in Virginia. When his friend and fellow soldier, Joseph Martin, arrived in Staunton, Martin asked to spend the night with Sumter in jail. Martin gave Sumter ten guineas and a tomahawk. Sumter used the money to buy his way out of jail in 1766.[8]: xxvii When Martin and Sumter were reunited some thirty years later, Sumter repaid the money.
Family life and business
Sumter settled in Stateburg, South Carolina, in the Claremont District (later the Sumter District) in the High Hills of Santee. He married Mary Jameson in 1767. Together, they opened several small businesses and eventually became members of the planter class, acquiring ownership over slave plantations.
American Revolutionary War
Sumter raised a local militia group in Stateburg. In February 1776, Sumter was elected lieutenant colonel of the Second Regiment of the South Carolina Line of which he was later appointed colonel. in 1780 he was appointed brigadier general, a post he held until the end of the war.[4] He participated in several battles in the early months of the war, including the campaign to prevent an invasion of Georgia. Perhaps his greatest military achievement was his partisan campaigning, which contributed to Lord Cornwallis' decision to abandon the Carolinas for Virginia.
During fighting in August 1780, he defeated a combined force of Loyalists and British Army regulars at Hanging Rock, and intercepted and defeated an enemy convoy. Later, however, his regiment was almost annihilated by forces led by Banastre Tarleton. He recruited a new force, defeated Major James Wemyss in November, and repulsed an attack by Tarleton, in which he was wounded.[4] Sumter was carried into the Blackstock house, where his surgeon, Dr. Nathaniel Abney, probed for and extracted the ball from under his left shoulder.[citation needed]
In 1781, in response to a low number of recruits, Sumter publicly implemented a bounty for Continental Army recruiters, which stipulated that anyone who managed to recruit a certain number of volunteers for the South Carolina Line would receive Loyalist-owned slaves as a reward.[9] Sumter acquired the nickname "Carolina Gamecock" during the American Revolution, for his fierce fighting tactics. After the Battle of Blackstock's Farm, British Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton commented that Sumter "fought like a gamecock", and Cornwallis described the Gamecock as his "greatest plague".[10]
Political career
After the Revolutionary War, Sumter was elected to the United States House of Representatives, serving from March 4, 1789, to March 3, 1793, and from March 4, 1797, to December 15, 1801.
He later served in the United States Senate, having been selected by the legislature to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Charles Pinckney.[1] Sumter resigned from his seat in the Senate on December 16, 1810.[1]
Sumter died on June 1, 1832, at his slave plantation "South Mount", which was located near Stateburg, South Carolina, at the age of 97. Sumter was the last surviving American general of the Revolutionary War.[19] He is buried at the Thomas Sumter Memorial Park in Sumter County, South Carolina.[1]
Namesakes
Gravesite of Thomas Sumter
The city of Sumter, South Carolina, originally incorporated as Sumterville in 1845, was named for Thomas Sumter.[20] The city has erected a memorial to him, and has been dubbed "The Gamecock City" after his nickname.
Prior to being renamed Sumter County in 1868, Sumter District was commonly referred to as the "Old Gamecock District".[21] The use of this nickname continued after the name change, with the county thereafter being called the "Old Gamecock County".[22]
Sumter shares a monument, erected in 1913, on the state capitol grounds in Columbia with two other Revolutionary War generals: Francis Marion and Andrew Pickens
Sumter's nickname, "Fighting Gamecock", has become one of several traditional nicknames for a native of South Carolina. For example, the University of South Carolina's official nickname is the "Gamecocks". Since 1903, the college's teams have been simply known as the "South Carolina Gamecocks". The costumed mascot of the University is referred to as Cocky, short for "Gamecock".
Other schools within South Carolina have been named after Sumter or utilize a Gamecock as their mascot.
The mascot of Sumter High School is a "Gamecock" and the school's sports teams refer to themselves as the "Sumter High Gamecocks" in honor of Sumter.
Thomas Sumter Academy, a private school within Sumter County, was founded in 1964.[24] Their mascot is known as "the General" but does not visually resemble Thomas Sumter and is typically depicted as wearing a Civil War era uniform.[24]
Thomas Sumter and his actions served as one of the models for the fictional character of Benjamin Martin in The Patriot, a motion picture released in 2000.[citation needed]
^Timberlake, Henry. King, Duane (ed.). The Memoirs of Lt. Henry Timberlake: The Story of a Soldier, Adventurer, and Emissary to the Cherokees, 1756–1765. UNC Press.
^Rees, John U. (2019). 'They Were Good Soldiers': African-Americans Serving in the Continental Army, 1775-1783. Helion & Company. ISBN978-1-9116-2854-5.
^Buchanan, John. The Road to Guilford Courthouse. p. 393.
^Gilbert, Oscar E. and Catherine R.; True for the Cause of Liberty: The Second Spartan Regiment in the American Revolution; p. 194; ISBN 978-1-61200-328-3
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