South Carolina Revolutionary Conflict Highway Journey
11-Half Sequence
Do you know extra Revolutionary Conflict battles occurred in South Carolina than some other state? Exploring the battlefields, historic websites, and studying in regards to the historical past takes a while. And one of the simplest ways to do it’s a street journey. Study in regards to the Revolutionary Conflict in South Carolina with this 11-part collection of street journeys protecting all the very best websites within the state.
Beaufort is South Carolina’s second-oldest metropolis after Charleston. However when the American Revolution started far to the north, it was a small metropolis in a sparsely populated area. In 1778, three years of failing to seize George Washington pressured the British to vary techniques. In a monumental shift, the British unexpectedly captured Savannah.
Abruptly, Beaufort was now not only a quiet nook. It was a buffer between Charleston and British West Florida. And it might turn into a hotbed of skirmishes, battles, and troop actions over the subsequent 12 months.
Embark on a 96-mile street journey from the historic small city of Walterboro alongside U.S. Freeway 21 to Beaufort and the Sea Islands. Spend a day or two exploring historic websites, museums, and fabulous native eating places on Bay Road. Then, proceed the street journey to Hilton Head Island to go to the Zion Chapel of Ease and the resting website of an American Revolution Patriot.
Easy methods to use this map: Click on the icon within the top-left nook to open the Map Legend, then click on on any of the legend objects to show extra info. When you have a Google account, click on the (very faint) star on the finish of the map’s title to save lots of this map to your account, then entry the map out of your smartphone throughout your journey.

Walterboro, SC
Walterboro started within the late 1700s when native planters Paul and Jacob Walters constructed a summer season retreat to flee the coast. In 1942, Walterboro Military Airfield turned one of many coaching websites for the Tuskegee Airmen, the primary all-black flying squadron. You possibly can go to a memorial on the native airport.
The South Carolina Artisans Heart is the state’s official Folks Artwork and Craft Heart. Native handcrafted artwork have to be authorized by a jury earlier than adorning the cabinets of the retail store. The massive store is in a restored eight-room Victorian cottage close to the center of city.
Walterboro’s downtown is tiny – two blocks alongside East Washington Road. However you’ll discover just a few issues worthy of your time.
Begin at Colleton Espresso, the city’s official espresso store. Sisters Mandy and Jessy, homeowners of the Twig boutique retailer, determined that Walterboro was lacking a neighborhood espresso store. Opened in 2023, you’ll discover connoisseur espresso freshly floor for each serving.
You’ll really feel pleasantly comfortable with the entrance coated porch and rocking chairs at Olde Home Café. Their slogan says all of it, “Nation Cookin’ Makes You Good Lookin’.” The self-serve buffet options southern staples like fried rooster, biscuits, and banana pudding.
The Barrell Home Grille is the weekend leisure hub with dart boards and stay music. Their menu options southern dishes like contemporary catch seafood and steak.
Itinerary Suggestion
Walterboro is a good place to stretch your legs after a protracted drive getting there. However don’t be tempted to skip the city totally – it’s the very best place for lunch or an early dinner in your technique to Beaufort.
Colleton Museum & Farmers Market
The Colleton Museum & Farmers Market is the defacto customer heart for the city. This is sensible as a result of it’s additionally the place you go to study in regards to the huge historical past of Colleton County, together with the Revolutionary Conflict.
Discover the American Revolution displays and study in regards to the British armies that crossed the area a number of instances. Proceed your tour by way of historical past into the Civil Conflict and find out about Basic Sherman’s march by way of the realm through the Civil Conflict.
It’s additionally an awesome place to study in regards to the area’s best out of doors asset – The ACE Basin. Protecting an unlimited 1.6 million acres alongside the Ashepoo, Combahee, and Edisto Rivers, the character protect is likely one of the largest undeveloped wetlands remaining on the East Coast. The nationwide wildlife refuge is a good place for coastal mountaineering and chook watching.
The Farmers Market is held on Tuesday evenings all year long and Saturday mornings seasonally. The market is a good place to seek out native vegatables and fruits, and baked items to take residence after a go to. The reward store is open together with the museum.

Frampton Plantation Home Customer Heart
Simply minutes after exiting Interstate 95 in Yemasee, cease on the Frampton Plantation Home Customer Heart. A King’s Grant within the 1700s gave the Frampton household a whole bunch of acres for a household plantation. Sherman burned the plantation home through the Civil Conflict. In 1868, John Frampton constructed the home that exists in the present day.
In 1993, the home was donated to the Lowcountry Tourism Fee to be used as a customer heart. It’s a singular customer heart expertise – you drive by way of a white gate alongside a curvy street towards a two-story home shaded by big oak bushes.
The customer heart is a good place for maps, brochures, and recommendations on easy methods to take advantage of your Revolutionary Conflict street journey by way of the area.

Outdated Sheldon Church Ruins
After leaving the customer heart, take a detour off the four-lane U.S. Freeway 17 to a shady two-lane street and a rendezvous with essentially the most beautiful church ruins within the south.
Within the mid-1700s, the necessity arose for a second church when the inland inhabitants grew, and the journey to St. Helena’s Parish in Beaufort turned too lengthy. In 1757, Prince William’s Parish church was opened on land donated by Royal Governor William Bull. The locals known as it Sheldon Church after Bull’s close by Sheldon Plantation.
In 1779, British Basic Augustine Prevost tried to seize Charleston. His siege was thwarted, and he swiftly retreated again to Savannah. Alongside the best way, his military burned the Sheldon Church.
It was rebuilt in 1826 however burned once more when Basic Sherman marched by way of through the Civil Conflict. And the ruins stay.
A black forged iron fence, about 2′ tall, was not too long ago put in across the ruins to stop curious guests from climbing the ruins. Besides “ruins” is a phrase that just about doesn’t appear to use. The towering brick columns and exterior partitions attain virtually as excessive as the encircling oak bushes. They’re amazingly intact and splendidly beautiful.
Beaufort, SC
Beaufort was chartered in 1711, forty-one years after Charleston. The city struggled to develop with repeated Native American assaults and Charleston usurping almost all of the profitable export commerce. The inhabitants was skinny, however it was a affluent space. Carolina Gold rice and extremely demanded indigo had been grown on plantations round Beaufort, resulting in a surge in prosperity for southern planters.
In the beginning of the Revolutionary Conflict, South Carolina was the fourth most affluent colony. That made it a goal. After three years of failing to seize George Washington within the north, the British developed the Southern Technique. Seize Georgia and the Carolinas, combat the Individuals to a standstill, sue for peace, and maintain the affluent South.
When the British unexpectedly captured Savannah in 1778, it put Beaufort in the midst of amassing British troops within the south and Charleston. In the summertime of 1779, Basic Augustine Prevost captured Beaufort, and the British occupied the town for 3 years.
Top-of-the-line methods to find out about Beaufort’s intensive historical past is with a guided tour. Beaufort Excursions gives one-hour historical past, film, and golf cart excursions. Guide the two.5-hour Parris Island and Parris Island Historical past Museum bus tour to benefit from the best journey into the army base.
The Sea Island Carriage Firm gives 55-minute horse-drawn carriage excursions in Beaufort’s historic district. Every tour is absolutely narrated and covers a variety of matters. Coastal Expeditions is a good way to see the city by water. 1.5-hour cruises for sundown, dolphin sightseeing, and historical past will maintain you entertained on their coated boat.
Bay Road is the principle thoroughfare by way of downtown. The 2-lane avenue is lined with boutique outlets and eating places and walkable sidewalks. Outdated Bay Market is an indoor shopping center the place you may browse classic and first-edition books at McIntosh Guide Shoppe or get one thing savory at Southern Candy Ice Cream Store. Proceed by way of the purchasing heart to seek out NeverMore Books on Port Republic Road.
The meals in Beaufort isn’t restricted to simply seafood. At Outdated Bull Tavern, you may pattern British fare on a unusual, eclectic menu that modifications with the season. Plums gives waterfront seating with sandwiches and burgers, however you should attempt their Shrimp Po-Boy – evenly breaded, deep-fried shrimp on a French baguette topped with remoulade sauce. Pattern the very best barbecue within the Lowcountry at Q on Bay and high it with selfmade sauces. At Fireside Wooden Fired Pizza, you may sit at a bar and watch your pizza bake of their brick oven.
Itinerary Suggestion
Beaufort is the central level on this street journey. Contemplate reserving 2 or extra nights right here after which driving every half of the street journey on the next days. Two days in Beaufort is sweet, however three could be greatest.
Boutique Resorts and B&Bs
The Beaufort Inn options the unique home, however it’s expanded to extra buildings, cottages, and residences all through downtown Beaufort. My most well-liked selection is the Backyard Cottages with a patio or balcony overlooking a non-public courtyard. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
Anchorage 1770 is Beaufort’s oldest mansion, however the mattress and breakfast provide trendy facilities and luxury. Get pleasure from waterfront views or e-book a cottage room with a backyard view. A scorching breakfast is ready for friends each morning. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
The Rhett Home is one other historic postbellum residence transformed into a stunning mattress and breakfast. Rooms on the Rhett Home embrace a fire and entry to a veranda. A full Southern breakfast is served to friends every morning. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
Downtown Resorts
The Finest Western Sea Island Inn is the closest to a waterfront lodge downtown. You’ll really feel at residence within the gorgeously embellished motel with an outside swimming pool and complimentary scorching breakfast. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
Metropolis Loft Resort is an upscale boutique motel one block from Bay Road. You’ll really feel pampered with the walk-in glass showers and comfy furnishings. Begin your day with espresso and pastries at Metropolis Java & Days on the nook of the constructing. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
Boundary Road Resorts
The Hampton Inn options decrease charges in case you’re keen to drive three miles downtown. The lodge contains a good out of doors swimming pool, and a few rooms have a view throughout the saltwater marsh. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
The Oasis Inn is the closest to a price range lodging in Beaufort. The motel options renovated rooms with engineered hardwood flooring, comfy bedding, and a mini fridge. It’s a 3-mile drive into downtown Beaufort. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
The Parish Church of St. Helena
Church buildings had been extra than simply locations of worship in early Colonial America. They had been the facilities of presidency as polling locations and picked up taxes. The Parish Church of St. Helena was based in 1712, shortly after the city was established. The primary iteration of the current constructing was accomplished in 1724.
Stroll by way of the graveyard surrounding the church to seek out some attention-grabbing gravesites. Amongst them is John Barnwell, one of many two planters who based Beaufort. Buried in 1724, his is likely one of the oldest within the graveyard.
However essentially the most intriguing gravesite is the twin burial plot of British troopers. Lieutenant William Calderwood and Ensign John Finley had been killed on the Battle of Port Royal in 1779. It’s a uncommon instance of British troopers buried at a colonial church.
Did You Know?
In 1740, a chapel of ease was constructed on close by St. Helena Island for the island’s planters. When it burned in 1886, it was by no means rebuilt. Guests can discover the ruins of the tabby partitions about twenty minutes from downtown Beaufort.
Beaufort Historical past Museum
The Beaufort Volunteer Artillery was a militia organized through the early 1700s to combat Native Individuals. The unit was lively through the Revolutionary Conflict. In 1798, an arsenal and headquarters had been constructed for the militia.
The Arsenal is paying homage to a fortress. Towering concrete partitions encompass an interior courtyard the place the militia would prepare. The tops of the partitions appear as if a battlement. The yellow coloration, gorgeously mottled and stained with age, is an attention-grabbing selection for the construction.
The Beaufort Historical past Museum occupies the second ground of The Arsenal. The museum’s displays provide a chronological journey by way of the area’s historical past – starting with the Spanish settlement within the 1500s. Do you know the Spanish had been the primary Europeans to settle within the space? And that the British had been the third?
The museum does an exquisite job of explaining colonial conflicts with Native Individuals and easing into the Revolutionary Conflict. However don’t cease there – Beaufort’s intriguing historical past consists of the plantation tradition, the Civil Conflict, and the Reconstruction Period.
Did You Know?
Reconstruction Period Nationwide Historic Park was established in 2017 to protect and educate in regards to the Reconstruction Period. It’s an awesome place to study in regards to the post-Civil Conflict period within the South and the way it formed Beaufort’s future.
Port Royal, SC
In 1566, Pedro Menendez de Aviles established Santa Elena on the small island. Though the early settlement failed, Aviles traveled additional south and established St. Augustine in 1665 – a metropolis that performed an intriguing half within the Revolutionary Conflict.
In early 1779, British Basic Augustine Prevost marched from Savannah to seize Beaufort and set up a foothold in South Carolina. On February 3, he was met by Basic William Moultrie with 300 males. The Battle of Port Royal was a Patriot victory that pushed Prevost again to Savannah, however it was a short-lived victory – Prevost captured Beaufort just a few months later.
Did You Know?
Amongst William Moultrie’s militia on the Battle of Port Royal had been two signers of the Declaration of Independence from South Carolina: Edward Rutledge and Thomas Heyward Jr.
Get one thing to eat at Madison’s, a restaurant opened in 2017 by brothers Evan and Brent Hallinan. Every part is created from scratch on the menu, that includes sandwiches, burgers, and seafood baskets. Fishcamp on eleventh Road options water views and contemporary seafood from the boats that also use the docks.
Cease by Shellring Ale Works and pattern craft beers, together with IPA, Lager, and Ales. Get street-style meals from their resident meals truck, RevolveR. Or, go to Carolina Cuppitycakes and select from virtually two dozen flavors of cupcakes baked every single day.
In spite of everything that, stroll to the Commentary Tower on the Port Royal Boardwalk. The Sands seaside was created by dredging within the Nineteen Sixties, and the locals have adopted it as their seaside. It’s an awesome place to observe dolphins and sundown.
Parris Island Museum
In 1891, the primary United States Marines had been assigned to the small island. When the Marine Corps Recruit Depot was established in 1915, it was named Parris Island after Colonel Alexander Parris, a planter who owned a lot of the island within the 1700s.
The Marine Corps set up is open for restricted visitation. On the essential gate, you’ll have to supply a legitimate driver’s license for anybody within the automobile over 16 and a automobile registration. Approval takes about quarter-hour. As soon as authorized, it takes about ten minutes to drive to the Parris Island Museum.
The ten,000-square-foot museum is within the Conflict Memorial Constructing. The museum explores the lengthy historical past from its first institution because the Continental Marines in 1775 after which its everlasting creation in 1798.
Some of the attention-grabbing displays in regards to the Revolutionary Conflict is the Battle of Nassau, the Marines’ first amphibious touchdown. The Marines captured two British forts and a sizeable quantity of gunpowder, then retreated to Philadelphia with their prize.
After exploring the American Revolution historical past, proceed by way of the remainder of the museum to see the spectacular assortment of artifacts and tales.
Thomas Heyward Jr. Gravesite
The Thomas Heyward Jr. gravesite is a brief, 16-mile roundtrip detour if you wish to go to the ultimate resting place of a signer of the Declaration of Independence. A scenic dust street results in the small cemetery surrounded by a low brick wall.
Born in 1746 on a household plantation in Ridgeland, Heyward was like many others born to rich planters. He studied legislation in England and was elected to the colonial legislature in Charleston. However when independence was thought-about, Heyward joined the motion.
He was elected to the First and Second Provincial Congresses and signed the Declaration of Independence Articles of Confederation. In 1779, he was commissioned as a captain of the militia artillery in Beaufort.
After the Fall of Charleston in 1780, Heyward was captured by the British. He was initially granted parole to stay at his home within the metropolis. However lower than two months later, he was all of a sudden exiled, together with dozens of different Patriots, to St. Augustine.
When Heyward died in 1809, he was buried within the household cemetery on their plantation in Ridgeland. At this time, nothing stays of the plantation aside from the small brick-walled cemetery. Heyward’s grave marker is topped with a bronze bust and labeled, “Patriot – Statesman – Soldier – Jurist.”
Hilton Head Island, SC
Hilton Head Island is the grand jewel of South Carolina’s coastal locations. However through the Revolutionary Conflict, it was a sparsely populated island of Patriots violently opposed by a “nest of Loyalists” on Dafuskie Island. No battles ever occurred on the island, and just one recorded demise existed.
The Sea Island Cotton business started within the late 1700s. After the Civil Conflict ended the business, the island served as a non-public searching reserve for numerous tycoons. In 1956, the identical 12 months the primary bridge was accomplished to the island, Charles Fraser started growing the Sea Pines Resort – shifting the island’s future towards tourism.
Coligny Seashore Park is the very best place for day trippers to hit the seaside on Hilton Head Island. A boardwalk with an accessible mat results in the extensive seaside. The general public seaside entry options public restrooms, altering rooms, and showers.
The Financial institution is an attention-grabbing place – and it’s not a financial institution. The massive constructing homes a number of eateries and a brewery below one roof. Get one thing to eat at Financial institution Heist Burgers or Benjamin’s Seafood, after which get drinks at Facet Hustle Brewing Co.
Locals Vic Neeley and his sons Darrell and Will run the three areas of Plantation Café & Deli, together with one at Coligny Seashore Park. Their Plantation Classics meals are the very best, just like the True Nation Breakfast with two eggs, hashbrowns or grits, a selection of meat, bread, and two pancakes.
The Sandbar was opened in 2017 by Beaufort native Sam Houston and Erika Waronsky. You’ll discover seaside snacks like nachos, hush puppies, pretzels, selfmade beer cheese, and Seashore Plates – hearty entrees with sides.
Flatbread Grill & Bar has a big indoor seating space to flee the summer season warmth. Select from a menu of flatbread pizza, burgers, and entrees like their selfmade crab muffins and Italian mac and cheese.
The place to Keep
Spend your nights at Hilton Head Island wrapped in luxurious at one of many in style resorts. The Westin Resort & Spa (Reserving.com | Expedia.com), Marriot Resort & Spa (Reserving.com | Expedia.com), and Omni Oceanfront Resort (Reserving.com | Expedia.com) are wonderful oceanfront decisions.
The Vacation Inn Categorical at Coligny Seashore options an outside swimming pool and balconies for the visitor rooms. It’s inside strolling distance of the seaside, purchasing, and eating places. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
The Finest Western Ocean Breeze Inn is a motel with elevated consolation. Benefit from the walk-in glass showers, engineered hardwood flooring, and out of doors swimming pool. Guide with Reserving.com or Expedia.com
Zion Chapel of Ease
Standing beneath the shady oaks with numerous vehicles zipping alongside the William Hilton Parkway, it’s onerous to think about Zion Chapel of Ease was as soon as the middle of the island’s tiny neighborhood. The cemetery was the militia’s muster floor, and a close-by constructing served as their headquarters. A Chapel of Ease was inbuilt 1788 to serve the island planters.
However nothing stays of the muster floor or the chapel in the present day. As an alternative, guests discover a small cemetery alongside the busy freeway with a meandering path among the many gravesites. A couple of Revolutionary Conflict Patriots are among the many buried.
Probably the most notable gravesite is that of Charles Davant. In 1781, a staunch Loyalist, Captain Martinangel of Daufuskie Island, ambushed Davant on his experience residence. Mortally wounded, Davant rode his horse to his plantation at Two Oaks, the place he later died.
Throughout a small ceremony in 1996, one in all Davant’s descendants unveiled a bronze plaque on his gravesite.