Backcountry Resistance: South Carolina’s Militia and the Fight for American Independence

BOOK REVIEW: Backcountry Resistance: South Carolina’s Militia and the Fight for American Independence by Carl P. Borick. (Columbia: University of South Carolina Press, 2026) $27.99 hardcover

As students of the Revolutionary War in the American South know, Carl Borick is the author of the definitive study of the 1780 Siege of Charleston, South Carolina, titled A Gallant Defense, published in 2003. Now this fine historian, the Director of the impressive Charleston Museum, has delved into the realm of irregular militia warfare in South Carolina (and to a limited extent, North Carolina as well) during “the war in the backcountry,” especially in the war’s last four years. The Carolinian militiamen, Borick finds, “were highly effective in keeping the British and their loyalist allies at bay” (page 1-2). Borick’s new work is a praiseworthy addition to the notable tradition of previous foundational scholarship on southern partisan warfare written by Robert M. Calhoon, Wayne E. Lee, Robert S. Lambert, Todd W. Braisted, Jim Piecuch, and others.

The cruel nature of the conflict in the Carolinas, as Borick depicts, “was truly a civil war.” This is not a new concept, despite a recent prize-winning writer’s claim that it is an “untold story” about “fierce people.” Rather, Backcountry Resistance finds that the war “pitted citizens of the colony, and later the state, against one another, and its brutal viciousness matched or exceeded that of many of the world’s revolutions and insurgencies that came after it” (p. 4). This was a violent neighbor-versus-neighbor struggle in which Patriots and Loyalists often offered no mercy and used the war of American independence as a cover to murder and destroy the property of their political opponents.

Borick’s first chapter is a useful and concise account of the major events of the war in the South beginning in 1780 after the British capture of Charleston in May, through the end of 1781. This includes the battles of Camden, Kings Mountain, Cowpens, Guilford Courthouse, Hobkirk Hill, and Eutaw Springs. Getting to the point of the book, Borick concludes that “in just over six months, from April to November 1781, American forces cleared the British from all of their posts in the South Carolina interior.” He notes too that although significant praise must be given to Continental Army Southern Department commander Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene for the Patriots’ success, “he could not have succeeded without the support of militia partisans from South Carolina as well as Georgia” (p. 27).

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Borick then looks at how South Carolinians raised troops in their militia structure to serve in the field. It was not easy to do so. Many militiamen refused to leave their homes and farms undefended, given the persistent Loyalist threat or the proximity of British forces. A lot depended on the leadership and reputation of their officers, such as Francis Marion, Thomas Sumter, Andrew Pickens and others to muster troops. Loyalists, however, encountered difficulties getting armed men to take up arms. “The British faced serious challenges in bringing loyalist militia into the field and organizing them,” Borick states, and “the loyalist leadership void hampered British efforts” to get these men in the ranks (p. 49).

The author continues his study by exploring how militiamen were supplied upon gathering in their companies and during active campaigning. Borick points out that most backcountry men brought their own weapons and basic accoutrements, although they relied upon state officials or Continental officers to replenish their powder and ball, as well as food, salt, etc. He also explains how the militia troops frequently travelled to and from their muster grounds and while on campaign. This habit made them highly mobile, such as the rapid Patriot concentration prior to the battle of Kings Mountain (October 7, 1780), but became burdensome for supply agents trying to procure fodder.

In additional chapters, Borick describes militia experiences in active operations (concentrating on service with Francis Marion and Thomas Sumpter), soldier motivation, and “the war at home.” This is a well written and organized study, that includes four excellent maps. It is not a chronological narrative of numerous skirmishes and battles in which the militia took part; rather Borick uses a thematic approach covering topics noted above. The author has produced a valuable look at the Southern theater and its citizen soldiers in the war’s last years.

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