You are the light of the world. A town built on a hill cannot be hidden. Neither do people light a lamp and put it under a bowl. Instead they put it on its stand, and it gives light to everyone in the house. In the same way, let your light shine before others, that they may see your good deeds and glorify your Father in heaven. Matthew 5:14-16

Saturday, October 20, 2012

Walnut Grove Plantation Revolutionary War Skirmish


Walnut Grove Plantation Skirmish, Spartanburg, SC
I recently visited the Walnut Grove Plantation in Spartanburg, SC, and discovered the poignant story of a skirmish that more than likely was played out in many places in the backcountry during the Revolutionary War.
Soldier's tent
Near the end of the war, Captain William “Bloody Bill” Cunningham deserted the Americans and became a partisan leader for the British.  He gathered a band of loyalists who took it upon themselves to take their revenge on the patriots.  Captain Cunningham and his men passed through the counties of Newberry and Laurens and ended their career in the present county of Spartanburg.
barter
A young wounded patriot, Captain Steadman, lay upstairs in the Moore’s manor house.  The Moores were patriots who were caring for the captain who was engaged to marry one of their daughters. On the day of the Walnut Grove Plantation skirmish, two patriots came to visit Captain Steadman, but Bloody Bill Cunningham and his men entered the house and murdered Steadman and his friends as they tried to escape.
Soldier prepares dinner
         Meanwhile, Kate Barry, a spy and scout during the Revolution, learned of the attack on her father’s house and rode to get her husband’s militia company. Her husband, Captain Andrew Barry, rushed his troops to Walnut Grove Plantation and drove off the loyalists. He was too late to save Steadman, but kept the house from burning.

spinners at Walnut Grove reenactment
The three patriots were buried by the Moore family, and their graves were the beginning of the family cemetery.