PRESENTERS AND TOPICS
2014 SRWI SYMPOSIUM
October 4, 2014
The McCelvey Center, York, South Carolina
“THE KING’S OWN PATRIOTS: LOYALISTS AND PROVINCIALS
IN THE SOUTHERN CAMPAIGNS OF THE AMERICAN REVOLUTION”
Bob Bemis. “ ‘We got at last very earnest and hated each other freely’: Loyalist Women in the
Revolutionary South.”
Though much of the fighting in the backcountry of North and South Carolina during the American
Revolution was performed by men, the role of the woman was imperative to the conflict’s outcome.
This lecture will discuss in detail, using many journals and letters of loyalist Southern women, the
political impetus of these ladies. Long relegated as a lost voice, the role of the loyalist woman has
recently been under academic scrutiny. The reestablished position of these women and the part they
played in the partisan South will be thoroughly reviewed.
Robert Bemis is a Historic Interpreter and Volunteer Coordinator at Historic Brattonsville in York County,
South Carolina. Mr. Bemis holds an undergraduate and graduate degree in History from the University
of North Carolina at Charlotte. He is an award winning public historian and has enjoyed a passion for
the material and social culture of loyalists in the revolutionary South. He is a lifelong resident of
Charlotte, North Carolina, where he currently lives with his wife and son.
Jim Piecuch. “Richard Pearis and the Backcountry Loyalists.”
This paper examines the role of Richard Pearis in organizing the loyalists in the South Carolina
backcountry in the spring of 1780. During the siege of Charleston, Pearis undertook a mission on behalf
of British general Sir Henry Clinton to lay the groundwork for organizing loyalists to support British
efforts to regain control of the South. After a review of Pearis’s activities earlier in the Revolution, the
paper discusses the details of his assignment, and how Pearis carried out his task with the assistance of
loyalists he encountered during his journey. The paper also analyzes the success of Pearis in his
undertaking, and how the British subsequently negated the gains he made through ill-considered
policies.
Jim Piecuch earned B.A. and M.A. degrees in history at the University of New Hampshire and a Ph.D. at
the College of William & Mary. He is an associate professor of history at Kennesaw State University in
Georgia, specializing in the history of the American Revolution. Piecuch is the author or editor of seven
books on Revolutionary history, including The Battle of Camden; Three Peoples, One King: Loyalists,
Indians, and Slaves in the Revolutionary South; “Cool Deliberate Courage”: John Eager Howard in the
American Revolution; Cavalry of the American Revolution; and General Nathanael Greene and the
American Revolution in the South. He is also the author of Tim Cratchit’s Christmas Carol, a novel that
will be released as an e-book on November 17.
Ben Rubin. “The Tories of Lincoln County, North Carolina.”
In June of 1780, the Loyalists of Lincoln County, led by the local Moore, Welch, and Warlick families,
rose up in a dramatic though ill-advised counter-revolution against their Whig neighbors. The battle at
Ramsour's permanently destroyed the ability of North Carolina's Tory population to act without direct
support of the British army, and sealed once and for all the Whig control of the state. But the story of
these enigmatic individuals is far more convoluted and intriguing, involving shifting loyalties, conflicts of
command, secret meetings, and a bag of gold with questionable origins. Telling the story of the weeks
leading up to the battle of Ramsour's Mill through their eyes suggests a whole series of fascinating
questions about what it means to be a loyalist in a rebel controlled society.
Ben Rubin is a Ph.D. Student in American History at Drew University, New Jersey, and Adjunct Professor
of History at Bloomfield College, New Jersey. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, Ben did his undergraduate
work at Hanover College and holds a Master’s Degree from Western Carolina University. Ben's work is
primarily in the Colonial and Revolutionary South. His master’s thesis, entitled the "The Rhetoric of
Revenge: Atrocity and Identity in the Revolutionary Carolinas" was published by the Journal of
Backcountry Studies. Ben is a Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution Fellow. He currently
resides in Jersey City, New Jersey.
Michael Scoggins. “The Loyalists at Kings Mountain: Myths and Realities.”
No battle in the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution has been as celebrated as the Battle of
Kings Mountain, fought on October 7, 1780 in what is now York County, South Carolina. Many
Americans know, or think they know, the important facts about this battle: Major (or Colonel, or
General) Patrick Ferguson was the only British soldier and the only native Briton in the battle. All of the
British troops in the battle were actually native-born American loyalists. There were no regular British
soldiers in the battle, only loyalist militiamen. The patriot militia units who defeated Ferguson’s troops
were composed entirely of Overmountain men from eastern Tennessee, none of whom had any
previous battle experience. Not one of these statements is actually true, and they are all excellent
examples of the mythology, legend and folklore that have obscured many of the most important details
about this pivotal battle during the last 234 years. Scoggins’ presentation examines these myths and
legends, particularly as they relate to the identities and service records of the loyalist troops and British
provincials who served in Ferguson’s corps at Kings Mountain.
Michael C. Scoggins is the historian for the Culture & Heritage Museums of York County, South Carolina,
and the research director of the Southern Revolutionary War Institute. He has associate degrees from
the University of South Carolina and York Technical College and a BA in history from Winthrop
University. Mike has written numerous historical articles for regional periodicals and is the author or coauthor of twelve books, including African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American
Revolution (with Dr. Bobby Moss, 2004); African-American Loyalists in the Southern Campaign of the
American Revolution (with Dr. Bobby Moss, 2005); The Day It Rained Militia: Huck’s Defeat and the
Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May-July 1780 (2005); Relentless Fury: The Revolutionary
War in the Southern Piedmont (2006); Historic York County (2009); and The Scotch-Irish Influence on
Country Music in the Carolinas (2013). His most recent book, The Great Awakening and Southern
Backcountry Revolutionaries (with Dr. Rick Chacon, 2014), examines the effect that the Protestant
religious revivals of the colonial era had on the American Revolution in the Carolina backcountry.
Scoggins is a frequent lecturer on regional history and the Southern Campaigns of the American
Revolution, and has assisted archeologists in locating the 1780 battle sites at Fish Dam Ford and
Williamson’s Plantation (Huck’s Defeat). He was also instrumental in setting up a new trail system for
the Williamson’s Plantation/Huck’s Defeat battlefield at Historic Brattonsville in York County.
Todd Braisted. “The 3rd Americans: The New York Volunteers, 1776-1783.”
Perhaps no Provincial regiment raised during the American Revolution saw more continual, active
service than the New York Volunteers. Raised in the earliest days of 1776, the corps would go on to
serve during the New York City Campaign, the Hudson Highlands expedition, the taking and defense of
Savannah, the capture of Charleston, Hobkirk’s Hill, Eutaw Springs and innumerable skirmishes along the
way. In spite of the name, and its commander’s wishes, the corps not only served in the South but
recruited there as well. Learn more about this fascinating band Todd Braisted discusses their members
and history in America’s first civil war.
A long-time researcher of the Loyalist Military and local history, Todd Braisted has appeared as a Guest
Historian on the PBS Series "History Detectives" and the Canadian Broadcasting Corporation's "Who Do
You Think You Are?" plus a coordinator for the New Jersey Network documentary "Ten Crucial
Days." He is the author of Bergen County Voices of the American Revolution and co-author of Moving
On: Black Loyalists in the Afro-Atlantic World; The Revolutionary War in Bergen County; Revolutionary
Bergen County; and The Loyalist Corps, as well as over thirty published journal articles. Mr. Braisted has
lectured extensively throughout the United States and Canada and is the webmaster and creator of
www.royalprovincial.com, the leading web site for Loyalist studies. His research has taken him
numerous times to such institutions as the Library of Congress, William L. Clements Library, Library and
Archives Canada and The National Archives in England. Mr. Braisted has served on the boards of
numerous organizations, including chairman of the West Point Chapter of the Company of Military
Historians, of which he was made a Fellow in 2012; president, Bergen County Historical Society;
president, Brigade of the American Revolution; advisor, 1759 Historic Vought House Association;
Advisory Council member of the Crossroads of the American Revolution Association; president and
founder of the 4th Battalion, New Jersey Volunteers reenactment group. In 2007, as an
acknowledgement of his life’s work to date, Todd was made an Honorary Vice President of the United
Empire Loyalist Association of Canada, the only American to have ever been so honored. A lifelong
resident of Bergen County, New Jersey, Todd currently lives in Mahwah with his wife Susan.
Steve Rauch: “’A Very Disagreeable and Melancholy Affair’: The Murder of James Grierson at Augusta,
Georgia, June 7, 1781.”
In 1775, James Grierson was appointed Lieutenant Colonel of the 2nd Georgia loyalist militia
regiment. After the British captured Charleston, Lt. Colonel Thomas Brown and his regiment of King’s
Rangers occupied Augusta, and Grierson assisted Brown in re-establishing royal control of the area.
Grierson took part in the defense of Augusta in September 1780 when it was attacked by Georgia rebels
commanded by Colonel Elijah Clarke. During spring 1781 Major General Nathanael Greene began a
campaign to reduce enemy garrisons in South Carolina and Georgia. Greene ordered South Carolina
militia Brigadier General Andrew Pickens and Continental cavalry commander Lieutenant Colonel Henry
Lee to retake Augusta while Greene moved to attack Ninety-Six. Lee and Pickens had approximately
1,500 men against Brown and Grierson, who commanded about 700 men at Augusta. From May 24 to
June 4 the Whigs besieged the loyalists in Fort Cornwallis and were prepared to stage an assault when
Brown decided further resistance was futile. On June 5, 1781 the loyalists surrendered Augusta,
Georgia. The enmity between the Whigs and Loyalists required precautions to safeguard the prisoners
and though Brown was put under heavy guard by Lee’s Continentals, similar protection was not
extended to Grierson. This lack of security led to tragedy on June 7 when a Whig militia officer from
Wilkes Country shot and killed Grierson in his own house. Grierson’s body was then stripped, mutilated,
and thrown into a ditch. When Greene heard of this incident he offered a 100 guinea reward for arrest
of the murderer to mitigate any British retaliation. No one claimed the reward though there were
several witnesses to the crime. Grierson’s murder serves as an example of the violent nature of the civil
war in the southern backcountry.
Steven J. Rauch assumed his position as the historian for the US Army Signal Corps at Fort
Gordon, Georgia in August 2002. As Signal Corps branch historian, his mission is to provide leaders and
soldiers with historical education and archival services that develop critical thinking skills. He supports
the Commanding General of the US Army Signal Corps by providing historical insight and analysis for
decision-making through the collection, preservation, and dissemination of Signal Corps and Army
history. His curriculum includes staff rides to Revolutionary War and Civil War sites in Georgia and South
Carolina, including a study of Sherman’s March to the Sea. He received his MA in history from Eastern
Michigan University in 1992 and in 2001 he attained an MS degree in Adult and Continuing Education
from Kansas State University. From 2003 – 2014 he served as adjunct professor of history at Augusta
State University where he taught US military history to history majors and ROTC cadets. Rauch retired
from the U.S. Army in July 2002 after serving 20 years as an Ordnance officer. His military experience
included assignments as platoon leader, staff officer, company commander, director of logistics, and
battalion executive officer. From 1989-1993 he served as an Assistant Professor of Military Science at
the University of Michigan where he taught military history and leadership to Army cadets. He served as
a logistician in the 24th Infantry Division at Fort Stewart where he participated in Operation Uphold
Democracy in Haiti in 1994-95. His final military assignment was as an Assistant Professor of History at
the U.S. Army Command and General Staff College, Ft. Leavenworth, Kansas. There he taught courses
on the evolution of modern warfare, World War I, and the history of American irregular warfare. Rauch
is a member of several historical and military organizations, including the Society for Military History,
American Historical Association, Southern Historical Association, Military Officers Association, Veterans
of Foreign Wars and the American Legion. His publications include several monographs, chapters, and
articles related to the Revolutionary War in Georgia including studies of the 1st Siege of Augusta in 1780
and the Liberation of Augusta by the Patriots in 1781. He also serves as a promoter and advisor to
community efforts to preserve Georgia battlefields such as Kettle Creek and Briar Creek.
Greg Brooking. “Sir James Wright and the Loyalist Claims Commission.”
In 1783, a number of wealthy (or formerly wealthy) Loyalists published a pamphlet entitled The Case
and Claim of the American Loyalists, in an effort to secure at least some compensation for their losses
suffered as a direct result of their loyal patriotism. This talk will focus on the career of Sir James Wright,
the last royal governor of Georgia and the President of the Board of Agents of American Loyalists, as
well as his efforts to secure recompense for himself and other Loyalists.
Greg Brooking has an M.A. from Georgia College and State University (2008) and a Ph.D. from Georgia
State University (2013). He is part-time assistant professor of history at Kennesaw State University in
Georgia, adjunct professor of history at Southern New Hampshire University online, and adjunct
professor of history at Reinhardt University near Atlanta. His publications include " ‘I am an independent
spirit and confide in my own resources’: Nathanael Greene and his Continental Subordinates, 17801781," in General Nathanael Greene and the American Revolution in the South, ed. by Gregory Massey
and James Piecuch (Columbia: University of South Carolina, 2012), and " ‘A very unexpected alarming
and serious scene’: James Wright, the Southern Strategy, and the Siege of Savannah, 1779," in Georgia
Historical Quarterly (forthcoming).
Carole Troxler. “Three Southern Provincial Corps at Country Harbour, Nova Scotia.”
This paper focuses on the loyalist refugees who settled in Country Harbour, Nova Scotia, following their
military evacuation from East Florida to Halifax in 1783. Nearly all the men in this settlement had
belonged to three southern-based provincial corps: the South Carolina Royalists, the Royal North
Carolina Regiment, and the King’s Carolina Rangers. A small minority of the corpsmen was of African
origin, and there were a few enslaved people at the settlement also. Country Harbour is especially
significant for exploring the far-flung consequences that the War of the American Revolution had in the
Atlantic world, because Country Harbour was the largest single settlement of refugees from the former
colonies south of Virginia. Moreover, the patterns of retention and dispersal in evidence at Country
Harbour differ from those the presenter has found in other southern settlements in present-day Atlantic
Canada.
Dr. Carole W. Troxler earned a Ph.D. in history from the University of North Carolina. Most of her
teaching career was at Elon College/Elon University, where she is Professor Emeritus of History. Her
research has focused on the late colonial period and the American Revolution in the southern
backcountry and the migration of loyalists after the war. She is the author of five books, published
between 1976 and 2011. The most recent one treats the Regulator Movement in North Carolina. She
also produced some 20 articles in professional journals, 30-odd entries in history encyclopedias and
several multi-media projects. Carole received the 2010 Christopher Crittenden Memorial Award from
the North Carolina Literary and Historical Association. Her publications have received awards from the
North Carolina Sons of the American Revolution, the Society of North Carolina Historians, Phi Alpha
Theta International Honor Society, and the International Council for Canadian Studies. She enjoys
playing traditional music of the British Isles and the Upland South. She and her husband, George, live in
the woods in Alamance County, where she particularly enjoys native plants.