The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, May-July 1780 (Paperback)

by Michael C. Scoggins (Author), Walter Edgar (Foreword) "South Carolina can be divided geographically into three sections: the swampy coastal plain or "Lowcountry"; the sandy midlands; and the hilly "Upcountry," which transitions into..." (more)
Key Phrases: listorical press, hooks defeat, loyalist militia, South Carolina, North Carolina, New York (more...)

Editorial Reviews

Product Description
In July of 1780, when the Revolutionary War in the Southern states seemed doomed to failure, a small but important battle took place on James Williamson’s plantation in what is now York County, South Carolina. The Battle of Williamson’s Plantation, or "Huck’s Defeat" as it later came to be known, laid the groundwork for the vicious partisan warfare waged by the militiamen on the Carolina frontier against the superior forces of the British Army, and it paved the way for the calamitous defeats that the British suffered at Hanging Rock, Musgrove’s Mill, Kings Mountain, Blackstock’s Plantation and Cowpens, all in the South Carolina backcountry.

In this groundbreaking new study, historian Michael C. Scoggins provides an in-depth account of the events that unfolded in the Broad and Catawba River valleys of upper South Carolina during the critical summer of 1780.

Drawing extensively on first-person accounts and military correspondence, much of which has never been published before, Scoggins tells a dramatic story that begins with the capture of an entire American army at Charleston in May and ends with a resounding series of Patriot victories in the Carolina Piedmont during the late summer of 1780—victories that set Lord Cornwallis and the British Army irrevocably on the road to defeat and to surrender at Yorktown in October 1781.

About the Author
Michael C. Scoggins is research historian at the Culture & Heritage Museums of York County, South Carolina. He has a lifelong interest in military and Southern history and has spent the last six years researching the colonial and Revolutionary War history of South Carolina for The Day it Rained Militia. He is co-author of the acclaimed African-American Patriots in the Southern Campaign of the American Revolution, and contributed to the forthcoming South Carolina Encyclopedia. Scoggins also writes regularly for several historical and genealogical journals, and wrote the introduction for the History Press re-edition of the 1889 classic Hours with the Living Men and Women of the Revolution (June 2005).

Product Details

• Paperback: 320 pages
• Publisher: History Press (July 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 1596290153
• ISBN-13: 978-1596290150
• Product Dimensions: 9.7 x 6.6 x 0.9 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.8 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.7 out of 5 stars See all reviews (3 customer reviews)
• Amazon.com Sales Rank: #1,125,824 in Books (See Bestsellers in Books)

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Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

15 of 15 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A thoroughly researched in-depth look, March 17, 2006

By	Scott Cummings "PatriotResource" (Louisiana) - See all my reviews

Michael Scoggins' The Day It Rained Militia has a foreword from author Walter Edgar. Having already read Edgar's well-publicized Partisans and Redcoats: The Southern Conflict That Turned the Tide of the American Revolution which covers much of the same material, this reviewer finds it appropriate to compare the two books. Unlike Partisans and Redcoats, which just seemed ro retread over the same material and sources found in Dr. Dan Morrill's Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution and John Buchanan's The Road to Guilford Courthouse, The Day It Rained Militia incorporates some entirely different primary and secondary sources. The book sets itself apart by spending little time with the Continentals. The Siege of Charleston is brief. The Battle of Waxhaws is more about the fallout, than the skimish itself and General Horatio Gates' disasterous Battle of Camden is barely mentioned. Instead, "minor" actions such as Hanging Rock and Rocky Mount which involved only patriot militia are delved into. This leads the book having it's own identity and style.

The Day It Rained Militia probably benefits by focusing on a tighter timeframe than the other three books previously mentioned. As a result, Scoggins is able to delve into detail with each skirmish and even the intermediary events. He even does so in a way that is far from tedious. Frequently drawing from and often quoting first-hand (and occasionaly) pensioner accounts lends to his narrative style. Scoggins spends much of the book methodically setting the table for Huck's Defeat. In fact, Christian Huck himself is just one of many supporting characters that fill the roles of patriots, loyalists and a a few Redcoats. Huck's Defeat is actually the focus of the extensive appendices, which include the aforementioned pensioner accounts and battlefield details.

The Day It Rained Militia is a great supplement for those already familiar with the overall events of the Southern Theatre and are looking for for further depth of knowledge concerning partisan events following the fall of Charleston, South Carolina in May 1780. The appendices and lengthy notes also make this book worth adding to one's collection for future reference.

0 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars The Day it Rained Militia, April 28, 2008

By	TOM MCHOOD "Restorer2" (Little River, SC) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

The author has done the requisite historical research, including letters and other documents. Michael Scroggins has put together a vivid picture of what occurred at Huck's Defeat near Brattonsville, SC and how it turned the tide of the Revolutionary War.

1 of 3 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars The Day It Rained Militia: Huck's Defeat and the Revolution in the South Carolina Backcountry, August 30, 2006

By	Betty White "tebie49" (St. Simons Island, GA) - See all my reviews (REAL NAME)

Hard to get into but worth the read, expecially since my patriot, John Carroll killed Captain Huck.