A 10-month lecture series meeting on the first Tuesday at 5:30 PM of the listed months below.

Join historian Durant Ashmore in an engaging lecture series that explores the American Revolutionary War through the lens of South Carolina’s Backcountry, a region whose people, terrain, and battles played a critical role in the struggle for independence. While often overshadowed by events in the northern colonies, the Backcountry was a contested and volatile landscape where Loyalists, Patriots, and British forces clashed in brutal and decisive engagements.

Drawing on primary sources, battlefield archaeology, and recent scholarship, Durant Ashmore will examine key battles of the Backcountry, the leaders and dedicated militia who fought them, and the civilian populations often caught in the middle. The series will highlight how guerrilla warfare, local loyalties, and geographic factors shaped the course of the war in South Carolina, ultimately and directly influencing the outcome of the Revolution.

Lecture #1 – January 6: A Prelude to War

Reservations are required.