November 20, 1780 — Blackstock’s Farm, South Carolina

Banastre Tarleton thought he’d caught Thomas Sumter flat-footed. Instead, he rode into a trap.

Sumter set his militia behind fences and farm buildings, with sharpshooters in the trees. Tarleton charged headlong and met a wall of fire. Horses went down, dragoons tumbled, redcoats scattered.

Sumter himself took a bullet to the chest but lived. Tarleton limped away humiliated, his myth of invincibility cracked.

On the frontier, we called that using the ground. Never fight fair when you can fight smart.

— Captain Samuel Mason, Washington County Militia

#piratesammason

piratesammason.com