Watch the “South Carolina Revolutionary Road Trip Part III” Full Episode
South Carolina’s Upcountry was a decisive theater of the American Revolution — a place where fierce battles, bold leadership, and everyday citizens shaped the future of a nation.
In Travels with Darley: South Carolina Revolutionary Road Trip – Part III, Darley explores battlefields, plantations, historic towns, and a major university to uncover powerful stories often left out of the textbooks. Watch the half hour episode to travel to Kings Mountain, Cowpens, Spartanburg, Musgrove Mill, Ninety Six, Walnut Grove and Clemson University with Darley and local experts, park rangers, entrepreneurs and historians. Below are episode highlights.
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KINGS MOUNTAIN: A TURNING POINT
• Visit Kings Mountain National Military Park, just south of the North Carolina border
• Walk the October 7, 1780 battlefield with Park Ranger Robert Holmes
• Discover how Patriot militia — many of them frontiersmen — secured a pivotal victory
• Learn why this battle shifted momentum in the Southern Campaign and exposed British loyalist weaknesses
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NINETY SIX: WHERE THE SOUTHERN WAR BEGAN
• Explore Ninety Six National Historic Site with Ranger Adrian Stewart
• See the remains of the earthen Star Fort, built in December 1780 by Loyalist soldiers and enslaved laborers
• Learn about the first land battle of the Revolution in the South (1775)
• Understand how early the conflict reached the Carolina backcountry
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MUSGROVE MILL: OUTSMARTING THE BRITISH
• Walk the battlefield with Interpretive Ranger Mark Stanford
• Relive the events of August 19, 1780
• See how 200 Patriot militiamen defeated nearly 500 Loyalist and Provincial troops
• Discover how this brutal “civil war within a war” helped reshape the Southern campaign
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SPARTANBURG: HISTORY MEETS MODERN CULTURE
• Tour the city with local guide Joe Mullinax — arriving on his bright red Vespa
• Visit Morgan Square and its monument tied to the Battle of Cowpens
• Walk the Spartanburg Music Trail
• Browse Hub City Bookshop
Food highlights:
• The Kennedy — Chef William Cribb’s locally sourced, farm-to-table cuisine
• Wade’s — a James Beard Award–winning “meat and three” institution with Anna Liles
Where Darley stays:
• Clevedale Historic Inn & Gardens, owned by Paul and Pontheolla Mack-Abernathy
• A unique converted railroad caboose stay
• Morning coffee at Little River Roasting with Gervais Hollowell, just off the Mary Black Rail Trail
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CLEMSON: MILITARY ROOTS & REVOLUTIONARY LEADERS
• Visit Clemson University’s Scroll of Honor with Dr. Otis Pickett, memorializing 498 fallen service members
• Explore the former home of Patriot leader Andrew Pickens
• Learn why George Washington chose Pickens for the Treaty of Hopewell
Additional stops:
• Fort Rutledge (Battle of Essenecca)
• Hanover House (1730s French Huguenot home where all eight sons fought in the Revolution)
• Old Stone Church with Curtis Arnold, burial site of General Andrew Pickens and other Revolutionary heroes
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COWPENS: A BRILLIANT VICTORY
• Tour Cowpens National Battlefield with Park Ranger Paul Cothren
• Revisit January 17, 1781
• See how General Daniel Morgan defeated Banastre Tarleton
• Understand why this was one of the Revolution’s most brilliant tactical victories
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WALNUT GROVE PLANTATION: A WOMAN’S HIDDEN ROLE
• Hear a lesser-known story from David Wood
• Discover how one woman’s quiet courage supported the Patriot cause
• Remember that the Revolution was shaped by ordinary individuals — not just generals
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From Kings Mountain to Cowpens, South Carolina’s Upcountry reveals a living landscape of battle, resilience, culture, food, and community. This Revolutionary Road Trip shows how the Carolina backcountry helped shape the nation we know today. Watch now and travel deeper into America’s founding story with Travels with Darley.
Continue the journey with South Carolina Revolutionary Road Trip Part I and II below, charting lesser known American Revolution sites and stories in Charleston, Berkeley County, Eutaw Springs and Camden.