The Revolutionary War in South Carolina: Profiles in Leadership

by Steven D. Smith, Kevin Dougherty

“A real page a must read for devotees of America’s struggle for Liberty, and for scholars and students of the Military Art of Leadership. Joining history and modern management thought in one volume—illuminating great men in the crucible of crisis and from the strategic to the tactical, from the political to the logistical. Here is a compelling, expert-telling of the Revolutionary War in its critical human Leadership. Steven Smith and Kevin Dougherty’s collaboration is a winning combination of history and applied leadership theory as to illuminate the bloody contest in South Carolina that changed the world.” - Major General J. B. Burns, US Army (Ret.), Trustee SC RevWar250

An examination of the panorama of individuals whose leadership helped make the Patriot cause successful in South Carolina. Historians Steven D. Smith and Kevin Dougherty look beyond the towering figure of Francis Marion to profile significant personalities and actions both on and off the battlefield in this innovative approach to the Revolutionary War in South Carolina.

The book profiles a range of Henry Laurens was the President of the Council of Safety. Richard Furman was the pastor of a church; John Rutledge was the Governor of South Carolina; and Rebecca Motte was a plantation owner. William Moultrie and Andrew Pickens—perhaps most familiar as soldiers—are discussed in their non-combatant Moultrie as a prisoner of war and Pickens as a post-war civic leader. Military leaders William Jasper, Thomas Sumter, Francis Marion, Isaac Shelby, Nathanael Greene, Daniel Morgan, Tadeusz Kosciuszko, Hezekiah Maham, and Henry Lee round out the selection of profiles.

The profiles are preceded by a historical overview of the Southern Campaign and the Revolutionary War in South Carolina, in order to provide the reader the background necessary to understand the leadership profiles in context. The book’s conclusion highlights that the Revolutionary War was a landmark in the “democratization” of war and that the choices made by these leaders and their followers reflect the same element of choice inherent in the democratic process.

240 pages, Hardcover

Published March 31, 2025

About the author

Professor Steven D Smith is the Warren Distinguished Professor of Law at San Diego University, and is the Co-Executive Director for both the Institute of Law and Religion, and the Institute for Law and Philosophy. He teaches in the area of law and religion, including as visiting professor at the University of Michigan and the University of Virginia.

Areas of Expertise are Constitutional Interpretation, Torts, Jurisprudence and Legal Theory, Law and Religion, Religious Freedom/Separation of Church and State, Federal Courts, Constitutional Law.

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