The Little River Regiment

The Little River Regiment
Little River District Regiment of Militia, formed February 1775
Ninety Six District (now Laurens County), South Carolina

Laurens County Museum exhibit panel titled The Little River Regiment
“The Little River Regiment” exhibit panel at the Laurens County Museum.

At a Glance

On This Page

The Regiment

The Little River District Regiment of Militia was formed in February of 1775, in what is now Laurens County, SC. As the area split into Loyalists and Patriots, neighbor was pitted against neighbor. Col. James Williams was made commander of this regiment. Few families sacrificed more for the Patriot cause than the Williams family. James Williams was killed at King’s Mountain. His sons, Daniel and Joseph, lost their lives at the horror of Hayes Station. Wife Mary, with several young children in tow, were driven from their home and harassed by Tory neighbors.

Battles

Men of the Little River Regiment fought at these places. Each has its own page:

To visit the places where the regiment served in Laurens County, see the Revolutionary War Sites of Laurens County site guide. For the full sequence of events, see the Laurens County Revolutionary War Timeline.

Col. James Williams

Gov. John Rutledge commissioned Williams a brigadier general, but he died after Kings Mountain before the commission could be delivered. In 2005 the South Carolina General Assembly confirmed the rank, 225 years later. In the same act it named the Little River bridge on SC Highway 72, at the northeast corner of what had been his plantation, in his honor. The bridge is known as the James Williams Memorial Bridge, and its sign reads “Patriots of the Little River Regiment Memorial Bridge” (see The Memorial Bridge below).

The tall granite Kings Mountain Monument obelisk under a blue sky
Marble panel on the 1880 Centennial Monument at Kings Mountain listing the Patriots who fell in the battle
King’s Mountain Memorial

The Memorial Bridge

Green highway sign reading Patriots of the Little River Regiment Memorial Bridge
Memorial Bridge

From the State of South Carolina:

A CONCURRENT RESOLUTION TO REQUEST THAT THE DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION NAME THE BRIDGE THAT CROSSES THE LITTLE RIVER ALONG SOUTH CAROLINA HIGHWAY 72 IN LAURENS COUNTY THE “PATRIOTS OF THE LITTLE RIVER REGIMENT MEMORIAL BRIDGE” IN HONOR OF THE LITTLE RIVER REGIMENT WHICH WAS A GATHERING OF PATRIOTS OF THE OLDE 96 DISTRICT DURING THE AMERICAN REVOLUTIONARY WAR, AND TO ERECT APPROPRIATE SIGNS OR MARKERS AT THIS BRIDGE THAT CONTAIN THE WORDS “PATRIOTS OF THE LITTLE RIVER REGIMENT MEMORIAL BRIDGE”.

Duncan Creek Presbyterian Church

Duncan Creek Presbyterian Church’s congregation were active members of the Little River Regiment.

Duncan Creek Presbyterian Church, with a paragraph on the Little River Regiment camping there, from Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, November 2004
From Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution Vol 1 No 3 November 2004

The James Williams Petition

Members of the Little River Regiment petitioned Gov. John Rutledge and the General Assembly, protesting the arrest of their commanding officer, Col. James Williams, and defending him as “a zealous Patriot from the Commencement of the american Contest with Britain.” The undated petition is in the Manuscript collection of the Wm. R. Perkins Library, Duke University (#5767). Read the full transcription and the list of signers on the James Williams Petition page.

Handwritten excerpt from the original Little River Regiment petition, with signatures
An excerpt from the original, courtesy of Mary Keith Adair Watts.

I have many handwritten letters from corresponding with Mary Keith from years ago, when I first started researching. Treasures!

The Adairs of the Regiment

The pages below are from the research of Mildred Brownlee, excerpted from Early Adairs of Laurens County South Carolina (1990). They were taken in the Elaine Martin Local History Room at the Laurens County Library. Yes, that is my thumb, sorry.

Page from Mildred Brownlee’s Early Adairs of Laurens County, South Carolina (1990)
Page from Mildred Brownlee’s Early Adairs of Laurens County, with a handwritten note about the Adairs living on Duncan Creek
Page from Mildred Brownlee’s Early Adairs of Laurens County listing Adair family members

Mildred Brownlee was an excellent researcher. Her information updates, and in some cases corrects, Esther Holland Pitts’ work, with referenced sources. Family tradition, availability of records at any given time, and a bit of an influence of trying to achieve and preserve DAR membership all contributed to some theories being unproven over time. Mrs. Brownlee had access to more information than Mrs. Pitts.

I fully agree with the research Mrs. Brownlee has presented here, even though it changes some of the traditional family stories.

Carolana’s roster lists these Adairs in the regiment: Benjamin Adair, Isaac Adair, James Adair, Jr., John Adair, John Adair, Jr., Joseph Adair, Sr., Joseph Adair, Jr., and William Adair.

Sources and Resources

Open Questions

  • Who served? Carolana’s roster names many more men than our Honor Roll. Which of them can be confirmed from pension or audited-account records?

How You Can Help

Do you descend from a man who served in the Little River Regiment? Do you have a pension application, family papers or photographs that place him in it? Please get in touch.

Related pages: Honor Roll · Rev War Sites of Laurens County · Laurens County Rev War Timeline · The James Williams Petition · Robert Long · Mary Ramage Dillard
From the blog: Tales of the Little River Regiment · James Thurston · The Williams Petition · Hammond’s Old Store Artifacts

Leave a Reply