Battle of Hanging Rock The Battle of Hanging Rock ( August 6 , 1780 ) was a battle in the American Revolutionary War that occurred between the American Patriots and the British . It was part of a campaign by militia General Thomas Sumter to harass or destroy British outposts in the South Carolina backcountry that had been established after the fall of Charleston in May 1780 . Background . Throughout 1779 and early 1780 , the British " southern strategy " to regain control of its rebellious provinces in the American Revolutionary War went well , with successful amphibious operations against Savannah , Georgia and Charleston , South Carolina , and a routing of the few remaining Continental Army troops in South Carolina in the May 29 , 1780 Battle of Waxhaws . The British , in complete control of both South Carolina and Georgia , established outposts in the interior of both states to recruit Loyalist s and to suppress Patriot dissent . One of these outposts was established at Hanging Rock , in present - day Lancaster County south of Heat Springs . The most northerly of the British posts , it was well fortified with more than 1 , 400 British troops , including the 500 man Prince of Wales American Volunteer Regiment , a Loyalist unit of the British Army , local Loyalist militia , and some dragoons from the British Legion . These forces were under the overall command of Major John Carden . The Americans were under Brigadier General Thomas Sumter , commanding troops made up of Major Richard Winn ' s Fairfield regiment , Colonel Edward Lacey ' s Chester regiment , Colonel William Hill ' s York regiment and Major William Richardson Davie of the Waxhaws of Lancaster county with Col . Robert Irwin ' s cavalry of Mecklenburg county , North Carolina . On August 1 , 1780 , Sumter launched an attack on the British outpost at Rocky Mount , west of Hanging Rock on the Catawba River . As part of this attack Sumter detached Major Davie on a diversionary attack on Hanging Rock . Davie attacked a fortified house , and captured 60 horses and a number of weapons , while also inflicting casualties on the British . This , however , did not prevent the British from sending troops from Hanging Rock to reinforce the garrison there . After his assault on Rocky Mount failed , Sumter decided to make an attack on the weakened Hanging Rock outpost . Battle . Sumter decided on a plan of attack of assaulting the camp in three mounted detachments . The initial assault was made early in the morning where Winn ' s and Davie ' s men completely routed Bryan ' s corps . Capt . McCulloch ' s company of the British Legion , after presenting a volley , was also routed by Sumter ' s riflemen . The Prince of Wales Regt . also came under heavy fire and suffered very severe losses . Part of the Prince of Wales Regt then came up , and having cleverly deployed themselves in some woods , checked the rebel assault with a surprise crossfire . This allowed the British to draw up in a hollow square in the center of the cleared ground , and to further protect themselves with a three - pound cannon which had been left by some of Rugeley ' s Camden militia . In the heat of the battle , Major Carden lost his nerve and surrendered his command to one of his junior officers . This was a major turning point for the Americans . At one point , Capt . Rousselet of the Legion infantry led a charge and forced many Sumter ' s men back . Lack of ammunition made it impossible for Sumter to completely knock out the British . The battled raged for 3 hours without pause , causing many men to faint from the heat and thirst . Aftermath . At the end , the British had lost 192 soldiers ; the Americans lost 12 killed and 41 wounded . A group of Americans came across a storage of rum in the British camp and became so drunk they could not be brought back into the battle ; thus , the intoxicated Americans left the field of battle and marched back to the base camp at Waxhaw . The battle site has been listed on the National Register of Historic Places . It is managed by the South Carolina Department of Natural Resources .