Thomas Sumter Thomas Sumter ( August 14 , 1734 – June 1 , 1832 ) was a soldier in the Virginia militia , planter , brigadier general in the South Carolina militia during the American Revolution , and politician . He was later repeatedly elected to the United States House of Representatives and to the United States Senate , where he served from 1801 - 1810 , when he retired . He was nicknamed the " Carolina Gamecock " for his attack on British soldiers after they burned down his house during the American Revolutionary War and his fierce fighting style . Early life . Thomas Sumter was born in Hanover County , Virginia in 1734 . His father William Sumter was an immigrant from Wales who operated a mill . Given a rudimentary education , Sumter enlisted in the Virginia militia . French and Indian War . He served in the disastrous 1755 Braddock Expedition during the French and Indian War . In 1761 Sumter was invited to join an expedition ( known as the Timberlake Expedition ) organized by Colonel Adam Stephen to visit the Overhill Cherokee ( in present - day Tennessee ) to verify that war with the Cherokee had ended in the Virginia backcountry . Stephen gave command of the expedition to Henry Timberlake , who volunteered for the assignment . Timberlake was accompanied by Sumter ( then a sergeant ) , an interpreter named John McCormack , and an unknown servant . The group purchased a canoe and 10 days ' worth of provisions with money Sumter had borrowed . The plan was to follow the Holston River to its confluence with the French Broad River , and proceed to the Little Tennessee River , where the Overhill towns were situated . Timberlake ' s party left Long Island ( Tennessee ) on November 28 , 1761 . The Holston River ' s unusually low water levels slowed their progress , as the party had to drag or portage the canoe over and around exposed shoals and sandbars . They ran out of provisions after several days , but McCormack managed to shoot a bear , supplying them with several days ' worth of meat . Around December 7 , the party explored a stalactite - filled cave situated approximately above the river . Timberlake described Sumter ' s swimming nearly a half - mile in the icy waters to retrieve their canoe , which had drifted away while they were exploring the cave . On December 13 , the expedition reached a series of cascades which Timberlake called " Great Falls . " The party spent a day maneuvering their way down the cascades but found the Holston frozen over immediately downstream . The ice slowed them more , but rains on the night of December 14 thawed the ice , and the party passed out of the mouth of the Holston ( in modern Knoxville ) into what is now the Tennessee River on December 15 . The Overhill country . The expedition traveled more quickly on the Tennessee River . A hunting party led by the Cherokee chief Slave Catcher met the party near the mouth of the Little Tennessee River , and supplied the weary expedition with provisions of " dried venison , homminy , and boiled corn . " The following day a slave catcher guided the expedition up the Little Tennessee , although the Timberlake party struggled to keep up , with Timberlake recalling , " my hands were so galled , that the blood trickled from them , and when we set out the next morning I was scarce able to handle a pole . " The Timberlake party arrived in the Overhill town of Tomotley on December 20 , where they were greeted by the town ' s head man , Chief Ostenaco . After spending several days in Tomotley as guests of Ostenaco , they proceeded to the Overhill mother town of Chota , where a number of chiefs had gathered in the town ' s large councilhouse . Ostenaco gave a speech and ceremoniously buried a hatchet in the ground , symbolizing a state of peace between the English and the Cherokee . Timberlake smoked several ceremonial peace pipe s with the gathered chiefs . He described it in his memoir as " very disagreeable , " but respected the ritual with the chiefs . The party continued southward to Citico , where Timberlake was greeted by a ceremonial dance involving some 400 Cherokee . Timberlake recalled that the dancers were " painted all over in a hideous manner " and that they " danced in a very uncommon figure . " The town ' s chief , Cheulah , presented Timberlake with a string of beads and held another pipe - smoking ceremony . The non - stop pipe smoking made Timberlake so sick that he " could not stir for several hours . " The following day , Timberlake and Ostenaco traveled to Chilhowee , the second southernmost of the Overhill towns on Timberlake ' s map , where the town ' s chief , Yachtino , held a peace procession similar to that at Citico . Return to Virginia . The assignment largely completed , the party returned to Tomotley with Ostenaco on January 2 , 1762 . Timberlake spent the next few weeks studying Cherokee habits and making notes for his map of the Overhill country . At the end of January , rumors began trickling in from Cherokee scouts of renewed hostilities with rival tribes to the north . Although the rumors turned out to be based on a misunderstanding , Timberlake nevertheless grew anxious and begged Ostenaco to guide him back to Virginia . Ostenaco reluctantly agreed , and the party set out on March 10 , 1762 . Just before departure , Timberlake witnessed the ceremonial return of a war party led by Chief Willinawaw . The party sang " the war - song " and planted a scalp - filled pole next to the councilhouse door . The Timberlake party had decided to make the return trip overland , having purchased horses from the Cherokee . Ostenaco , accompanied by several hundred Cherokee warriors , guided the Timberlake group northward along what is now known as the Great Indian Warpath , which follows the western base of the Appalachian Mountains . On March 11 , the party arrived at the abandoned village of Elajoy along the Little River in what is now Maryville , and crossed the French Broad River the following day . A week later , they reached Fort Robinson , which the Stephen garrison had abandoned but had left behind a large supply of flour . The expedition left Long Island on March 22 , continuing northward to an abandoned army camp . Timberlake was disappointed to find that his belongings had been looted from a trunk . The party finally arrived in Williamsburg in early April . Visit to London . While in Williamsburg , Timberlake and Ostenaco attended a dinner party at William & Mary College at which Ostenaco professed his desire to meet the king of England . Although he feared the trip would break him financially , Timberlake agreed . In May 1762 , Timberlake , Sumter , and three distinguished Cherokee leaders , including Ostenaco , departed for London . Arriving in early June , the Cherokee were an immediate attraction , drawing crowds all over the city . The poet Oliver Goldsmith waited for three hours to meet the Cherokee , and offered a gift to Ostenaco . They sat for Sir Joshua Reynolds to take their portraits , and they met personally with King George III . The Cherokee returned to North America with Sergeant Sumter on about August 25 , 1762 . Arrival in South Carolina . Upon returning to the colonies , Sumter became stranded in South Carolina due to financial difficulties . He petitioned the colony for reimbursement of his travel expenses , but was denied . He was subsequently imprisoned for debt in Virginia . When his friend and fellow soldier Joseph Martin arrived in Staunton , Martin asked to spend the night with Sumter in jail . Martin gave Sumter 10 guineas and a tomahawk . Sumter used the money to buy his way out of jail in 1766 . When Martin and Sumter were reunited some 30 years later , Sumter repaid the money . Sumter settled in Stateburg in the High Hills of Santee in the Claremont ( later Sumter ) district . He married the widow Mary Jameson in 1767 , and together they opened several small businesses and became successful plantation owners . Due to his wealth and the respect in the community , he was able to form a local militia group . American Revolutionary War . In February 1776 , Sumter was elected Lieutenant Colonel of the Second Regiment of the South Carolina Line of which he was later appointed Colonel . He subsequently was appointed Brigadier General of the South Carolina militia , a post he held until the end of the war . He participated in several battles in the early months of the war , including the campaign to prevent an invasion of Georgia . Perhaps his greatest military achievement was his partisan campaigning , which contributed to Lord Cornwallis ' decision to leave the Carolinas for Virginia . Cornwallis was defeated there at Yorktown in October 1781 . Sumter acquired the nickname , " The Carolina Gamecock " during the American Revolution for his fierce fighting tactics , regardless of his size . A British General commented that Sumter " fought like a gamecock " , and Cornwallis paid him the finest tribute when he described the Gamecock as his greatest plague . After the war . After the Revolution , Sumter was elected as a member of the U . S . House of Representatives , serving from March 4 , 1789 to March 4 , 1793 and from March 4 , 1797 to December 15 , 1801 . He was then elected by the legislature as a U . S . Senator to fill the vacancy caused by the resignation of Senator Charles Pinckney . Sumter served in the Senate until his retirement on December 16 , 1810 . Sumter died on June 1 , 1832 at South Mount , his plantation near Stateburg , at the age of 97 years .