Cedar Springs

The Battle of the Ironworks was sometimes referred to as the Second Cedar Spings. The first Battle of Cedar Springs happened just a few miles away from where the town of Glendale is today. The battle was a  Patriot victory that took place on July 13, 1780 in modern day Spartanburg County. A Tory force from the British outpost at Ninety Six tried to surprise a Patriot force under Col. John Thomas Jr. camped at Cedar Springs. At the time, Col. Thomas’ father was being held as a British prisoner at Ninety Six and his mother was visiting him there. Mrs. Thomas overheard some of the Tory wives discussing the surprise attack that was supposed to be made against Cedar Springs. She left early the next day and rode about 60 miles to Cedar Springs to warn her son and his soldiers. With this warning, the Patriots set up an ambush for the Whigs. The Tories rode into what they thought was a sleeping camp. Instead, many were killed or wounded by the waiting Patriots.

The site of the battle is near where the South Carolina School for the Deaf and Blind is located today. It is also only about eight miles from our bridge at Trough Shoals




This web site has been started as a public service to share the story of Pacolet.

See more information about my Pacolet connection at Gerald Teaster.