The American Revolution is very much in the air these days, as we are reminded of what happened 250 years ago.
And in many, many places in South Carolina, it’s also in the ground beneath us. Not just spent ammunition, uniform buttons, and other detritus of battles, as fascinating as such artifacts can be. Recovered artifacts tell archaeologists many things that historians had not known before about what really happened on the South Carolina battlefields that were so critical in the latter years of the war.
Come hear John Allison and David Reuwer speak about Revolutionary War Archaeology at noon on Feb. 27 at the South Carolina Confederate Relic Room and Military Museum. The free lecture is part of the Relic Room’s regular Noon Debrief program, and the public is invited.
Allison is a founding partner in the investment management firm of Allison Investment Management, LLC. But as he puts it, battlefield archaeology is “my hobby and my passion.” He is also vice-chairman of the South Carolina American Revolution Trust. Reuwer’s background is that of a lawyer and a judge, but he is well-known for his efforts to preserve Rev War historic sites and his archaeological pursuits. Through his efforts of historic preservation, he has helped negotiate the purchase of many Rev War battlefields for the Liberty Trail in SC.
Reuwer and the late Charles Baxley founded The Journal of the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, which can be read at https://southern-campaigns.org/.
Allison has been doing this since before the bicentennial, half a century ago. In 1975, he and his father started trying to find Revolutionary War sites across the state. From the moment he first found a rifle ball at Camden, “I was hooked.” Since then, he has been credited with locating and defining more lost Revolutionary War battlefields in the Carolinas than anyone else. He has worked to preserve these sites, sharing his findings with the South Carolina Institute for Archaeology and Anthropology, and with the SCBPT. He was named Distinguished Archaeologist of the Year by the Archaeological Society of South Carolina three years ago.
Through hands-on participation, Allison and Reuwer will engage the audience with items found on SC battlefields. But more than that, they will tell you about the complicated processes involved in rediscovering the places where history was made, and preserving them so that they are still available to generations yet unborn.
Come hear them on Feb. 27.
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