On August 17, 1780, at Witherspoon's Ferry, Lieutenant Colonel Francis Marion took command of the Williamsburgh militia, one of the few remaining American fighting forces opposing the British in South Carolina. For the rest of 1780 and into 1781, this brigade, led by Marion and strengthened by militia from the areas around the Pee Dee, Santee, and Black Rivers, kept the cause of American liberty alive in South Carolina and ultimately played a prominent role in achieving American independence. In late March 1781, elements of Marion's brigade fought British troops crossing the Lynches River there as they retreated after destroying Marion's camp at Snow's Island. Citizen soldiers, both black and white, rode out from this place to fight for the rights and ideals that define the American nation.