Born on the Virginia frontier in 1734, Thomas Sumter's military career spanned the French and Indian War and the American Revolution. After financial troubles in Virginia, he came to South Carolina in 1763 seeking new opportunity, opened a store near Nelson's Ferry on the Santee River, and became one of the most prominent merchants and planters in the backcountry. During the American Revolutionary War, especially in 1780 after the British captured Charleston and marched into the Carolina backcountry, he refused to lay down his weapons when many patriots were disheartened by British victories. Known as "The Fighting Gamecock," he organized a partisan band of guerilla fighters who harassed the King's troops so persistently that British General Lord Cornwallis called him his "greatest Plague." Although he preferred independent command, sometimes disregarded orders from superiors, and clashed with fellow officers, he helped keep the spirit of Revolution alive in South Carolina at a critical time and contributed greatly to the ultimate defeat of British forces there. He outlived every other Revolutionary War general and died in 1832 at the age of 98. The land in the High Hills of Santee once belonged to him, and today the graves of Sumter and many of his descendants remain there as a vestige of his residence.