Polk County’s Revolutionary War connection

A tale of two bridges

By Kathy Hagler, 2^nd Vice Regent, James K. Polk Chapter, NSDAR

Four Holes Swamp Bridge Park is wedged in the junction of U.S. Highways 78 and 178 in Dorchester County, South Carolina; the town of Dorchester commemorates events that occurred here during the Revolutionary War.

This black-water river is comprised of several braided channels and is a tributary to the Edisto River. A causeway was built here as the result of an act passed in 1753. Patriot Colonel Henry Hampton seized the causeway on July 14, 1781, to intercept Lord Rawdon as he retreated from Orangeburg.

Another bridge was built here in the 1770s and was the site of conflicts between Patriot militias led by Colonels Wade Hampton and William Harden, against Loyalist armies between 1781 and 1782.

A cannon made in Leicester, England, in 1762, was used by the Patriots to defend this causeway against the Loyalists. It was unearthed from six feet underground by a road crew in 1921. The causeway and the road were paved in 1928, and the cannon is used as a historical marker in the park.

The above-mentioned Colonel William Harden was also involved at the battle of Saltketcher — or Salkehatchie — Bridge.

The area between Charlestown and Savannah had become a virtual sanctuary for the enemy. With Brigadier General Francis Marion’s consent, Colonel Harden began working to disrupt British lines in the area. He led a force of approximately 100 men down the Pocotaligo Road and ran into Captain Edward Fenwick with 35 SC Dragoons, a Loyalist cavalry unit, near the Saltketcher Bridge on April 5, 1781. Colonel Harden’s men became disoriented in the dark, and the smaller Loyalist army was able to disperse the Patriots.

Paul Hamilton, one of Colonel Harden’s men, later wrote: “At midnight encountered a body of British cavalry men near Saltketcher Bridge. The onset was in our favor, but, Harden being an indifferent commander, we were defeated and in the rout, I suffered a hard pursuit… Our whole party was dispersed, and about 15 severely wounded with the sabre.”

Though these two Revolutionary War battles took place in South Carolina, they do have a connection to Polk County. This is the first in a short series of stories that will lead to that connection.

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Ethan Nahté

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