The following information was assembled from numerous sources and cannot be used directly as proof of Qualifying Service or Lineage.
It is considered a research aid and is intended to assist in locating sources that can be used as proof.
The sign at this site reads; "BATTLE OF FISHING CREEK - At this site on August 18, 1780 General Thomas Sumter camped with captured booty and 800 men. He was surprised and defeated by Lt Col Tarleton and 160 soldiers. The disaster followed by only two days General Gates's defeat by Lord Cornwallis at Camden. The patriots lost 150 men killed and many captured, but Sumter escaped and soon rallied another large force."
Directions to Cemetery / Gravesite:
Author: Robert McDowell Hammond
John Griffin was born about 1745 probably in South Carolina. He was married about 1770 in the old Ninety Eight District of South Carolina. From about 1775 he served in the militia in the Little River Regiment of district Ninety Eight where he is indicated as being a Captain. By 1780 his unit had been assigned to Col. Thomas Sumter, who was active in providing resistance throughout that area. At some point he relocated his family to Columbia County, Georgia, just over the state line. By 1780 the town of Camden in upper South Carolina had been occupied by the British and was proving to be Lt. Gen. Cornwallace’s most important interior garrison. Congress and Gen. Washington wanted to remove this threat to the Carolina back-country. In August, 1780, Maj. Gen. Horatio Gates, with a force of around 4000 comprised of Continentals and patriot militias, moved on Camden. Col. Thomas Sumter was assigned to locate south of Camden to intercept British supply convoys and also to prevent British retreat in that direction. Sumter did not see direct involvement in the Battle of Camden, where the British, under Cornwallace and Lt. Col. Banastre Tarlton, created a total rout of Gates’s forces. Gate’s army fell back, with the intent of reorganizing in Charlotte, North Carolina. As Col. Sumter and his men retreated north, Cornwallace learned of his movement and specifically ordered Tarlton to follow and engage him. Sumter did not have good intelligence at the time and did not know of Tarlton’s close pursuit. On August 18, 1780, he was overtaken with a surprise attack as he was camped at the junction of the Cataba River and Fishing Creek, about 40 miles above Camden. This is referred to as the Battle of Fishing Creek. Sumter’s men, also, were completely routed. Sumter, himself, barely escaped. His force of militia had 310 captured, 100 wounded and 50 killed. John Griffin died at Fishing Creek. He is likely buried in an unmarked grave in that area. The significance of John Griffin comes from the fact that he is representative of hundreds, even thousands, of good men of the area who were not necessarily political but would lay down their lives to protect their families, farms and fortunes from the depredations of the British.
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