(1734–1832). American soldier Thomas Sumter served as an officer in the American Revolution. He is remembered for leading troops in South Carolina against British forces. Fort Sumter in Charleston Harbor was named for him.
Sumter was born on August 14, 1734, in Hanover county, Virginia. He had little schooling as a boy and later served in the French and Indian War. In 1762 he went to England with Cherokee Chief Ostenaco, who was meeting with King George III. Sumter soon returned to America, but he was put in jail for unpaid debts. He escaped and settled in South Carolina, where he eventually married and ran the family plantation.
When the American Revolution began, Sumter returned to military service. He fought in several battles with the South Carolina militia from 1775 to 1778. He then resigned his commission and returned to his home. After the fall of Charleston in 1780, Sumter rejoined the militia. He commanded troops to victory that year over the British at Catawba and at Hanging Rock in Lancaster county and at Fishdam Ford in Union county. He also repulsed Colonel Banastre Tarleton at Blackstock in Union county. Tarleton commented that Sumter had “fought like a gamecock,” earning Sumter the nickname “the Carolina Gamecock” or “the Gamecock.” Sumter retired from military service in 1782 as a brigadier general.
After the war Sumter turned to politics. He served in the U.S. House of Representatives from 1789 to 1793 and from 1797 to 1801. From 1801 to 1810 he was a member of the U.S. Senate. He was the last surviving general of the Revolution. Sumter died on June 1, 1832, in South Mount, South Carolina.