The partisan war in the Revolutionary War South demonstrated the vital linkage between the civil and military authorities. In the policies created to persuade the people of the righteousness of the American cause and neutralize opposition, the civil leadership of South Carolina inadvertently set the conditions for a violent civil war. The experiences derived from a century's worth of almost constant conflict, both internal and external, determined the nature of the ensuing civil war. Upon the occupation by the British in 1780, the calm that settled over the Southern colonies was brief, as British military leaders addressed the political problem in such a way as to lead to renewed revolt and an effective partisan campaign. The civil war became intertwined with the overall campaigns of the American and British forces, with the nature of the leaders having equal effect on the concurrent civil war. |