<P> Responding to Rutledge's pleas and the British threat to the whole southern flank, Washington sent an army of Continentals under General Gates, but were defeated at Camden on August 16, 1780 and the remnant of the army retreated northward in record time . </P> <P> Just before the battle of Camden, Gates met with Francis Marion, a militia officer who had escaped parole at the defeat of Charleston because of an accidental injury, which caused him to be out of town at the surrender . Marion had a small group of rag - tag militia men with him, whose appearance evoked derision from the Continentals . Gates saw Marion as an embarrassment and got rid of him by giving him orders to scout the British, and destroy boats, bridges and other items that might be useful to the British . </P> <P> Marion left, obeying his orders, and missed the battle . The following day, by order of Governor Rutledge, and by invitation of the troops, he accepted command of the Williamsburg militia at the confluence of Lynches River and the Pee Dee River . This band, joined together with a few other militia men from around the state became known as Marion's Brigade (Marion was eventually commissioned general). Marion had not yet heard the news of Gates' defeat at the time . The next day a small militia under Thomas Sumter was surprised and completely routed at Fishing Creek; Sumter barely escaped with his life . At this point Marion had the only viable Patriot army left in the South . From that time until the arrival of General Nathanael Greene, the war's outcome in the south depended entirely on the militia, and the militia gradually turned the tide . </P> <P> The war was not only a clash of arms, but a battle for the sympathy of the population . After leaving Gates, Marion began a new and unheard of policy, as he destroyed boats the British might use, and commandeered food, horses and other property from the settlers . He had his troops issue receipts for each item to the owners . His gentlemanly actions quickly made Marion a hero, and garnered support for his brigade . Many of these receipts were redeemed after the war, with the new state government usually paying in full . </P>

The first conflict of the american revolution took place in south carolina