Marion’s Merry Men of the Pee Dee - by STCOE

06/23/2026

06/23/2026

SC250 Charleston is in the spotlight in the latest issue of Southern Edge.

The feature highlights Executive Director Marissa Sams and the work behind bringing Charleston’s Revolutionary story to life through meaningful programming, community partnerships and citywide moments of commemoration.

As Charleston prepares to mark 250 years since the American Revolution, SC250 Charleston invites residents and visitors to engage with the people, places and stories that helped shape our nation.

Read the full feature: https://ow.ly/MSJ050Z6FUG

Explore upcoming events: sc250charleston.org

South Carolina 250 |

06/23/2026

06/23/2026

Meet the Patriot: Joseph Willis!
Did you know? Joseph Willis was of mixed white and Cherokee ancestry, reflecting the complex cultural identities of Revolutionary-era America.

“His story crossed cultures, identities, and borders.”

Discover more in the upcoming "Marion’s Merry Men of the P*e Dee: A History Coloring Book."

Coming Soon!
# Saint Teresa Community Outreach and Empowerment
Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission

06/19/2026

06/19/2026

Workers dredging the Savannah River expected to find mud, but instead uncovered 19 massive cannons that had been hidden beneath the water since the American Revolutionary War.

Recovered between 2021 and 2022, the weapons each weighed more than 1,000 pounds and had rested on the riverbed for nearly 250 years. Some were still loaded, suggesting they sank with a British ship deliberately scuttled in 1779 to block the advancing French fleet during the Siege of Savannah.

After years of conservation at Texas A&M, 17 restored cannons will go on public display for the first time on July 2, 2026, offering one of the most remarkable Revolutionary War discoveries ever made in Georgia and preserving a forgotten chapter of American history.

Credit: Savannah District, U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

06/19/2026

06/19/2026

History hits different when you’re standing where it happened.

On Carolina Day weekend, head to Fort Moultrie on Sullivan’s Island for two days of programming honoring the 1776 victory that helped shape Charleston’s Revolutionary story.

Set against one of the Lowcountry’s most storied backdrops, the commemoration will feature fife and drums, living-history experiences, wreath layings, water salutes, musket and artillery demonstrations, a flag program and more.

📍 Fort Moultrie, Sullivan’s Island
📅 June 27–28

Reserve your spot: https://ow.ly/qOyG50Z6JM7

South Carolina 250 |

06/19/2026

On the evening of June 14, 1777, Lafayette’s ship the Victoire made landfall near Georgetown, South Carolina, completing an eleven-week journey from France. He and a few companions rowed to shore in a small boat, hoping to find a guide who could take them to Charleston.

The first people they encountered were a group of slaves belonging to Major Benjamin Huger, who escorted the strange newcomers to Huger’s home. There were taken to be Hessian deserters and were met at gunpoint. It was an inauspicious beginning to Lafayette’s illustrious career in America. Eventually he and his companions were able to persuade Huger that they were in fact French volunteers who had come to join the American fight for independence. Once that was cleared up, Huger welcomed them into his home and there Lafayette spent his first night in America.

Lafayette was charmed by the semitropical environment. “The next morning was beautiful,” he later wrote. “Everything around me was new to me, the room, the bed draped in delicate mosquito curtains…the strange new beauty of the landscape outside my windows, the luxuriant vegetation—all combined to produce a magical effect.”

Lafayette and his party would then make a difficult and grueling overland journey to Philadelphia (during which they would find the oppressive summer heat to be not so magical), only to be given a cold and skeptical reception by Congress. Of course, Lafayette would overcome that skepticism and earn fame as one of the greatest heroes of the Revolutionary War, as will be told in many other Doses.