10/02/2026
Maroons lived in the swamps of Savannah River near Purrysburg and southern Jasper County. You can visit Millstone Landing site in Purrysburg and see our interpretive panel discussing the Maroon community.
South Carolina Maroons-The story of "Forest-" a fierce Maroon
There are numerous examples of South Carolina's provincial government sending out the militia against small maroon groups. As early as 1711 action was taken against 'several Negroes runaway from their Masters... [who] keep out, arm'd, robbing & plundering houses & Plantations & putting ye Inhabitants of this province in great fear and terrour'. But it was not until the mid 1760s that evidence exists of sizeable maroon groups. In late 1765 the Governor of Georgia wrote to his counterpart in South Carolina about a group of 40 maroons that had existed 'for some time past' in the Savannah River swamp on the South Carolina side who 'have frequently in the Night time come over on this side & killed Cattle and Robbed Several of the plantations on the South Bank of the River'. A party of the militia eventually found the maroons and after a short gun battle came upon their camp, described as 'a Square consisting of four Houses 17 feet long & 14 wide... the kettles were upon the fire boiling rice & about 15 bushels of rough Rice Blankets Potts Pails Shoes Axes & many other Tools'. This camp was destroyed but most of the maroons escaped into the swamp and regrouped in a different location.
Simultaneously the Governor of South Carolina received information that '107 Negroes had left their Plantations... and joined a large number of Runaways in Colleton County'. With the prospect of a full-scale African-American rebellion a real possibility the Governor not only ordered out the militia he also brought down nearly 50 Catawba Indians to hunt out the runaways, since 'Indians strike terrour into the Negroes, and the Indians manner of hunting render them more sagacious in tracking and expert in finding out the hidden recesses, where the Runaways conceal themselves from the usual searches of the English'. While a, so African-American, considered slave, rebellion was averted, the Governor was forced to admit that 'there are several large Parties of Runaways still concealed in large Swamps'.
The timing of these two events was probably not coincidental. The Stamp Act crisis had erupted in late 1765 and would not be over until mid 1766. The vigorous response among white colonists to the attempt by the British Parliament to raise taxes led to rhetoric that asserted the importance of liberty and autonomy. It is hardly surprising that African-American, considered slaves, came to learn of this rhetoric and applied it to their own condition. South Carolina planter/politician Henry Laurens commented in early 1766 'that some Negroes had mimick'd their betters in crying out "Liberty" & these latter I do believe were apprehensive of an Odious Load falling upon their Shoulders'.
The ending of the Stamp Act crisis in 1766 removed the language of liberty from popular discourse but it is likely that the large maroon groups near the Savannah River and south of Charleston continued to eek out an existence after the 1760s. There are sporadic references to maroons during the early 1770s and once war came to coastal Georgia and South Carolina in late 1778 then the opportunities for African-American, considered slaves, to escape increased dramatically. With loyalist and patriot fortunes ebbing and flowing between 1778 and 1782 plantations were first taken and then restored to owners, and in the interim many African-American, considered slaves, took their opportunity to leave. The situation was exacerbated by the decision of British authorities to arm a number of African-Americans, considered slaves, and when they evacuated the low country in late 1782 they left behind a body of armed blacks who were well trained in military tactics and who had no intention of returning to bo***ge.
Governor David Williams was forced to take action in 1816 against 'runaway negroes, concealing themselves in the swamps and marshes contiguous to Combahee and Ashepoo rivers, ... [who] formed the nucleus, round which all the ill-disposed and audacious near them gathered, until at length their robberies became too serious to be suffered with impunity'. The most notorious maroon band in South Carolina was led by 'Forest' Joe and ranged the entire length of the Santee River from the coast to Columbia. The first complaints of maroon activity date from 1819, but Joe became a major thorn in the side of white planters after the murder of planter George Ford near Georgetown in May 1821. Ford was killed trying to prevent Joe from stealing cattle from his plantation, and while two of his gang were captured shortly afterwards and provided much information about Joe and his whereabouts, the man himself evaded capture. The local press praised 'the exertions of the militia... day and night occupied in scouring the woods and swamps to the distance of twenty or thirty miles from town, notwithstanding the extreme heat of the weather and the heavy showers to which they have been exposed', but the 'most dense and impervious swamps' in which Joe had secreted himself proved too much. For the next two years Joe continued to raid plantations adjacent to the Santee River Swamp for supplies and recruits, apparently roaming fairly freely over its 150 mile length and easily eluding 'all attempts to take him'. One local newspaper observed ruefully that 'this accomplished villain has been pursuing his course of plunder in the most tranquil and uninterrupted manner'.
Events came to a head in the late summer of 1823. On 20 August Joe killed a slave belonging to Colonel Richardson who had 'been the means of rescuing a negro woman of Dr. Raoul's whom he [Joe] detained against her will for some months as his wife'. In early October local residents formed the Pineville Police Association 'to devise a plan for apprehending or dispersing a gang of desperate Runaways'. The heart of this plan was that 'by secret offers of Reward to certain negroes, their agency and assistance might so far be obtained, as to enable a party judiciously posted to surprise and take them'. Ultimately this plan worked. On 4 October a African-American, considered slave, named Royal conducted a select party... to the camp of the Joe and his followers, and having the command of a boat, being a patroon, he with considerable judgement and address managed to decoy those whom we had long sought towards the boat, where were stationed a party expressly detailed for this duty... ,and with a single well directed fire from the party of whites in the boat, Joe with three of his party fell dead.
Joe's 'head was cut off and stuck on a pole at the mouth of the creek, as a solemn warning to vicious African-Americans-considered slaves. Several of his gang were later captured and hanged. Since it was 'the policy of this state to reward those African-Americans, considered slaves, who thus distinguish themselves by way of inducement to others to do so likewise' Royal's owner was paid $700 by the South Carolina legislature to manumit him.
Perhaps because the chance of freedom in the north held a greater allure than life in the swamp, especially with the growth of radical abolitionism, reports of maroon activity are much less frequent after 1830 than they were before. They did not disappear entirely, however – the Marion Star reported as late as June 1861 that a party of gentlemen from this place went in search of runaways who were thought to be in a swamp two miles from here. A trail was discovered which, winding about much, conducted the party to a knoll in the swamp on which corn, squashes, and peas were growing and a camp had been burnt. Continuing the search, another patch of corn, etc., was found and a camp from which several negroes fled, leaving two small negro children, each about a year old... The camp seemed well provided with meal, cooking utensils, blankets, etc. The party returned, having taken the two children, twelve guns and one axe...
Although it reached a zenith between 1760 and 1830 marronage in South Carolina was evidently something that endured for as long as slavery itself existed. Maroons were able in practice to exert control over large areas of land that were effectively beyond white control. In this manner maroons in South Carolina were able to gain a degree of autonomy and independence from slavery while never leaving the south. Some black children were born in the swamps and grew up never having known the terrors of slavery or the wrath of masters. The persistence of marronage in South Carolina significantly complicates our understanding of colonial and antebellum slave systems in North America.
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