Background
Andrew Pickens was born in Paxton, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of September 1739. His family settled at the Waxhaws (in what is now Lancaster county), South Carolina, in 1752.
Andrew Pickens was born in Paxton, Bucks county, Pennsylvania, on the 19th of September 1739. His family settled at the Waxhaws (in what is now Lancaster county), South Carolina, in 1752.
He fought against the Cherokees in 1761 as a lieutenant.
In the War of Independence he rose to brigadier-general (after Cowpens) in the South Carolina militia. He was a captain among the American troops which surrendered at Ninety Six in November 1775.
On the 14th of February 1779, with 300-400 men, he surprised and defeated about 700 Loyalists under Colonel Boyd on Kettle Creek, Wilkes county, Georgia.
On the 20th of June he fought at Stono Ferry, and later in the same year at Tomassee defeated the Cherokees, who were allied with the British.
Upon the surrender of Charleston (May 1780) he became a prisoner on parole, which he observed rigidly until, contrary to the promises made to him, Major James Dunlap plundered his plantation; he then returned to active service.
His command (about 150 men) joined General Daniel Morgan immediately before the battle of Cowpens, in which Pickens commanded an advance guard (270-350 men from Georgia and North Carolina) and twice rallied the broken American militia; for his services Congress gave him a sword. With Colonel Henry Lee he harassed Lieut. -Colonel Banastre Tarleton, who was attempting to gather a Loyalist force just before the battle of Guilford Court House and with Lee and others, he captured Augusta (June 5, 1781) after a siege.
At Eutaw Springs (Sept. 8, 1781) he commanded the left wing and was wounded. In 1782 he defeated the Cherokees again and forced them to surrender all lands south of the Savannah and east of the Chattahoochee.
At the end of the war, Pickens was elected to public office in the South Carolina House of Representatives from 1781-1794. In addition, he was a South Carolina delegate to the Constitutional Convention. Pickens was later elected to the Third U. S. Congress, serving from 1793-1795.
Fort Pickens in Florida is named in his honor as is Pickens County, Alabama; Pickens County, Georgia; and Pickens (city) and Pickens County in his adopted home state of South Carolina.
In Congress he served as an Anti-Administration candidate, opposing the policies of then United States Secretary of the Treasury, Alexander Hamilton.
He had married in 1765 Rebecca Calhoun, an aunt of John C. Calhoun.
military, politician
Brigadier-general
