Thomas McCalla

Thomas McCalla: The Captured Patriot

Thomas McCalla was a veteran of the “Snow Campaign” and an early volunteer in the Patriot militia of the Camden District. He served under the command of General Thomas Sumter, participating in the hit-and-run warfare that defined the resistance in the South Carolina Piedmont after the fall of Charleston.

The Battle of Hanging Rock and Captivity

On August 6, 1780, McCalla fought in the Battle of Hanging Rock, a brutal engagement where Sumter’s force of backcountry partisans nearly destroyed a British and Loyalist garrison. During the chaotic retreat following the battle, or shortly thereafter in a skirmish, McCalla was captured by British forces.

Because he was a local “rebel” and not a Continental regular, McCalla faced a grim fate. He was marched to the British stronghold at Camden and eventually sent to the notorious prison ships and jails in Charleston. In the sweltering heat of 1780, many Patriot prisoners succumbed to disease and starvation, and for months, Thomas was feared dead by his family.

The Ride of Mary McCalla

The turning point in Thomas’s life came from his wife’s sheer defiance. Learning that her husband was alive but languishing in a Charleston prison, Mary Adair McCalla set out alone on horseback from their home in Chester. She navigated over 150 miles of territory infested with Loyalist raiders and British patrols.

Mary managed to reach the British authorities in Charleston, where she reportedly used a combination of persistence, social grace, and perhaps a few well-placed family connections to plead for her husband’s release. Her efforts were successful: she secured a parole or exchange for Thomas, personally escorting the weakened militiaman back to their home.