Richard Richardson
Brigadier General, Continental Army

Richard Richardson was born in 1704 in Jamestown, VA.

Richardson became a land surveyor and in the 1730s moved to South Carolina. At the time, surveyors were considered one of the most honorable professions and thus Richardson became one of the leading men in the state. In South Carolina, his reputation for high character soon won him the confidence of his constituents and he was repeatedly selected as judge and arbiter of most feuds.

Richardson later commanded the militia of South Carolina in campaigns against the Indians where his reputation as an officer was first noted. In the Cherokee Indian War of 1760 and in 1761, he acquired a Colonel's commission. Realizing the imminent conflict with England, he was elected a delegate to the First Provincial Congress where he would assist in framing the first constitution and was elected a member of the legislative council. Prior to the official start of the Revolution, Richardson was appointed a Brigadier General. Continued disturbances against the Whigs by the Tories in the upstate commanded him to quell the disturbances by force. He brought his army of 1000 men to engage the Tories and later crushed them and any possible successful future reorganization. This was later known as the "Snow Campaign" and was credited with the drastic reduction in Tory violence and insurrection. Richardson went on to participate in the Battle of Sullivan's Island in June of 1776, the Battle at Savannah and the Battle of Charleston in which the Continental Army surrendered to the British in 1780. Richardson was made a prisoner after the fall of Charleston and was confined to his quarters until he fell gravely ill. He was given permission to return home and he died there.

Colonel Banastre Tarleton, the English Colonel, went looking for Rebels and came to Richardson's plantation and ordered his men to exhume Richardson's body. Tarleton claimed he wanted to view the face of the man with such decided character, but most felt it was to see if the family silver had been buried with him. Before leaving, Tarleton ordered everything burned and destroyed.

Family

Richardson's legacy continued through his descendants of which six became Governor of South Carolina.

Death and Burial

Brigadier General Richard Richardson died in September 1780 in Rimini, SC. He is buried at Richardson Cemetery in Rimini.