These Patriots Lived, and These Patriots Mattered: Bamberg County 250 Monument and Plaza Dedication Ceremony Attracts Dignitaries from Across the State and Nation

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: 

To:       News Media and Community Leaders

From:  Bamberg County 

Date:   June 30, 2026

Re:      These Patriots Lived, and These Patriots Mattered: Bamberg County 250 Monument and Plaza Dedication Ceremony Attracts Dignitaries from Across the State and Nation 

Bamberg, South Carolina (June 2026) – On June 27, Bamberg County Council and Administration welcomed dignitaries from across South Carolina and Virginia for the dedication ceremony of the new Bamberg County 250 Revolutionary War Plaza and “Back Country Patriots” Monument. Bamberg County Administrator Joey Preston served as the Master of Ceremonies, and following the Presentation of the Colors from the South Carolina State Guard Honor Guard and Fell and Fair Revolutionary War Color Guard and the singing of the National Anthem by Ezekiel White, featured speakers included: 

• U.S. Army Past Fort Jackson Commanding General (retired) Major General Abraham Turner, who reminded the audience “history requires honesty,” and the ‘Back Country Patriots’ monument represents “the ideal that this nation was built by many people.”
• SC National Guard Deputy Adjutant General Major General Jeffrey Jones, who remarked about the unique brick and mortar sculpture as a metaphor for unity and liberty, emphasizing the importance of investing in future “bricks,” which are our youth 
• Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution (SAR) State President Darrin Schmidt, who said, “History isn’t abstract; it is deeply human. These Patriots lived; these Patriots mattered.”

Special remarks and greetings were given by:

• Bamberg County Council Chairwoman Michelle Martin 
• SC250 Commission Vice Chairman Bill Davies, who enthusiastically stated, “South Carolina is where the Revolutionary War was won!”
• SC State Guard Commander and Richland County Sheriff Major General Leon Lott 
• Edisto Natchez-Kusso Tribe Chief Dr. John Glenn Creel, who highlighted the contributions of Native Americans to the war effort, describing them as a “buffer between worlds” and stating, “It wasn’t always about choosing sides but surviving history. The foundation of our nation was never a single story but a shared struggle. We (Native Americans) were always there.”
• Former Bamberg Mayor and Historic Society of Bamberg County President Nancy Foster
• A representative from the Hartzog Family, Billy Delk, who shared the story of his great-great-great-grandparents, George and Catherine Hartzog; George was murdered by Tories, and Catherine supplied beef to the Loyalists and was the only female Revolutionary War contributor from the region whose name has been identified.
• Southern Palmetto Regional Chamber of Commerce Vice President of Operations and Programs and Blackville City Councilman Enterick Lee, who emphasized how the entire Bamberg County Veterans Plaza and Park has and will continue to positively impact the area’s tourism and economic development and that the Blackville City Council plans to use it as a model for their own.
• Senator Brad Hutto, who relayed the contributions of the region or “Back Country” in 1781 that led to the victory in Yorktown, essentially ending the war and securing a Patriot victory.
• Representative Justin Bamberg, who stated, “Just because we are free today doesn’t mean we are guaranteed freedom tomorrow. Freedom has to be defended every day through our words, actions, and the way we treat each other. In Bamberg County, we unite. Yes, we live in the greatest country on earth, but it is contingent on what we do as a people.”
• Bamberg Mayor Corey Ramsey, who congratulated County Council and Administrator Joey Preston, saying, “If Joey does something, he always does it well.”
• Denmark Mayor Harold Johnson
• Bamberg County Councilman Larry Haynes
• Bamberg County Councilman Spencer Donaldson
• Regent, Moultrie-Eutaw Chapter, National Society Daughters of the American Revolution
• (DAR) Chair Julia Wannamaker 
• SC Society, Sons of the American Revolution Chaplain and Past President Douglas Doster; South Carolina Society, Sons of the American Revolution Vice President Steve Corley 
• Dan River Chapter, Virginia Society, Sons of the American Revolution 
• President Dwight Spangler, who shared the special connection he has with Bamberg County Administrator Joey Preston and SAR-Dan River’s plans for sculptor Brad Spencer to construct a companion monument of Major General Nathanael Greene. 
• After the featured speeches and remarks, the Fell and Fair Production Company and volunteers, including Bamberg County Deputy Administrator Thomas M. Thomas, conducted a Revolutionary War Reenactment, which was narrated by David Bean. Following the 15-minute reenactment, the nearly 300 attendees proceeded to the monument where SC State Guard Historian Lieutenant Eric Barnes and Sculptor Brad Spencer gave remarks before the unveiling of the “Back Country Patriots" monument. Mr. Spencer, also the sculptor of the other Bamberg Veterans Trail brick monuments, explained the monument's design and production process, which involved about 250 bricks.

This beautiful expansion of the Bamberg County Veterans Trail is the result of nearly three years of collaboration between the County and the South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission (SC250), which awarded Bamberg County a $100,000 grant. In addition to the brick monument of a Black and White Patriot standing back to back, the 250 Revolutionary War Plaza includes plaques listing and honoring every recorded individual from the historic Orangeburgh District/Back Country who served, with particular recognition for the often-overlooked contributions of women and free and enslaved men of color from South Carolina. 

County Administrator Joey Preston noted, “As we searched the record of who served this region in the Revolutionary War, we found names the past had never formally recognized: Black soldiers. Women. Native American soldiers. Men whose service was as real as any ever rendered, but whose names were left off every monument that came before this one. Today, for the first time, those names take permanent form. Carved. Cast. Built to outlast every one of us here today. The very clay before you comes from along the banks of the Dan River. It traveled through Virginia and North Carolina before becoming part of what now stands here in South Carolina. That same clay will be shaped again soon, into a companion monument planned for Virginia. One river. One set of hands. Two monuments tying distant communities together.”

The entire Bamberg County Council and Administration thank the SC250 Committee, Brad Spencer, the members of the Virginia and South Carolina SAR, the SC DAR, Senator Hutto, Representative Bamberg, our staff, and everyone who had a part in making what started as an idea, a question, a vision into the reality of this exceptional plaza and monument the entire community and visitors can enjoy for decades to come. More importantly, we thank all Patriots whose names we know and can now read and say aloud, as well as those whose names remain unknown and unspoken. Without them, we would not enjoy life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness in these sacred United States of America. These Patriots lived, and these Patriots mattered!

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For more information, please email info@bambergcounty.sc.gov.