As our nation enters its 250th anniversary year, there are a ton of patriotic themes that will pop up – especially in the sports world, as we celebrate. On Wednesday morning, the Hub City Spartanburgers unveiled something that is not only a revolutionary theme, but an identity that continues to reflect the team’s ongoing commitment to making themselves truly Spartanburg’s home team.
The upstate – really the entirety of the state of South Carolina, has just as rich of a revolutionary history as northern states like Massachusetts, Pennsylvania, and New York. Home to more battles and skirmishes than any of the other 13 colonies save for New Jersey, it can be argued that without such things as General Daniel Morgan’s major tide-turning victory at the Battle of Cowpens or the efforts of such legendary militia as those under the command of Generals Francis “Swamp Fox” Marion and Thomas “The Fighting Gamecock” Sumter slowing the British advance through the state and subsequently the south, the colonies would not have won their independence.
Spartanburg county, which was home to 10 major revolutionary war battles and skirmishes such as Musgrove’s Mill, Wofford’s Iron Works, Cedar Springs, Fort Prince, and Cowpens, made another key contribution to the fight for liberty with the creation of a militia regiment that would go on to become the namesake of both the city and county – The Spartan Regiment. Initially founded to help protect from growing unrest in the South Carolina frontier at the onset of the American Revolution in 1775, the regiment began near what is now Glendale at Wofford’s Iron Works. By 1777, the regiment had split into 2 divisions and saw a lot of action ranging from involvement in the Battle of Cowpens, Siege of Charleston, the Battle of King’s Mountain, and all of the aforementioned engagements across what is now Spartanburg county…