Also, visit the Sandlapper Book Outlet
at 1281 Amelia Street in Orangeburg,
Monday-Thursday.
Hours: 9:00-4:00
Robert Duncan Bass, (1904-1983)
Born on September 25, 1904 in
Scranton, South Carolina (Florence County) to a farmer,
Fletcher Graves Bass and Bertha (Matthews) Bass. He married writer
Virginia Wauchope on May 25, 1929. They had two children: Robert
Wauchope and George Fletcher. His military service included the US Naval
Reserve where he became a commander in 1934-40 and the US Navy from
1940-46. His hobbies included amateur radio, and he owned and
operated WCQG radio station. Robert Bass went to Columbia Presbyterian
Theological Seminary 1925-1927. He received his Bachelor's Degree in
1926, Master's Degree in 1927, and Ph.D. from the University of South
Carolina in 1933. He continued his post doctoral studies at the
University of London, Cambridge University in 1951-52, and Johns Hopkins
University in 1952.
He was one of the nation's leading scholars of the
American revolution in South Carolina. Dr. Bass was a professor at several
prestigious colleges and universities across the country. His career
timeline:
1922 Graduated from Britton's Neck High School,
Marion County, SC
1927-40: University of South Carolina,
Columbia, SC. Assistant Professor of English Literature
1941-57: US Naval Academy, Annapolis, MD. Professor of English Literature
1957-63: Furman University, Greenville, SC.
Professor of English Literature
1963-65:
Limestone College, Gaffney, SC. Professor of English Literature
1966-70: Erskine College, Due West, SC.
Professor of English Literature, Department Head
1970: Writer
He was honored
by the SC Hall of Fame, the American Revolution Round Table and the American
Association of State and Local History.
Ninety Six:
The Struggle for the Back Country
Traces
the development of Ninety-Six from its initial recognition as a campsite
along the Cherokee Path.
"A detailed, thorough, comprehensive account of the
history of Ninety Six."
"An outstanding account of the importance of Ninety Six to the
colonial and Revolutionary War history of South Carolina".
During the late phases of the
American Revolution the British held the principal port cities of the
South including Savannah and Charleston. Their strategy for ending
the war called for mobilizing the Loyalists and extending their
conquests westward into the back country and into North Carolina and
Virginia. Ninety Six was a British post that held the key to
western areas of South Carolina and Georgia.
456 pages. B/w photographs.
ISBN 0-87844-039-9, $29.95 (Softcover)
GAMECOCK, The Life and Campaigns of General Thomas Sumter
This biography, first published in 1961, is a thoroughly documented history of General Thomas Sumter It vividly recreates the partisan warfare which played such an important role in winning the South the battle for freedom__a victory gained largely through the tactical genius, fighting spirit and uncompromising devotion of Thomas Sumter.
275 pages. 2000 (1961). Sandlapper.
ISBN 0-87844-152-2, $29.95 (Softcover)
SWAMP FOX: The Life and Campaigns of General Francis Marion
One of the most fascinating figures of the American Revolution, General Francis Marion slipped in and out of the Carolina
swamps to strike sudden, devastating blows against the British. Cutting through
the Swamp Fox legend, Robert Bass has arrived at a realistic and fascinating
appraisal of this military genius.
275 pages. 1974 (1959). Sandlapper.
ISBN 0-87844-051-8, $29.95 (Softcover)
THE GREEN DRAGOON: The Lives of Banastre
Tarleton and Mary Robinson
Banastre Tarleton was born August
21, 1754 in Liverpool, England to an upper middle-class family. He studied law
at Oxford and joined the military in 1775. He sailed with Lord Cornwallis where
the British fleet dropped anchor in the Charleston harbor and attempted to
attack the palmetto log fort near Sullivan’s Island. The British were not
successful at taking the fort and headed north to form ground troops. Three weeks
before his 24th birthday, Tarleton was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the
British Legion, a military unit composed of infantry and cavalry troops.
Tarleton combined the troops to form his own green-jacketed dragoons, a group of
mounted infantrymen who rode on horseback into battle and dismounted to fight.
Tarleton led a powerful combat team including raids in the upstate and took an
active part in battles all over the Carolinas. Swiftly moving his troops from
Beaufort to Charleston to Goose Creek and Moncks Corner, the cavalry advanced
northward, keeping in motion to gain intelligence of the enemy’s design. “Bloody
Tarleton” was perhaps best known for his barbaric actions in killing men even
after they surrendered and begged for quarter. “Tarleton’s quarter,” essentially
meaning “no quarter,” became the battle cry of American riflemen. In the
blockbuster hit The Patriot, the English Colonel was crafted after Banastre
Tarleton. Although Tarleton never chose to gather a group and burn them in a
church, he did command the ruthless killing of civilians all over the
Carolina’s. He did not die in the war as the film portrayed, instead he returned
to Britain to become successful in Parliament and died both rich and
badge-encrusted.
Traces
the development of Ninety-Six from its initial recognition as a campsite
along the Cherokee Path. 
Banastre Tarleton was born August
21, 1754 in Liverpool, England to an upper middle-class family. He studied law
at Oxford and joined the military in 1775. He sailed with Lord Cornwallis where
the British fleet dropped anchor in the Charleston harbor and attempted to
attack the palmetto log fort near Sullivan’s Island. The British were not
successful at taking the fort and headed north to form ground troops. Three weeks
before his 24th birthday, Tarleton was promoted to Lieutenant Colonel of the
British Legion, a military unit composed of infantry and cavalry troops.
Tarleton combined the troops to form his own green-jacketed dragoons, a group of
mounted infantrymen who rode on horseback into battle and dismounted to fight.
Tarleton led a powerful combat team including raids in the upstate and took an
active part in battles all over the Carolinas. Swiftly moving his troops from
Beaufort to Charleston to Goose Creek and Moncks Corner, the cavalry advanced
northward, keeping in motion to gain intelligence of the enemy’s design. “Bloody
Tarleton” was perhaps best known for his barbaric actions in killing men even
after they surrendered and begged for quarter. “Tarleton’s quarter,” essentially
meaning “no quarter,” became the battle cry of American riflemen. In the
blockbuster hit The Patriot, the English Colonel was crafted after Banastre
Tarleton. Although Tarleton never chose to gather a group and burn them in a
church, he did command the ruthless killing of civilians all over the
Carolina’s. He did not die in the war as the film portrayed, instead he returned
to Britain to become successful in Parliament and died both rich and
badge-encrusted.