2nd Spartan Regiment of Militia

After being hidden away for more than two centuries, this banner went on public display for the first time since the Revolutionary War in 2023 at the Museum of the American Revolution.  

As the regimental flag of the 2nd Spartan Regiment of Militia, this banner is a rare surviving artifact from the war in South Carolina. The regiment served in dozens of battles across the state from 1779 until the end of the war in 1783. Detachments of the regiment were present at Stono Ferry, Hanging Rock, Musgrove’s Mill, Kings Mountain, Ninety-Six, Eutaw Springs, and dozens of other skirmishes. Fighting British troops, Loyalists, and British-allied American Indians, the men of the regiment experienced the brutality of a civil war.

The militiamen who served in the 2nd Spartan Regiment reflected the diverse society of the South Carolina backcountry they came from. John Biddie (or Biddle), a free man of African descent originally from Virginia, volunteered for service with the regiment. He served with the unit until the Battle of Cowpens in 1781. Aquila Hollingsworth, born to a Quaker family in Delaware, moved to South Carolina and was expelled by the Quakers in 1776, possibly because of his pro-Revolutionary stance. He joined the regiment in May 1780 as a horseman and was killed at Cowpens. His brother and father served by his side. Joseph Hughes, a teenaged South Carolinian, fought in all of the regiment’s major battles and rose to the rank of captain.

Many questions about the dog and snake painted on this flag remain unanswered. The dog may be a reference to Shakespeare's Othello, which mentions a "spartan dog" as a representation of a bloodthirsty man. American Revolutionaries often used the rattlesnake to symbolize resistance to British authority. On this flag, is the snake representing American resistance and unity, or the British threat? Does the dog represent South Carolinians or their enemies?