Encyclopædia Britannica, Ninth Edition/United States/Sumter, Thomas

Sumter, Thomas, was born in Virginia in 1734, and died near Camden, S.C., June 1, 1832. He removed to South Carolina when a boy, and entered the American army as lieutenant-colonel in 1776. When the British had apparently overrun the State he kept up the struggle, retreating, when hard pressed, to the swamps of the interior. He was made brigadier-general, and thanked by Congress. He was a representative for South Carolina from 1789 to 1793 and from 1797 to 1801, United States senator from 1801 to 1810, and minister to Brazil from 1810 to 1811.