About the Collection
The 2nd South Carolina Regiment Paybook, 1775, is a bound volume that was kept for the 2nd South Carolina Regiment. The paybook primarily consists of receipts that recorded the wages paid to the regiment’s officers. The paybook was kept by the regiment’s paymaster, Thomas Evance, from July to October of 1775, and most of the receipts were signed by the officer receiving his pay. Consequently, the paybook contains the signatures and pay information of many officers who served in the 2nd S.C. Regiment, including William Moultrie, Francis Marion, Isaac Motte, Peter Horry, Thomas Moultrie, and Charles Motte. A page towards the end of the book also contains genealogical information about the descendants of Thomas Evance.
Authorized June 6, 1775, the 2nd South Carolina Regiment was organized in Charleston and consisted of ten companies from eastern South Carolina. Eventually adopted into the Continental Army in November of 1775, the regiment was assigned to the Southern Department in February 1776, to the 2nd South Carolina Brigade in June 1778, to the 1st South Carolina Brigade in January 1779, to McIntosh’s brigade in June 1779, and to Huger’s brigade in September 1779. Retaining its name, the regiment was consolidated with the 6th South Carolina Regiment in February 1780 and assigned to the South Carolina Brigade. After participating in significant military engagements, including the Battle of Sullivan’s Island (1776) and the siege of Savannah (1779), the regiment was captured by the British Army in Charleston on May 12, 1780.
