Near Gordonsville in Orange County, Virginia — The American South (Mid-Atlantic)

General Thomas Sumter

Photographed By J. J. Prats, March 8, 2009

1. General Thomas Sumter Marker

Inscription. Thomas Sumter was born on 14 Aug. 1734 in this region. Sumter, a member of the Virginia militia during the French and Indian War, moved to South Carolina in 1765. He served as a lieutenant colonel in the Continental Army (1776–1778); in June 1780 he came out of retirement. In Oct. 1780, he became a Brigadier General, and was instrumental in defeating the British in the Carolinas. He served in Congress (1789–1793; 1797–1801) and was an U.S. senator (1801–1810), He died on 1 June 1832. Sumter’s name is also associated with the Civil War, because Fort Sumter is named for him.

Erected 2000 by Department of Historic Resources. (Marker Number G-25.)

Topics and series. This historical marker is listed in these topic lists: War, French and Indian • War, US Revolutionary. In addition, it is included in the Virginia Department of Historic Resources (DHR) series list. A significant historical month for this entry is June 1780.

Location. 38° 7.433′ N, 78° 13.167′ W. Marker is near Gordonsville, Virginia, in Orange County. Marker is at the intersection of Gordonsville Road (Virginia Route 231) and Klockner Road, on the right when traveling north on Gordonsville Road. Touch for map. Marker is in this post office area: Gordonsville VA 22942, United States of America. Touch for directions.

Other nearby markers. At least 8 other markers are within

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2 miles of this marker, measured as the crow flies. Orange County / Louisa County (approx. 0.9 miles away); Madison-Barbour Rural Historic District (approx. 1.3 miles away); a different marker also named Orange County / Louisa County (approx. 1.8 miles away); The Maplewood Memorial Association (approx. 1.9 miles away); Gordonsville's Legendary Chicken Vendors (approx. 1.9 miles away); In Memory of the Soldiers, Both Confederate and Union (approx. 1.9 miles away); Welcome to The Exchange Hotel and Civil War Medical Museum (approx. 1.9 miles away); Gordon Inn (approx. 2.1 miles away). Touch for a list and map of all markers in Gordonsville.

More about this marker. A marker with this same number but titled “General Sumter’s Boyhood” was erected 5 miles south of Ruckersville on U.S. 29 (about 11 miles west-northwest) some time after 1937. By 1989 it was missing. It read “Thomas Sumter, Revolutionary soldier in South Carolina for whom Fort Sumter was named, lived for a time in his youth at Sumter’s Mill, five miles southeast.” The place “Sumter’s Mill” is not on modern maps.

Photographed By J. J. Prats, March 8, 2009

2. General Thomas Sumter Marker

Major General Thomas Sumter image. Click for full size.

Internet Archive

3. Major General Thomas Sumter

engraved by G. Parker from a drawing by W.G. Armstrong after a painting by C. W. Peale from The National Portrait Gallery by Longacre & Herring Vol. 4, 1839.

Credits. This page was last revised on February 2, 2023. It was originally submitted on March 31, 2009, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. This page has been viewed 2,725 times since then and 49 times this year. Photos: 1, 2. submitted on March 31, 2009, by J. J. Prats of Powell, Ohio. 3. submitted on July 20, 2018, by Allen C. Browne of Silver Spring, Maryland.