The Battle of Videau's Bridge (also known as Smith's plantation) was an engagement of the American Revolutionary War fought on January 3, 1782 in Charles Town District, currently Berkeley County, South Carolina. The British routed an American force opposing a foraging expedition they sent from Charleston. The British claimed to kill 57 and capture 20 Americans.
400 men under the command of Col. Richard Richardson, Jr.
British Regulars, Grenadiers & Light Infantry led by Major William Brereton
NY Volunteers, Major John Coffin's Troop of Mounted Infantry led by Major John Coffin
SC Royalists detachment led by Capt. Archibald Campbell (killed)
Independent Troop of Black Dragoons (Loyalists) led by Capt. March with Lt. Mingo
The American Revolutionary War (1775–1783) grew from colonial resistance to British taxation without parliamentary representation — a dispute that radicalized through the Stamp Act (1765), the Townshend Acts (1767), and the Boston Massacre (1770). Fighting began at Lexington and Concord in April 1775; the Continental Congress declared independence on July 4, 1776. The Continental Army under George Washington faced severe shortages of supplies and troops, enduring the brutal winter at Valley Forge (1777–1778) before French alliance and French financing turned the military balance. Major engagements included Bunker Hill (1775), Trenton (1776), Saratoga (1777) — which secured French intervention — and Yorktown (1781), where British General Cornwallis surrendered to Washington. An estimated 25,000 American soldiers died in service, from combat, disease, and captivity. The Treaty of Paris (1783) recognized American independence and ceded British territory east of the Mississippi, though it left unresolved questions about Indigenous land rights and the status of Loyalists.
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