The South Carolina Department of Transportation announces a media tour of a Revolutionary War battlefield will be held on Saturday, Feb. 27, in Lancaster County.

The event will begin at 4:15 p.m. at the Buford Massacre site, a small park owned by Lancaster County. It is located on SC Route 522 about 1,000 feet south of the intersection with SC Route 9 in Lancaster County. 

The Battle of the Waxhaws took place during the American Revolution on May 29, 1780, near Lancaster between a Continental Army force led by Abraham Buford and a mainly Loyalist force led by Banastre Tarleton. After reports of Tarleton rejecting the surrender of Buford's troops, the American colonists began to call the battle "The Waxhaw Massacre."

SCDOT is planning an intersection improvement project at SC Highway 522 (Rocky River Road) and SC 9. A new traffic signal has been installed, and new left turn lanes are planned.

SCDOT minimized the footprint of the project and mitigated its impact by sponsoring an archeological study of the battlefield. The SCDOT-sponsored study has identified where the fight took place through recovery of bullets and other military items including a portion of a British musket. Some of the recovered items will be on display during the media tour.

Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution and SCDOT are coordinating the tour, which is available for the media and not open to the public.

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