Barker's Mill / Skirmish at Barker's Mill
(Barker's Mill side of marker):
Barker's Mill, which stood here on
Jackson Branch, was a grist mill
owned by William Ransome Barker
(1816-1869), a planter in what was
then Barnwell District. Barker moved
to this are in the 1850s,built a house
about 2 mi. N. and established
a cotton plantation of 2,000~3,000
acres which he named "Sycamore."
The town of Sycamore, chartered in
1891, was named for the plantation.
(Skirmish at Barker's Mill side of marker):
On February 2, 1865, as Gen. W.T.
Sherman's Federals advanced toward
Columbia, units of Gen.F.P. Blair's
XVII Corps clashed with the Confederate
cavalry at the bridge over Jackson
Branch.The Confederates retreated
over the bridge, but the Federals
did not cross until reinforced after
dark. A Confederate withdrawal then
opened the way for a Federal advance
to Buford's and Rivers Bridge.
Marker is on Buford's Bridge Highway (U.S. 321), on the left when traveling north.
Courtesy hmdb.org
