Our Mission & History
Motorcycle Club starts the Buford Battlefield Friends after a chance meeting with Miss Emily at the Battlefield
The Friends of the Buford Massacre Battlefield was formed by a group of senior motorcycle riders. Early in 2011 while on a ride, they came upon the Buford Battlefield site and met Mrs. Emily Carnes Franklin. Miss Emily was singularly busy raking leaves at the battlefield park. She approached the riders and, upon request, explained to them the importance of this forgotten battle of the Revolutionary War. Many of the riders were veterans and they were saddened by the poor condition of the battlefield and dismayed that not even an American flag was flying over the mass gravesite to honor the supreme sacrifice of the 84 patriots buried there.
Miss Emily's devotion and tireless efforts to maintain the Battlefield so inspired many members of the motorcycle club that they promised to help her. The Friends of the Buford Massacre Battlefield was incorporated as a 501(c)3 organization in 2012. With donations we were able to raise an American flag followed soon by the South Carolina and Virginia state flags. Col Buford's regiment was from Virginia. Research revealed the design of Buford's battle flag, and it was reproduced and is currently flying over the mass grave. As additional donations and grants were obtained, major landscaping improvements were made, making it easier to access the mass grave, as well as beautifying the site. Informational kiosks were placed. Trees and overgrown bushes were removed, and irrigation and electrical systems installed.
The Buford High School ROTC is recruited to help clean the park each Spring and provide a color guard for ceremonies. A Boy Scout Eagle project provided a popular picnic table area. In addition, to honor Miss Emily, who passed away in 2017, the Friends group provides a scholarship each year in her name to a Buford High School student who researches and writes an essay about one of the participants of the battle who fought here in 1780.
The important news, as we move toward the 250th anniversary of the Revolutionary War, is that research by the American Battlefield Trust determined that the Revolutionary War may not have been won if not for the battles in the Carolinas. Therefore that group is working to preserve South Carolina battlefields. It has purchased an additional 51 acres of the battlefield and established a conservation easement. Additionally, the South Carolina Battleground Trust is developing the Liberty Trail, a unified driving trail of preservation and interpretation of the many revolutionary battlefields across South Carolina. Our goal is to make the Buford Battlefield, also known as the Battle of the Waxhaws, one of the premier sites on the Liberty Trail.
I hope you will be able to help us meet this goal and accomplish our Mission.
Mission Statement
Friends of the Buford Massacre Battlefield will promote, preserve, and improve the battlefield memorial to provide an educational experience so the memory of these fallen heroes and their supreme sacrifice is not forgotten nor the significance of this battle denied its place in history.
Miss Emily Carnes Franklin
The soldiers who perished at the Battle of the Waxhaws or Buford Massacre were an attachment out of Virginia. The burying of the dead was left to the community members. One of the men who led the effort to dig the mass grave was Mr. Jacob Carnes. In addition to helping the the digging process, Jacob Carnes led eulogies for the fallen men. He was called "Preacher" by the community. The Carnes family continued to grow and be influential in the community with the building of Tabernacle Church and school, the predecessor of the Buford Schools.
One descendant of Jacob Carnes in particular has taken great interest in Buford Battlefield. "Miss" Emily Carnes Franklin is a direct descendant of Jacob Carnes--a grand daughter--and remembers oral histories of her grandparents about the community. Over the years, Emily had regularly visited the site and cleaned the area. It was on a ride of the Sun City Carolina Lakes Motorcycle club that Ken Obriot, a member, met Emily as she was raking leaves. The story of the battle and the Carnes connection was related. Ken, a veteran, took a special interest in the battle and learned just how significant it was to our war for freedom. The battle spurred the Southern colonies to become more involved in the fight for independence. One historian compared it to what Pearl Harbor did for the cause in WWII.
