The Battle of Tulifinny was a military engagement of the American Civil War that was fought from December 6–9, 1864 in Jasper County, South Carolina during Sherman's March to the Sea.

In early December 1864, Major General William Tecumseh Sherman and his formidable army numbering an estimated 62,000 men approached the South Carolina border and their final objective of Savannah, Georgia.

Sherman had ordered his men to apply "scorched earth" tactics which resulted in the burning of crops and homes, confiscation and killing of livestock and the consumption of any supplies available for his army.

General Francis Marion, "The Swamp Fox" of American Revolutionary War fame fought the British and encamped near the Tulifinny on several occasions.

Upon arrival at Pocotaglio on December 6, the Battalion of Cadets marched at the "double quick" (a run) to reach the railroad trestle at the Tulifinny River four miles away.

As the cadets reached the river they were met by Major John Jenkins, CSA, and were immediately dispatched to the area where Union troops were advancing toward the railroad.

Unfortunately for them, they had arrived too late as the enemy was entrenched on the Gregorie Point peninsula and within striking distance of the railroad trestles that cross the Tulifinny and Coosawatchie Rivers.

At sunrise on December 7 the skirmish line composed of Citadel cadets and three companies of the 5th Georgia Infantry, all under the command of Major White, advanced to test the strength of the Union forces occupying a fortified hill.

Farish Furman, a third class cadet from Greenville, S.C. later recalled "....marching through the woods when I saw a stream of fire shoot out from the bushes in front of me, accompanied by the sharp crack of a rifle,...I was the second man shot at by the enemy.

The union forces were pushed back into their trenches and pursued through the thick swamp when their left flank gave way and they retreated by following the Tulifinny River southward.