Martha Bratton

Troops of the British Legion questioned her as to her husband William's whereabouts in June of that year, and a battle ensued after she used a slave to inform him of their movements.

[5][6] During the American Revolutionary War, William was commissioned into the South Carolina Militia, serving under Thomas Sumter at the rank of colonel and seeing action at Huck's Defeat.

[1][2] Prior the 1780 Siege of Charleston, a cache of gunpowder was stored at the Bratton's house in South Carolina in response to orders from Governor John Rutledge.

[7][8] Confronted with threats of harsh punishment, she told the British: "Let the consequence be what it will, I glory in having prevented the mischief contemplated by the cruel enemies of my country".

That night, Bratton sent a message to her husband about where British forces were staying via Watt, an enslaved family servant, prompting a surprise attack by William's troops.

The Revolutionary House, built in 1776 by Colonel William Bratton (who fought in the Revolutionary War), was originally a one-room log house with a small porch. Later additions were added to the original structure, and clapboard siding was placed over the original logs.
A British Legion soldier threatening to kill Bratton if she did not reveal the whereabouts of her husband. (Mid-nineteenth century illustration, Harper's Weekly )