Front Description
The setting was the small village of Orangeburgh. May 11,1781. Cannons roared as a vital sequence of the American-British Revolution took place within the boundries of the Orangeburgh District.
The two old cannons before you played a vital part in making the Orangeburgh District free of British tyranny and alive with the American freedom we enjoy today.
Under command of General Sumter, Capt. Henry Felder’s Militia Company (including seven of Capt. Felder’s sons) guided Sumter’s troops by way of the Belleview Road, down Russell Street and into Orangeburgh village. Firing cannons along the way, Capt. Felder’s troops defeated the British Militia and gained control of the Orangeburgh post.
These cannons were Capt. Henry Felder’s pride and joy. For may years there could be seen, plainly cut, on these old guns “HP” on one and “H. Felder 1781” on the other.
Felder was a staunch, patriotic man who brought love of liberty from his native Swiss land. He spoke of his fatherland with pride and was willing to risk all, rather then submit to the tyrannies of the British. Nearing the end of the Revolution Capt. Felder was killed by British Tories while defending his home. He is gone, but to this day, the freedom he fought and died for in the village of Orangeburgh lives within us all.
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