Doug Bostick's Enduring Legacy

October 25, 2023

From President Steve Osborne and the Board of Directors of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust:

It is with heavy heart that we share the news of the passing of our Chief Executive Officer, Doug Bostick.

Douglas W. Bostick’s accomplishments are varied, lasting and numerous, all to the benefit of the greater good for others and to lifting up of the common weal. He was a native of James Island and an eighth-generation South Carolinian who contributed his efforts to many of our beloved historic sites and institutions; a graduate of the College of Charleston and earned a master's degree from the University of South Carolina; and a former staff and faculty member of the University of South Carolina and the University of Maryland.

Doug was the Executive Director and Chief Executive Officer of the South Carolina Battleground Trust (SCBPT) for more than fourteen years. During his tenure, he saved land at nearly sixty historic battlefields throughout South Carolina, bought and conserved thousands of acres of land for public use, and promoted historic preservation as a real untapped and localized economic development tool. This past year he conceived and spearheaded the significant, international effort to rebury fourteen Continental and British soldiers who fought and died at the Camden Battlefield, 243 years ago.

The Liberty Trail in South Carolina coalesced through Doug’s endless endeavors, stalwart instruction, and friendly collaboration. As it is being executed at local, state and national levels with Doug’s leadership, the product of battlefields and related Revolutionary sites will rival far beyond Massachusetts’ Freedom Trail and road to Lexington and Concord, or even the Civil War battlefields throughout the Shenandoah Valley and other parts of Virginia.

Doug, as a historian, was a talented, non-fiction writer who, in the past three decades authored twenty-six books and hundreds of articles about our state’s heritage. As a preeminent story-teller, he seamlessly wove fun with facts, research with robust radiance, and all the while getting his audience to laugh and think “ah-huh” in the vein of Paul Harvey. His “radio” voice endeared attention. Doug has been called a true “raconteur.” He regularly gave hundreds of public talks and media interviews per each year, as well as continuing to write newspaper and magazine articles.

As a statutory partner in South Carolina’s American Revolution 250^th Commission, he led the SCBPT to help implement historic research and heritage tourism infrastructure so that these thirteen years of the 250^th have an indelible and lasting impact on the students, citizenry, counties, and economy of our State for the next 100 years and for generations to come after us. Doug’s primary focus was to “save places” from which to educate and celebrate Liberty’s birth narrative of our state and country. Upon these outdoor classrooms, we can discover South Carolina’s significant Revolutionary people, principles and events.

People really liked Doug when they met or heard him. A funny, true example: South Carolina requires a realtor to disclose whether a house has been a murder site. On one of our battlefields, a realtor was reluctant to disclose that a criminal murder was conducted in the modern house decades ago. When the realtor finally and hesitantly disclosed the same, Doug said that it was nothing to worry about because “We are only interested in places where people kill each other,” that is to say, battlefields.

What is also exceptional with Doug was his resourcefulness. In this current age of NGO “bigger barns,” Doug greatly expanded the productivity and reach of this small SCBPT nonprofit on a shoestring budget utilizing grants and volunteers. He demanded the most bang for the buck from his projects and his few independent contractors. However, he was quite persuasive in closing larger contributors with his unique handiwork of little-known stories, humor, patriotism, follow-through, and keen urgency.

Apparently, his mind, pen and tongue knew no idleness. His friends, readers, audiences, and admirers are innumerable.

With mindfulness of his personal integrity, caring and joyful attitude, and performance of his native State duty, we celebrate and remember Doug’s diverse accomplishments and real contributions to the people of South Carolina as a competent, published historian, land conservationist, historic preservationist, and preeminent Carolina storyteller.

Obituary

Make a Gift in Doug's Memory

You may honor Doug’s legacy by joining SCBPT or making a memorial gift through our website. Select any membership or current project, then at checkout, be sure to note Doug's name in the "In Honor or Memory of" field. You may also mail a check to P.O. Box 80668, Charleston, South Carolina, 29416-0668.

“I have finished a monument more lasting than bronze and loftier than the pyramids reared by kings, that neither corroding rain nor the uncontrolled north wind can dash apart, nor the countless succession of years and the flight of ages. I shall not wholly die; that great part of me shall escape Death and ever shall I grow, still fresh in the praise of posterity.” —Horace

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Camden 9B No Longer “Unknown”

June 29, 2026

Archaeologists Dr. Steve Smith and Jim Legg worked to find artifacts to tell the story at the Camden Battlefield for over 20 years. They knew the grave was there. The final one to complete the project. Hits from metal detectors again revealed they were in the right place. The grave site was slowly excavated, and hours ran into days. As the grave opening was expanded, the revelation was solemn. Not one, not two, but a total of five soldiers in a grave only about 14 inches deep and no more than four feet wide. They were known as Camden 9A through 9E. Continental USA buttons and other artifacts proved which side they were on. Forensic Anthropologists, Dr. Madeline Atwell and Dr. Bill Stevens meticulously worked to recover the remains, which were removed to the Richland County Coroner’s office. More forensics study was done, and the potential for DNA evidence was contemplated. The late Doug Bostick, Executive Director/CEO of the South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust, started this amazing journey. His concept to protect and preserve soldiers from graves that were threatened by erosion and other hazards led to the project in the Fall of 2022. The initial plan was to excavate six grave sites. Ultimately, eight grave sites were found and excavated, revealing 14 soldiers. Each was unknown. Artifacts showed the army for which they fought. Possible brigade-sized units were surmised from the location of their graves on the battlefield. They were honored in April 2023 at Bethesda Presbyterian Church in Camden, and at the battlefield where about 400 of their comrades in arms still lie in shallow, unmarked graves. The Continentals now lie at rest in the Presbyterian Burial Grounds, managed by the historic Quaker Cemetery in Camden. And beneath the marble headstones marked “Unknown,” they waited. The Historic Camden Foundation, under Cary Briggs and Stacey Ferguson, led the efforts to determine whether the DNA could possibly be used to determine the identity of any of the recovered soldiers. They contracted Allison Peacock of FHD Forensics and her team to work their genetic and genealogy magic. And it worked. An identity was proven, and an anxious family awaited the official word. And when the word did come, the team effort that made this possible coalesced for the next step in the journey: Rick Wise traveled to Maryland to tell the descendants about their ancestor’s steps and sacrifice during the Revolutionary War. In an emotional address to the family, Wise emphasized the gravity of the moment, noting that it was the first time in nearly 246 years that his name, Private John Pumphrey, was spoken out loud for his relatives to hear his name. Tears flowed from relatives as Wise detailed the harrowing experiences of Pumphrey and the Maryland troops, who marched on battlefields and sites that echo with history: Brandywine, Germantown, Valley Forge, Monmouth Courthouse, and Camden. Wise illustrated their courage in how Pumphrey and his comrades held the line against overwhelming odds at Camden . He characterized their actions as selfless sacrifice, intended to secure the freedoms enjoyed not by themselves, but by generations of Americans, including ours today. The successful DNA identification of Private Pumphrey is a crucial breakthrough, allowing historians and the family to trace his specific journey to the Battle of Camden . Private John Pumphrey is representative of all those who remain in shallow, unmarked graves across the hallowed grounds of the Camden Battlefield. As we approach the 250th Anniversary of America and the Declaration of Independence, let us say a prayer for our first Veterans, who lie in hallowed grounds across our original 13 colonies, who gave their all for a new nation not yet realized, the United States of America.

Memorial Day: 250 Years After the American Revolution

May 25, 2026

Memorial Day calls us to honor those who did not come home to celebratory ceremonies and flags, but gave their lives to a nation that we must work to make worthy of their sacrifice.

Hobkirk Hill Battlefield Park ribbon cutting

Celebrating the opening of the Hobkirk Hill Battlefield Park

By jen • May 21, 2026

The South Carolina Battleground Preservation Trust was honored to join the American Battlefield Trust, South Carolina American Revolution Sestercentennial Commission (SC250), and the City of Camden on May 18 for the official opening of Hobkirk Hill Battlefield Park in Camden,.