Old Moncks Corner developed at a crossroads north of Charleston on land associated with Thomas Monck, an English settler who purchased Mitten Plantation in 1735. The settlement became a commercial center serving plantations, travelers, and traffic moving between the coastal plain and the interior. Roads, taverns, stores, and nearby river crossings gave the place importance well beyond its size. That transportation geography made Moncks Corner strategically valuable when the British laid siege to Charleston in 1780.

General Sir Henry Clinton's army landed near Charleston and began closing around the city in the spring. Major General Benjamin Lincoln commanded the American defenders, while cavalry and militia outside the siege lines attempted to preserve communications, gather supplies, and keep an escape route open. Brigadier General Isaac Huger and Lieutenant Colonel William Washington positioned mounted troops near Moncks Corner, where they could watch the approaches and support Charleston from the north.

British commanders sent a mobile force under Lieutenant Colonel Banastre Tarleton, supported by troops led by James Webster and Patrick Ferguson, to break that screen. On the night of April 13, the British intercepted information that disclosed the American position. Traveling rapidly and quietly, Tarleton's column reached the camp before dawn on April 14. A sudden cavalry charge surprised the Patriots, who were poorly prepared to meet an attack in darkness.

The American force scattered into surrounding swamps, suffering casualties and captures while abandoning horses, wagons, weapons, and supplies. The British seized a particularly valuable number of cavalry mounts, strengthening Tarleton's mobility. More important strategically, the victory severed a principal line between Charleston and the countryside. Lincoln's besieged army lost outside support and another possible avenue of withdrawal. Charleston surrendered on May 12 in one of the greatest American defeats of the war.

The fighting also brought occupation to the community. British forces used the Moncks Corner area as a post, fortified nearby positions, and controlled routes through a region where Patriot and Loyalist forces continued to struggle. The war in South Carolina did not end with Charleston's fall. Partisan leaders, including Francis Marion, attacked communications and outposts, while residents faced requisitions, shifting authority, and retaliation within a civil conflict layered onto the larger imperial war.

The marker commemorates the provincial town as well as the battle landscape. Modern Moncks Corner developed in a somewhat different location, leaving the word "Old" to distinguish the earlier center. Reading the sign in full context explains why commerce and warfare converged here: the same crossroads that brought customers and goods before independence could channel cavalry, intelligence, and supplies during the siege. The site therefore links settlement history with the British operation that helped isolate and capture Charleston.