On June 7, 1781, General Daniel Morgan wrote to General William Darke from Winchester, Virginia and authorized him to raise a regiment in the counties of Berkeley and Hampshire. General Darke hastened to execute the order, and the organization of the troops was speedily completed and they were put in the field. This was the famous Hampshire Regiment, which witnessed the surrender of Cornwallis to the united armies of America and France at Yorktown on October 19, 1781.
The town of Darkesville in Berkeley County is named for him.