Fort Motte (Calhoun County, South Carolina)

Calhoun County · South Carolina · American Revolutionary War

Quick BriefFort Motte was commandeered in 1780 by the British and fortified as a temporary military outpost during the American Revolutionary War. The British fortified a plantation mansion at the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree rivers for use as a depot. On May 12, 1781, American forces led by Francis Marion and Henry Lee set fire to the mansion with flaming arrows, and the British garrison surrendered.

History & Significance

Mount Joseph Plantation was built in 1767 by Miles Brewton, a wealthy slave trader, near the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree rivers. Brewton died at sea in 1775, and his sister Rebecca Brewton Motte inherited the property, later widowed in 1780.

Rebecca and her family were living at Mount Joseph when the British arrived in January 1781 and seized the plantation for its strategic location. The British fortified the mansion and used it as a depot for convoys running between Camden and Charleston.

In May 1781, Major General Nathanael Greene ordered Lieutenant Colonel Henry Lee to join forces with Brigadier General Francis Marion, and together they moved north to besiege Fort Motte. After rejecting a surrender demand, Marion and Lee decided to set fire to the buildings within the defenses.

A private in Marion's brigade made a ball of rosin and brimstone, which was set on fire and slung onto the roof. Marion's artillery fire added to the desperation of the British, and by one o'clock on May 12, McPherson surrendered the garrison to the Patriots. The battlefield site is listed on the National Register of Historic Places.