Fort Prince George (Pickens County, South Carolina)
Pickens County · South Carolina · Anglo-Cherokee War
History & Significance
Fort Prince George was constructed in the fall of 1753 under the supervision of royal governor James Glen, with the South Carolina Provincial Assembly considering a fortification amid Cherokee lower towns vital to stabilize frontier conditions. The fort was a one-hundred-foot-square ditched fortification, surrounded by palisade-topped earthen walls with bastions in each corner and interior structures including a guardhouse, storehouse, kitchen, magazine, barracks, and commandant's residence.
The fort was completely rebuilt in 1756 and garrisoned by a detachment from one of three British Independent Companies. During the Anglo-Cherokee War, desperate Cherokee leaders sent a delegation of moderate chiefs to negotiate, but the 38 chiefs were taken prisoner as hostages and sent to Fort Prince George.
In February 1760, when Cherokee attacked to rescue their hostages, the fort's commander was killed, and his replacement massacred all the hostages while defending the fort. Colonel Archibald Montgomery and sixteen hundred British soldiers marched into the uplands in April and May 1760, burning lower towns and relieving Fort Prince George's garrison.
The fort was abandoned in 1768 as relations between Great Britain and the colonies worsened. In late 1966, assistant state archaeologist John D. Combes began excavating the site until it was flooded by Lake Keowee in 1968. Today the fort rests 150 feet below the lake's surface.
Key Facts
Map
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Sources
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Fort_Prince_George_(South_Carolina)
- https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/fort-prince-george/
- https://www.scdar.org/fort-prince-george-history
- https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anglo-Cherokee_War
- https://www.scencyclopedia.org/sce/entries/cherokee-war-1759-1761/
- https://www.americanhistorycentral.com/entries/anglo-cherokee-war/
- https://pickenscountyhistoricalsociety.com/fort-prince-george-2/
- https://www.hmdb.org/m.asp?m=78989
- https://lakekeoweerealestateexpert.com/lake-keowee-history/
Other Forts in South Carolina
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