Fort Scott (Decatur County, Georgia)

Decatur County · Georgia · First Seminole War

Quick BriefFort Scott was built in 1816 on the west bank of the Flint River, where it joins the Chattahoochee River to form the Apalachicola, in the southwest corner of Georgia. It served as the command post for U.S. operations during the First Seminole War of 1817-1818. The site of Fort Scott is under the manmade Lake Seminole.

History & Significance

In June 1816, Lieutenant Colonel Duncan Lamont Clinch landed here with his battalion to locate and fortify a defensible position near the border between the United States and Spanish Florida. The fort replaced a much smaller fort or stockade, named Camp Crawford for Secretary of War William H. Crawford.

It was named for Lieutenant Richard W. Scott, who was killed in the Scott Massacre of 1817 and never known to have visited the fort. Once Negro Fort was destroyed in August 1816, there seemed to be no more need for Fort Scott, and it was abandoned in November of 1816.

Red Stick warriors soon burned the fort to the ground. Captain S. Donoho and his artillery company reoccupied Fort Scott in the Spring of 1817, reinforced later that year by additional troops of the 4th and 7th Regiments.

Troops from Fort Scott attacked Fowltown on November 21, 1817, launching what became known as the First Seminole War. In the Spring of 1818, Major General Andrew Jackson arrived at Fort Scott with an army of more than 1,000 men.

In 1820 and 1821, severe malaria outbreaks struck the soldiers stationed at Fort Scott. At one time, as many as 769 of the 780 men stationed at the fort were reported sick with fever.

The fort's useful years came to an end in 1821 when Florida was transferred from Spain to the United States. Fort Scott was abandoned and allowed to rot away.