Fort Motte
|
Fort Motte Battle Site
|
|
 
|
|
| Location | Calhoun County, South Carolina |
|---|---|
| Nearest city | St. Matthews, South Carolina |
| Coordinates | 33°44′21″N 80°41′33″W / 33.73917°N 80.69250°WCoordinates: 33°44′21″N 80°41′33″W / 33.73917°N 80.69250°W |
| Area | 5 acres (2.0 ha) |
| NRHP reference # | 72001195 |
| Added to NRHP | November 9, 1972 |
Fort Motte (Fort Motte Station) was built as Mt. Joseph Plantation; it was commandeered by the British and fortified as a temporary military outpost in what is now South Carolina during the American Revolutionary War. It was significant for its military use as a depot for their convoys between Camden and Charleston, which they occupied. It is roughly 90–95 miles from Charleston by 21st-century roadways. During the Patriot Siege of Fort Motte, the plantation mansion was set on fire. The British surrendered at this site.
After the war, this site was considered for the capital for the newly formed state of South Carolina, before Columbia was chosen. Today Fort Motte is the name of an unincorporated village at the nearby crossroads of SH 419 and State Road S-9-13.
The former area of the plantation house and grounds is known as the Fort Motte Battlefield Site. Privately owned, it was listed in the National Register of Historic Places]] in 1972.
The Cherokee Path is nearby, long used by indigenous peoples for trading and travel. The first Anglo-European colonists in the area were Scots and English traders, who established trading posts with various Native American tribes. Some were fortified as early forts in the colonial period. Amelia Town was established in this area about 1735.
Mt. Joseph Plantation was built in 1767 as an up-country estate by Miles Brewton of Charleston, near the confluence of the Congaree and Wateree rivers. A slave trader, he owned several ships and plantations, becoming one of the wealthiest men in the province.
His sister Rebecca Brewton Motte (1737-1815), widowed in 1780, moved with her children from Charleston to the relative safety of Mt. Joseph Plantation after the British occupied the city. They were living there when the British appropriated this property. After the military took over the mansion and fortified it, the Motte family moved to the overseer's house.
A British garrison of regular, Hessian and Provincial forces occupied the plantation, using it as a depot for their convoys running between Camden and Charleston. The Atlantic port city is about 95 miles away by current roadways but during the Revolution, waterways were more important. The site is near a strategic river crossing of the Congaree River, which gave the British access to an important chain of transport from Charleston to points north and west.
...
Wikipedia