{"id":386,"date":"2025-03-05T16:03:33","date_gmt":"2025-03-05T21:03:33","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/?page_id=386"},"modified":"2025-05-25T10:42:02","modified_gmt":"2025-05-25T14:42:02","slug":"fort-charlotte","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/historical-information\/fort-charlotte\/","title":{"rendered":"Fort Charlotte"},"content":{"rendered":"
[vc_row][vc_column]
\"Fort<\/div>
Image Courtesy of Bobby Edmonds<\/figcaption><\/figure>[vc_column_text css=””]Text Copyright \u00a9 Wayne C. Ehrensberger<\/span><\/p>\n

Fort Charlotte, named in honor of England\u2019s Queen, was the last fort built during the colonial era and site of the Revolutionary War\u2019s first overt military land action in South Carolina and perhaps the South.<\/p>\n

Trade between the Cherokee in the northwest and English in and around the coastal city of Charles Town, South Carolina eventually led colonists to advance toward Cherokee claimed land. \u00a0Scots-Irish northern frontier families traveled south largely for free back country land, a Royal enticement aimed in part to offset a high percentage of slaves, in what would be called the Ninety-Six District, of which future McCormick County was part.\u00a0 French Huguenot and German Palatine immigrants also soon arrived.<\/p>\n

It wasn\u2019t long before encroachment into Cherokee territory occurred. \u00a0Tensions escalated and deadly hostilities broke out, the worst known as the Long Cane Massacre. \u00a0The Royal government retaliated, forcing the Cherokee into tenuous submission and setting the border further inland.\u00a0 Chaos soon erupted again, including with Georgian Creek. On Christmas Eve 1763, a party slipped across a shallow Savannah River ford and killed fourteen settlers near today\u2019s Hickory Knob State Park.<\/p>\n

The Charles Town government realized further measures were necessary to protect back country interests. \u00a0Fort Moore, in Savannah Town, Beech Island today, was deemed nearly useless, so Fort Charlotte, officially declared sufficiently complete on December 5th<\/sup>, 1766, was established at the same river bend in present-day McCormick County used by the Creek raiders.<\/p>\n

Fort Moore was abandoned.\u00a0 Its garrison, munitions and supplies relocated to the new citadel.\u00a0 Fort Prince George, northwest of today\u2019s Clemson, was also discarded, its arms and ammunition sent there as well.\u00a0 Fort Charlotte was a square with diamond shaped bastions extended at each corner, measuring 170 feet tip to tip, able to work 16 cannon.\u00a0 The ten feet high, two feet thick walls with musketry loop holes were of granitic and schistose, quarried just across the river in Georgia and set in mortar.\u00a0 The gate was of strong plank.\u00a0 The fort contained a well and the enlisted barracks could hold 200 troops.<\/p>\n

By 1774, Fort Charlotte had been left in the hands of caretakers, but with signs of war on the horizon a provincial militia force was assigned to take charge.\u00a0 Captain George Whitefield, of the Long Cane settlement, was placed in command with Lt. Jean Louis du Mesnil de St. Pierre of New Bordeaux, as his second.\u00a0 By year\u2019s end colonists were forming their own government and military.<\/p>\n

On June 12, 1775, the new South Carolina Provincial Congress raised three regiments, including one of mounted rangers. \u00a0The latter\u2019s officers were chosen from the Ninety-Six District; William Thomson as Lieutenant Colonel and James Mayson, Major.\u00a0 Initial unity was tenuous due to uncertain allegiances.\u00a0 Whitefield\u2019s and St. Pierre\u2019s loyalties and trustworthiness was also soon called into question, causing further anxiety.<\/p>\n

The Council of Safety took charge upon Congress\u2019 adjournment. \u00a0A top concern was preventing Fort Charlotte\u2019s gunpowder from being transferred to the Cherokee, considered a likely ally of England.\u00a0 Henry Laurens, presiding, issued orders to Colonel Thomson on June 26th<\/sup> to take possession of the fort, demand the keys to the magazine, commandeer the munitions and garrison a company of rangers there.<\/p>\n

Thomson assigned the mission to Major Mayson, who on July 10th<\/sup> departed for Ninety-Six.\u00a0 Shortly after arrival he set off with Captains John Caldwell\u2019s and Moses Kirkland\u2019s ranger companies, 52 strong.\u00a0 They appeared before Fort Charlotte\u2019s defensive force of about 16 between eleven and noon on July 12th<\/sup>.<\/p>\n

Major Mayson delivered his ultimatum.\u00a0 Whitefield and St. Pierre formally protested, but ultimately surrendered without resistance and in fact both later enlisted with the Patriots.\u00a0 Whitefield revealed that he had advance knowledge of the mission by an intimation of capitulation from Patrick Calhoun.\u00a0 Captain Caldwell and his company were placed in command while Mayson departed for Ninety-Six with Kirkland, his men, a large amount of the fort\u2019s powder, lead and two brass pieces.<\/p>\n

Shortly after arrival at Ninety-Six Kirkland and his company, apart from maybe one man, deserted and switched sides.\u00a0 Kirkland also plotted directly against Mayson, having sent a dispatch to Loyalist leaning Col. Thomas Fletchall to persuade him to join a scheme to falsely accuse Mayson of stealing the munitions then commandeer them.\u00a0 Fletchall demurred, but a regiment of his men led by Maj. Joseph Richardson along with Loyalists Robert Cunningham and his brother Patrick enlisted in the conspiracy.\u00a0 Upon reaching Ninety-Six they accosted Mayson, jailed him and confiscated the powder and lead.<\/p>\n

After this a Loyalist attack against Fort Charlotte was a constant threat.\u00a0 More powder was dispersed from the magazine to surrounding Patriots to strengthen support.\u00a0 Two 4 pounders, at least, along with associated materials, were outfitted as field pieces for redeployment.\u00a0 Partial distribution of Fort Charlotte\u2019s large amount of ordnance had a significant impact during the war in the South Carolina backcountry and beyond.<\/p>\n

Major Mayson, since released from captivity, was among the Fort Ninety-Six defenders on November 19th when faced by a large Loyalist force consisting of some of the same men who\u2019d confronted him there in July.\u00a0 Weapons were soon ablaze, including the original two cannons and four additional swivel guns delivered from Fort Charlotte.<\/p>\n

Fort Charlotte also served as a Patriot family refuge, a place for wounded to recuperate, and at times housed prisoners, some of which were executed there.\u00a0 It\u2019s uncertain when it was eventually abandoned, but was known to still be manned in 1779.<\/p>\n

Today, the site lies submerged beneath Thurmond\/Clarks Hill Lake, but the fort\u2019s remains were salvaged in 1952 just before the lake filled and placed on the McCormick County shore with an unkept promise to rebuild. \u00a0A diorama depicting Fort Charlotte is in the Willington History Center.[\/vc_column_text][\/vc_column][\/vc_row]\n<\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

[vc_row][vc_column][vc_column_text css=””]Text Copyright \u00a9 Wayne C. Ehrensberger Fort Charlotte, named in honor of England\u2019s Queen, was the last fort built during the colonial era and site of the Revolutionary War\u2019s first overt military land action in South Carolina and perhaps the South. Trade between the Cherokee in the northwest and English in and around the…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"parent":375,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"inline_featured_image":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[],"class_list":["post-386","page","type-page","status-publish","hentry","entry","no-media"],"acf":[],"jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/page"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=386"}],"version-history":[{"count":10,"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":522,"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/386\/revisions\/522"}],"up":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/pages\/375"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=386"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/mccormickscchamber.org\/mc250\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=386"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}