The siege of Fort Watson was an

American Revolutionary War The American Revolutionary War (April 19, 1775 – September 3, 1783), also known as the Revolutionary War or American War of Independence, was the armed conflict that comprised the final eight years of the broader American Revolution, in which Am ...

confrontation in

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

that began on April 15, 1781, and lasted until April 23, 1781.

Continental Army The Continental Army was the army of the United Colonies representing the Thirteen Colonies and later the United States during the American Revolutionary War. It was formed on June 14, 1775, by a resolution passed by the Second Continental Co ...

forces under Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee and South Carolina militia under

Francis Marion Brigadier general (United States), Brigadier General Francis Marion ( 1732 – February 27, 1795), also known as the "Swamp Fox", was an American military officer, planter, and politician who served during the French and Indian War and t ...

besieged Fort Watson, a fortified British outpost that formed part of the communication and supply chain between Charleston and other British outposts further inland. The attackers, lacking

artillery Artillery consists of ranged weapons that launch Ammunition, munitions far beyond the range and power of infantry firearms. Early artillery development focused on the ability to breach defensive walls and fortifications during sieges, and l ...

, were unable to make a dent in the fortified works, and failed in attempts to deny the garrison of a water supply. They then devised a plan to build a tower from which

sharpshooter A sharpshooter is one who is highly proficient at firing firearms or other projectile weapons accurately. Military units composed of sharpshooters were important factors in 19th-century combat. Along with " marksman" and "expert", "sharpshooter" ...

s could fire into the fort's walls. Fort Watson was once again attacked by the Americans on April 23, with the British forces unable to control the walls due to musket fire from the tower. They surrendered shortly afterwards.

Background

Great Britain Great Britain is an island in the North Atlantic Ocean off the north-west coast of continental Europe, consisting of the countries England, Scotland, and Wales. With an area of , it is the largest of the British Isles, the List of European ...

's "southern strategy" for winning the

appeared in some ways to be going well after the

Battle of Guilford Courthouse The Battle of Guilford Court House was fought on 15 March 1781 during the American Revolutionary War, near Greensboro, North Carolina. A 2,100-man British force under the command of Lieutenant General Charles Cornwallis defeated Major General Na ...

in March 1781. General

Lord Cornwallis Charles Cornwallis, 1st Marquess Cornwallis (31 December 1738 – 5 October 1805) was a British Army officer, Whigs (British political party), Whig politician and colonial administrator. In the United States and United Kingdom, he is best kn ...

had defeated General

Nathanael Greene Major general (United States), Major General Nathanael Greene (August 7, 1742 – June 19, 1786) was an American military officer and planter who served in the Continental Army during the American Revolutionary War, Revolutionary War. He emerge ...

, but his army was short on supplies and had suffered significant casualties, so he decided to move to

Wilmington, North Carolina Wilmington is a port city in New Hanover County, North Carolina, United States. With a population of 115,451 as of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, it is the List of municipalities in North Carolina, eighth-most populous city in the st ...

to resupply and refit his troops. Greene, while he had lost the battlefield, still had his army intact. After shadowing Cornwallis for a time, he turned south, and embarked on an expedition to recover Patriot control of

and

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, where British and

Loyalist Loyalism, in the United Kingdom, its overseas territories and its former colonies, refers to the allegiance to the British crown or the United Kingdom. In North America, the most common usage of the term refers to loyalty to the British Cr ...

forces were thinly distributed, and smaller outposts were subject to attack from larger forces under the command of Greene or one of the Patriot militia commanders in the area. He first ordered Colonel Henry "Light Horse Harry" Lee to continue shadowing Cornwallis so that his southward movement was screened. Once he was on his way into South Carolina, he ordered Lee to abandon Cornwallis and instead join forces with militia Colonel

in the eastern part of the state. Lee and Marion met on April 14, and first targeted Fort Watson, a small

stockade A stockade is an enclosure of palisades and tall walls, made of logs placed side by side vertically, with the tops sharpened as a defensive wall. Etymology ''Stockade'' is derived from the French word ''estocade''. The French word was derived f ...

d fort on the east side of the

Santee River } The Santee River is a river in South Carolina in the United States, and is long. The Santee and its tributaries provide the principal drainage for the coastal areas of southeastern South Carolina and navigation for the central coastal plain of ...

Siege

John Watson, the commander of the fort, had gone to Lord Rawdon at Camden, and left Lieutenant James McKay in command of 120 men. When Marion and Lee first approached the fort on April 16, their thought was to cut off the fort's water supply, as there was no decent cover near the fort for attack or sniping. While they successfully denied the fort access to the nearby lake, the garrison dug a well, frustrating that plan. One of Marion's subordinates, Major Hezikiah Maham, then came up with the idea of building a log tower of green pine with sufficient height and thickness to allow protected sharpshooters in the nest up top to fire into the fort. After several days' preparation off-site, the approximately tower was brought within effective firing range and erected on the night of April 22. The next day the Americans attacked, with riflemen shooting into the fort, forcing the defenders off the walls. Simultaneously, two

forlorn hope A forlorn hope is a band of soldiers or other combatants chosen to take the vanguard in a military operation, such as a suicidal assault through the breach of a defended position, or the first men to climb a scaling ladder against a defended ...

parties attacked and successfully scaled them, forcing the surrender of the

garrison A garrison is any body of troops stationed in a particular location, originally to guard it. The term now often applies to certain facilities that constitute a military base or fortified military headquarters. A garrison is usually in a city ...

shortly thereafter.

Aftermath

The victory broke one link in the chain of communications and supply outposts between Charleston and Camden. Lee and Marion next chased after Watson, to whom Rawdon had given 500 men and the task of chasing down Marion, at least until it became known that Lee had joined with Marion, turning the tables. Since Greene's destination was Camden, he wanted to prevent Watson from rejoining Rawdon before he got there. In this, Lee and Marion were successful; Rawdon, concerned about his supply line, battled Greene at Hobkirk's Hill north of Camden without the benefit of Watson's men. Rawdon, although he won the battlefield, later withdrew to Charleston.

Legacy

The remarkable success of the "Maham Tower" resulted in its being employed in a number of subsequent actions, most notably at the

Siege of Ninety Six The siege of Ninety Six was a siege in western South Carolina late in the American Revolutionary War. From May 22 to June 18, 1781, Continental Army Major General Nathanael Greene led 1,000 troops in a siege against the 550 Loyalists in the fort ...

the following month. The fort's site, which is also the site of a Santee Indian burial mound, is a historic site listed on the

National Register of Historic Places The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the Federal government of the United States, United States federal government's official United States National Register of Historic Places listings, list of sites, buildings, structures, Hist ...

in 1969 as the Santee Indian Mound and Fort Watson in

Clarendon County, South Carolina Clarendon County is a county located below the fall line in the Coastal Plain region of U.S. state of South Carolina. As of the 2020 census, its population was 31,144. Its county seat is Manning. This area was developed for lumber and mills ...

References

James, ''Life of Marion''

''History of South Carolina''
* *

External links