Our Family Documents

History of Jeremiah in the Revolutionary War

Battle of Fort Watson

[The reference Jeremiah made for "Scotch Lake" is a common error in several pension requests of veterans. The actual battle was the "Battle of Fort Watson" near "Scott's Lake".]
Fort Watson, April 15—23, 1781

The action took place at Fort Watson but the names “Scot’s Lake,” “Scot’s Fort,” “Scot’s Fort on the Santee River,” and “Fort Scott” also apply to the area.14 Before his siege of Fort Watson, General Marion tried to attack and seize the British-garrisoned town of Georgetown on October 8-9, 1780, November 15, 1780, and January 24, 1781. During the first attempt, the partisans seized the town proper but could not dislodge the enemy garrison from the fortifications. The premature loss of surprise thwarted Marion’s second attempt. His third attempt found the town too heavily defended to assault. Marion’s next significant combat action after he left the Georgetown area was the engagement at Wiboo Swamp on March 6, 1781. On April 4, 1781, General Greene asked Marion to be prepared to support the army “with a considerable force.” Shortly before the siege of Fort Watson, on April 14, 1781, Lt. Col. Henry Lee and his legion of three hundred Continental cavalry and infantry reinforced Marion. At the time Marion was located near the bridge over the Black River. Lee writes that the goal of capturing Fort Watson was to ìnterrupt British communications between the lower posts and Camden, to prevent British lieutenant colonel John Watson from joining Lord Rawdon, and to “dispossess” the enemy of the location.15

Pre-Miiiary Actions

Marion and Lee began their movement toward Fort Watson early in the morning on April 15, 1781, and arrived in the vicinity of the fort before noon the same day after traveling approximately thirty-five to forty miles. The Patriots immediately invested the fort.16 At the time of the siege of Fort Watson, General Marion had at least eighty men, making the combined Patriot strength approximately 380 men.17 Both Marion and Lee suffered a shortage of gunpowder. British lieutenant James McKay commanded the garrison of the fort. His garrison consisted of seventy-three British soldiers of the Sixty-Fourth Regiment of Foot and thirty-six Tories for a total of five officers and 109 rank and file. The garrison had sufficient small arms, gunpowder, food, and other matériel. Fort Watson had previously mounted two cannon, hut Lieutenant Colonel Watson removed them for use elsewhere before the siege. Gen. Thomas Sumter unsuccessfully attempted to capture Fort Watson on February 28, 1781. His men were repulsed by the defenders’ intense fire. According to Marion, Fort Watson was “on a rising ground, about forty feet high, surrounded by three rows of abatis. There were no trees near enough to cover us from the enemy’s fire.” The forty-foot mound is an ancient Indian burial mound, present to this day. Lt. Col. John Watson constructed the fort near Wright’s Bluff on Scott’s Lake, ten miles north of Nelson’s Ferry un the Santee River. Watson selected the old Santee indian burial mound as the fort’s bastion. Around this base he constructed a formidable redoubt, including a parapet and three rows of abatís. The surrounding terrain was flat and lacked cover and concealment. The fort could control movement on the Santee River and the main road between the towns of Charleston and Camden. Manmade Lake Marion has transformed the surrounding terrain into something much different today.

The Siege

Upon arrival at Fort Watson, Marion and Lee deployed their forces to surround the enemy. The Patriots positioned themselves with caution; they remained out of the range of the defenders’ small arms fire, and they did not possess the fire power to assail the fort. As noted earlier, the terrain around Fort Watson was flat and void of trees that might conceal approaching soldiers, and this prevented the Patriots from getting close to it. This lack of cover and concealment, along with a shortage of engineer equipment, also prevented the Patriots from constructing standard siege works.30 A detachment from the legion was sent to watch and report on any movements of the enemy at Georgetown, to alert the troops at Fort Watson of any efforts to reinforce the enemy.21 Archeological evidence suggests the Patriots formulated a two-pronged attack mostly from the north (in the general direction of Scott’s Lake) and south,22 The author believes Maham constructed his tower to the southeast of the fort to take advantage of the rising sun, which would be to the back of Capt. William McCottry’s riflemen and in the eyes of the fort’s defenders. He also believes that Scott’s Lake was just northwest of the fort because history indicates that it was north of the Santee River and the topography of the present lake in relation to the old river channel suggests an oxbow formation.23 The British had to leave the safety of the fort on a regular basis to gather water for the garrison from nearby Scott's Lake. The Patriot commanders took advantage of this weakness by deploying the crack riflemen from the command of Captain McCottry to a position between the fort and the lake.24 Their presence confined the British within the fort. Lieutenant McKay quickly countered this maneuver by having his men dig a well inside the fort. His persistent efforts paid off, and the British struck water on April 18. Lieutenant Colonel Lee appealed to General Greene, who was located to the north, near Camden, for heavier firepower: “1 beg you will send down a field piece; it can get to me in one day and a half. I will have horses to meet it, which will go off from me on hearing from you. All things are well here, and no possible danger can attend the sending the cannon. Five minutes will finish the business, and it can immediately return. In response, Greene quickly dispatched a six-pound fieldpïece, commanded by Capt. Ebenezer Finley. Maj. Pinkethan Eaton and a detachment of infantry provided an escort. Bad luck hit the Patriots, however, when the reinforcements got lost near the Black River and returned to Continental lines near Camden.25 Marion and Lee were destined to reduce Fort Watson without artillery support. By April 19, the Patriots had suffered two men killed and six wounded, and morale was starting to suffer. During the siege, individual partisans arrived at camp, served for a day or two, and then departed. To complicate matters, smallpox broke out in the Patriot camp. General Marion’s men, not inoculated against the disease, began deserting. Marions orderly book records his response to this desertion:

Genl Order at Scotts Lake 19th April 1781—

Roll Call to be at 5 Oclock in the Morning and 11 in the Evening—

Any Person who do not attend roll call to be confined which Shall Suffer for disobedience of Orders. Field Officers to use these orders attended to—

A morning report of Each company to he given in every morning to the Commanding Officer of the Regt as soon as the roll Calls any Men who shall leave camp without Leave except for Forrage must be confind and shall be severely punished—

Scotts Lake 22nd April 1781

Commanding Officer of the Regi to Enther in a book all the mens names Who have Joined their agreeable to proclamation of the 10 inst—And those who is yet obstinate and will not Serve their Country Of their names to the Adjutant Genl Regt they may be Published & meet wíth such punishment as they Deserve

Any man who quit the camp without Leave & return home Will be Deemed a Deserter & his name will be published as an Enemy to the United States and Suffer as Such—

No person to go out of Camp in the Morning to forage Until after roll call.

The British seemed secure in their wooden fortress, and according to Lee, Marion’s men had less than two rounds of ammunition each. At this low point during the siege of Fort Watson, lowcountry Innovation thankfully came to the rescue in the form of the Maham tower. To build the Maham tower, men gathered axes from the plantations throughout the area and felled and prepared pine trees for use. The evening of April 22, 1781, when the tower was constructed, was extremely dark. A waning crescent moon provided just 2 rercent illumination, making the night ideal for concealing the Patriots’ risky engineering feat. Marion’s and Lee’s men had less than ten hours of darkness in which to construct the tower.