Fort Motte in South Carolina
Americans from all walks of life have been called upon to sacrifice in different ways throughout our history. The Revolutionary War was no exception. Americans fighting for their independence against the greatest power on earth required everyone to do their part. Thus, acts of great patriotism were common, both within and outside the army. Such is the story of Rebecca Motte, whose contributions to the Revolution are rarely included in history books but whose story is nevertheless important to share.
British strategy during the war changed in February 1778 with the entry of France in support of the American cause. Britain believed that by bringing its forces to Virginia, Georgia, North Carolina, and South Carolina, British loyalists would lead those states to abandon the Revolution. This strategy failed. Americans in these states did not like the presence of the British who, among other things, commandeered homes and other items it needed for its army. Stories of British brutality turned more Southerners against the British crown and led to more American patriotism, not less.
Rebecca Motte, a South Carolina resident, inherited the large estate of her brother, Miles Brewton, after he and his family were lost at sea en route from South Carolina to Philadelphia. Motte, her three daughters, and her ailing husband took up residence in her brother’s former home in Charles Town, South Carolina (now Charleston). In 1780, the British took control of Charles Town and the British commander, Sir Henry Clinton, made the Miles Brewton home his headquarters. Motte locked her three daughters in the attic to protect them from British soldiers.
Later, in 1780, Motte was allowed to leave the Miles Brewton home with her family and go to a mansion she had built at Mount Joseph Plantation, a property she inherited from her brother between Charles Town and Columbia on the Congaree River. Her stay there was short-lived. Again, a British army, this time under the command of Lt. Donald McPherson, took control of her home at Mount Joseph and occupied it with approximately 150 soldiers. Motte crowded her family into a few rooms while the British controlled the rest of the property. During this period in January 1781, Motte had to protect her and her three daughters and watched her husband Jacob die from an illness.
The British established forts within the interior of South Carolina as part of their plan to take control of the state. The Mount Joseph Plantation was located on a high bluff that offered strategic advantages for its occupiers, so the British built earthworks and other defenses around the house and renamed it Fort Motte.
While war raged in South Carolina and throughout her ordeal, Rebecca Motte remained a fierce American patriot. After an American force led by Francis Marion and Lighthorse Henry Lee (father of Civil War General Robert E. Lee) entered the area, Motte had the opportunity to help her country.
By May of 1781, the American leaders were tasked with taking back Fort Motte from its British occupiers. They decided the best way to accomplish this was to set fire to it and force the British out. Lee sought out Motte, whom the British ordered to move her family to another small, partially finished home nearby. Upon hearing the plan to set fire to the house, Motte responded she was “gratified with the opportunity of contributing to the good of her country and should view the approaching scene with delight.” She even contributed the arrows used to start the fire herself.
The American plan worked. Fire from an arrow set the roof ablaze and the British, fearing the gunpowder inside would explode, came out with the white flag of surrender raised. Members of both armies were able to put out the flames before too much damage to the home was inflicted. In the spirit of eighteenth-century Southern hospitality, Rebecca Motte served dinner to the officers of both armies in her dining room that night.
British soldiers were allowed to leave after taking an oath not to fight again. American soldiers would go on to expel the British from Charles Town and ultimately win the war, thanks in part to patriots like Rebecca Motte. Because of the war, Motte’s estate became heavily encumbered in debt, although she was able to reestablish much of her wealth in subsequent years. Asked later about the attention she received for her actions, Motte replied, “Too much has been made of a thing that any American woman would have done.”