“F’ is for Fort Watson. Fort Watson, named for Colonel John Watson, was one of a series of supply depots between Charleston and Camden during the Revolutionary War. The fort was located at Wright’s Bluff overlooking Scott’s Lake and constructed between late December 1780 and the end of January 1781. The British constructed the formidable, stockaded post on top of an ancient Indian mound, surrounding it with three rows of sharpened tree trunk and branches called abatis. The garrison consisted of seventy-eight British regulars and thirty-six Loyalists. In April 1781, the Americans under the command of Francis Marion and Henry Lee invested the fort and began a siege that lasted eight days and ended with its capture. After the surrender the fort was destroyed.
The site of Fort Watson now lies beneath the waters of Lake Marion.
