Walterboro, Old Dorchester, Middleton Place, Magnolia Plantation and Gardens, Drayton Hall, James Island, Johns Island
Total mileage: approximately 89 miles.
THIS TOUR TRAVERSES AN AREA where the sea meets the swampy lowlands, creating a land where rice and indigo plantations thrived in the Revolutionary War era. Patriots did battle with Redcoats and Tories at numerous places in this land of sand, marshes, bogs, palmettos, and moss-draped hardwoods. The tour starts approximately 40 miles west of Charleston and ends at the islands just south of the port city; those staying in Charleston and looking for a good day trip may want to follow it in reverse order, from the end to the beginning.
The tour begins at the Colleton County Museum, located at Jeffries Boulevard (U.S. 64) and Benson Street in Walterboro, the county seat. Housed in the old county jail, the museum interprets the long history of Colleton County, which was created in 1682 as one of the original three counties of the province of Carolina. It was named for Sir John Colleton, one of the Lords Proprietors.
The museum’s exhibits and artifacts give insight into the plantation culture that dominated social and economic life in the Low Country on the eve of the fight for independence. Constructed in 1855, the Gothic Revival—style building has the appearance of a castle.
From the museum, proceed north on Jeffries Boulevard for less than a block to U.S. 17A (Wickman Street). Turn right and follow U.S. 17A east for 9 miles to S.R. 15-45 at the community of Round O. A state historical marker near the intersection notes that Major General Nathanael Greene and the Continental Army camped in the vicinity in December 1781.
After forcing the British from Fort Dorchester (visited later in this tour) in late November, Greene, the commander of the Continental Army in the South, selected the small parcel of high ground at the current tour stop as a place to consolidate his forces. Here, he would formulate plans to drive the British from Charleston and Savannah. Even though Cornwallis had surrendered at Yorktown two months earlier, the war was still raging in South Carolina.
General Greene selected the site at Round O for several reasons: it was relatively safe from attack because the Edisto River separated the encampment from Charleston; it was located in an area where supplies were readily obtained; and it was close to Jacksonboro, the place where the South Carolina General Assembly was soon to convene.
Greene joined his troops on December 9, almost a year to the day after he had assumed command of the Southern army in Charlotte, North Carolina. Over the course of that year, the fortunes of the American war effort had risen substantially, and much of the credit was due to Greene. Thanks to him, a complete American victory was now possible.
Greene’s hopes were buoyed less than a month after his arrival at Round O when General Arthur St. Clair rode into camp with two thousand blue-clad Continentals from Yorktown.
Today, there is nothing left of the great American encampment, but the place remains true to its name. If you were to take a map and draw a circle with a 30-mile radius (generally the length of one day’s forced march) around Round O, you would quickly discern its strategic importance. That circle would pass through Beaufort, Charleston, Nelson’s Ferry, and Moncks Corner.
Turn left on S.R. 15-45 and head north for 8.5 miles to S.C. 61. Turn right and drive southeast for 3.7 miles to the junction with a dirt road on the left, where you’ll see a sign marked “Koger’s Tomb.” Turn left and proceed 0.3 mile if you care to see the tomb of Captain Joseph Koger, one of the many Low Country Patriots who kept the fires of independence burning after South Carolina was overrun by the British.
Continue east on S.C. 61 for 9.1 miles to the Edisto River and the Colleton County-Dorchester County line. Proceed across the river bridge and drive 0.5 mile to S.R. 18-30 at the entrance to Givhans Ferry State Park. Turn left to enter the park.
This picturesque park is located on a river bluff overlooking the site of Givhans Ferry. Moss-laden oaks shade the spot where Phillip Givhans ferried troops and materials across the Edisto River during the Revolutionary War. His house, which was located where the park recreation center stands, was burned by General William T. Sherman in 1864.
Return to S.C. 61, turn left, and drive southeast for 7.7 miles to U.S. 17A. Turn left, proceed 2.1 miles east to S.C. 642, turn right, and head east for 4.9 miles to S.R. 18-373, where a state historical marker chronicles the history of Fort Dorchester. To see the remains of the ancient fortifications, turn right on S.R. 18-373 and follow it for 0.5 mile to the entrance to Old Dorchester State Park.
Here, at the headwaters of the Ashley River, Congregationalists from Dorchester, Massachusetts, established a town of the same name in the late seventeenth century. The town prospered for almost a hundred years. As you proceed along the park road, you will notice the bell tower of the Anglican church constructed here in 1737. Its ruins and the adjacent cemetery are among the few tangible reminders of Old Dorchester.
Although most of the Congregationalists abandoned the town in the 1750s, it remained prosperous and well populated. On the eve of the Revolution, it was the third-largest town in the colony. When the British occupied Dorchester during the Revolutionary War, they burned its church. Take note of the gravestone of James Postell; British soldiers used it to sharpen their sabers.
Follow the park road to its terminus near the remains of Fort Dorchester, situated on a bluff above the Ashley River. Constructed during the French and Indian War, the fort changed hands several times during the Revolution. In the early days of the struggle for independence, Francis Marion was its commander. After Charleston fell, the British took control of the installation and held it until Nathanael Greene duped them into abandoning it in late November 1780.
When the 850 Redcoats at the fort learned that Major General Greene was in command of a Continental force nearby, they assumed his full army was with him. Little did they know that he had only 400 soldiers and that the bulk of his army was already encamped at Round O. Fearing they were about to be annihilated by the entire Southern army, the British soldiers hastily destroyed their stores, disposed of their artillery in the river, and abandoned their base without a Patriot bullet being fired at them.
A substantial portion of the tabby walls of the old fort survive. The fort’s pinwheel design is unique in North America. In the interior are the ruins of the powder magazine.
Return to S.C. 642. Turn left, drive west for 2 miles to S.C. 165, turn left again, and proceed south for 1.2 miles to S.C. 61. Turn left on S.C. 61 and follow it east as it parallels the Ashley River. After 4.3 miles, you will reach the entrance to Middleton Place, the first of three plantation sites on this road. All three are open to the public for a fee.
The state historical marker near the entrance gives a hint of Middleton Place’s significance. To visit the plantation, turn left.
Built in 1705, the original plantation house here was burned during the Civil War. The surviving south wing was restored and enlarged in the early part of the twentieth century. It contains heirlooms from the plantation’s long history.
The incomparable gardens are the estate’s drawing card. They were developed in 1741 by the Middleton family. Considered the oldest landscaped gardens in America, they were inspired by the work of famed French land-scaper André Le Notre, who designed the gardens at the French royal palace at Versailles.
Henry Middleton (1717–84), the man who gave birth to the gardens, was the senior member of a remarkable father-and-son team who made remarkable contributions to the cause of independence. An early leader in the opposition to Great Britain’s policies, Middleton was elected as a delegate to the First Continental Congress. There, he was elected president to succeed Peyton Randolph on October 22, 1774. As the war of words moved to a war of bullets, the South Carolina Provincial Congress elected Middleton as its president in 1775. Over the next five years, he was active in the political affairs of the fledgling state. However, when Charleston fell to the British and much of the state was under enemy control, Middleton grew concerned that the cause was lost. As a consequence, he dropped out of the political arena and thereby saved his plantation from destruction by British forces.
Arthur Middleton (1742–87) was a firebrand for the cause of the colonies when he succeeded his father in the Continental Congress in 1776. While in Philadelphia, he signed the Declaration of Independence for South Carolina. After serving a second term in Congress, he eschewed the governorship of his state and chose instead to take up the sword against the enemy. British forces captured him when Charleston fell. He was held at St. Augustine until a prisoner exchange was effected fourteen months later. During the final years of the war, he resumed his service in the Continental Congress.
Having been born on the family plantation, Arthur Middleton was laid to rest here when he died. His grave is located in the spectacular gardens, which took ten years and a hundred workmen to complete. Famed French botanist André Michaux set out the first camellias in America at Middleton in 1783. Three of the original plants survive.
Continue east on S.C. 61 for 3.7 miles to the entrance to Magnolia Plantation and Gardens; en route, you will enter Charleston County.
This plantation was the original seat of the Drayton family. Thomas Drayton settled here after arriving from Barbados in 1679. He built the original mansion on the property; it burned during the Revolutionary War. A second manor house was lost in the Civil War. The existing frame plantation house has incorporated a portion of a pre—Revolutionary War hunting lodge that stood elsewhere on the grounds.
Since 1870, the public has enjoyed the plantation’s eye-catching gardens, which have been called the most beautiful in the world. Located on the grounds is America’s oldest colonial estate garden, where color abounds year-round. The Baedecker travel-guide series once called the historic gardens one of the greatest attractions in the nation; Niagara Falls and the Grand Canyon were the other sites it listed.
Continue 0.5 mile east on S.C. 61 to the entrance to Drayton Hall, the only surviving colonial plantation house on the Ashley River. John Drayton (1715–79), a descendant of Thomas Drayton, acquired the land on which the mansion rests in 1738. He immediately set about building the spectacular two-story brick mansion that is considered one of the finest examples of Georgian Palladian architecture in America.
The monumental structure was the birthplace of John Drayton’s son, William Henry Drayton (1742–79). The younger Drayton was the beneficiary of an excellent education in England. For a time, he served the Crown as a Royal privy councilor. However, when he was replaced by an Englishman, Drayton came to realize that Americans were being denied political power in the colonies. From that point on, the cause of independence had no greater supporter.
An early organizer of resistance to the Crown, Drayton made his way into the hinterlands of the colony to excite opposition against Great Britain. His colleagues elected him president of the South Carolina Provincial Congress in 1775. When South Carolina set up its state government, its first chief justice was William Henry Drayton. Two years later, South Carolina sent Drayton to the Continental Congress. He died there of typhoid fever in 1779.
Today, Drayton Hall is held by the National Trust for Historic Preservation.
Continue east on S.C. 61 for 2.6 miles to St. Andrews Parish Church. Constructed in 1706, this is the oldest church building in the state. Moreover, it is one of the few cross-shaped churches surviving from the colonial period. The adjacent cemetery, recently restored after suffering heavy damage during Hurricane Hugo, holds numerous graves from the Revolutionary War period.
From the church, continue on S.C. 61 for 2.9 miles to S.C. 7 (Sam Rittenburg Boulevard). Turn left, drive north for 1.5 miles to Sumar Street, turn right, and proceed one block to S.C. 171 (Old Towne Road). Turn right and head south for 0.7 mile to the main gate of Charles Towne Landing.
Established during the state’s tricentennial celebration, this expansive historical park is situated on the Ashley River near the site of the first permanent English settlement in South Carolina. Visitors are treated to an interpretive center that details the history of the colony during the hundred years leading up to the Revolution. Other attractions include a full-scale replica of a seventeenth-century sailing vessel, a forest containing the same kinds of animals that roamed colonial South Carolina, a re-created pre—Revolutionary War village, and eighty acres of landscaped gardens. An admission fee is charged.
Continue south on S.C. 171 for 3.3 miles to S.C. 700. Turn right on S.C. 171/S.C. 700 and proceed 0.8 mile south to Wappoo Creek. Nearby stood the plantation of Eliza Lucas Pinckney (1723–93), the mother of Revolutionary War luminaries Charles Cotesworth Pinckney and Thomas Pinckney. As a teenager, she established the indigo industry that subsequently produced great wealth for Low Country planters.
Once across the creek, you are on James Island. Follow S.C. 171 for 3.3 miles to Fort Johnson Road, then turn left and proceed 4.4 miles to the brick powder magazine and the ruins of Fort Johnson, located on the grounds of the Marine Laboratory of the College of Charleston.
Built between 1704 and 1708, Fort Johnson is the oldest of Charleston’s fortifications. In colonial times, it was the principal defense work guarding the port from attack by sea. Under its protection, Royal ships sailed in and out of the harbor during the Stamp Act crisis. But when news of the battles in the North at Lexington and Concord reached South Carolina, Patriots seized the fort on September 15, 1775.
It was here on that day that Colonel William Moultrie, the Patriot commander of the fort, hoisted a flag with a blue field and three white crescents. By doing so, he raised the first flag of liberty used by any American colony. Today, the design of that flag is incorporated into the state flag of South Carolina.
During the Battle of Sullivan’s Island nine months later, the Americans put Fort Johnson’s twenty heavy guns to effective use. However, Fort Johnson fell to the British when it was attacked from the land side in 1780.
Return to S.C. 171, turn right, and drive north to S.C. 700. Turn left, go southwest for 3.7 miles to River Road, turn right, and head north for 0.2 mile to the entrance to Fenwick Hall. Not open to the public, this magnificent brick mansion of Georgian design was constructed in 1730. Both armies occupied the house during the Revolutionary War. It was confiscated from members of the Fenwick family after the war because of their Loyalist sympathies.
Return to S.C. 700, turn right, and proceed 2.7 miles west to S.R. 10-20. Turn right, go 6.7 miles north to U.S. 17, turn left, and drive 1.3 miles to S.R. 10-317. George Washington followed this route on his visit to South Carolina in 1791.
At the intersection stands a state historical marker for the grave of Colonel William Washington. To see his grave, turn right on S.R. 10-317 and drive northwest for 0.4 mile to the junction with a sand road; look for a sign. Turn right and drive 0.25 mile to another road; look for another sign. Turn left and go 0.25 mile to the grave. The remains of Colonel Washington lie in an isolated burial plot surrounded by a four-foot brick wall.
A bronze plaque on the cemetery gate pays homage to Washington (1752–1810), a valuable officer in the Southern campaign during the Revolution. Born in Virginia, he was a distant cousin of the commander in chief of the American armies. When the war began, he left his study of the ministry to join the Continental army as a captain. For three years, he fought in the North with distinction, surviving several severe wounds. By the time he came south in late 1779, he was a colonel.
Over the next two years, there occurred a series of personal encounters between Washington and Banastre Tarleton, the most famous of which occurred at the Battle of Cowpens (see Tour 14, pages 177–85). After Cowpens, Washington played a conspicuous role in Nathanael Greene’s miraculous retreat across North Carolina. Later in 1781, he was bayoneted and captured at the Battle of Eutaw Springs. A period of imprisonment in Charleston followed.
While in captivity, Washington met and fell in love with a Charleston lady. They subsequently married and settled in the Charleston area. Washington’s wife is buried at his side.
Lighthorse Harry Lee, one of Washington’s compatriots in the Southern campaign, described his fellow officer thus: “He possessed a stout frame, being six feet in height, broad, strong, and corpulent. … His military exploits announce his grade and character in arms. Bold, collected, and persevering, he preferred the heat of action to the collection and sifting of intelligence.”
Washington’s grave is located on what was once Live Oak Plantation. His country home, Sandy Hill Plantation, was 7 miles northwest. President George Washington spent the night of May 9, 1791, with his kinsman at Sandy Hill.
Retrace your route to U.S. 17. Turn right, proceed 0.8 mile south to S.C. 164, turn left, and drive 0.1 mile to S.R. 10-318. Turn left on S.R. 10-318 and proceed to its terminus near the Stono River.
It was in this vicinity on June 20, 1779, that British and American soldiers engaged in one of the hardest-fought battles of the war. The Battle of Stono Ferry lasted but an hour, and when it was over, the Americans were soundly defeated.
In the wake of his failure to capture Charleston, General Augustine Prevost decided to move his Redcoat army to Savannah. To cross the river from Johns Island to the mainland at the current tour stop, Prevost built a bridgehead and three strong redoubts circled by an abatis. Assigned to protect this outpost were Lieutenant Colonel John Maitland and nine hundred troops.
Patriot generals Benjamin Lincoln and William Moultrie, aided by Generals Jethro Sumner and Isaac Huger, brought forward a 1,500-man army to attack the British fortification at dawn on June 20. From the outset of the ill-conceived assault, the Americans ran into stiff resistance. Realizing he could not carry the day, General Lincoln ordered a retreat. His casualties were extremely high: approximately 150 killed and wounded and a like number missing. It was in this battle that Hugh Jackson, Andrew Jackson’s brother, died of heat and exhaustion. British casualties were reported to be 130 dead and wounded.
The tour concludes here. If you wish to continue exploring the area, retrace your route to U.S. 17, turn left, and proceed 13.8 miles to the Colleton County line at the Edisto River. The following tour begins after you cross the bridge on the outskirts of Jacksonboro.