Too Formidable to Take

Too Formidable to Take. Fort Fair Lawn Historic Site. , The Colleton Family , The Colleton family was the only one of all the privince's original proprietors to cast their fortune in South Carolina by establishing a family seat and actual residence here. None of the seven other owners even visited. Sir John Colleton landgraved the 12,000-acre Barony to his three sons, Peter, Thomas, and James in joint tenancy. James came and served as Governor between 1686-90. Peter received the land on the west Cooper River branch and later left it to his son, Sir John Colleton, who left the extensive property to his son, the Honorable John Colleton (1701-1750), who came in 1726 to reside in South Carolina., Between 1730-1740, the massive brick mansion, and extensive plantation offices, outbuildings, and dependencies were constructed nearly a mile west from the Cooper River. The plantation later passed to Sir John Colleton, son of Honorable John Colleton, who was in empathy with resistance to England's enforcements of unjust laws, did not approve of complete independency. He was bured across the swamp at St. John's Church, Berkeley (Biggin) in 1777. Fair Lawn Barony included the sites later known as the plantations of Stony Landing, Old House, Gippy, Lewisfield, Exeter, Moss Grove, Fairfield, and Ellory's. All of the present-day Monck's Corner and Pinopolis were located within the boundary of Fair Lawn., The Strategic Importance of Fort Fair Lawn , Fair Lawn Plantation and its fort's Revolutionary War significance stems from historic battles, events, famous people, geographic location, and landscape architecture. Near Stony Landing on Biggin Creek swamp, the fortified Colleton "castle" mansion and this separate redoubt fort played a substantial role as a British operating base, communications center, supply depot, and hospital., This fort was strategically placed at the head of the Cooper River along the plantation avenue from the landing to the mansion to the main public road. The most significant British outpost along the 113 miles between Charles Town and Camden, Fort Fair Lawn protected the British troop maneuvers, deployment, and intelligence lines in the South Carolina interior., Fort Fair Lawn in the Revolutionary War , Fair Lawn was involved in the British attack led by Lt. Colonel Banastre Tarleton against South Carolina General Isaac Huger in the April 14, 1780, Battle for Moncks Corner as part of the British capture of Charles Town. This redoubt was constructed by the British in the summer of 1780. It played a British supporting role against Brig. General Thomas Sumter's attack on Biggin Church on July 16-17, 1781., In late-August through mid-November 1781, Fair Lawn was a key post for assembling to and recovery from Eutaw Springs battlefield. Brigadier General Francis Marion, Lt. Colonel Henry "Light-Horse Harry" Lee, and Captain Wade Hampton harassed the British post in the week of September 9-12 following the British retreat from the Eutaws., On November 17, 1781, Colonel Hezekiah Maham Colonels Isaac Shelby and John Sevier, dispatched by Brigadier General Francis Marion, attacked Fair Lawn Plantation. Maham threatened but decided the redoubt was too formidable and costly to assault. Charging half a mile west, they took on the fortified Colleton Castle, which more readily surrendered to the tomahawk-wielding Americans. The attack resulted in the capture of 300 stands of arms, quantity of other stores, medical parolees, and 76 prisoners. The Patriots had 12 British convalescents removed to the fort and took off the rest by horseback. Infamy, too, accompanied Fair Lawn with a British summary court-martial of men involved in harassing the Colleton women in April 1780. Then in November 1781, the burning of the mansion hospital became a military scandal. Subsequently, the British evacuated Fair Lawn by late 1781., Preserving Fort Fair Lawn , Today, this significant earthwork fortification is in remarkable condition with the parapet walls extending to two meters tall, and surrounding moat, two meters across and one meter deep, still present. Fort Fair Lawn is one of only two extant Revolutionary War redoubts in South Carolina. The authentic redoubt still standing at Fair Lawn is in a class by itself, not to mention the men and women who struggled here., The preservation of Fort Fair Lawn was accomplished by a strategic partnership between the Lord Berkeley Conservation Trust and the South Carolina Battleground Trust. The American Battlefield Trust also join in this effort. Acquisition funding was provided by the South Carolina Conservation Bank, the National Park Service, and the South Carolina Ports Authority. Additional partners including the Old Santee Canal Park, Berkeley Museum, South Carolina Department of Parks, Recreation, and Tourism, McKee Foods, and Home Telecom also joined to make this historic park a reality. (caption) "Fort Fair Lawn Plantation, 1881" by Dale Watson