On a day off we visited
Ninety Six, a National Historic Site in Ninety Six, SC.
Yes. That’s the name of the
town! No one knows for sure how the town got its name, but one theory proposes
that traders thought this intersection of roads was 96 miles from the Cherokee
trading village
of Keowee. In 1751 Robert
Gouedy opened a successful trading post here. Later when tensions developed
with the Cherokees, they built a stockade around Gouedy’s barn which became
Fort Ninety Six.
By the beginning of the
Revolutionary War, Ninety Six was a prosperous frontier village with people
swearing allegiance to both sides of the Loyalist vs. Patriot divide. Then on
November 19, 1775 approximately 1,900 Loyalists attacked 600 Patriots starting
the Revolution’s first Southern land battle. Days of fighting led to a truce
and established this as a Loyalist stronghold, but incidents of tension
continued throughout the War.
British commander Lt John
Cruger took command of Fort Ninety Six in 1780 improving its defenses by making
it into a star shape and reinforcing the earthen walls.
 |
this depiction on a sign
shows
the star fort & the
square village behind
|
In May 1781 General
Nathanael Greene, commander of the southern Continental Army, started what
ended up a 28-day siege on this well-fortified fort. They devised a trench
system to draw nearer to the fort and one night they erected a tower that could
look down on part of the fort, but the fort was impenetrable and Loyalist
support troops were approaching. A last minute attempt to breach the fort led
to Continental casualties and the siege was aborted. Later the Loyalists
abandoned the fort and town and burned it so the Continental Army couldn’t use
it.
Now all that remains are the
earthworks showing the shape of the fort and some reconstructed replicas.
 |
| image from www.nps.gov/nisi/learn/historyculture/the-star-fort.htm |
 |
| tower replica |
At the time of the
Revolution their frontier town was fortunate to have a courthouse and brick
jail to take care of bandits that roamed the territory.
 |
| the Logan Log House, a typical 18th century home |
We had an interesting outing
learning the history of Ninety Six.
