The Battle of Seneca Town/Fort Rutledge

Seneca Town, on the Seneca River E of present-day Seneca, was one of several Cherokee “Lower Towns.” On August 1, 1776, Maj. Andrew Williamson’s S.C. militia, on a raid against these towns, was ambushed by Loyalists and Cherokees nearby. The eventual Patriot victory was also notable for the death of Francis Salvador, the first Jewish Patriot killed during the Revolution.

In September 1776, soon after the Battle of Temassee in present-day Oconee County, Williamson returned to build a log fort nearby which he named Fort Rutledge in honor of John Rutledge, President of S.C. The fort and its 300-man garrison surrendered to Loyalists in 1780. The concrete block monument was built in 1908 by Clemson College for the Daughters of the American Revolution.

On Clemson U. campus