05/13/2026
A Charleston surrender. A house set on fire. One woman connected to both.
On May 12, 1780, Charleston surrendered to the British, placing the city under occupation and changing life across the Lowcountry.
Rebecca Brewton Motte felt that shift directly. British officers used her family’s Miles Brewton House at 27 King Street as headquarters in Charleston. One year later, on May 12, 1781, British forces had occupied another of her properties along the Congaree River, turning it into Fort Motte.
When patriot forces moved to retake the post, Motte supported the decision to set fire to her own house to force the British out.
Wealthy, powerful, complicated, and undeniably tough, Rebecca Brewton Motte’s story is evidence that Revolutionary history was deeply personal. Homes became headquarters. Private lives became part of public history.
Image: Jeremiah Theus, Mrs. Jacob Motte (Rebecca Brewton), ca. 1758. Courtesy of The Metropolitan Museum of Art.
South Carolina 250 |
