This is the fifth and final post in the series- Coastal Defenses in SC, Winyah Bay. A Confederate gun battery was located on a bluff along the Waccamaw River at Wachesaw Plantation. It is thought to be built by the plantation owner Allard Flagg to protect his rice fields. There is no evidence it was actually ever used. In 1984 the South Carolina Institute of Archaeology and Anthropology published an initial survey of the property. A figure from the paper, show below, illustrates their determination of the battery layout. It was located 2500 feet southeast of Wachesaw Landing on a high bluff overlooking the old rice fields. They could not determine when the battery was constructed. The structure was about 200 feet square with four earthen embankments and associated moats. The moats were 3 to 4 feet deep and the embankments were 4 to 5 feet high. The width of these features were 12-15 feet. There was a 20-foot opening on the Northern wall. At the northeast and northwest corners are remnants of potential bastions.

The Civil War sites shown below are all located on Richmond Hill Drive within Wachesaw Plantation in Murrell’s Inlet,SC. Wachesaw Plantation is a gated community with very limited access.

Richmond Hill Drive unfortunately runs through the center of the battery, however, a sizeable portion of it is still intact next to the golf course.

The Wachemaw River Landing- 33.5603526, -79.0847350

Source-

An Initial Archeological Survey of the Wachesaw/Richmond Plantation Property, Georgetown County, South Carolina By James L. Mitchie