Nestled in the middle of an isolated woodland near the south bank of the Congaree River within the COWASEE Basin lies a simple granite marker to Alexander Gillon (1741- 1794), Commodore of the South Carolina Navy during the Revolutionary War. You may ask yourself, as did I, what navy?

You can read a lot about the Revolution in South Carolina and never see a word about the state's navy. Most of the colonies, however, did have navies that were comparable to the various state militias. For the most part, though, they were ineffective and had little effect on the outcome of the War.

Alexander Gillon was born in Rotterdam, The Netherlands, of Scottish parents. He took to the sea at an early age and eventually settled in Charleston in 1766 where he became a successful businessman and landowner.

Most of the fledgling South Carolina Navy was lost after the capitulation of Charleston in 1780.

Commodore Gillon, however, went to Europe where at considerable expense to himself, financed the outfitting of a warship, L'Indien, later leased by the state of South Carolina and renamed the South Carolina.

Commodore Gillon's grave marker

The South Carolina was supposedly the largest warship that served under any American in the Revolution. The legendary John Paul Jones wanted this ship for his own but lost out to Gillon.

In addition to capturing several prize ships, Gillon and the South Carolina assisted in the capture of the British Bahamas in May of 1782. Unfortunately, the ship was captured by the British Navy in December 1782 when she sailed to Philadelphia for refitting.

After the war, a grateful state provided Commodore Gillon with extensive bounty holdings on the south bank of the Congaree River. He settled there at "Gillon's Retreat" in 1787 and became a state legislator. By then he had broken ranks with the Charleston aristocracy and aligned himself politically with the Upcountry. He supported the establishment of a new capital in Columbia for which he almost came to blows with Thomas Sumter who favored Stateburg.

Gillon served in the U.S. Congress from 1793 - 94. He died still owing debts from his personal financing of the South Carolina Navy.

One family of creditors from Europe, the Buycks, came to South Carolina to collect and ended up owning much of the former "Gillon's Retreat." The Buycks settled in the area, and the descendents still own property on the south bank of the Congaree River today.

Alexander Gillon's Congaree plantation house and grounds fell into disrepair and became reclaimed by nature. All that remains today as a physical reminder of Gillon's Reatreat is the small simple granite marker in the middle of an isolated woodland near the south bank of the Congaree River.

(Next week: Thomas Sumter of the High Hills of the Santee)