Battery White, Georgetown

Battery White was an artillery battery constructed by the Confederates during the American Civil War. Built in 1862 - 63 to defend Winyah Bay on the South Carolina coast, the battery was strongly situated and constructed; however, it was inadequately manned, and was captured without resistance during the final months of the war.
The battery is listed in the National Register of Historic Places. It is located on private land, but is open to the public.
Even before the outbreak of the Civil War, the secessionist government of South Carolina was concerned with the possibility of attack by sea in Georgetown County. Shortly after the December 20, 1860 passage of the Ordinance of Secession, an aide-de-camp to governor Francis Pickens urged Lowcountry planters to "aid in the erection of Batteries to protect and defend the entrance of Winyah Bay and the Santee River".
The area offered a tempting target to Union forces. Winyah Bay would furnish a sheltered anchorage large enough for the entire United States Navy of 1861. The city of Georgetown on the bay was the largest on the South Carolina coast north of Charleston. Georgetown County produced nearly half of the rice grown in the United States, amounting to some 54 million pounds (54000000lb) in 1860; Georgetown exported more rice than any other port in the world. This production and shipping could be disrupted by gunboats moving up the Black, the Pee Dee, the Waccamaw, and the Sampit rivers, which flow into the bay; and the two distributary channels of the Santee River, whose mouths lie just below the bay. Curtailing rice production would not only damage the local economy, but would impair the Confederacy's ability to feed its armies.

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