Motte, Isaac, 1738-1795

Isaac Motte (December 8, 1738 – May 8, 1795) was an American soldier and statesman from South Carolina.

Born in Charleston in the Province of South Carolina, he was appointed ensign in His Majesty’s Sixtieth Royal American Regiment shortly after his 18th birthday, serving in Canada during the French and Indian War, and was subsequently promoted to lieutenant. In 1766, Motte resigned and returned to Charleston. A member of the South Carolina House of Commons in 1772, he went on to serve as a delegate to the provincial congresses of 1774, 1775, and 1776. During the American Revolutionary War, Motte was commissioned lieutenant colonel of the Second South Carolina (Continental) Regiment June 17, 1775, and was promoted to the rank of colonel September 16, 1776; he resigned as colonel on election to the privy council in 1779. Motte represented South Carolina in the Continental Congress from 1780 to 1782 and was a delegate to the state convention that ratified the Federal Constitution on May 23, 1788. In 1789, he was appointed naval officer for the port of Charleston by George Washington, serving in that office until his death in Charleston. Motte was buried in Saint Philip's Episcopal Church Cemetery there.