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THE WAR IN GEORGIA

KETTLE CREEK, February 14, 1779

by Robert F. Galer, with extracts from Herman R. Tovey, Jr., The SAR Magazine (Spring, 1998) and Mark M, Boatner, III, Encyclopedia of the American Revolution (1994).

During the American Revolution, Georgia was the youngest of the thirteen colonies and was sparsely populated. There were an estimated 25,000 Georgians in the colony and they were located principally in the Savannah River corridor from the coastal settlement of Savannah through Wilkes County to Augusta. The majority of the population were Tories (Loyalists), with sympathies for the Crown. The Tory leader during the engagement was Colonel Boyd in command of some 700 North and South Carolina Tories. Patriot leaders were Colonels Andrew Pickens, John Dooly and Elijah Clarke. Pickens, who assumed overall command, had some 250 South Carolina militia, Dooly and Clarke a hundred or more Georgia troops. Encouraged by the British Lt. Col. Campbell’s capture of Savannah and a subsequent advance on Augusta, Colonel Boyd raised a force of Tories in Anson County, North Carolina, near the South Carolina border, and marched to join Lt. Col. John Hamilton in Georgia. Hamilton was a North Carolina Tory and a veteran of the Scot battle of Culloden, respected by Whigs and Tories alike. He had organized a regiment of Tory partisans, mainly in Florida, and was directed by Campbell to rally Tories in the backcountry. As Boyd crossed South Carolina other Loyalists who swelled his ranks to about 700 joined him. It was early in February 1779 when South Carolina and Georgia militia joined forces to pursue Hamilton. The latter, however, became besieged by rebels at Carr’s Fort and was in bad straits when Pickens learned of Boyd’s approach. The rebels considered Boyd bigger game than Hamilton, and started after him in South Carolina. Oblivious of his danger, Boyd crossed the Broad River near its junction with the Savannah the morning of February 13, 1779 and camped that night on the north side of Kettle Creek. Pickens recrossed the Savannah, and followed Boyd into Georgia. On Sunday, the 14th outnumbered more than two to one, the rebels attacked in line of battle with the right commanded by Dooly, the center by Pickens and the left by Elijah Clarke. The Tory pickets fired and fell back into camp. Attacking forces had great difficulty traversing through the dense canebrakes and frigid waters of the swollen creek. Colonel Boyd on the other hand did not have any idea that he was in danger and was completely surprised by the attack. His horses were turned out to graze and men were slaughtering cattle. But they soon rallied and the fighting became very intense. The battle raged for one to two hours -- the evidence conflicts -- and seemed to be going to the British, when Clarke, with fifty of his Georgians, slipped through an obscure brushwood and came onto Boyd’s rear. The fighting continued hot and bloody and, when Boyd fell wounded, the tide began to turn. The Tories were finally routed with losses of 40 killed, according to most authorities, and 70 captured. Boyd’s wounds were mortal, and he died a few hours after the battle. The attackers listed nine killed and 23 wounded. Five of the Tories were tried and convicted of high treason, and hanged; the rest were pardoned. The battle was less significant than Kings Mountain and Cowpens, but its importance lay in being early in the war, almost two years before those victories. The Patriot victory at Kettle Creek prevented a serious rallying of Tories in the South at a crucial early time. It served to open up the backcountry and encouraged Lord Cornwallis, overall Commander of the occupying forces, to evacuate Augusta.