Wednesday, Ocbober 28 (7pm) to Saturday, October 31 (5pm), 2015
Headquarters – Augusta, Georgia
Our Tour Leader: Steve Rauch
Registration Fee: $475
The battles of Kettle Creek, Briar Creek, Augusta, Vann’s Ford, Carr’s Fort and other Georgia backcountry sites are far from household names in the lexicon of Revolutionary War battle sites. Far less famous than Saratoga, Trenton, Princeton, or Yorktown, these Georgia battles and skirmishes, nevertheless, tell a great story about how the war was fought and won in the hilly country and pine forests of this southern state. The heroes may be unsung, but experiencing the ground over which these events occurred is well worth the time.
On our first day we will travel to Kettle Creek battlefield, the site of one of the most important battles fought in Georgia during the Revolutionary War. On the way to Kettle Creek we will discuss the campaign of 1779, including the actions at Vann Creek and Carr’s Fort. Kettle Creek was fought on February 14, 1779, when a force of 400 Patriots led by Andrew Pickens, surprised and defeated a force of Loyalists twice their number. The battle disrupted the British “southern strategy” aimed at pacifying the South by separating it from the Middle and Northern colonies. The battle demonstrated the determination of the Patriots; it was a reminder to the Loyalist forces that they were not safe in the open country, away from bases controlled by the British army. We will extensively walk this pristine battlefield. Our afternoon stop will be at the Elijah Clark State Park to discuss the 1780 Wilkes County punitive expedition after Clarke’s attack on Augusta.
On our second day we will concentrate on the 1779-80 campaign in the backcountry of Burke and Richmond counties, including the battle of Briar Creek. British forces soundly defeated American militia on March 3, 1779, only a few short weeks after the Patriot victory at Kettle Creek. We will visit Milhaven Crossing, scene of the British flanking maneuver which put them in the rear of the American lines, the main battlefield, the militia camps and Brannen Bridge, the site of the final stages of the battle. After lunch we will visit sites relative to the actions in Augusta in July and August 1780, including St. Paul’s Church, Battle Row, the Ezekiel Harris house, Garden Hill and Mackey’s Trading Post.
Our final day will concentrate on the 1781 campaign in the backcountry, including Maj. Gen. Nathanael Greene’s Liberation Campaign and actions preceding the battles for Augusta. In Augusta we will visit the sites of the battle of Fort Grierson and the siege of Mayham Tower which resulted in the surrender of Augusta in June 5, 1781. After lunch we will travel to Ninety-Six which Greene invested in May and June, 1781. Greene’s unsuccessful siege of the star fort at Ninety-Six was the longest of the Revolutionary War. This site has excellent fortifications which will allow an in-depth interpretation of Greene’s plans, the British defense, the unsuccessful assault and American retreat and the subsequent abandonment of the post by Crown forces, thus ending any British influence in the backcountry region near Augusta.
Registration Fee: $475.00
What’s included: motor coach transportation, three lunches, beverage and snack breaks, a map and materials package, all admissions and gratuities, and the services of an experienced tour leader and professional historian. Our hotel will provide a complimentary hot and cold breakfast buffet each day. Tour participants are responsible for transportation to the headquarters hotel, and securing a room reservation, if necessary. Dinner is on your own. Tour goes out rain or shine. Please wear comfortable walking footwear. Please see our policy page for information about cancellations.
Hotel: We have arranged with the headquarters hotel for a group rate of $89.00 per night plus tax (double or single occupancy.) Please call the Hampton Inn, 2171 Gordon Highway, Augusta, GA 30909 at 706-396-5500 and ask for the America’s History group rate. This rate will be guaranteed until September 27, so please make your reservations soon.
Our Tour Leader: Steve Rauch is a military historian with the U.S. Army Signal Corps at Fort Gordon, Augusta, Georgia where he instructs army officers and leads battlefield staff rides. He is also an adjunct professor at Augusta State University and has been an assistant professor of history at the U. S. Army Command & Staff College at Fort Leavenworth, Kansas.
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