1776 1777 1778 1779 The Battle of Kettle Creek was the first major victory for Patriots in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War that took place on February 14, 1779.

The victory demonstrated the inability of British forces to hold the interior of the state, or to protect even sizable numbers of Loyalist recruits outside their immediate area.

The British, who had already decided to abandon Augusta, recovered some prestige a few weeks later, surprising a Patriot force in the Battle of Brier Creek.

Georgia's back country would not come fully under British control until after the 1780 Siege of Charleston broke Patriot forces in the South.

The British began their Southern Strategy by sending expeditions from New York City and Saint Augustine, East Florida to capture the port of Savannah, Georgia in December 1778.

[6] Leaving Savannah on January 24, Campbell and more than 1,000 men arrived near Augusta a week later, with only minimal harassment from Georgia Patriot militia on the way.

With only limited resources (he was short of both men and funds), he was able to raise about 1,400 South Carolina militia, but did not have authorization to order them outside the state.

Suspecting they would head for a stockaded frontier post called Carr's Fort, Pickens sent men directly there while the main body chased after the British.

[15] Pickens then besieged the fort until he learned that Boyd was passing through the Ninety Six district of South Carolina with seven to eight hundred Loyalists, headed for Georgia.

Boyd moved north upstream about 5 miles (8.0 km) and crossed the Savannah River there, skirmishing with a small Patriot force that had shadowed his movements on the Georgia side.

On February 14, Pickens caught up with Boyd when he paused to rest his troops near Kettle Creek,[9] only a few miles from Colonel McGirth's Loyalist camp.

Boyd formed a defensive line near the camp's rear and advanced with a force of 100 men to oppose Pickens at a crude breastwork made of fencing and fallen trees.

Pickens, whose advance gave him the advantage of high ground, was able to flank this position, even though his own wings were slowed by the swampy conditions near the creek.

Clarke alertly noticed some high ground across the Kettle Creek that they seemed to be heading for and led some of his men there, having his horse shot from under him in the process.

[28] Most of the battlefield is owned by Wilkes County, and in 2008, an archeological survey conducted by Daniel Elliot of the Lamar Institute identified the original location of the place where the fight occurred.

[35] The Kettle Creek Battlefield was awarded an "affiliated area" status of the National Park Service (NPS) in January 2021.