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History History of Wilkes County during the American Revolution. Volunteer Authors – articles printed with permission The American Revolution (1775-83) began essentially as a conflict
between the Colonist and the British for tax problems with no representation. The conflict arose from growing tensions between
residents of Great Britain's 13 North American colonies and the colonial government, which represented the British crown.
Skirmishes between British troops and colonial militiamen in Lexington and Concord in April 1775 kicked off the armed conflict,
and by the following summer, the rebels were waging a full-scale war for their independence. France entered the American Revolution
on the side of the colonists in 1778, turning what had essentially been a civil war conflict into an international one. In
1778, after the stalemate of the opposing American and French forces against the British, the British decided to move their
war front to the South and planned a “Southern Strategy” where they would gather the southern Loyalist (to the
Crown), build their army, and then proceed back to the North where the combined General George Washington’s continentals
and the French’s army could be defeated. But the British, after being defeated at Kettle Creek, Kings Mountain, Cowpens,
and a disastrous Guilford Courthouse (although the British won, but took significant manpower loses), General Cornwallis took
his British army north and ultimately got cornered at Yorktown and essentially this ended the war. Below are articles listed from various historians who have written on key events during the American Revolution
– events associated with the American Revolution in both Georgia and South Carolina. Black Patriots who served in the American Revolution. Robert S. Davis, M.Ed., M.A. gives an account of the Black Patriot – Austin Dabney. Robert
Davis says…….(Click the link below: The Oral History of Austin Dabney by Robert Scott Davis.) COLONEL JOHN DOOLY: GEORGIA MARTYR OF THE REVOLUTION by Robert Scott Davis Click the link to read the document: John Dooly for Southern Campaigns Kettle Creek Battle 1779 by Robert Scott Davis. “. . . getting its history wrong is part of being
a nation.” ---Ernest Renan Click on the link below: Kettle Creek Battlefield Article Journal of GAH Cherokee Ford and Vann’s
Creek Battle by Robert Scott Davis….the battle which reduced the Loyalist forces to help win the battle at Kettle Creek. On February 14, 1779, the most
famous Revolutionary War battle in Georgia took place. Near where the town of Washington
would be founded a year later, almost 1,000 Americans decided for themselves individually how they would stand in that conflict.
Kettle
Creek was essentially a battle between neighbors Loyalist versus Patriots….. “For most historians of the period, rhetoric
outweighed research
and their side was invariably good and godly while the other side was wicked and perfidious.” ---George Fenwick Jones. Click on the link below:
Robert S. Davis, M.Ed., M.A. gives an account of the Black Patriot – Austin Dabney. Biography and Bibliography: Director, Family & Regional History Program and Senior Professor of Genealogy & History http://www3.wallacestate.edu/genealogy/index.html T P. O. Box 2000 Phone: (256) 352-8265 The Oral History of Austin Dabney by Robert Scott Davis. Elijah Clarke by Christine Swager, Phd. writes
on Elijah Clarke….. “After the British
capture of Charleston, South Carolina, in May of 1780, Francis Marion, the Swamp Fox.
Christine Ryder Swager (cswager@bellsouth.net) 325 Malbec Drive Moore, SC 29369-8503 Photo shows the Martha Washington Medal presented to Dr. Swager by the National Society Sons of theAmerican Revolution. The picture above is on the cover of the book: Musgrove Mill Historic Site coversthereclamation of an historic site after 222 years of neglect. The battle was a victory for militia from Georgia, North and South Carolina over trained British Regulars at a time when nation's morale was at its lowest. It was the success of this massed militia that set the stage for partisan participation at King's mountain and Cowpens.Other Books include: Black Crows and White Cockades, is set in Camden and covers the period May 1780 to May 1781. A second book, If Ever Your Country Needs You, follows Marion’s campaign to push the British out of the Carolinas and starts in May 1781 and ends after the evacuation of Charleston in December 1782. Come to the Cow Pens! is the story of the Battle of Cowpens, 17 January 1781 where Americans under the command of Brigadier General Daniel Morgan defeated a force of British regulars and provincials under the command of Lt. Col. Banastre Tarleton, “Bloody” Tarleton. The Valiant Died is an overview of the Southern Campaign ending with the Battle of Eutaw Springs. It outlines how Major General Nathanael Greene was able, with a ragtag army, to take back the territory the British expected to keep. The book contains 35 pages of maps by John Robertson. Heroes of Kettle Creek 1779-1782 covers the Revolutionary War activities of the Wilkes County Militia (Georgia). It contains an overview of Georgia history to put these events in perspective.In addition to interviews and TV appearances such as C-SPAN II Books with Walter Edgar, and as a narrator on SCETV’s Chasing the Swamp Fox, a documentary on Francis Marion, I have made presentations at The History Fair in Kalamazoo, Michigan, and at the North West Territory Alliance Symposium on Revolutionary America at the College of DuPage in Chicago. Currently I make presentations in North and South Carolina and Georgia and address historical societies, Daughters of the American Revolution, Sons of the American Revolution, and literary and school groups. I am a recipient of a Lifetime Achievement Award in Youth Education presented by the Southern Campaigns of the American Revolution, and the Martha Washington Medal presented by The National Society of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Dr. Hugh I. Rodgers, President (2013) of the Coweta Falls Chapter Georgia Society Sons of the American
Revolution (www.cowetafallschapter-sar.com ) has developed
several articles of the events concerning Col. (and later General) Andrew Pickens. Hugh Rodgers
was born in Brewton, AL, educated at the University of Alabama (B.A., M.A.) and the University of
Texas (Austin) where he earned the Ph. D. in European History. He taught at Andrew College in Cuthbert,
GA, and in 1967, joined the history department of Columbus College, now Columbus State University. His
teaching specialities Hugh has had a long interest in genealogy which led to membership in the Sons of the American Revolution;
he is currently president of the Coweta Falls Chapter. SAR membership stimulated a serious interest in
the history of the American Revolution in the South, a new field of reading and researh for him. Hugh is
a long-time member of the Muscogee Genealogical Society and served for seven years as editor of its semi-annual publication
Muscogiana. Since retirement he volunteers at the Columbus Public Library in the Genealogy Room
and assists people doing family research. He is married to Sandra;
they have been blessed with one son and two grandchildren. Andrew Pickens, in War and Peace…..Col. Andrew Pickens served in the Anglo-Cherokee War in 1760–1761. When the Revolutionary War started, he sided with the rebel militia,
and was made a captain. He rose to the rank of Brigadier General during that war. On February 14, 1779, he was part of the militia victory at
the Battle of Kettle Creek in Georgia. Pickens was captured at the Siege of Charleston in 1780. He saw action at the Battle of Cowpens, Siege of Augusta, Siege of Ninety Six, and the Battle of Eutaw Springs…..click on
the link below: Andrew Pickens in War and Peace.
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