BURKE COUNTY, Ga. (WJBF)- Friday night, NewsChannel 6 is broadcasting live from the Boss Hog BBQ competition in Waynesboro. That area was settled by colonists nearly 300 years ago.

It took three or four years before the American Revolution made its way to the south. Twice during that time the Americans and the British fought in Burke County.

During the American Revolution a lot of fighting in the south was made up of skirmishes in the back-country with the more major battles happening in Savannah and Augusta.

In Burke County, patriots fought for independence at the Battle of Burke County Jail and the Battle of Brier Creek.

Burke County was settled in 1732 and was originally called the Halifax District. In 1758, it was renamed St. George’s Parish.

Judge Jesse Stone is a member of the Sons of the American Revolution. He said that Burke County was eventually named for Edmund Burke, a member of Parliament who was particularly vocal in his support of the American cause.

“He’s known as one of the earliest conservatives in Parliament. And he spoke in favor of the colonies having rights,” explained Stone.

During that time, Burke County was much larger than it is now. Between 1793 and 1905, portions of it were incorporated into Screven, Jefferson, Richmond and Jenkins Counties.

Two battles took place in Burke County as it was at the turn of the 19th century, though only one of the sites is still located in modern day Burke County.

Communities in the south were divided, some remaining loyal to King George III and others siding with the patriots. This caused violence to break out in the back-country.

“And it happened within families. And the revolution in the South was more of a civil war than the Civil War was.,” said Stone.

Thomas Brown was a loyalist, new to the Augusta area. He felt he owed his loyalty to the king because he had just gotten a land grant in what is now Columbia County.

Historian Steve Rauch said Brown wasn’t treated well by local patriots and held a grudge.

“But Thomas Brown had been tarred and feathered. He’d been beaten. He’d been hit.”

Brown retreated to Florida where he joined British forces and began building his troops, which he called the “East Florida Rangers.”

Around that time, the British felt they were at a stalemate with fighting in the North so they moved their focus to the South.

Lieutenant Colonel Archibald Campbell was a British officer who, in 1778, led 3,000 men from New York to Georgia. That December, after his army won the Battle of Savannah, he was joined by Brigadier General Augustine Prevost with a mission.

“One of the major missions of that Army was to recruit loyalists to the British cause. And there was an assumption that there were a lot of loyalists here. However, many of them had already been exiled to Florida, but nevertheless, that was their strategy,” Rauch explained.

Prevost made an amnesty proclamation, saying that any Georgian who pledged allegiance to King George III would be pardoned for any rebel activity.

Campbell and Prevost believed most of the loyalists were in the back-country, which starts in the Augusta area.

“January 24th, Archibald Campbell leaves Hudson’s Ferry, which is along the Savannah River, and begins his march towards Augusta,” said Rauch.

Along the way Campbell and his men got into small skirmishes with Americans, but nothing serious.

Stone told NewsChannel 6 that while he was traveling, Lieutenant Colonel James Ingram with the patriots, went to Burke County jail to rally support.

“And all the local patriots gathered there. And he issued a proclamation basically saying that you either had to come support the Patriots or you could be killed.”

Prevost believed that patriot forces were holding British men at the jail and ordered Campbell to detach troops to head there. Campbell sent Thomas Brown and his Rangers.

“Campbell didn’t think much of these people. He called them free booters or rabble,” Stone said.

The night before the battle, Brown and 230 loyalists surrounded the Burke Jail encampment and prepared to attack. On January 26, 1779 they surprised the Americans.

“At the first call of reveille in the morning, his troops attacked the Americans. And very quickly, half of the Americans ran,” said Stone.

Around 60 Americans were left to battle the British. They held their own and the battle lasted all day.

Stone has an idea why the patriots were so successful even though they were out numbered.

“The Americans were motivated by a Baptist preacher, Silas Mercer, firing them up and they were fighting for their country and their lives.”

After hours of fighting Browns troops retreated.

There is some disagreement among historians about what the outcome of the Battle of Burke County Jail was.

“It’s not really decisive. There’s no no real outcome of it,” said Rauch.

“Locally, it raised everybody’s spirits for a short while, as it was the first American victory after the British invaded Georgia,” Stone disagreed.

Patriot casualties included 9 dead and 5 wounded. The loyalists had 5 killed and 5 wounded. The patriot militia also took 9 British prisoners.

“Lieutenant Colonel Campbell received a message from the Americans saying they were going to hang those Tories that they had captured,” explained Stone. “Campbell replied by putting up a scaffolding within sight of the Americans and telling them that for every British subject who was hung, there would be two American prisoners hung. And then there was no more talk about hanging.”

Campbell continued to Augusta where they took control, but they didn’t stay there long.

Two months later the second battle in what was then Burke County occurred, the Battle of Brier Creek.

A large American force, led by Major General John Ashe, was gathering outside of Augusta which Rauch said worried Campbell.

“So because of that, Campbell decides to pull out of Augusta and go back south to fall closer to the supply line, which is a smart thing to do,” he said. “And he doesn’t go all the way back to Savannah. He goes down towards Hudson’s Ferry.”

Hudson’s Ferry is located on the Savannah River and Campbell and his men had to cross Brier Creek, a swampy area in modern day Screven County, to get there. He ordered his men to burn the bridge once they crossed.

When they arrived Campbell turned the command over to Lieutenant Colonel Mark Prevost, brother to General Prevost, and left for England.

Ashe’s army follows and is stopped by the burned bridge. They set about rebuilding it to continue pursuit of the British. The British took that time to plan their attack.

“This is a 50 mile maneuver, a 50 mile march to get in behind the Americans. This is this is exactly how you fight wars. You maneuver around them,” said Rauch. “And the British are well-trained. They’re experience are up for this.”

The night before the March 3, 1779 battle, the British formed a triangle around Ashe’s camp. Ashe had no idea they were there and did nothing to secure his troops.

The next afternoon the British advanced on a horribly unprepared American Army.

“But they were ill equipped. They didn’t have the right cartridges. They hadn’t got their full strength,” said Stone.

“The problem was the Americans weren’t really ready for this. Part of it also was ammunition had not been distributed. Part of the story is that some of the ammunition they had, didn’t fit the guns they had,” Rauch said.

Despite outnumbering the British, the Americans were untrained. They made mistakes that ultimately opened a gap in their defense, allowing the British to move in.

Hundreds of militia men ran, leaving the patriots even weaker.

One man and his troops stood their ground and fought but weren’t victorious.

“The last to fall were the Georgia Continentals under Colonel Samuel Elbert,” said Stone. “And his life was saved, as the story goes, by a British officer recognizing his Masonic sign of distress and sparing his life.”

It was a clear British victory which restored their hold on Georgia. It’s believed that the American loss of the Battle of Brier Creek extended the war for a year and opened the door for the British invasion of South Carolina.

“So in the end, the Americans lose 150, killed by 227 prisoners of war, an unknown number of P.O.W. So out of the thousand men that Ash had. It is they’re just decimated by this battle. The British, on the other hand, lost only five killed and 11 wounded,” explained Rauch.

Ashe chased after the men that retreated at the beginning of the battle, but never returned. Later a court martial acquitted him of cowardice, but he was convicted for failure to secure his camp.

As we all know the Americans ultimately won the Revolution gaining our independence from Great Britain, thanks to the brave patriots that fought and died.

That’s just part of your Hometown History.

Photojournalist: Dania Alawir.