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THE FIRST BATTLE OF AUGUSTA Six hundred rebels rode to the outskirts of Augusta with Clarke. There they surprised and captured a British officer and forced him to reveal the disposition of Brown’s men. The Creeks were camped outside of Augusta at a place called Indian Springs along the trading path. Between the Indians and Augusta was the Mackay house with the Indian supplies. It was defended by Captain Andrew Johnston’s company of rangers. The King’s Rangers, and some men from the New Jersey Volunteers, were stationed at Ryerson’s fortified house on the west side of town and at St. Paul’s Church in the town itself. Clarke divided his command with Major Taylor attacking the Indian camp while Lt. Col. McCall circled around to enter Augusta from the east. Clarke himself followed the Savannah Road to the center of town. The battle began in the morning of September 14 when Taylor’s men achieved surprise on the Indian camp. There was no time for Col. Ryerson to call out the loyalist militia. Brown led his Rangers toward the sound of gunfire and joined forces with the retreating Indians. By then, Clarke had gotten in behind him and captured Fort Ryerson and its garrison, quickly advancing to the Mackay house where Captain Johnston was killed and his men taken prisoner. Just as Clarke’s raiders gained possession of the Mackay house, Brown’s Rangers and the Indians appeared moving down the Creek Road toward the junction with the main road leading to Augusta. Brown formed his battle line, Rangers with bayonets fixed on the right and the Indians with their rifles on the left with a brass one-ponder on each flank. The rebels were beaten back with considerable losses and Brown gained control of the house and outbuildings. Some of Clarke’s men circled through a thicket and captured one of the cannons. Clarke kept up a sporadic fire on the British position until early afternoon. The Mackay house was constructed of stone and reasonably strong. The Rangers placed the floorboards over the windows and cut loopholes for firing. Earthworks were dug around the house for the Indians. Before the fighting resumed on the morning of the 15th Brown sent a dispatch to Kruger at Ninety-six informing him they were under attack, that he believed the rebel force was approximately 600 strong, and that his force was not strong enough to drive them off. Early that same morning a group of 50 Cherokees crossed the Savannah in canoes, climbed the riverbank and joined the Rangers. Clarke closed off the river approach by stationing his men along the bank. He then brought up 2 cannon. The rebels dug earthworks encircling the British position. They then began to lay down a heavy rifle fire. Brown himself was a casualty of this. A rifle shot passed through both thighs but Brown refused to remove his boots until the pain in his swollen legs became unbearable. Clarke had only one experienced artillerist who managed to set up both cannon and begin a barrage that did a great deal of damage to the Mackay house until a Ranger’s bullet took his life. The second day’s fighting left dead and wounded men scattered across the battlefield. That evening Clarke sent a message requesting Brown’s surrender. Although Brown was wounded and had no provisions for a siege, he hardly acted like a defected man. He warned Clarke and his rebel followers that their taking up arms would bring retaliation and that he would not surrender and would do his duty to the last extremity. Upon receipt of this message an angry burst of fire came from the Rebel lines and continued sporadically throughout the night. As the morning of the 16th dawned, things were tough for the British forces. There was a lack of food and water. Raw pumpkins provided some nourishment and the desperate were reduced to drinking their own urine. When the morning fog lifted, the attackers pulled back from their position leaving a skirmish line to deny Brown’s people access to the river. Meanwhile, at 9 AM, Cruger set out from Ninety-six with his battalion of Delancy’s New York Brigade, Lt. Col. Allen's New Jersey Volunteers, and the South Carolina Royalists. Clarke’s spies brought him news of the British approach on the 17th. By then the Rebel forces were depleted due to some local men leaving to visit their families while others had left loaded down with plunder. Cruger’s troops were seen advancing down Martintown Road on the Carolina side of the river at 8 o’clock on the morning of September 18. Cruger’s scouts crossed over and conferred with Brown and then the Indians and Rangers provided a covering fire while the main force crossed the river. As the relief forces approached the Mackay house from the east, Brown ordered his men to sally out. The Rangers recaptured the artillery and returned with prisoners. The Indians pursued the Georgians, and, out of Brown’s sight, they resorted to the savage warfare dreaded by backcountry people. The fate of the prisoners was pre-ordained. Those who had broken parole were hanged. Newspaper accounts of the period make it clear that stern measures were forthcoming... The retreating Elijah Clarke sent an appeal for help to his friends in the mountains. He related how Tories and Indians had pursued him into the upper settlements of Georgia bringing with them their own brand of frontier warfare. Lord Cornwallis, for his part, stated that he believed that the Indians were the injured party in this affair. They “were on a peaceable and friendly visit to Lt. Col. Brown who had directions to give them presents and to exhort them to remain quiet at home and take no part in the present troubles in this country.” The first Battle of Augusta had an immediate and tangible impact on the wider war in that it led directly to the October 7, 1780 Battle of King’s Mountain, the turning point of the Revolution in the South. Major Patrick Ferguson had recruited a large body of Loyalists in the Carolina backcountry and, while on the way to pass the Catawba and meet Cornwallis at Charlottetown (Charlotte, NC) he attempted to intercept Clarke’s raiders as they retreated to the mountains. In doing this he stayed too long and was attacked by a superior force of rebels from the “over mountain” country. The most important consequence of this defeat at King’s Mountain, from the perspective of the Southern Indian Department history, was that Cornwallis decided to bring down the Indians upon the Carolina frontier. In November 1780, Cornwallis used the Cherokees to attack the mountain settlements in North Carolina and force the victors of Kings Mountain to withdraw from South Carolina. The Indians could penetrate into the wilderness where British troops could not go. Cornwallis’ decision to resort to Indian warfare enhanced the position of the Southern Indian Department in the overall British strategy. Creeks were vital to the defense of Pensacola and Cherokees were on the warpath in North Carolina. Brown informed Cornwallis that he had opened communication lines with Detroit and Quebec in the North as well as Pensacola in the South. If Cornwallis wanted dispatches to go to any of these places, Brown would be glad to oblige. His Indians were as adept at intercepting Rebel correspondence as in delivering British dispatches. Captured dispatches included a letter from Patrick Henry, governor of Virginia, intended for the Spanish governor at New Orleans. Brown had instructed the Indians to obstruct navigation on the Ohio as well as the Mississippi River, and the Cherokee had taken prisoners who were traveling by river to New Orleans and brought them to Augusta. Thus, 1780 ended on a high note for the Southern Indian Department.
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