The Story of a Time So Ominous and Bleak: The Journey of Elijah

Clarke and Kettle Creek

Once upon a time, in a far, far away land...

Okay, not really that far away. It was Augusta, Georgia which, is

actually pretty close.

There were some loyalists from up north that believed they could recruit supporters in the South. They thought there were people

that secretly wanted to be loyalists, not patriots.

So Loyalist James Boyd and his troops camped at Kettle Creek on their way to Augusta to find these,

so called secret loyalists.

Nancy Hart, the wife of a lieutenant of Clarke's, spied on the loyalists and

discovered their plan. Today, she is the only woman to have a Georgia county named

after her!

So a group of patriots, led by Elijah Clarke found them, and

slowly...sloowly...slooooooooowly, snuck up on the loyalists.

Then...they attacked!! 

They began fighting, and in the midst of all of the chaos, James Boyd turns andsees the shadow of a form walking

calmly towards him.

He stands, watching, as the smoke clears from the figure...and then

he sees Elijah Clarke before him. 

"Elijah!" Boyd yells to him. 

"Just give up now, Boyd", Elijah responded, "you Loyalists will lose this war with

Britain. The Patriots will succeed in gaining our independence".

"You'll never make it without the aid of the Royal Crown!" Boyd screamed, and attacked Elijah.

They fought an intense battle. It went on, and on, and on. 

Please proceed to the next page, the fight is still going on right

now. 

Finally, Boyd made the wrong move, and Clarke quickly

attacked and defeated him. 

Elijah Clarke whistled and his horse galloped up to him. He climbed on, but before he trotted away, he turned to Boyd.

"I'm sorry, Boyd", Clarke said, "I must fight for what I believe in. I

wish it didn't have to come to this."

As Clarke began to leave, a loyalist soldier aimed and shot at him. The shot missed, but hit his horse, and both fell to the ground.

Austin Dabney, the only African American and

slave to fight in the battle, was a

soldier in Clarke's army.

Dabney watched in horror as his colonel fell to the ground, and the

loyalist reloaded his gun.

He quickly went to Clarke's side, jumped off his horse, and  yelled,

"Colonel! Take my horse! Go, quickly!" 

Clarke jumped onto the horse, thanked Dabney, and rode off into

safety. Dabney watched in content, knowing his colonel was

safe. 

The Patriots won the Battle of Kettle Creek, and Dabney was

rewarded with land for his bravery in defending Elijah

Clarke.

The battle proved that the loyalists

had very little support in the

south.