The Reluctant Revolution

Georgia was the last of the 13 colonies to take up arms against Great Britain and join the American Revolution. So it makes a rough kind of sense that one of the war’s final battles would be fought here, too.

That skirmish, the Battle of Long Swamp Creek, took place near present-day Ball Ground in the fall of 1782 when a force of Patriot militiamen led by Brig. Gen. Andrew Pickens and Lt. Col. Elijah Clarke (whose family name would later be spelled Clark) attacked a band of Cherokee while looking for a small army of loyalists.

W. Wright Mitchell, president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation. Photo credit: Daemon Baizan

The fight was part of the same North Georgia campaign that targeted a major Muscogee trading center on the banks of the Chattahoochee, a place called Standing Peachtree. Patriots burned it to the ground, establishing a destructive pattern that would repeat itself in this haven of human habitation, where American Indian tribes had lived for 12,000 years – a place that would develop a knack for rising, phoenix-like, from the ashes.

“The village came back, and as it got bigger and bigger it was eventually renamed Atlanta,” says author and historian Robert S. Davis, who has written extensively about Revolutionary history in Georgia.

“Our evolution from a royal colony to an independent state was fraught with much more peril and uncertainty than it was in other states where they already had a stronger, more established form of local government.” – Todd Groce, president and CEO, Georgia Historical Society

Atlanta’s Revolutionary roots don’t show up on many heritage tourism radars or in the national imagination. When most of us think of the American Revolution, we see Boston’s Old North Church, Philadelphia’s Independence Hall, maybe the hardships of Valley Forge and victory at Yorktown.

As the tip of the colonial tail, Georgia is usually an afterthought – it’s a blind spot that state leaders and historians are hoping to correct as the nation commemorates the 250th anniversary of the Declaration of Independence this year.

“We were the weakest of the colonies,” says Todd Groce, president and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. “Our evolution from a royal colony to an independent state was fraught with much more peril and uncertainty than it was in other states where they already had a stronger, more established form of local government.”

Federal Fracture

While places like Virginia, Pennsylvania and Massachusetts were rebelling against unfair taxes, Georgia clung to Britain’s bosom.

“We were more reliant on the British for a longer period of time,” says W. Wright Mitchell, president and CEO of the Georgia Trust for Historic Preservation.

And while visceral public responses were lighting the flame of revolt in Boston, “we were looking for a way to reconcile,” Mitchell says. “Until there was no choice but to declare independence.”

Learning From the Past: Todd Groce, president and CEO of the Georgia Historical Society. Photo credit: Brandon Clifton

Even then, it wasn’t easy.

“We were bitterly divided in Georgia, with a very strong base of loyalists,” says Groce.

In some ways, that uneasy feeling of division has been like a frayed thread stitching together the country’s history. Three of America’s big founding anniversaries – the centennial in 1876, the bicentennial in 1976, and now the 250th – arrived at challenging times for the nation. In 1876 the nation was still feeling the sobering aftereffects of the Civil War. In 1976, we were recovering from the Watergate scandal and Vietnam.

This time, the divisions are not merely the backdrop to the anniversary – they seem to have become part of the celebration itself.

Back in 2016, a bipartisan effort in Washington, D.C., launched the America250 commission, tasked with spearheading the national celebration. It’s co-chaired by former first ladies Michelle Obama and Laura Bush. Then, in December 2025, President Donald Trump announced his Freedom 250 initiative on social media, a public-private effort to shape and fund the U.S. 250th anniversary.

While America250 is a congressional creation focused on nationwide civic engagement and historical reflection, Freedom 250 is a White House-aligned plan emphasizing a top-down vision of American pride and achievement.

“These anniversaries have all come at times when the nation felt divided,” Groce says. “But I don’t know how divided we really are today – so many of our divisions now seem related to social media and politicians who somehow profit off those rifts.”

Reflecting and Celebrating: Author and historian Michael Thurmond was the first Black labor commissioner elected in Georgia. Photo credit: Contributed

Groce and others with a firm grasp of history argue that the 250th anniversary offers a rare chance to tune out the political noise and look backward – not to escape the present, but to understand how we got here.

“It’s a good time to study where we’ve come from and celebrate how far we’ve come,” says author and historian Michael Thurmond, the first Black labor commissioner elected in Georgia, whose latest book is James Oglethorpe, Father of Georgia: A Founder’s Journey from Slave Trader to Abolitionist.

“It’s also time to reflect on how the ideas first articulated in the Declaration and later the Constitution have impacted our nation and the entire free world,” Thurmond says. “And importantly, time to be honest about who those ideas were meant for and who got left out.”

The Georgia Version

Fortunately for Georgians, the group charged with promoting the statewide semi-quincentennial observance – Georgia US250 Commission, created last year by Gov. Brian Kemp – isn’t facing competition for resources or attention with another group.

Unfortunately, there aren’t many resources. There is a dedicated Georgia US250 page on Explore Georgia, the Georgia Department of Economic Development’s tourism website, where communities can list events, find ideas and see details about statewide commemorations.

Military Reenactment: A group recreates a battle scene at Fort Morris, which was built in 1776 and was an important outpost during the Revolutionary War. Photo credit: John Trussell

“The commission serves in a support role, with limited resources, which is why it’s very appropriate for communities to take on the lead role in creating programs that stimulate work that would be happening anyway, absent a commission,” says Cameron Bean, former chair of the Georgia Humanities Board of Directors, who is chairing Georgia US250. “Our aim is to connect and elevate local programs, encourage reflection on the nation’s ideals and contradictions and create more opportunities for civic dialogue rooted in respect and understanding and empathy.”

In other words, the commission aims to do as much as possible with very little.

Georgia Humanities – the state’s affiliate of the National Endowment for the Humanities – is one of the main engines behind the commission. Last year, the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) practically dismantled the National Endowment for the Humanities, wiping out about $200 million in funding which led to the cancellation of about 1,200 grants, including all grants to Georgia Humanities. This eliminated about $740,000 from the organization’s $1.5 million operating budget.

“We’re working with virtually no staff now,” says Mary McCartin Wearn, Georgia Humanities former president. “But we’re scrappy. We’ve had to be very strategic, flexible and collaborative.”

An amended state budget and a major grant from the Mellon Foundation have kept the doors open and allowed Wearn to prioritize a few high-impact programs, like the Smithsonian’s Museum on Main Street traveling exhibition, adapted for small-town venues, and the new Georgia Circuit – a speakers’ bureau and workshop series that operates on a sliding scale for communities that don’t have programming staff or big budgets.

And sometimes, these communities have an opportunity to safely confront the difficult but critical lessons from Georgia history. That was the case with the Smithsonian’s traveling exhibit recently in rural Eatonton, where a program called Voices and Votes: Democracy in America featured historical artifacts like Ku Klux Klan applications and racist literacy exams, in the Putnam County administration building where residents can also register to vote.

“It’s a great reminder that democracy is something that requires participation,” says Wearn.

History’s Economic Engine

From an economic-development perspective, history is a renewable resource in Georgia. Heritage tourists tend to stay longer and spend more than the average traveler. The nation’s 250th birthday is a pretext to get them off the interstate and into the past.

“Our hope that people will realize these great historic sites exist, and then they’ll go visit them for themselves,” says Mitchell, who is writing a book about his sixth great-grandfather, John Adam Treutlen, a German immigrant who arrived in Georgia as an indentured servant and rose through the colonial assembly to become the state’s first elected governor – and who was ultimately murdered by loyalists for his commitment to the Patriot cause.

“It’s a good time to study where we’ve come from and celebrate how far we’ve come.” – Michael Thurmond, author and politician

“You could make a Revolutionary War weeklong tour, beginning down in Darien and traveling up to Savannah, then on up the Savannah River to Augusta and over to Washington,” Mitchell says.

Historic Landmark: Meadow Garden in Augusta was the home of George Walton, who signed the Declaration of Independence while representing Georgia in the Continental Congress. Photo credit: Library of Congress

To make that easier, the Trust has produced short videos at 13 Revolutionary era locations – Kettle Creek battlefield, Fort Morris, Meadow Garden in Augusta, Ebenezer, Midway and key sites in Savannah – and created an interactive online map. Click a dot, get a story, build a weekend around it.

Meanwhile, groups like the Sons of the American Revolution are busier than ever.

“We do something just about every weekend,” says John Trussell who has served as both president and treasurer of the SAR’s Ocmulgee chapter. “There were 42 battles and skirmishes across Georgia during the war, some at places folks have never heard of.”

He says Atlanta Braves fans will experience musket volleys on the infield at Truist Park, color guards in Continental uniforms and a planned cannon blast on July 4, bringing an 18th century atmosphere to 21st-century baseball. In Savannah, the local SAR chapter will help restage the first public reading of the Declaration of Independence in Johnson Square on August 10 – the date the document was read there in 1776 – again, with muskets in the mix, according to Trussell.

Much of the activity around the 250th anniversary will naturally take place in or near Savannah. About 20 minutes north of the city, a narrow road leads to Ebenezer, a microcosm of the revolution. Started by German Lutheran exiles in 1734 – a year after Oglethorpe founded Georgia – it was a refuge for religious freedom that became a sharply divided community.

Most of the original settlers were dead by the Revolution, leaving descendants and newcomers to navigate competing loyalties. Some embraced the Patriot cause, drawn to ideals of freedom. Others held fast to earlier oaths to the British Crown.

“The Revolution just split the congregation, split the community, like it did the rest of the country,” says Erika Bragg, president of the Georgia Salzburger Society.

Welcoming Visitors: Erika Bragg, president of the Georgia Salzburger Society. Photo credit: Contributed

The physical centerpiece of Ebenezer is Jerusalem Lutheran Church, completed in 1769. During the war, it served as a hospital for soldiers and even a stable – a symbol of how conflict reshaped daily life. Today, it anchors a quiet historic site with renewed purpose, hosting programs tied to the 250th and drawing attention to a place many locals still don’t know exists.

“We expect more visitors to Ebenezer and the church this year because of the 250th anniversary, and we welcome that,” says Bragg. “We’re a little off the beaten path – whenever folks think of the American Revolution in Georgia, they usually think of Savannah.”

She’s referring to the city’s role as a key British stronghold and the site of the pivotal 1779 Siege of Savannah – a failed Patriot attempt to retake the city, notable for the involvement of the Chasseurs-Voluntaries de Saint-Dominque, a unit of free Black soldiers from Haiti – highlighting the Revolution’s international and diverse character.

Harder Stories

For Michael Thurmond, the 250th will ring hollow if it sidesteps the people the Revolution originally left out.

“We should not forget that the institution of slavery was flourishing in the British American colonies, simultaneously as the nation was being born,” he says. “The cries of liberty and freedom did not necessarily include or consider the plight of some 400,000 enslaved Blacks living in the colonies.”

Paying Tribute to a Leader: Reenactors gather in Savannah during a 2025 event to commemorate the bicentennial of the Marquis de Lafayette’s grand tour. Photo credit: John Trussell

Those cries were heard anyway.

“Enslaved Black people played a significant role in the American Revolution,” says Robert Davis. “Roughly 3,000 to 5,000 African Americans served in Patriot forces, a crucial but often erased presence in a war that shaped the nation.”

Davis has worked to bring these soldiers into sharper focus with his research and writing. That includes his stories about Austin Dabney, a slave who fought for the Patriot cause during the Battle of Kettle Creek near Washington.

Serving as a substitute soldier in place of his enslaver, Dabney was severely wounded in battle at Augusta and left for dead before being rescued by a white comrade. Georgia later purchased Dabney’s freedom, and he became the first Black veteran to receive a state and federal pension, reflecting both the promise and contradictions embedded in the Revolution.

“He stands as one of the most striking, yet long-overlooked [people] of the American Revolution in Georgia,” says Davis.

There would have been more soldiers like Dabney helping the Patriot cause, if not for the bullheaded and self-destructive racism of Georgia and South Carolina leadership.

“The revolution is a living idea. What was born 250 years ago continues to live. It lives in all of us as Americans. It shapes the world we live in, and it continues to challenge us to keep pushing the boundaries of human freedom.” – Todd Groce, president and CEO, Georgia Historical Society

“They prohibited the enlistment of Black men in the Patriot army, even though George Washington and other Patriot leaders were advocating for it,” he says. “The war was not going well in the South at the time, but the Southern patriots would prioritize continuing the institution of slavery over defeating the British.”

Community Centerpiece: Jerusalem Lutheran Church in Ebenezer was built in 1769 and served as a hospital for soldiers during the Revolutionary War. Photo credit: Contributed

So, enslaved people responded with their feet. About 75% of Georgia’s enslaved population – about 15,000 people – found refuge behind British lines. Savannah became a free zone for thousands of Black people who chose the British Crown over a Patriot cause that excluded them.

Ultimately, between 3,500 and 5,000 Black Loyalists sailed to freedom on British ships. Some went to Florida or scattered across the globe.

Still others refused to leave. Hundreds of Black men who had fought with the British, as well as escaped slaves, chose to live in the swamps of the Savannah River, joining maroon camps and using their military and agricultural skills to survive, before being overrun.

These maroon communities barely rate a footnote. But Thurmond wants them closer to the center of Georgia250 – along with people like Austin Dabney and others.

He isn’t asking Georgia to trade one myth for another; he’s asking for the whole story – including the stories of women, who played vital but typically overlooked roles during the Revolution.

Nancy Hart became legendary for defending her home and aiding the Patriot cause, while Mammy Kate reportedly helped rescue her enslaver and worked as a spy. Elizabeth Lichtenstein Johnston documented the war’s dangers, while others, such as Catherine Moore and Mary McDaniel, navigated divided loyalties, loss and displacement. Their stories also shaped the Revolution.

For Groce, the only way to make sense of all this – the pride, the violence, the omissions and the progress – is to stop treating the Revolution as a museum piece, or a thing stuck in time.

“We’ve been trying to get people to stop thinking about the Revolution as this frozen moment in 1776, like in the Trumbull painting – just a bunch of white guys in wigs around a table,” he says. “The revolution is a living idea. What was born 250 years ago continues to live. It lives in all of us as Americans. It shapes the world we live in, and it continues to challenge us to keep pushing the boundaries of human freedom.”

War Heroes: Georgia Sons of the American Revolution gather in 2025 to portray General Nathanael Greene, center, and General LaFayette, in top hat, at the Nathanael Greene Monument. Photo credit: John Trussell

The Revolutionary War in Georgia

More than 150 Revolutionary War engagements occurred in Georgia. This list recognizes some of the more significant ones. Most of these events are closely tied to the British “Southern Strategy,” which began with the capture of Savannah in December 1778 and shifted the war’s focus to the southern colonies.

Frederica Naval Action – April 19, 1778

Fort Frederica National Monument, St. Simons Island

One of the earliest naval engagements of the war in Georgia took place near St. Simons Island. Georgia naval forces under Col. Samuel Elbert engaged and defeated a group of British vessels. The victory boosted Patriot morale and delayed British plans for invasion, providing a rare early success for American forces in the state.

Sunbury, Fort Morris & Midway

Historical Depiction: Drawing shows soldiers fighting in the Siege of Savannah in 1779. Photo courtesy of Georgia Historical Society

Fort Morris State Historic Site near Midway

Sunbury, once a significant port town, and nearby Fort Morris became key targets for British operations along the Georgia coast. In 1778, Patriot defenders at Fort Morris famously refused a British demand to surrender, replying, “Come and take it!” In January 1779, British forces did exactly that, capturing it after a short resistance. The fall of Sunbury and Fort Morris secured British control of the region and demonstrated their growing dominance along the coast.

Vann’s Creek – February 11, 1779

Near Calhoun Falls State Park (S.C., across Savannah River from Georgia)

Loyalist Colonel John Boyd took a force of more than 700 men in the Carolina backcountry to join British forces in Georgia. Patriot militia thwarted his crossing of the Savannah River, forcing the Loyalists to cross near Vann’s Creek. Boyd’s force suffered from Patriot attacks, desertions and exhaustion, significantly weakening it before the Battle of Kettle Creek.

Battle of Kettle Creek – February 14, 1779

Kettle Creek Battlefield, near Washington, Ga.

Patriot forces under Colonels Andrew Pickens, John Dooly and Elijah Clark attacked Boyd’s Loyalists near Kettle Creek. Although the Loyalists held a strong defensive position and had superior manpower, the Patriot militia launched a determined attack. In fierce fighting, Boyd was killed, and his forces were routed, with many wounded or captured. The victory was one of the most important Patriot successes in Georgia, halting Loyalist recruitment and boosting Patriot morale at a critical time.

Battle of Brier Creek – March 3, 1779

Brier Creek Battlefield, near Sylvania

In early 1779, Patriot forces advanced into eastern Georgia, challenging British control. A well-executed flanking maneuver allowed British troops to attack the Patriots from the rear. The Patriot army was thrown into confusion and suffered a devastating defeat, with many killed, wounded or captured. The loss at Brier Creek effectively reestablished British control over Georgia.

Savannah in the American Revolution

Savannah Historic District (Battlefield Memorial Park / Spring Hill area)

Savannah was the focal point of the Revolutionary War in Georgia. In December 1778, after British forces captured the city, they established it as a base for operations in the South. In the fall of 1779, international forces fought one of the bloodiest battles of the war, as American, French, British, German (Hessian), Native American warriors and Haitian troops engaged. Despite a bold assault by Patriot forces, the attack failed with heavy casualties, and the British retained control. Savannah remained in British hands until July 1782, when British troops evacuated the city.

Heroes of the Hornet’s Nest

Elijah Clark State Park, near Lincolnton

Following the fall of Savannah, much of the organized fighting shifted away from Georgia, but leaders such as Clark and Dooly continued to resist British control. Operating in the Georgia and Carolina backcountry, these Patriot commanders carried out raids, skirmishes and coordinated actions that disrupted British operations. Their persistence kept the Patriot cause alive in the region, contributing to the eventual weakening of British authority in the South.

Augusta in the Revolution

Augusta Canal National Heritage Area

Augusta was Georgia’s Revolutionary capital after Savannah fell, making it a key strategic objective. The city changed hands several times. In 1780, Patriot forces failed to retake the city. But in 1781, a combined Patriot force led by Clark, Pickens, and Lt. Col. Henry “Light-Horse Harry” Lee successfully besieged Augusta. The British surrendered, marking a turning point that helped secure Georgia for the Patriot cause.

Battle of Long Swamp Creek – October 1782

Near present day Ball Ground

Patriot troops from Georgia and South Carolina launched an attack on Loyalists encamped at a Cherokee village near Long Swamp Creek. The Loyalist commander Lt. Col. Thomas Waters escaped to Florida, and roughly 40 Native Americans were killed. Following several days of talks, the Cherokee gave in, and on October 17, the Treaty of Long Swamp was signed by Cherokee leaders and Col. Pickens, establishing Cherokee territory west of the Upper Chattahoochee and north of the Savannah River. This brought an end to Cherokee raids into South Carolina and their alliance with Great Britain.

Sources: Georgia Society, Sons of the American Revolution; Journal of the American Revolution