Stirring Up a Hornet's Nest: - UGA Laboratory of Archaeology ...

ecame Rowan County, North Carolina. The pension application of Samuel Reed, who was George Reed’s
son, noted that he Samuel was appointed a Lieutenant in the South Carolina militia in Abbeville. Samuel
Reed made no direct mention of the Kettle Creek battle in his pension application, although accompanying
documentation, dated March 1, 1938 written by the “Executive Assistant to the Administrator”, however,
stated that, “Colonel George Reed's South Carolina Regiment, was in the battles at Car[r]s Fort, Kettle
Creek, at the second siege of Ninety Six and in many skirmishes with the Tories and Indians”
(Footnote.com 2008 [Samuel Reed S14259]). Samuel Reed survived the war and afterwards he
accumulated substantial land holdings in Wilkes, Greene, Oglethorpe, Putnam, Randolph, and Gwinnett
Counties, Georgia. Samuel Reed died near Mobile, Alabama in 1842 at the age of 93 (Harvey 2009).
BCaptain Henry Turney
Henry Turney was Captain of a North Carolina militia company commanded by Colonel Tutt. Captain
Turney participated in the battle of Kettle Creek under command of Colonel Andrew Pickens. The details
of the arrangement of Colonel Tutt’s troops in Colonel Pickens’ campaign are not specified, although
Captain Turney may have been part of the aforementioned detachment that included Captain Adam
Hampton’s North Carolina Light Horse. In 1833, 80 year-old Turney recalled the events in Georgia,
including his participation in the battle of Kettle Creek:
That in the month of March 1777 as well as he now recollects he entered the service of the United States as a Captain of a
militia company (not a volunteer) in the Militia in the North Carolina line: that Tutt was his Colonel, Hampton was his Major
does not recollect the number of the Regiment. That he joined Colonel Tutt in Mecklenburg County in North Carolina from
thence he marched to a town called Cross-Creek now called Fayetteville in North Carolina continued there only a few days,
from thence he was marched back to his on [sic, own] house in Bunkum [sic, Buncombe] County in North Carolina (his
Colonel having directed him to go home) and continued there till further orders his first tour of service was one month and
continued there three or four weeks at the expiration of which time Declarant was called upon by his Colonel to go out
against the enemy again and he went out and from there marched on and crossed Savannah River and then on to Kettle Creek
in Georgia & at Kettle Creek he was in a battle with the Tories in which battle 49 of the Tories & 38 of the Whigs were killed
and in said battle General Pickens who commanded the Whigs had one horse shot down under him, but the Whigs were
victorious in said Battle and from thence Declarant marched to Augusta in Georgia and continued there three or four months,
but owing to the great lapse of time and the loss of memory declarant does not recollect which, at the expiration of which
time he marched to Bryar Creek in Georgia at which place he was in a battle against the British in which Battle the British
were victorious and from thence he marched back to Augusta in Georgia and continued there but a few days…(Footnote.com
2008 [Henry Turney W8794]).
Captain Turney’s recollection of the battle is interesting because he offered specific body counts for the
number Tories and Whigs who were killed in the battle (49 and 38 killed, respectively). Turney’s estimate
for the number of Tories killed falls in the mid range of other written estimates. His estimate for the
number of Whigs killed is considerably higher than other written accounts.
BCaptain Micajah Williamson
Micajah Williamson was born in Buckingham County, Virginia in July, 1744 and he died in Washington,
Georgia in December, 1796 (Ancestry.com 2008). Williamson commanded a company in Dooly’s Battalion
of Wilkes County militia in 1779. Captain Williamson fought at Kettle Creek on February 14 where he, and
two others in his company, became separated from the rest of Dooly’s Battalion and found themselves
behind the Loyalist’s lines within sight of Colonel Boyd. All three men fired at Boyd and hit their mark,
mortally wounding Boyd (Davis 2006a:34). Their quick thinking and opportune action disabled Boyd from
his command, which, in turn, led to the breakdown in the regiment’s cohesion, which hastened the end of
the battle and the Patriot victory.
Micajah Williamson was living in Wilkes County by 1766 or 1767. He was married to Sarah Gilliam and
by February 14, 1779 they had had seven children (the oldest son who was 12 years old died in July, 1778
and they youngest was only 10 days old at the time of the battle). Williamson fought in numerous battles in
the Revolution including Alligator Creek, Florida; Musgrove’s Mill, Kings Mountain, Long Cane Creek,
Cowpens, and the 1781 battle for Augusta, where Williamson assumed temporary command of the Georgia
militia when Colonel Clarke was stricken with smallpox. After John Dooly’s death Williamson served as
62