Battle of Gully Hole Creek - St. Simons Island, Georgia

One of the least known but most important battles in Georgia history took place on July 7, 1742, in the marshes and thickets along Gully Hole Creek on St. Simons Island.

The War of Jenkins Ear was then underway. Named for the severed ear of an English sea captain and, so far as I know, the only war in human history named for a body part, the conflict between England and Spain spilled over to the American continent and led to fighting for control of what would become the state of Georgia.

General James Oglethorpe had instigated the fighting by leading a campaign south into Florida to capture St. Augustine. He failed and in July of 1742, Spanish Governor Don Manuel de Montiano retaliated by leading a fleet of warships and more than 5,000 troops north to St. Simons Island. Landing on the south end of the island and occupying Fort St. Simons, which stood at the site of today's St. Simons Lighthouse and had been evacuated by the English as Montiano landed, he prepared to move against Oglethorpe's main citadel at Fort Frederica.

Pushing an advance force up the military road that linked the two forts on July 7, 1742, Montiano prepared for his assault on Fort Frederica. Unfortunately for the Spanish, however, things quickly began to go wrong.

Informed of the Spanish advance, Oglethorpe left Fort Frederica with a company of Scottish Highlanders from Darien, Georgia, and some Indian volunteers to oppose Montiano's force while his main body of troops prepared to join the fighting. The hard fighting Highlanders and their Indian allies collided with the Spanish at a sluggish waterway called Gully Hole Creek. It was a bloody little battle filled with smoke, screams and the rattle of musketry.

Montiano was defeated and pulled back up the island to unite with his main force. Oglethorpe followed and waited to fight again.

To learn more about the Battle of Gully Hole Creek, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/gullyholecreek.

Battle of Chickamauga, Georgia

The Battle of Chickamauga, fought on September 19 & 20, 1863, was one of the bloodiest battles ever witnessed on the American continent.
Fought in the woods and small fields along the west side of Chickamauga Creek near the modern community of Fort Oglethorpe, the battle resulted in losses of 34,000 killed, wounded and missing from the two armies. It was described by many as a "soldier's fight," because in many cases soldiers stumbled and struggled through overgrown woods with little direction and surrounded by the smoke and confusion of battle.

Chickamauga was also one of the most dramatic Confederate victories of the Civil War. General James Longstreet's Corps attacked just as a gap was accidentally opened in the Union lines. Southern troops pierced the Union line of battle and the Federal army of General William S. Rosecrans collapsed in panic, with only the men under General George H. Thomas, the "Rock of Chickamauga," holding their ground on Snodgrass Hill.

The scene of Braxton Bragg's great victory is now preserved as a unit of the Chickamauga & Chattanooga National Military Park. Other units include Point Park on Lookout Mountain, small reserves on Missionary Ridge and several other areas in and around Chattanooga, Tennessee. The Chickamauga unit is the largest section of the park, however, and features tour roads, monuments, a magnificent visitor center and interpretive markers that help visitors explore the miles of battlefield. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/chickamauga. You might also enjoy the new film on the battle which is now available on DVD:

Fort Tyler - West Point, Georgia

Often overlooked by those who spend time visiting sites associated with Georgia's Civil War history, Fort Tyler in West Point preserves a fascinating Confederate fort that was a key objective during one of the last battles of the war.

Commanded by Brigadier General R.C. Tyler, a wounded veteran with a reputation for courage, and manned by a force variously estimated at from 12o to 265 Confederate regulars, militia, volunteers and wounded soldiers from local hospitals, the little fort held out against 3,750 Union soldiers for the better part of a day.

The Battle of West Point took place on April 16, 1865, an Easter Sunday. General Robert E. Lee had surrendered his forces in Virginia seven days earlier, but Tyler was not so inclined. When the ladies of the area presented him a flag on the eve of the battle, he swore that he would prevail or die in the effort. He kept his word.

As Fort Tyler came under fire from all directions, the Confederate troops within its walls fought bravely. A Union cannon shot cut the flag halyard, but a 17-year-old volunteer climbed the pole and put the flag back in place. In the end, though, General Tyler knew that the fall of the fort was inevitable. His cannon had been dismounted by Union shelling and his men were falling around him. In a final show of defiance, he exposed himself to the fire of the attacking Federals, walking in clear view until he was shot down.

Tyler was the last general on either side killed during the War Between the States. Fort Tyler surrendered not long after his death, its defenders sustained a loss of 19 killed and 28 wounded.

The earthworks of the fort were eventually destroyed to make way for a city reservoir, but in a remarkable restoration project the underground remains of Fort Tyler were discovered by archaeologists, who provided the information necessary to rebuilt the fort on its original site.

Today Fort Tyler stands again in a beautifully maintained park in West Point. To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/forttyler.

Battle of Roanoke - Stewart County, Georgia

One of the most important yet least known battles in Georgia history took place in the spring of 1836 at a site now submerged by Lake Eufaula (Walter F. George Reservoir) in Stewart County, Georgia.

The Battle of Roanoke was the primary event that opened the Creek War of 1836, the conflict that sent the Creek Nation on the Trail of Tears.

Roanoke was a prosperous new town in 1836, established on fields that had been lost to the Creeks just a few years earlier when a group of chiefs signed a treaty with the whites giving up the nation's lands in Georgia. The treaty was opposed by the majority of Creeks and resulted in the execution of the famed chief William McIntosh by his own people.

The town could be seen from the remaining Creek lands across the Chattahoochee River in Alabama and its presence was a sore thorn in the side of many of the warriors, particularly those of the Yuchi branch of the nation. Frustrated by continuing frauds and other difficulties with the whites, the Creeks launched hostilities during the spring of 1836 with a series of small but deadly raids against settlers living on Creek lands in Alabama. As the raids intensified, the Yuchi decided to take the fight across the river into Georgia. Their primary target was the hated town of Roanoke.

Moving across the river and taking up positions around Roanoke, Jim Henry and the Yuchi warriors watched the comings and goings around the town. They watched as the women and children were evacuated to nearby Lumpkin as a result of the growing tensions along the Creek frontier. And then, on May 14, 1836, they saw many of the man of the town leave to go visit their families. They attacked at 2 a.m. the next morning.

By the time the battle was over, 12 whites lay dead and the town of Roanoke was in ashes. Outraged by what Georgia newspapers called the "massacre" at Roanoke, the whites of the frontier called for the destruction of the Creeks. The war would result in the total removal of the nation from the Southeast on the Trail of Tears.

To learn more, please visit www.exploresouthernhistory.com/roanoke.