de
of the creek, on which he suspected the Loyalists would try to form,
ordered the left wing to follow him, and was about to cross the stream
when his horse was shot under him. Mounting another, he soon crossed
the creek, followed by not more than a fourth of his division. There had
been some mistake in sending the order along the line. Clarke gained the
hill that had attracted his eye just in time to attack Major Spurgen, a
brave British officer, who was forming his command. The firing attracted
the notice of the rest of Clarke's division, and they soon joined their
leader. Pickens and Dooly also pressed through the swamp, and the battle
was renewed with great vigor. For a while the result was in doubt,
but at the end the Americans held the hill. The Tories fled in all
directions, leaving seventy dead on the field, and seventy-five wounded
and captured. Of the Americans, nine were slain, and twenty-three
wounded. To Elijah Clarke must be given the credit for this victory,
which, coming at the time it did, revived the hopes and courage of the
Liberty Boys in all parts of the country.

The Tories, on the other hand, were so depressed by it, that many
of them left that part of the State, and those who remained became
comparatively quiet. The situation was so encouraging, that many of the
people of Georgia, who had been driven from their homes by the cruelty
of the Tories, returned with their families. They were not long left in
peace, however. The British and the Tories had their active agents among
the Creeks and Cherokees, urging these tribes to take up arms and attack
the Americans. In view of this, Clarke was sent to guard the frontier
forts. Then the Tories again began to pillage and devastate the Broad
River region. Some of the crimes they committed would have disgraced
savages. Clarke's house was burned, and his family ordered to leave
the State. Mrs. Clarke and her two daughters started on their perilous
journey with nothing but a small pony of little value, and even this was
taken from them before they had gone very far. This only served to renew
the activity of Clarke in behalf of the American cause. He defeated
the Tories wherever he met them; and if he gave them no quarter, it was
because they had shown no mercy to the Americans. The savage character
of the warfare waged by the Tories against men, women, and children,
must ever stand as an explanation and as an excuse for the fierce spirit
displayed by Clarke