This year's Revolutionary Days Celebration will be bigger and better than ever, including for the first time, a special reenactment of the battle at War Hill.

"This year, the 230th anniversary of the Battle of Kettle Creek will be an exciting event," stated Walker Chewning, Sons of the American Revolution Chairman of the 2009 celebration. Activities over the three-day celebration will include a parade, living history, battleground tours, memorial ceremony, colonial worship service, and for the first time, a special reenactment of the battle at War Hill.

Chewning said, "Come and help us celebrate our Patriot ancestors and the sacrifices they made for the freedoms we enjoy today."

The Revolutionary Days Celebration begins on Friday afternoon, February 13, at the Mary Willis Library. Dr. Christine Swager will relate portions from her newly released book, Heroes of Kettle Creek, 1779- 1782. Original copies of newspapers describing the Monument Dedication in 1930 will be on display, including one from The News-Reporter.

After showing a U.S. Army film on the battle at the Library on Saturday morning, February 14, Army historians will conduct walking tours at the Battleground.

Dr. Walt Andrae said, "The tour will orient visitors to the directions and options open to the opposing forces. It covers the events that led up to the battle, the battle itself, and the aftermath. Additionally, the walking tour of the actual battle site, along with a discussion of the conditions and environmental factors, will provide a sense of the battle that can only be achieved by covering the ground much as the combatants once did."

Saturday's highlight will be the pageantry at the afternoon Memorial Ceremony at the monument on the top of War Hill. Patriotic music, wreath presentations, and musket volleys will honor the memory of the Patriots with a dramatic portrayal of the victorious action that took place on February 14, 1779.

"Citizens of Wilkes County played an important part in the American Revolution," said Sam Moore, Chairman of the Wilkes County Board of Commissioners. "Many families in our area have ancestors who fought in the Battle of Kettle Creek. We appreciate the efforts of the DAR and SAR to sponsor this event and give the Patriots the recognition which they deserve. We look forward to another outstanding Revolutionary Days Celebration."

Revolutionary Days activities are free and everyone is encouraged to attend. For further information call the Chamber of Commerce at 706- 678-2013.

Fighting in the Hornet's Nest

The Battle of Kettle Creek, one of the most important battles of the Revolutionary War in Georgia, was fought on February 14, 1779. The State was mostly under British control, except for Wilkes County, which the British called the "Hornet's Nest." En route to the British army at Augusta, Colonel Boyd, with 600 British sympathizers, crossed the Savannah River into present-day Elbert County. Patriot Colonels Andrew Pickens, with 200 South Carolina Militia, and John Dooly and Elijah Clarke, with 140 Georgia Militia, marched to overtake the Loyalists.

On the morning of the 14th, Boyd and his men were camped at a bend in the then-flooded Kettle Creek. Their horses were grazing, sentries were posted, and the men were slaughtering cattle and searching for food. The Patriots attempted to attack the Loyalist camp by surprise but failed and a desperate battle raged on both sides of the creek for three hours before the Loyalists finally broke and fled. British Colonel Boyd and twenty of his men were killed and twenty-two captured. Colonel Andrew Pickens later wrote that Kettle Creek "was the severest check and chastisement, the Tories ever received in South Carolina or Georgia."

Preservation of the Battleground

Shortly after the Washington Daughters of the American Revolution Chapter was chartered, members were anxious to purchase the land on which the Battle was fought. A survey was made of the property, and in early 1900, twelve and onehalf acres were purchased for the sum of seventy-five dollars.

The ladies began to raise money to mark the Battleground. In 1929, the United States War Department appropriated funds and a marble company was selected to create the monument. The Kettle Creek Monument was unveiled on June 6, 1930, with a program that elicited national recognition.

In Hearst's Sunday American, a review of the monument dedication reported, "The historical old town of Washington Wilkes has renewed its interest in the events and traditions which have surrounded it since Colonial days. It has become again a matter of real pride that there was one spot in Georgia utterly unconquerable in the days of 1776, and that here was fought the battle referred to by an historian as the Gettysburg of the Revolution."

Each year on the anniversary of the battle, DAR members traveled to War Hill and laid a wreath at the site. During the 200th celebration in 1979, a new monument was unveiled and shortly after the DAR conveyed the Battleground site to Wilkes County.

In 1998, the Georgia Society Sons of the American became active in the sponsorship of the Memorial Ceremony, and the DAR and SAR have celebrated the anniversary of the battle on the second weekend in February ever since.

Last February, ninety organizations honored the gallant soldiers who fought there, and also remembered the men and women who have strived to preserve the Kettle Creek Battleground.