February 14

Georgians weren’t feeling the love, even if it was Valentine’s Day.

The Battle of Kettle Creek was fought during the American Revolution on this day in 1779. 600 loyalists from Georgia and the Carolinas were camped on the creek, which flows into the Little River in Wilkes County, Georgia’s backcountry in those days.

The British believed if they marched an army through Georgia and the Carolinas, thousands of Southern loyalists would flock to the royal banner. The loyalists at Kettle Creek were headed to Augusta when 340 Patriot Militiamen under the command of Andrew Pickens of South Carolina and John Dooly and Elijah Clarke of Georgia caught up with them. The Patriots routed the Loyalists. It was a small victory, but it was significant, and provided a morale boost for the American cause, after Savannah had fallen two months earlier.

The Patriot victory frustrated the British and dealt a severe blow to loyalist recruitment in Georgia, after Americans fought Americans at Kettle Creek on February 14, 1779, Today in Georgia History.