Georgia:  Wilkes County:  Biography of Elijah Clarke
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ELIJAH CLARKE
Elijah Clarke was one of the heroes of the Revolution. He was born
in North Carolina probably in 1733, and when about forty years of age 
came with his family to Georgia and settled in Wilkes County. Several 
other families came at the same time, bringing their cattle and horses 
with them, and such household furniture as they could easily transport in 
wagon and carts.

The pioneers' homes were on the wild frontier, with the villages of
the Indians not far away, from which the restless savages, already 
stirred up by British and Tories, threatened at any time to descend upon 
the settlements of the whites. Clarke and his neighbors in Wilkes County 
had to be on their guard constantly to defend their lives and protect 
their property. Clarke was a leader in the neighbor. His spirit was bold 
and fearless, his mind was alert, and he had no love for the British and 
Tories.

There were few schools in those days, and the frontiersmen knew little
of books. They knew much of the forest, and were learned in the craft of
the pioneer. Clarke, like many another, had to battle with the wilderness
and had to meet the stern duties of life on the frontier. He became a 
bold fighter, and relentless pursuer of the enemies of his country.
It was said that the women always asked, "Is Clarke going to lead the
fight?" If the answer was Yes, they felt safe. When in battle, he became
so earnest and so reckless, and fought so fearlessly in hand-to-hand
conflict, that his own soldiers would stop to watch him fight. He was so
self-willed and confident that he found it hard to be obedient to
authority. A story is told of him that he once prosecuted a man for
stealing a horse. The jury decided the man was not guilty, but Clarke was
convinced otherwise, and said, "If the jury will not hang him, I will." 
He was about to take the man and hang him to a tree himself, but others
interfered and persuaded Clarke to let the man go.

When Clarke heard that a little army was gathering at Savannah to
oppose the British, he offered his services and was appointed captain of 
a company to guard some wagons loaded with prisoners. On the way to
Savannah, and while crossing a small stream, they were attacked by 
Indians, but after a severe conflict the savages were driven away.
Clarke and his troops went with General Howe on the expedition
against St. Augustine. In a battle with the British he was badly wounded,
and for a long time was unable to be with his command. He went to his 
home in Wilkes County, where he recovered from his wounds, and was soon 
in the field gathering men to fight Colonel Boyd, a noted Tories, at 
Kettle Creek.

For a time, Georgia was completely in the hands of the
British. Mounted soldiers secured the country above Augusta and out
towards Wilkes County. Whenever the few inhabitants that were left 
refused to take the oath of allegiance, their homes, barns, and grain 
were burned. The torch was likewise applied to the homes of those who 
were absent in the army or had fled to Carolina for safety.

The band of patriots that had been assembled under John Dooly, Andrew
Pickens, and Elijah Clarke, watched the movements of the enemy as best 
they could. The Tory Colonel Boyd, led a band of eight hundred marauders 
from the Carolinas into upper Georgia. He was bent on destroying 
property, stealing horses, and terrifying the people. His march was a 
path of destruction by fire and sword. When he entered Georgia, the 
patriots followed and overtook him in Wilkes County.

Boyd seemed unconscious of the approach of the Americans, and in the
early morning of February 14, 1779, had halted at a farm on Kettle Creek
and turned his horse out to forage on the grass and weeds along the edge 
of a swamp. His men had been on short rations for three days, and were
killing some cattle and parching corn. The Americans advanced to the
attack. Boyd hastily gathered his men into line of battle, and posted 
them behind some fallen timber and a fence.

Boyd fought with much bravery, but was overpowered and driven
back. While retreating, he fell, mortally wounded, pierced by three
balls. The Americans rushed upon the British, driving them into the swamp
and capturing their horses, baggage, and arms. The defeat was
complete. The Tories scattered in every direction after the death of 
their leader, some going into Florida, some fleeing to the Indians, and 
others finding their way to Augusta

While Clarke was in the field fighting the wandering hands of British
and Tories, his own home was left unprotected. One day a party of these
marauders came to his house and finding out to whom it belonged, burned 
it to the ground, with all the furniture it contained, leaving his wife 
and children to find what shelter they could. Upon another occasion his 
wife, who was riding a horse in search of her husband near the North 
Carolina line, was stopped by a party of British, and made to dismount 
and pursue her journey on foot, while they made off with the horse.
This made Clarke still more determined to rid his country of its
enemies. With a little band of patriots, sometimes several hundred and
then again a mere handful, he kept up a guerrilla warfare against the
British and Tories in the upper part of Georgia. He was nearly always in
the saddle, going quickly from place to place, seldom sleeping in a 
house, hiding in swamps and deep forests, suffering hunger and thirst, 
and enduring all kinds of hardships. His name became a terror to the
enemy. He would strike them whenever he could, and would show them no 
mercy.

Augusta was in the hands of the British, and Clarke declared he would
never rest until they were driven out. From the day the Tory Colonel 
Brown took possession of it and hoisted the British flag, Clark began 
gathering recruits to attack him. Brown had been living in Augusta when 
the people first rebelled against the king, and had given such offense to 
the citizens that he was tarred and feathered and carried through the 
streets in cart by an angry mob. He had vowed vengeance against all 
patriots. Clarke gathered his forces and camped before the town, and 
resolved never to leave until the British flag came down, and upper 
Georgia was freed of the presence of its enemies.

Colonel Elijah Clarke succeeded in raising three hundred and fifty
men to move against Augusta. To these were added eighty men from South
Carolina. The army assembled at Soap Creek, forty miles above Augusta, 
and quietly marched upon that city. On the 14th of September, 1780, the 
army appeared before Augusta, to the surprise of Brown

Clarke attacked an Indian camp at Hawk's Gully, on the west of town,
and drove the Indians away. He captured about seventy prisoners and a
large lot of Indian presents. The Indians and the British, under Brown,
retired to a trading post called the "White House," which they prepared 
to defend. Under cover of the night Brown threw up earthworks around the
house and filled in the spaces between the weather boarding and the
plastering with sand and clay to make the house proof against bullets.
Clarke laid siege to the house, and the firing was constant. The
water supply of the British was cut off, and the suffering of the wounded
men became intense. Brown himself, wounded in the body, was in great
agony, but his courage never forsook him. He had already sent messengers
into South Carolina asking for relief. At the end of four days Clarke
heard that a force of British had appeared on the opposite side of the
Savannah River.

Clarke realized that he could not longer maintain the siege, and at
once withdrew, leaving some badly wounded soldiers. He had no means of
moving them and was obliged to abandon them to the mercy of the
British. What this mercy was, is shown by the fact that Brown had 
thirteen of them hanged to the staircase in the "White House" in full 
view of his bed, where he lay wounded, in order that he might see their 
expiring agonies. Their bodies were given to the Indians, who, after 
scalping and mutilating them, threw them into the river. The other 
prisoners were given to the Indians, who tortured them to death.

Ref: Evans, Lawton B., A. M., FIRST LESSONS IN GEORGIA HISTORY, 1913,
American Book Company, New York.