Thanks to a grant from the Southern Culture Foundation (Macon, Georgia), the Brier Creek Revolutionary War Battlefield Association, Inc. (BCRWBA) will continue its efforts to promote the history of the Battle of Brier Creek and develop enhanced facilities for public visitation and understanding. The site is located near the confluence of the Savannah River and Brier Creek within the 15,000-acre Tuckahoe Wildlife Management Area in Screven County. A little known but very significant Revolutionary War event, the Battle of Brier Creek was fought on March 3, 1779, and was the second largest battle fought in Georgia during the war.
In recent years BCRWBA, in collaboration with the Georgia Department of Natural Resources, Georgia Southern University, and area chapters of the Sons of the American Revolution and Daughters of the American Revolution, has planned and completed a series of development projects at the site and has plans for more in the future.
The battle site is pristine, looking much like it did in 1779, and it is rich in archaeological potential as several surveys have demonstrated.
Accomplishments so far include:
1. The existing memorial at the battlefield has been refurbished, reconfigured, and maintained by BCRWBA in collaboration with GADNR.
2. Two historical markers which were located away from the battlefield were moved to the memorial, and they have been refurbished.
3. The existing memorial markers have been refinished and reinstalled.
4. Highway directional signs have been placed at strategic locations to assist the public in finding the battlefield.
5. A 30-foot lighted flagpole has been erected at the memorial and inscribed pavers have been placed around its base. The inscribed pavers have been one of our fundraising efforts.
6. The walkway through the memorial has been paved, replacing the original pea gravel surface.
7. An impressive “state park” type of sign has been erected at the highway entrance to the battlefield.
8. Brick walls have been added to the memorial as well as brick columns at the entrance to the paved memorial walkways.
9. We support an annual memorial event on the last Saturday each February. Although once a local event, the American Society of the Sons of the American Revolution has designated this as a national event. The previous Friday is an education day in which area schools are invited to come to the battlefield. This year approximately 300 school children attended.
10. BCRWBA funded a search by cadaver dogs for potential soldier grave sites.
11. BCRWBA funded a LiDAR survey of the battlefield in order to determine the course of the old Savannah-Augusta River Road that was the axis along which the battle was fought.
12. As a result, the location of the historic roadbed was identified, and a follow-up archaeological survey was conducted to clear a path for a planned 2.5 -mile walking trail.
13. The 2.5-mile walking has been recently completed across the battlefield, much of it following the route of the old River Road.
14. The battlefield has been placed on the National Register of Historic Places.
Future plans involve placing interpretive signs in a kiosk and along the walking trail, placing benches along the trail, building a pavilion on site, acquisition of property on the other side of Brier Creek at the Miller Bridge site with the help of the American Battlefield Trust, and construction of a small museum to house artifacts that have been and will be collected by archaeology.
This year the annual education day will be held on Friday, February 27, and the memorial event will be on Saturday, February 28. The public is welcome.
The Battle of Brier Creek site is a historical and natural treasure in our region, and BCRWBA actively seeks volunteers and monetary assistance in accomplishing our goals. BCRWBA invites the public to visit the battlefield and see the improvements that have been made for visitation. For more information contact “briercreekbattlefield.org.”
