Posted on 03/09/2009 10:38:04 AM PDT by BGHater
History and a mystery all rolled into one. Musket fire filled the woods near Brier Creek, but nothing like 230 years ago.
Crowds gathered to remember the 3,000 Revolutionary War soldiers who fought there on this date. Among them, Tom Gurley's great, great, great grandfather.
"He submitted paperwork for a Revolutionary War pension and in his deposition he described marching here, the battle and escaping across the Savannah River." said Gurley.
150 men weren't as lucky. They were killed by the British in one of the war's lesser known battles.
Local historians know the names of many who died here, even the unit they fought with. What remains a mystery is where they're buried.
"This is a significant site for military history and American history. We need to locate the graves of 150 patriots," said Alex Lee, a local member of the Sons of the American Revolution.
Lee said they were probably buried together or close together with no time for markings. If so, it could be one of the nation's largest mass burials. He and other locals hope grant money will pay for research, ground sonar, whatever it takes to find the graves.
"Any soldiers of any war deserves that honor. That's the least we can do," urged Jason Beard, also a SAR member. "We feel like it is important to find the actual battlefield and the burial grounds."
"It has all the making of a National Cemetery, if we can just find it," Gurley said with a laugh.
Many at the ceremony Tuesday think national distinction would be a victory 230 years over due.
Locals estimate the battlefield was 2,000 acres large. It should take about two months for the National Park service to decide about the grant. and possibly a year after that to find the graves.
Rev Ping.
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Rev War bumperoonie
You can use ‘L’ shaped bent metal (a wire hanger will work) in the same manner as water witching to locate graves.
It is discussed here. http://www.respectourdead.com/index.php/cemeteries/lucas-county/grave-witching
I would think that satellite photos would show a change in vegetation that could illuminate likely sites.
As a general book of the war in the South, I recommend this book by my buddy David Wilson “The Southern Strategy”. He covers most of the war in the South up to and including the Siege of Charleston. He is planning another book at this time.
Last Summer I drove through the Brier (Briar) Creek battle field area and took pictures. The following link will take you to a slide show of those photos. We started at the bridge crossing Brier Creek and traveled up to Millhaven, where the Lobsterbacks crossed the creek to get at the American Camp.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IZuGTRuxasWOc
Also, have some photos of the battle Kettle Creek. It was as the same time as Brier Creek but further north in Georgia.
http://share.shutterfly.com/action/welcome?sid=0IZuGTRuxasWOv
If you chose the slideshow option, it works better.
Also, another friend of mine is in the process of designing a historical board wargame covering this battle. Interested parties would want to watch the GMT games website for this.
Interesting.
Thanks for posting.
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