Buck Head Creek
Civil War Georgia

American Civil War
November 28, 1864

As General Sherman's infantry marched southeast through Georgia, his cavalry, under Brigadier General Judson Kilpatrick moved northeastward, on November 24, 1864, to destroy the railroad midway between Augusta and Millen, burn the trestle near Briar Creek and, if possible, release Union prisoners confined at Camp Lawton, near Millen, while feigning a drive towards Augusta.

Confederate Major General Joseph Wheeler was fooled and concentrated his cavalry forces around Augusta. When Kilpatrick did not show, Wheeler realized his mistake and rode off in an attempt to catch his Union counterpart. On the 26th, Wheeler caught up with two lagging Union regiments, attacked their camp, chased them to the larger force and prevented Kilpatrick from destroying the Briar Creek trestle.

Kilpatrick instead destroyed a mile of track in the area and moved southwest to join up with Sherman. Kilpatrick also discovered that the Union prisoners at Camp Lawton had been taken to other unknown sites. He encamped near Buck Head Creek on the night of the 27th. Wheeler came along the next morning, almost captured Kilpatrick, and pursued him and his men to Buck Head Creek. As Kilpatrick's main force crossed the creek, one regiment, supported by artillery, fought a rearguard action severely punishing Wheeler and then burned the bridge behind them.

Wheeler soon crossed and followed, but a Union brigade behind barricades at Reynolds's Plantation halted the Rebels' drive, eventually forcing them to retire.

Result(s): Inconclusive (Both sides claimed victory, but Union troops quickly retreated to Louisville.)

Location: Jenkins County

Campaign: Savannah Campaign (1864)

Date(s): November 28, 1864

Principal Commanders: Brigadier General H. Judson Kilpatrick [US]; Major General Joseph Wheeler [CS]

Forces Engaged: 3rd Cavalry Division, Military Division of the Mississippi [US]; cavalry corps, Department of South Carolina, Georgia, and Florida [CS]

Estimated Casualties: 646 total (US 46; CS 600)


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The casual reader may find the quantity of information contained in Red Clay to Richmond somewhat daunting, but a reader possessed with a working knowledge of the war's people, places, and battles, will find this book to be an excellent synopsis of the war role of the 35th Georgia. The book's greatest strength, however, is the recounting of the experiences of the 35th's soldiers as they trekked through Virginia, Maryland, and Pennsylvania before coming home.
The most in-depth and complete account of the heroic but vain fight of the Georgia troops made up of militia, state line, Athens and Augusta work battalions in their stand against Sherman's hardened veterans on their March to the Sea. In defense of family and homes the 4,000-5,000 Georgia troops under Brigadier General Phillips attacked the Union right wing at Griswoldville, Georgia November 22, 1864. The Georgia troops surged forward seven times against the entrenched Union lines. Statistics show more casualties than any other fight of the Civil War in proportion to the number of troops engaged.
This book shows better than any other the disruptive effect of the Civil War on the lives of real Southern people. In 1,300 letters between many family members, this magnificant book chronicles the Jones family of Liberty County, Georgia from 1854 until the late 1860s. We see the family's lives from day to day as war clouds gather, the son becomes Mayor of Savannah, the army is raised, Sherman's army arrives and pillages the plantation every day for a month, the family becomes destitute refugees from the chaos of war, the slaves become free workers, etc. We see into the minds and hearts of this good family, experience their births and deaths, joys and sorrows and fears, at the time of the nation's greatest political crisis.
Carved In Stone is the story of the development of Stone Mountain, Georgia, from a natural wonder, to an historic site, to a recreational park. Stone Mountain is the largest exposed mass of granite in the world. Sixteen miles east of Atlanta, the 825-food dome rises to 1,683 feet above sea level. The northern face of the mountain is a perpendicular cliff nearly fifty stories tall. The world's largest piece of sculpture (where ride gigantic carved figures of three Confederate heroes: Robert E. Lee, Jefferson Davis, and Stonewall Jackson) is a part of Stone Mountain's majesty.
From the first conflict under General Nathan Bedford Forrest at Murfreesboro in 1862 to the desperate and often brutal battles with Union cavalry in the Carolinas during 1865, the Second Georgia was almost constantly in action. While the Second Georgia fought in such famous campaigns as Perryville, Stones River, Chickamauga, Knoxville, Resaca, Atlanta, and Bentonville, they also participated in deadly encounters at Farmington, Mossy Creek, Noonday Creek, Sunshine Church, and Waynesboro. Many of these conflicts are obscure to all but the most ardent Civil War historians. This is the first regimental history of a Georgia Cavalry regiment ever published. The Second Georgia served under both Nathan Bedford Forrest and Joe Wheeler.


Source:
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U.S. Library of Congress