Portal:Georgia (U.S. state)/Selected article/20

The Battle of Kettle Creek (February 14, 1779) was a major encounter in the back country of Georgia during the American Revolutionary War. It was fought in Wilkes County about eight miles (13 km) from present-day Washington, Georgia. A militia force of Patriot decisively defeated and scattered a Loyalist militia force that was on its way to British-controlled Augusta. The victory demonstrated the inability of British forces to hold the interior of the state, or to protect even sizable numbers of Loyalist recruits outside their immediate protection. The British, who had already decided to abandon Augusta, recovered some prestige a few weeks later, surprising a Patriot force in the Battle of Brier Creek. Georgia's back country would not come fully under British control until after the 1780 Siege of Charleston broke Patriot forces in the south.