While the majority of the American Revolutionary War took place within the lines of the original 13 states, some important action took place outside of the states. The Battle of Thomas Creek earned the distinction of being the southernmost land battle of the Revolution. Fighting took place in British-controlled East Florida, where loyalists to the crown faced off against Georgia patriots.
If the Battle of Gettysburg was "high tide" to mark the furthest point to the north the Confederates would reach during the Civil War, then Thomas Creek was "low tide" for the patriots during the Revolutionary War.
Before the war and after Britain took Florida from Spain in 1763, the colony’s white population was relatively small. To increase these numbers, the crown bestowed land grants on some, while loyalist Americans from nearby states migrated to Florida to get away from patriot revolutionaries and related activity.
Florida's St. Augustine was Great Britain’s military anchor on the far southern flank of the war. That’s the region where loyalists decided to take cover.
By late 1776 and early 1777, cross-border raiding between Georgia patriots and East Florida loyalists had become a part of daily life. Farmers would see their cattle taken, their plantations harassed, and local residents being forced to take sides.
After a February raid into Georgia from Florida, led by loyalist leader Thomas Brown, Georgia leaders decided to counterstrike into East Florida. The plan was to push through the colony to St. Augustine. Plan B for the patriots was to, at a minimum, break the infrastructure the loyalists had been using to mount raids into Georgia. This all hinged on a coordinated overland mounted force and troop movements on water.
Georgia’s political leadership, which included Button Gwinnett, authorized an expedition that put Continental troops and militia under Col. Samuel Elbert. Lt. Col. John Baker led a mounted detachment that moved overland and waited at a rendezvous point. Meanwhile, Elbert’s main troops approached by water. The plan was to strike deeper into East Florida before British defenders could mobilize in any concentrated numbers.
The first problem for the patriots is that they didn’t adequately scout the terrain. East Florida had a robust network of loyalist militia and British regulars who guarded all of the approaches. The King’s Road enabled the loyalists and the British army to move efficiently.
In short, the British did not have their guard down, literally. Gov. Patrick Tonyn at St. Augustine operated under the assumption that in the event of an invasion, the side that would win was the one that learned first, moved first, and chose the ground for the battle.
Baker’s mounted men reached the rendezvous point, but Elbert’s arrival by water was delayed. This delay was costly. A mounted detachment sitting in hostile territory was both visible and vulnerable. The men were forced to forage, to send patrols, and to defend a fixed camp that enemy scouts were able to detect.
Baker sent out reconnaissance, and when it returned to camp, the patrol reported that British and loyalist troops were now aware of the patriot approach, and they were preparing to fight. And they were not alone. Allied American Indian warriors, said to be from the Creek and Muscogee, stole horses from the patriot camp.
When patriots tracked them down and engaged in fighting to recover the stolen horses, they killed at least one warrior. Historians say that the patriots mutilated the body of that dead warrior, which enraged the other allied warriors.
Baker then shifted his position so that if need be, he could more efficiently retreat. That retreat would take him and his men toward Thomas Creek, which was a tributary to the Nassau River. What Baker didn’t realize at the time was that he had just repositioned into terrain perfect for an ambush – of him. Natural barriers, such as woods, limited sight lines, and water obstacles that restricted his movement, combined to give the loyalists and the British regulars better predictability on where the patriots would move next.
Scouts watched the King’s Road and nearby crossings. By now, they knew where the patriot camp was located. With that, they set an ambush. They prepared to strike from the front and the flank, and to block all escape routes.
The battle itself did not take long. On the morning of May 17, 1777, Brown’s mixed force, which consisted of loyalists, British regulars, and American Indian warriors, launched a close-range volley that broke apart Baker’s mounted column. This sent many Patriots retreating back into swamps or the route they used to enter the territory.
Maj. James Marcus Prevost was a British regular officer who brought regular troops forward and was the British regulars’ commander at Thomas Creek. His troops advanced in formation – three columns with fixed bayonets – folding Baker’s formation and accelerating its collapse. Baker and a few men escaped, but many did not.
While the Battle of Thomas Creek was indeed a battle, it was dictated more by the element of surprise than by drawn-out gunfire and combat. Once the patriot lines fell apart, their mounted militia scattered quickly.
The British and loyalists won a decisive and quick victory. While numbers varied depending on the source, roughly eight patriots were killed. Nine were wounded, and about 31 were taken prisoner.
But that wasn’t the end of it. Thomas Creek went down in history in large part because of what happened after the battle. The allied warriors killed a portion of the patriot prisoners in revenge for the earlier killing and mutilation of that other warrior. Some accounts used the term “massacre” to describe the killings.
In the end, the British won the battle and successfully defended their stronghold in East Florida. And they deterred future raids by the patriots.
The patriots came away with one lesson, which was that if they were to see the strategic advantage in attacking East Florida, they would need to take its fortifications and the terrain much more seriously.
And so, in 1778, the patriots tried one more and final land invasion into East Florida, fighting at Alligator Bridge. Prevost was there to greet them once again, and the outcome was the same. The patriots withdrew from the field of battle.
These were the two Southernmost land actions of the Revolutionary era.
