TWIGGS COUNTY. 567 



a body of men, he went in pursuit of his old enemy McGirth, 

 whose depredations upon the defenceless frontiers had created 

 great alarm ; but his knowledge of the country enabled him 

 again to make his escape. At this period, also, he was en- 

 gaged south of Savannah, in checking the operations of the ene- 

 my's scouting parties. At the Fish Dam fords he contributed 

 greatly to the victory gained by the Americans over the Bri- 

 tish, commanded by Major Wemyss ; and a few days after- 

 wards, at Blackstock's house, at the head of his band of Geor- 

 gians, he resisted the furious charge of Tarlton's cavalry. 

 Justice has not been done to the Georgia officers engaged in 

 this battle. We have no desire to lessen the glory of Sumter 

 in this action ; but it is the opinion of many, and of some too 

 who participated in the battle, that the venerable historian of 

 South Carolina, Dr. Ramsey, does not give a proper share of 

 praise to the Georgia officers. Sumter, it is true, commanded 

 at the beginning of the action, but receiving a wound, he was 

 compelled to retire from the field. The command then de- 

 volved upon the oldest Georgia officer, Col. Twiggs, and to 

 this officer, and his associates, Jackson, Chandler, and Clarke, is 

 due much of the glory of the victory. When Brown surrendered 

 to the arms of the Americans at Augusta, Twiggs was present, 

 and shared in all the toils and dangers of that memorable oc- 

 casion. When the Legislature met in Augusta, in 1781, in 

 consideration of the gallant services of Colonel Twiggs, he was 

 appointed a Brigadier General. His attention was now turned 

 to the eastern part of the State, and having advanced with his 

 army as far as Burke county, he learned that large bodies of 

 loyalists and Indians were collecting on the western frontiers ; 

 upon which he retraced his steps to Augusta, for the purpose 

 of concerting a plan of operations to disperse them. During 

 the remainder of the revolutionary conflict he was incessant- 

 ly engaged, and at all times acquitted himself as a patriot 

 soldier. When the war closed he retired, but only for a brief 

 period, to his plantation in Richmond county, for the Indian 

 difficulties called him again from his home. To thwart the 

 designs of the savages, goaded on by unprincipled men, re- 

 quired consummate skill and prudence ; and the government 

 of Georgia, believing that General Twiggs possessed in a high 



