Stewart County GaArchives Photo Place.....Battle Of Shepherd's Plantation (Florence) 2 April 7, 2006
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File contributed for use in USGenWeb Archives by:
Christine Thacker CGT714@AOL.com April 9, 2006, 3:11 pm

Source:             Christine Thacker
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    http://tfn.net/~cdk901/2crekwar1.htm  Link to

The Creek War of 1836 on the Chattahoochee River
(part I of II, of the 2nd Creek War) 
 by Christopher Kimball

Abstracted the part about the Battle.

         Battle of Shepherd's Plantation:

The Battle of Shepherd's Plantation in Stewart County, Georgia was one of the 
more costly battles for the Georgia Militia. 

A Georgia Militia Company commanded by Captain Hammond Garmany from Gwinnett 
County was mustered and sent down to Stewart County to defend the settlements 
and help round up the Creeks.  As Garmany's soldiers were sitting down for 
dinner on the afternoon of June 9, 1836, they heard two shots in the distance. 
Thinking that it was another local militia company, they went to investigate. 
Apparently these shots were part of a carefully laid trap by the Creeks that 
the company soon fall into. 

Garmany's Company went about a half mile, and the men carried nothing but their 
arms and ammunition. They found the Creeks in a wooded spot, and took cover 
behind trees and fired.  The Creeks fell back, and the company moved forward 
and fired again. The Creeks moved back a second time, and the company moved 
forward again.  Soon Garmany's men noticed that each time they would send a 
volley of fire, the Creeks would fall back further, but each time more warriors 
would join them.  Garmany's men, numbering about 40, soon found themselves 
almost surrounded by at least 250 Creek warriors. 

Captain Garmany ordered a retreat so they would not get completely surrounded. 
The company fired and fell back, and ran. The soldiers start to get separated 
and scattered. Captain Garmany and several of his men fell back a half-mile to 
a local farm and homestead.  Not all of the men joined him, and some were 
separated in other wooded areas. 

Garmany reached the farm, and the soldiers set up defensive positions. Creek 
warriors were approaching from the other side of the homestead. Close fighting 
ensued. Captain Garmany is shot in the thigh, and at first the men thought he 
was killed until he let them know that he still lived. The soldiers were 
surrounded and under heavy fire. Suddenly, 30 more militia soldiers arrived 
under the Command of Major Jernigan of Stewart County. Jernigan was three miles 
away at Fort Jones, and realized that Garmany needed help when he heard the 
distant firing.  Jernigan's men fired on the Indians, and distracted them 
enough for Garmany and his men to escape.  17 more soldiers of Garmany's 
company later arrive from nearby Fort McCreary. 

Of the other soldiers that scattered and were not with Garmany, they had a very 
difficult time.  Creek warriors chased them over two miles through woods and 
homesteads.  Eight men of Garmany's command were killed; most being ones who 
were scattered apart from the main group.  They were found hiding in different 
places and killed one by one.  One private describes that he was fleeing so 
fast that he was dropping everything, including his oversized clothes that were 
slowing him down.  By the time he was found by another soldier, he had nothing 
but his musket without accouterments, hiding in the mud of the swamp.  Being 
naked and covered in muck, the soldier who found him almost mistook him for a 
Creek warrior. 
 
            

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