Battle of Thomas Creek 1777
Recorded location from Wikidata; battle sites are often approximate.
Key facts
| Date | 17 May 1777 | Wikidata |
|---|---|---|
| Year | 1777 | Wikidata P585 (point in time) |
| Era | Early modern (1500–1799) | derived from year |
| Location | United States | Natural Earth (modern borders) |
| Continent | North America | Natural Earth |
| War / conflict | American Revolutionary War | Wikidata P361 |
| Participants | Kingdom of Great Britain, United States | Wikidata P710 |
| Coordinates | 30.5056, -81.7916 | Wikidata P625 |
About the battle
The Battle of Thomas Creek, also known as the Thomas Creek Massacre, was an ambush of a small detachment of mounted Georgia Militia by a mixed force of British soldiers, Loyalist militia, and British-allied Indians on May 17, 1777 near the mouth of Thomas Creek in northern East Florida. The encounter was the only major engagement in the second of three failed attempts by American forces to invade East Florida in the early years of the American Revolutionary War.
The invasion attempt consisted of a naval flotilla carrying Continental Army troops and a company of militia cavalry traveling overland. The flotilla was delayed in reaching the rendezvous point, and British intelligence had learned of the expedition and located the cavalry. The British established an ambush, which broke up and scattered the cavalry, taking more than 30 prisoners. The Muscogee were reported to have killed a number of the captives in cold blood afterward in revenge for the death of a member of their own tribe in an earlier skirmish.
Colonel Samuel Elbert, the invasion commander, abandoned the expedition when his flotilla was confronted by narrow channels and prepared British defenses.
Text adapted from the Wikipedia article Battle of Thomas Creek (revision 1371340189), licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0. Changes: excerpted from the article lead section; shortened by selecting paragraphs and trimming at a sentence boundary; formatting and citations removed. No text added.
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Other battles of the American Revolutionary War
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- Battle of White Plains 1776
- Battle of the Rice Boats 1776
- Fortification of Dorchester Heights 1776
- Landing at Kip's Bay 1776
- Battle of Bennington 1777
- Battle of Bound Brook 1777
- Battle of Brandywine 1777
- Battle of Cooch's Bridge 1777
- Battle of Fort Anne 1777
All 190 battles of the American Revolutionary War →
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