Elijah Clarke

Portrait by Rembrandt Peale

Elijah Clarke (1733 – December 15, 1799), born in Anson County, North Carolina, was a Continental Army officer and hero of the American Revolutionary War serving in the southern theater. Afterward he was elected to the Georgia legislature. In 1794 he organized the Trans-Oconee Republic, several settlements in counties of Georgia in traditional Creek territory. From there he attacked Creek villages, but was restrained by the Georgia government.

Early life and education

Clarke was born in Anson County, North Carolina. As a young man, he moved from North Carolina to Wilkes County, Georgia.

Military career

In 1774 Clarke joined the Patriot militia. In 1777 he was involved in an unsuccessful invasion of East Florida from Georgia. As a colonel he served under Andrew Pickens and alongside John Dooly in several actions in 1779. He led one wing in the Patriot victory at the Kettle Creek in February of that year, but was taken prisoner in the Battle of Brier Creek just a few weeks later. He was exchanged in 1780.

On August 18 (or 19), 1780, Cols. Clarke, Isaac Shelby with the Overmountain Men from the Watauga Association at Sycamore Shoals near present-day Elizabethton, Tennessee, and James Miller from the Ninety-Six District of South Carolina, led 200 mounted Patriots in a surprising victory against a larger British Loyalist force numbering 500 men at the Battle of Musgrove Mill near the present-day city of Clinton, South Carolina.

In September 1780, Clarke led an army in an unsuccessful attempt to reclaim Augusta, Georgia from the British. He would later succeed in taking the city with Andrew Pickens in a two-month siege beginning in April 1781.

Political career

After the war, Clarke served in the Georgia General Assembly from 1781 to 1790. After his service in the state legislature, he became involved in some speculative and ill-thought enterprises.

In 1793, with the encouragement of the French ambassador Edmond-Charles Genêt, Clarke entered the French army as a major general and participated in designs against the Spanish in Florida. (Great Britain had ceded its territory in Florida to the Spanish, but by 1793 they were allies of the British.)

The following year, in 1794 Clarke declared what he called the Trans-Oconee Republic, which included settlements in Creek territory in present-day Greene, Morgan, Putnam and Baldwin counties in Georgia. From his new settlements, he led a number of campaigns against the Creek. The State of Georgia ordered Clarke to dismantle his settlements, but he refused. Governor George Mathews, disturbed that Clarke was attempting to create an independent government, ordered the settlements broken up. The Georgia militia accomplished this without violence, and Clarke surrendered.

Clarke was alleged to have participated in the Yazoo Land Fraud, and Governor Mathews was also involved in the scandal. In spite of his questionable post-revolution activities, Clarke continued to be held in high esteem by the public.

He died in Augusta in 1799. He was buried in Lincolnton state park.

Marriage and family

He married and had several children. His son John Clark was elected as governor of Georgia, serving from 1819 to 1823.

Legacy and honors

Clarke County, Georgia is named in honor of Elijah Clarke.

Representation in other media

Clarke and his actions served as one of the sources for the fictional character of Benjamin Martin in The Patriot, a film released in 2000.

External links

• Elijah Clarke, New Georgia Encyclopedia.