Fork of the Hooper [Ohoope], Georgia
3 December 1781
The Chicamauga Indians were desperate for trade goods or other supplies. A party of Chicamaugas and some traders attempted to slip through the countryside to Savannah, but two Creek Indians informed General Twiggs in Augusta.
On December 1st Twiggs gathered seventy-two officers and men, all the militia he could. They rode out to intercept the Chicamaugas. At daybreak on December 3rd Twiggs and his Georgians found the Chicamaugas in the Fork of the Hooper [Ohoope] River, about thirty miles from Ogeechee. The Georgians immediately attacked.
The Indians were no match for the backwoodsmen and they were soon overwhelmed. Twenty Indians were killed, along with twelve white traders. Seven women and two children were captured. Among the Indian prisoners was the daughter of Oconnostota. There were 199 horses, 15,000 pounds of deerskins, and 1,500 beaver pelts that were seized. It was not a one sided battle. Twiggs lost twelve men in the fighting, one sixth of his men.
Ten days later eight of Twigg’s riflemen, under the command of Benjamin Brantley, mistakenly ambushed a group of fellow Patriots near McBean’s Swamp. In the group were Meyrick Davis, who was President of the council in Augusta, Joel Lewis and Major David Emanuel. Both Davis and Lewis were killed in the fratricide.
By the spring of 1782 no Indian parties would be able to get through to Savannah, and no British support was coming out. The Chicamaugas would be on their own.