The Search and Discovery of Captain Robert Carr's Fort and Its Revolutionary War Battlefield Wilkes County, Georgia

This report details the LAMAR Institute's search and discovery of Captain Robert Carr's Georgia militia fort and the military engagement that happened there on February 10, 1779. This important historic place lay hidden in the forests of Wilkes County, Georgia for more than two centuries. This research project was a systematic hunt for the archeological vestiges of the fort and the battleground. Battlefield archeology, or conflict archeology, has grown increasingly popular as a research topic since the 1980s. The LAMAR Institute has led a number of battlefield studies in the southeastern United States since 2001. The successful search for Carr's fort advances our understanding of the American Revolution in the southern colonies and it creates an important new historical landmark in northern Georgia. Major funding for this research came from a 2012 Research Grant from the United States Department of the Interior, National Park Service, American Battlefield Protection Program (Grant Number GA 2255-12-009). The National Park Service, particularly Matt Border, Paul Hawke, Greg Hindsley, and Kristen McMasters of its American Battlefield Protection Program (ABPP) were strong supporters of the Carr's Fort Battlefield Survey project. A generous grant from the Kettle Creek Battlefield Association (KCBA) helped support these efforts. The KCBA and particularly several of its members including Joseph Harris, Tom Owens, and Larry Wilson, were robust advocates of the Carr's fort project. The Plum Creek Foundation provided a generous grant to the LAMAR Institute to research primary documents pertaining to the American Revolution in Georgia. While the Plum Creek Foundation grant was not aimed specifically at the archeology portion of the Carr's fort project, many of the documents that were examined at various archives in the United States and Great Britain helped to create a historical context for the battle. Plum Creek representative Jim Rundorff also was helpful in providing access to Plum Creek property in the study vicinity. Archeologists David C. Crass and Brian Tucker of the Georgia Department of Natural Resources were very supportive of the LAMAR Institute's Revolutionary War research efforts. The Sons of the American Revolution advanced the effort, particularly Terry Manning, President of the Georgia Sons of the American Revolution and David Jenkins, head of the Washington-Wilkes Chapter. Additional support for the work also came from the LAMAR Institute and volunteer labor from the project crew members and other volunteers (Greg Beavers, P.T. Ashlock, II, Dawn Chapman Ashlock, Rita Folse Elliott, Michael Griffin, Joel Jones and Brett Osborn).