Prettyman Berry In Creek War
Prettyman Berry was enlisted as a translator for Captain Garmany's Mounted
Volunteers in Georgia.
Enlisted May 24, 1836 and served under Captain
Hammond Garmany and First Lieutenant John N. Reeves.
Prettyman was in the battle at Shepard's Plantation in Stewart County,
Georgia on June 9, 1836.
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, Georgia 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 fell 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 farmstead. 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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