Everybody loves a good story, and on our Ebenezer-Brier Creek Adventure March 13-15, we shared some good ones.
That’s due in part to the rich history found along these Savannah River tributaries. The Savannah was the first path into inland Georgia during the colonial period and as such, there’s more recorded history along the Savannah than there is on any other Georgia river. Indeed, by 1800, the three largest cities in Georgia were Savannah, Augusta and Petersburg–all on the banks of the river. Along the Savannah, there are stories everywhere.
As we celebrate America’s 250th birthday, the question of what stories are told and by whom haunts us. Do we squash stories of injustice that are integral to our nation’s founding and growth? Or do we own these injustices, grapple with them and strive to form a “more perfect union” as the preamble to our Constitution suggests?
On our journeys down Ebenezer and Brier creeks, we confronted these questions.
On Ebenezer, we stood on the very place where an untold number of recently liberated enslaved men, women and children chose to cross the rain-swollen and frigid creek in December 1864 rather than risk being returned to slavery or killed by Confederate cavalry. They were forced to make this choice because the Union Army, which they believed they were following to freedom, pulled up the pontoon bridge across the creek before they could cross. In the chaos that ensued, hundreds drowned trying to reach safety on the other side of Ebenezer.
The incident directly led to the federal government’s Reconstruction-era “40 acres and a mule” policy for liberated slaves and set aside hundreds of thousands of acres to be distributed to them along the Georgia coast. That promise of a promising future was later broken with the assassination of President Lincoln and the ascension of President Andrew Johnson who rescinded the policy.
On Brier Creek, we visited the Revolutionary War battlefield site where Patriot soldiers were routed and ran into the Brier Creek and Savannah River swamps to save their lives. Many perished trying to swim across the big river. Most of the names of those who died in the battle and chaotic retreat are unknown. Our docent at the battlefield site, John Derden, made note that in this battle it was not imported British soldiers fighting Patriots. It was instead a battle between fellow colonists. The vast majority of loyalist soldiers in Georgia were also colonists, just like their Patriot adversaries. It was not a battle against a “foreign army;” it was a battle between neighbors. To this, I thought, we have been divided as a country from the beginning.
At night we camped on the site of New Ebenezer, a settlement of German Lutherans established in 1733 along the west bank of the Savannah about 30 miles upstream from Savannah. The preacher-leaders of this community were required to send daily reports to their church sponsors in Europe. We learned from historian/archaeologist Dan Elliott that the reports, once published by the church and shared with the public, were heavily redacted to paint a perhaps more pious and rosy portrait of life in the New World. It wasn’t until the modern era when the pastor’s original handwritten reports became available that a fuller portrait of life at New Ebenezer was revealed. It was not all silk and roses.
Unless all the stories are told, our real history is incomplete.
Historian, farmer and Savannah tour guide Dr. Jamal Toure joined us for a portion of our paddle down Ebenezer Creek and after the trip painted a fuller portrait of the “camp followers” tagging behind the Union Army as it made its way to Ebenezer Creek. Among the travelers was a woman named Betty who gained notoriety on the journey by cooking for her fellow sojourners. Each night she asked about for “Nan,” the daughter who was sold from her arms as a young child. Miraculously, after days of searching, the mother and now-grown daughter reunited amidst the chaos of the journey.
“We need African-American stories, Asian-American stories, European-American stories, Native American stories,” Toure said. Only then can we fully understand our collective history, he said. That understanding has the power to bring us together.
One More Story
Among our band of some 35 travelers on Ebenezer and Brier Creek were Marion and Harriett Nelson of Milledgeville. Avid bicyclists, the couple was on a ride in the early 2020s when a wreck sent Harriett cartwheeling over her handlebars and crashing into the pavement. Harriett and Marion shared her story with us:
She broke her skull, ribs and pelvis and lost an eye. She suffered a severe brain injury, was unconscious for two weeks and spent five months in the hospital and the Shepherd Clinic just trying to learn to walk again. Shortly after she was released and back home, she told Marion, “I want to ride my bike again.” To which he replied, “Absolutely not!”
But, she kept insisting. Said Marion: “She’s as stubborn/hard headed as she was before the accident.” Marion ultimately gave in saying he couldn’t abide living a life indoors for fear of getting hurt. Before long, Harriett was back on her bike. Now they routinely ride 20-30 miles together.
Our route on Brier Creek included a 1.5-mile paddle upstream on a Savannah River flowing at 6500 cfs. Harriett was the first one to finish the slog against the current.
If you’ve ever afeared of that next adventure, remember Harriett. Never stop. Keep going. Inspire someone else.
Joe Cook
March 16. 2026
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