“This slim but valuable work will help anyone … highlight where their ancestors lived. Graham has studied the original information and other maps to make this the most authoritative work on the subject.” –Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr.
Researchers studying the people and land of east Georgia should always have a ready map reference to watercourses and militia districts. Those two features are used to identify the location of land and residences, where streams often serve as property boundaries and tax and census records are arranged by militia district. This atlas is a functional research aid, with fifty individual county maps encompassing the entire region granted under the headright land system.
Land descriptions in Georgia’s headright area refer to watercourses and adjoining land owners to identify boundaries. Tax, census, and other government records are arranged by militia district. Many tax digests also include references to watercourses. Because of their use in legal documents, watercourses and militia districts are the two most important features for locating land and the places people lived in the headright area of Georgia. This book is meant to provide a map reference to those features. Each county is presented on a single page, giving researchers a quick reference that can easily be copied and used for note taking.
The names of major watercourses are the same today as they were during the earliest periods of settlement. Minor creeks and branches often went unnamed for decades, many only becoming named in the 20th Century. Until the 1840s and 1850s, militia districts were generally named after the captain. Each time a new captain was voted into command, the district name changed. Just before the Civil War, this practice went out of favor and militia district names became permanent. Some retained the name of a captain but most took names of features in the area, like rivers or communities. Because militia districts are minor civil divisions their boundaries have changed regularly over time, with new districts being created and old ones abolished. In this way, they are similar to counties. Unfortunately, limited historical details of militia district boundaries have been kept, it only being in the late 19th Century that boundary descriptions began to be maintained by the state. Researchers can assume that districts with higher numbers were cut from nearby districts with lower numbers. Those interested in researching boundary changes over time should first consult Petitions Concerning Militia Districts at the Georgia Archives (RG 3-1-60).
“This slim but valuable work will help anyone … highlight where their ancestors lived. Graham has studied the original information and other maps to make this the most authoritative work on the subject.” –Kenneth H. Thomas, Jr.
Atlas of East and Coastal Georgia Watercourses and Militia Districts 
The Revolutionary War in the Southern Backcountry
James K. Swisher has received the Jefferson Davis Medal given by the United Daughters of the Confederacy and the Virginia State Library Book of the Year Award (2000). He was a Virginia Society of the Book Nominee and has published numerous articles in national publications including “America’s Civil War,” “Confederate Veteran,” “Military Heritage,” and “Military History.” He has a master’s degree in history from the University of Virginia, Charlottesville, and he is a member of the Sons of Confederate Veterans and Sons of the American Revolution. He serves on the Lynchburg Museum Board and the Lynchburg Civil War Roundtable.
Small armies of men waged a ferocious series of battles in the southern theater, changing the outcome of the Revolutionary War. When the British effort to subdue the Colonies moved to the southern provinces, the men of Appalachia sought to protect their homes and families. In the winter of 1780-81, the turning point of the southern war occurred in the Carolina back country. A trio of battles occurred at Kings Mountain, Cowpens, and Guilford Court House. These clashes proved pivotal to American independence, destroying British army capability in the south and facilitating the American victory at Yorktown.
