“Let me tell you two things. First, I won’t be able to join in the fightin’ but I can set on a horse and I’ll be there with you. Second, we ain’t aimin’ to hold the town after we take it. What I want is Brown and Grierson strung up for their crimes, to prove to Cornwallis that the fightin’ ain’t over, and to see all of you enjoyin’ whatever we find in the storehouse. Colonel Cruger is now in command at Ninety Six, and he’ll be coming down after a few days. We’ll be leavin’ Augusta to see if he can defend both it and his own town.”

Colonel Clarke believed every word of his speech and was euphoric about their prospective victory over his hated enemy. They then began their forty-mile ride over well-known trails toward the town. When they arrived two hours before daybreak, without being detected, Elijah divided his forces into three groups and caught Brown’s 250 troops, mostly Rangers, by surprise. There was massive confusion, because these men had never before defended a stationary position and had no idea that the scattered and demoralized rebels might organize an attack. The Georgia militia had the first encounter with some Creek Indians camped two miles from the town. The Indians fired a few rounds and then hurried to McKay’s Trading Post, where they knew most of the Tory troops were bivouacked.

When Colonel Brown heard the gunshots, he ordered seventy American prisoners and a storehouse of Indian presents placed under a strong guard, and then he and Major Grierson rushed to the trading post. When he realized that he was facing a strong force of Georgia militia, he dispatched a courier for help to Colonel Cruger in Ninety Six, forty-five miles away, but his pride, confidence, and expectation of impending Creek support prevented a real sense of urgency in the message. Brown’s core of defending troops were soon surrounded by their enemies. The Rangers were crack shots and courageous men, and they were able to fight off the attackers throughout the day. The trading post building was too small for the combined Tory forces, so Brown ordered shallow earthworks thrown up around it and that night he enforced them with brush and sharpened tree trunks facing the enemy. Fifty of the Creek Indians, armed with muskets, were placed behind the barricade.