Brigadier General Samuel Elbert's story spans most of Georgia's history in the eighteenth century. He is best remembered for his role as a commander of Georgia troops during the American Revolution. Before the war, he was a prominent Savannah merchant and a member of the General Assembly when James Wright was Georgia's governor. In 1775, Elbert was instrumental in bringing the Revolution to Georgia and he soon commanded Continental forces in the conflict. He emerged as a significant leader in the age of Revolution in Georgia and participated in almost every major battle in the state prior to his capture at Brier Creek on March 3, 1779. Elbert was present at the Battle of the Rice Boats in 1776, a participant in two of Georgia's three campaigns into Florida, commanded American troops during the action on the Frederica River in 1778, and was in Savannah when it fell to the British on December 29, 1778. After his exchange, he went to Yorktown, Virginia, and joined George Washington's forces, where he witnessed the surrender of Lord Cornwallis's British army in 1781. In 1785, Elbert became Georgia's governor, but his one-year term was plagued by border conflicts, particularly with the Creek Indians over the Oconee Lands. Among his most enduring legacies are the creation of independent masonry in Georgia, the chartering of Franklin College which later became the University of Georgia, and a county in the northeast section of the state that bears his name.
