Battle of Swift Creek Battle of Swift Creek The Battle of Swift Creek or Arrowfield Church was fought on May 9, 1864, between Union and Confederate forces during the American Civil War. Union forces were only partially successful: they inflicted damage on the local railroad, but further advance was halted. On May 9, Maj. Gen. Benjamin Butler made a thrust toward Petersburg and was met by Bushrod Johnson's Division at Swift Creek. A premature Confederate attack at Arrowfield Church was driven back with heavy losses, but Union forces did not follow up. After skirmishing, Butler seemed content to tear up the railroad tracks and
Battle of Brier Creek court martial acquitted him of charges of cowardice, but did convict him of failure to secure his camp. Brier Creek stalemated American attempts to force the enemy out of the new state and guaranteed British domination of the region. William Moultrie, in his memoirs of the war, wrote that the loss at Brier Creek extended the war by a year and made possible the British invasion of South Carolina in 1780. It also caused the state of Georgia to temporarily revert to British colony status from 1779 to 1782. Battle of Brier Creek The Battle of Brier Creek was an