Buck Head Creek was a Civil War engagement fought in Georgia, 1864. It was a Union victory.
As Sherman's infantry marched southeast through Georgia, his cavalry, under Brig. Gen. Judson Kilpatrick moved northeastward, on November 24, 1864, to destroy the railroad midway between Augusta and Millen, burn the trestle near Briar Creek and, if possible, release Union prisoners confined at Camp Lawton, near Millen, while feigning a drive towards Augusta. Confederate Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler was fooled and concentrated his cavalry forces around Augusta. When Kilpatrick did not show, Wheeler realized his mistake and rode off in an attempt to catch his Union counterpart. On the 26th, Wheeler caught up with two lagging Union regiments, attacked their camp, chased them to the larger force and prevented Kilpatrick from destroying the Briar Creek trestle. Kilpatrick instead destroyed a mile of track in the area and moved southwest to join up with Sherman. Kilpatrick also discovered that the Union prisoners at Camp Lawton had been taken to other unknown sites. He encamped near Buck Head Creek on the night of the 27th. Wheeler came along the next morning, almost captured Kilpatrick, and pursued him and his men to Buck Head Creek. As Kilpatrick's main force crossed the creek, one regiment, supported by artillery, fought a rearguard action severely punishing Wheeler and then burned the bridge behind them. Wheeler soon crossed and followed, but a Union brigade behind barricades at Reynolds's Plantation halted the Rebels' drive, eventually forcing them to retire.
Fought on November 28, 1864, the clash known as the Battle of Buckhead Creek (sometimes rendered Buck Head Creek) or the Battle of Reynolds' Plantation marked the second engagement of Sherman's March to the Sea during the American Civil War. Brig. Gen. Hugh Judson Kilpatrick's Union cavalry turned back an assault from Maj. Gen. Joseph Wheeler's small Confederate cavalry corps, though the Federal horsemen ultimately gave up their plan to wreck railroads and free Union prisoners of war.
Two Union regiments that had fallen behind found themselves under attack from Wheeler on November 26, who chased them back toward the main body and thwarted Kilpatrick's plan to destroy the Briar Creek trestle. Denied that target, Kilpatrick tore up a mile of track nearby instead. Learning that the Union captives held at Camp Lawton had already been moved to sites unknown to him, he turned his column southwest, aiming to link up with the headquarters of Maj. Gen. William T. Sherman.
The night of November 27 found Kilpatrick's command camped by Buckhead Creek. Wheeler arrived the following morning and came close to seizing Kilpatrick himself, then chased him and his troops all the way to the creek. While the bulk of Kilpatrick's force made the crossing, Col. Thomas T. Heath's 5th Ohio Cavalry, backed by a pair of artillery pieces, held the line behind a barricade made of rails. Their canister fire inflicted heavy losses on Wheeler's pursuing horsemen before they set the bridge ablaze once they had crossed it. Wheeler managed to get across in time to continue the chase, but the advance stalled when a Union brigade entrenched behind barricades at Reynolds' Plantation blocked the way, ultimately compelling his men to pull back. From there Kilpatrick pressed on toward Louisville, Georgia, where he rejoined Sherman.
The Union side counted 46 casualties from the fighting. Kilpatrick put Confederate losses at roughly 600, though Wheeler's own figures put the number closer to 70, a tally that included Brig. Gen. Felix H. Robertson, who suffered a severe elbow wound.
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