Walton War - Course of The War

Course of The War

The war reached its zenith in late 1804, when the Walton County government tried to collect taxes in the Orphan Strip. Settlers who claimed to be part of North Carolina's Buncombe County refused to pay these taxes, which resulted in multiple confrontations of Buncombe supporters. Some argue that these confrontations were, in fact, the major battles of the war at McGaha Branch and Selica Hill while others argue that the Walton War consisted of no real battles. Either way, these confrontations were usually violent, and even led to the war’s only definite casualty. On December 14, 1804 John Havner was killed after being hit in the head with a musket. Havner’s death led to the decision of the Buncombe County government to bring in the militia for protection, and on December 19 Major James Brittain led a detachment of 72 militiamen into the Orphan Strip. Upon their arrival, the militia arrested ten officials from Walton County and took them to Morganton, North Carolina to be tried for the murder of John Havner. All ten prisoners managed to escape and flee before the trial had begun, but it was later concluded that Samuel McAdams was responsible for Havner’s death. The appearance of the North Carolinian militia and the arresting of the ten Walton County officials effectively led to the collapse of the Walton County government because the county was too isolated from Georgia’s main cities for a strong defense of the Georgian claim to be made.