Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I, Part 1

Author: Knight, Lucian Lamar, 1868-1933
Publication date: 1913
Publisher: Atlanta, Ga. : Byrd Printing Co.
Number of Pages: 1148


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Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org.


Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31 | Part 32 | Part 33 | Part 34 | Part 35 | Part 36 | Part 37 | Part 38 | Part 39 | Part 40 | Part 41 | Part 42 | Part 43 | Part 44 | Part 45 | Part 46 | Part 47 | Part 48 | Part 49 | Part 50 | Part 51 | Part 52 | Part 53 | Part 54 | Part 55 | Part 56 | Part 57 | Part 58 | Part 59 | Part 60 | Part 61 | Part 62 | Part 63 | Part 64 | Part 65 | Part 66 | Part 67 | Part 68 | Part 69 | Part 70 | Part 71 | Part 72 | Part 73 | Part 74 | Part 75 | Part 76 | Part 77



Library of the Theological


Seminary,


PRINCETON, N. J.


SCC 6619 vil


Division-


Section


Digitized by the Internet Archive in 2011 with funding from Princeton Theological Seminary Library


http://www.archive.org/details/georgiaslandmark01knig


SACRED


C. J.


THE TOMB OF GENERAL "LIGHT HORSE HARRY" LEE AT DUNGENESS.


LIBRAR RY OF PRINCETUN


NOV 7 1914


THEOLOGICAL SEL ARY


Georgia's Landmarks, Memorials and Legends


COMPLETE IN TWO VOLUMES VOLUME I (ILLUSTRATED)


BY LUCIAN LAMAR KNIGHT (M. A., Princeton) COMPILER OF THE STATE RECORDS OF GEORGIA


Author of "Reminiscences of Famous Georgians," in two volumes; "A Biographical Dictionary of Southern Authors"; " Historical Side-Lights "; Etc.


EDITION DE LUXE FOR PRIVATE DISTRIBUTION


PRINTED FOR THE AUTHOR BY THE BYRD PRINTING COMPANY STATE PRINTERS ATLANTA, GEORGIA 1913


975.8 R.74


THE


YRD DPRINT


INS SO ITLAN


Copyright, 1913 BY LUCIAN LAMAR KNIGHT


DEDICATED


THE


TO PATRIOTIC WOMEN OF GEORGIA-WITH WHATEVER ORGANIZATION OR ORDER CONNECTED-IN THE LEXICON OF WHOSE LOVE THERE IS NO SUCH WORD AS FORGET; WHOSE UNWEARIED EFFORTS TO RESCUE FROM OBLIVION THE FAD-


ING RECORDS OF OUR GREAT COMMONWEALTH HAVE MADE THEM IN A PECULIAR SENSE THE GUARDIANS OF GEORGIA'S IMMORTALITY; WHO, REACHING BACK TO COLONIAL TIMES, HAVE TAUGHT US THE SOLEMN RESPONSIBILITIES OF A VIC- TORIOUS FLAG; WHO COMING DOWN TO CONFEDERATE DAYS, HAVE TAUGHT US THE NO LESS SACRED OBLIGATIONS OF A CONQUERED BANNER; WHO, WITH A MISER'S GREED BUT WITH A VESTAL'S HOLY CARE, HAVE HOARDED EVERY YELLOW GRAIN OF GEORGIA'S SHINING DUST; WHO, IN RECOVERING HER LOST GEMS, IN DEEPENING HER OBSCURED EPITAPHS, AND IN KEEP- ING VIGIL AT HER HALLOWED SHRINES OF DEPARTED GREAT- NESS, HAVE SWEETENED THE MEMORIES OF AN EMPIRE STATE WITH THE FRAGRANT SOUL OF AN IMPERIAL WOMANHOOD; AND WHOSE MISSION, IN AN AGE OF COMMERCE, MAMMON-MAD, IS TO REMIND THE PRESENT THAT LITTLE IN THE WAY OF LIFE'S TRUE RICHES CAN BE PROMISED TO US BY A FUTURE, HOW- EVER GOLDEN, AT THE EXPENSE OF AN UNREMEMBERED PAST.


PREFACE


To the task of compiling this work, the leisure hours of a somewhat busy life have been devoted for the past four years. During this period of time, every section of the State has been visited in person by the author. He has delved into the court- house records kept at the most important county-seats in Geor- gia; has gone through the files of old newspapers; has bent over crumbling tombstones in ancient church-yards and burial- grounds to decipher the almost obliterated epitaphs ; and, leaving the beaten highways of travel, has followed the obscure bridle- paths into many an unfrequented nook and corner of the State. Something over one hundred libraries have been consulted, in addition to which thousands of letters have been written. There is not a patriotic society in Georgia which has not contributed substantially to the progress of this undertaking. Much of the rare information contained in White's two priceless volumes- long since out of print-has been transferred to this work, with due credit; while the essential portions of Sherwood's quaint little Gazetteer have likewise been embodied in "GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS."


It was the author's plan originally to restrict the present work to a single volume of six hundred pages. But the magni- tude of the field was not realized in this early forecast; and to adhere to this original purpose would mean the sacrifice of more than half of the materials gathered through long and patient research. Two volumes, therefore, each of them con- taining one thousand pages, will be required to meet the neces- sary demands of this work. However, by eliminating an agent's commission, the cost of each volume is reduced to a nominal sum and placed within the means of every one who cherishes a just pride in the history of our great State. The first volume, which appears at this time, is divided into two parts, one of which is entitled : "Landmarks and Memorials," while the other con- tains "Historical Outlines, Original Settlers, and Distinguished Residents of the Counties of Georgia." The second volume-by far the richer of the two-will be apportioned into eight parts


VI


PREFACE


as follows : 1. "Landmarks and Memorials ;" 2. "Duels Fought by Noted Georgians;" 3. "Historic Burial-Grounds, Epitaphs, . and Inscriptions ;" 4. "Personal Recollections, Anecdotes, and Reminiscences;" 5. "Myths and Legends of the Indians;" 6. "Tales of the Revolutionary Camp-Fires;" 7. "Georgia Miscel- lanies ;" and 8. an "Analytical Index," containing every im- portant name in any wise connected with Georgia's history, Colonial, Revolutionary, and Commonwealth.


On the very threshold of this work, the author desires to make grateful acknowledgements to those who from the start have given him not only sympathetic encouragement but sub- stantial help, and whose generous co-operation, at each stage of the undertaking, has made an otherwise arduous task compara- tively light. The list includes : Mrs. J. L. Walker, of Waycross, whose research work on the subject of Georgia's buried towns has placed the whole State under obligations to her patriotic pen; Miss Mildred Rutherford, of Athens, Historian-General, U. D. C., whose authoritative writings have furnished a library of information, especially on topics pertaining to the War of Secession ; Miss Annie M. Lane, of Washington, Regent Kettle Creek Chapter, D. A. R., to whom I am indebted for much of the data contained in this work, relating to the historic old county of Wilkes; Colonel A. Gordon Cassels, of Savannah, who accompanied me on a personal visit to the famous Midway District, on the Georgia Coast; Mrs. Sheppard W. Foster, of Atlanta, State Regent, D. A. R., who has given me an abundance of rare information, especially in regard to the graves of Revo- lutionary soldiers; Mrs. John M. Graham, of Marietta, former State Regent, D. A. R .; Miss Ruby Felder Ray, State His- torian, D. A. R .; Hon. Otis Ashemore, of Savannah, Corre- sponding Secretary of the Georgia Historical Society and Superintendent of the Public Schools of Chatham; Hon. Wym- berley Jones DeRenne, of Wormsloe, who possesses the rarest collection of Georgia books and manuscripts in existence ; Judge Walter G. Charlton, of Savannah ; Right Reverend Benjamin J. Keiley, Bishop of the Roman Catholic See of Savannah; Hon. Emory Speer, of Macon, Judge of the Federal Court for the Southern District of Georgia; Mrs. Ella B. Salter, Hepzibah, Ga .; Mrs. Joseph S. Harrison. of Columbus, State Editor,


VTI


PREFACE


D. A. R .; Mrs. II. M. Franklin, of Tennille, State Editor, U. D. C .; Mrs. Maude Barker Cobb, State Librarian of Georgia; Miss Katharine H. Wootten, of Atlanta, Librarian of the Carnegie Library ; Mrs. Richard P. Brooks, of Forsyth, Regent Piedmont Continental Chapter, D. A. R .; Mrs. James Silas Wright, of Brunswick, Regent Brunswick Chapter, D. A. R .; Miss Helen M. Prescott, of Atlanta, Genealogist Joseph Habersham Chapter, D. A .R .; Mrs. Walter S. Wilson, of Savannah; Mrs. Richard Spencer, of Columbus; Mrs. H. H. Tift, of Tifton ; Miss Mary Crawford Hornady, of Dawson; Mrs. R. H. Hardaway, of Newnan ; Mrs. E. G. Nix, of LaGrange; Miss Nora Jones, of Elberton; Mrs. C. K. Henderson, of Lafayette; Mrs. S. J. Jones, of Albany ; Mrs. Jeff Davis, of Quitman; Mrs. J. S. Betts, of Ashburn; Miss Julia King, of Colonel's Island; Miss Belle Bayless, of Kingston; Miss Martha Reid Robinson, of Newnan; Miss Maud Clark Penn, of Monticello; Mrs. Rebecca L. Nesbitt, of Marietta; Mrs. Harriet Gould Jefferies, of Augusta; Mrs. Henry Bryan, of Dillon; Mrs. W. C. High- tower, of Thomaston; Mrs. E. W. Bellamy, of Macon ; Mrs. Joseph H. Morgan, of Atlanta, former Regent Atlanta Chapter, D. A. R .; Mrs. Sandford Gardner, of Augusta ; Miss Addie Bass, of Clarkesville; Mrs. Kate H. Fort, of Chattanooga, Tenn .; Miss Martha Berry, of Rome, founder of the famous Berry School ; Hon. Philip Cook, Secretary of State; Hon. Joseph H. Lumpkin. Associate Justice of the Supreme Court of Georgia ; Hon. Gordon Lee, of Chickamauga, Member of Congress; Hon. William H. Fleming, of Augusta, Ex-Member of Congress; Hon. Paul B. Trammell, of Dalton; Dr. William B. Crawford, of Lincolnton ; Major James M. Couper, of Atlanta; Hon. Walter E. Steed, of Butler; Judge W. L. Phillips, of Louisville; Mr. James T. Vocelle, of St. Mary's; Hon. Q. L. Williford, of Madison ; Hon. Lawton B. Evans, of Augusta, Superintendent of Public Schools and Secretary of Board of Education ; Hon. Charles Edgeworth Jones, of Augusta; Colonel Charles J. Swift, of Columbus ; Dr. George G. Smith, of Macon ; Prof. Joseph T. Derry, of Atlanta ; Major Charles W. Hubner, of Atlanta; Hon. Thomas W. Reed. of Athens; Hon. A. Pratt Adams, of Savannah; Hon. E. H. Abrahams, of Savannah; Hon. Noel P. Park, of Greensboro ; Hon. F. E. Twitty, of Brunswick; Hon. L. A. Whipple, of


VIII


PREFACE


Hawkinsville; Hon. Warren Grice, of Hawkinsville; Hon. C. M. Candler, of Decatur; Judge C. W. Smith, of Reidsville; Mr. B. H. Groover, of Reidsville; Hon. J. W. Whitely, of Gibson ; Dr. W. B. Burroughs, of Brunswick; Dr. W. B. Cheatham, of Daw- son ; Capt. Thad Adams, of Moultrie; Hon. W. W. Stevens, of Maysville ; Dr. Howard Felton, of Cartersville ; Dr. R. J. Massey, of Atlanta; Judge Joseph Bogle, of Dalton; Colonel John R. Maddox, of Decatur ; Hon. William H. Hayne, of Augusta ; Hon. Joseph F. Gray, of Savannah ; Rev. A. W. Bealer, of Eastman ; Hon. Julian B. MeCurry, of Hartwell ; Judge W. L. Hodges, of Hartwell; Mr. H. C. Bagley, of Atlanta; Mr. P. M. Nixon, of Rome; Hon. D. S. Sanford, of Milledgeville; Hon. Walter A. Clark, of Augusta ; Mr. Mark A. Candler, of Atlanta; Hon. Drew W. Paulk, of Fitzgerald; Hon. J. H. Powell, of Camilla; Judge J. A. Cromartie, of Hazlehurst ; Judge P. H. Herring, of Cairo; Mr. Folks Huxford, of Homerville; Mr. P. H. Comas, of Baxley ; Mr. C. S. Grice, of Claxton; Mr. J. J. Gilbert, of Columbus; Hon. M. M. Moore, of Columbus; Hon. Peter W. Meldrim, of Savannah; Judge Horace M. Holden, of Augusta; Miss Eliza F. Andrews, of Rome, formerly of Washington, one of the South's most distinguished educators and writers; Mrs. M. A. Lipscomb, of Athens; Mrs. J. A. Montgomery, of Bruns- wiek ; Mrs. F. D. Aiken, of Brunswick; Miss Caroline Patterson, of Macon ; Dr. W. B. Cheatham, of Dawson, Ordinary of Terrell ; Mr. George C. Smith, of Lexington ; Mrs. J. J. Smith, of Lexing- ton ; Capt. C. S. Wylly, of Brunswick ; Miss Elizabeth Conger, of Canon ; Mrs. W. T. Hardee, of Quitman ; Judge C. M. Wise, of Fitzgerald; Mr. J. J. Taylor, of Cochran; the late Hon. Hugh Neisler, of Butler; and a multitude of others. Without the generous help of these patriotie Georgians to whom I hold myself an obliged debtor for unnumbered courtesies this task could never have been prosecuted to completion. The short- comings of the work are mine. Whatever it possesses of merit belongs to those from whom I have unremittingly received the most indulgent favors, and whose considerate and courteous treatment has been a perennial source of inspiration to the author.


LUCIAN LAMAR KNIGHT.


ATLANTA, GA., March 25, 1913.


CONTENTS


PART ONE. LANDMARKS AND MEMORIALS.


CHAPTER I


Dungeness: The Bivouac of "Light Horse Harry"


Lee for Nearly a Century


1


CHAPTER II


Jefferson Davis's Arrest at Irwinville: The True


Story of a Dramatic Episode.


13


CHAPTER III


The Old Creek Indian Agency: Where a Forgot-


ten Patriot Sleeps


18


CHAPTER IV


Barnsley Gardens: A Lost Arcadia


26


CHAPTER V


Shellman Heights:


A Romance of Sherman's


March


31


CHAPTER VI


The "Lone Star" Flag of Texas Woven by a


Georgia Woman


34


CHAPTER VII


"Little Giffen of Tennessee:" How a Famous


Ballad Came to be Written


39


CHAPTER VIII


James Ryder Randall:


Origin of "Maryland,


My Maryland!"


45


CHAPTER IX


Oglethorpe: His Monument and his Mission


50


CHAPTER X


Fort Frederica: 1735


59


CHAPTER XI


The Wesley Oak


66


CHAPTER XII


Coweta Town: Where a Treaty was Signed the


Effect of Which was a Death-Blow to France


on the Mississippi


69


CHAPTER XIII


Bloody Marsh: Where a Battle was Fought in


Which Spain Lost a Continent.


73


CHAPTER XIV


Christ Church, Savannah: Where the Georgia


Colonists First Worshipped God


77


CHAPTER XV


Bethesda: Where the Great Whitefield Founded


an Asylum for Orphans


80


CHAPTER XVI The Grave of Tomo-Chi-Chi 85


CHAPTER XVII


Wormsloe: The Home of Noble Jones


87


CHAPTER XVIII


Bonaventure: The Ancient Seat of the Tattnalls


90


CHAPTER XIX


Brampton: The Home of Jonathan Bryan


93


---


x


CONTENTS


CHAPTER


XX


The Jews in Georgia: An Outline History


97


CHAPTER


XXI


Savannah's Revolutionary Monuments


103


CHAPTER XII


Mulberry Grove: The General Greene Estate Where the Cotton Gin was Invented 108


CHAPTER XXIII Fort Augusta: 1736 113


CHAPTER XXIV


Historic Old St. Paul's


117


CHAPTER XXV


Meadow Garden: The Home of Governor Walton 122


CHAPTER XXVI


The Invention of the Cotton Gin: An Authentic


Account


125


CHAPTER XXVII


War Hill:


Where the Famous Revolutionary


Battle of Kettle Creek was Fought


131


CHAPTER XXVIII


Historic Old Midway: A Shrine of Patriotism ..


135


CHAPTER


XXIX


Franklin College: The Oldest State University


in America, Chartered in 1785


139


CHAPTER


XX


Louisville: Georgia's First Permanent Capital_


146


CHAPTER


XXXI


The Yazoo Fraud: An Episode of Dramatic In-


terest Recalled.


149


CHAPTER XXXII


Burning the Iniquitous Records with Fire from


Heaven


152


CHAPTER


XXXIII


The Old Slave-Market: A Solitary Remnant of


Feudal Days in Dixie


154


CHAPTER


XXXIV


Historic Old Milledgeville: Georgia's Capital for


More Than Sixty Years


156


CHAPTER


XXV


McIntosh Rock:


Where the Most Famous of


Georgia Treaties was Made with the Creeks_ 160


CHAPTER XXXVI


New Echota: The Last Capital of the Southern


Cherokees


170


CHAPTER XXXVII


Under the Lash:


Pathetic Incidents of the Re-


moval


176


CHAPTER XXXVIII


Harriet Gold: A Romance of New Echota


183


CHAPTER


XXXIX


Dahlonega:


Once the Center of Gold-Mining


Activities in America.


185


CHAPTER XL


Scquoya: The Modern Cadmus


190


CHAPTER XLI Woodlawn: The Home of William H. Crawford_ 197


CHAPTER XLII


Historie Old Wesleyan: The First Female Col-


lege in the World to Confer Diplomas.


200


CHAPTER XLIII


Chickamauga: One of the Bloodiest of Modern


Battle-Fields Becomes a National Park.


203


CHAPTER XLIV


Kennesaw Mountain: Once a Peak of the Inferno 208


CHAPTER XLV


The Old Heard House: Where the Last Meeting


of the Confederate Cabinet was Held.


211


XI


CONTENTS


CHAPTER XLVI The Old Chenault House: In the Neighborhood of Which Occurred the Famous Raid on the Confederate Treasure Wagons. 213


CHAPTER XLVII


Origin of the United Daughters of the Confed-


eracy


218


CHAPTER XLVIII Origin of the Southern Cross of Honor 222


CHAPTER XLIX Copse Hill: The Home of Paul H. Hayne. 224


CHAPTER L


Richard Henry Wilde: Augusta's Monument to


the Author of the "Summer Rose."


228


CHAPTER LI


Torch Hill: The Home of Dr. Francis O. Ticknor_ 231


CHAPTER LII St. Elmo: Its Memories of Augusta Evans Wilson 234


CHAPTER LIII


Sidney Lanier: Macon's Memorial to the Master-


Minstrel


236


CHAPTER LIV


Rome Pioneers the Way in Honoring the Women


of the Confederacy


241


CHAPTER LV The Mark Hanna Home: Where the Mckinley


Presidental Boom was Launched.


246


CHAFTER LVI


Mount Berry: How the Sunday Lady Won the


Mountains


250


PART TWO.


HISTORICAL OUTLINES, ORIGINAL SETTLERS, AND DISTIN- GUISHED RESIDENTS OF THE COUNTIES OF GEORGIA. (Pages 265-1065.)


ILLUSTRATIONS


The Tomb of General "Light Horse Harry" Lee at Dungeness. Frontispiece The Carnegie Mansion, Built on the Site of General Nathanael Greene's Home at Dungeness. Facing Page 8


Where President Jefferson Davis Was Arrested, on May


10, 1865, near Irwinville, Ga. Facing Page 16


The Monument to General Oglethorpe, Founder of the Colony of Georgia, in Chippewa Square, Savannah __ Facing Page


52


Ruins of the Old Fort at Frederica, on St. Simon's Island Facing Page 62


The Wesley Oak, near Frederica, on St. Simon's Island __ Facing Page


66


The Burial-Place of Tomo-Chi-Chi, Mico of the Yama- craws, in Court House Square, Savannah Facing Page 86


Ruins of Fort Wymberley, at Wormsloe, the Old Home


of Noble Jones, on the Isle of Hope __ Facing Page 88


Bonaventure, the Ancient Seat of the Tattnalls, near Savannah. Facing Page 90


1


The Pulaski Monument, on Bull St., Savannah Facing Page 104


The Jasper Monument, on Bull St., Savannah Facing Page 106 The Birth-Place of the Present City of Augusta Facing Page 114


Historic Old St. Paul's, in Augusta Facing Page 118


Where One of the First Cotton Gins Made by Eli Whit- ney was Operated, near Washington, Ga_ Facing Page 128


The Old Capitol at Milledgeville, Where the Famous Secession Convention Met Facing Page 156


Sequoya's Wonderful Invention: The Cherokee Alphabet_Facing Page 192


The Old Heard House, in Washington, Ga., Where the Last Meeting of the Confederate Cabinet was Held __ Facing Page 212


The First Monument to the Women of the Confederacy, on Broad St., in the City of Rome, Ga Facing Page 242


The Log Cabin in Which the Famous Berry School Orig- inated, near Rome, Ga. Facing Page 256


The Family Residence of the Late George W. Owens, Where General Lafayette Was Entertained, in Ogle- thorpe Square, Savannah Facing Page 394


The Gordon Monument, on Bull St., in Savannah Facing Page 404


The Lanier Oak, on the Outskirts of Brunswick, Facing the Far-Famed "Marshes of Glynn", Immortalized by the Poet. Facing Page 620


Tablet to General Leonidas Polk, in St. Paul's Church, Augusta. Facing Page 884


Nacoochee, the Cradle of the Chattahoochee River Facing Page 1030 The Home of Robert Toombs, in Washington, Ga Facing Page 1056


PART I


LANDMARKS AND MEMORIALS


1


GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


CHAPTER I


Dungeness: The Bivouac of "Light Horse Harry" Lee for Nearly a Century


A T the extreme southern end of Cumberland Island, in a little private burial ground of the Greene family, there slept for ninety-five years an illus- trious soldier of the American Revolution: "Light- Horse Harry" Lee. At this point a wooded bluff over- looks a wide expanse of verdant marsh lands, surrounded on either side by the encircling waters of Cumberland Sound; and the shimmer of blue waves, caught in the dis- tance, through trembling vistas of luxuriant foliage, is most enchanting to the eye, especially when a storm at sea curls them into feathery white-caps. The little en- closed area in which, with military honors, the famous hero was laid to rest, in the spring of 1818, was then a part of the estate of Major-General Nathanael Greene, a dis- tinguished comrade-in-arms whose family he was visiting at the time of his death. Years ago a large part of the island, including the historic tidewater home of General Greene, was purchased by Thomas Carnegie, a kinsman of the great steel king of Pittsburg and himself a man of millions. With the ample means at his command the new owner proceeded to convert the famous estate into


2


GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


one of the most beautiful retreats on the coast of North America. Magnificent walks and driveways were opened through a dense forest of live-oaks, festooned with long wisps of trailing moss; rare bulbs from remote parts were transplanted in the rich soil of Dungeness; and whatever was calculated either to please the eye or to promote the comfort of a cultured gentleman of leisure, was sought by this wizard of finance, regardless of cost, to enhance the picturesque environment.


Today the vast estate constitutes an independent com- munity within itself, possessing every luxury of present- day life and suggesting the modernized country-seat of some aristocratic old English baron. The palatial mansion in which the widow Carnegie spends the winter months is only a few yards distant from the little burial ground, in one of the brick walls of which a memorial tablet bears the name of the late owner. But the most historic spot on the whole island, around which for nearly a century has centered a wealth of patriotic associations and to which thousands of tourists have flocked annually in the heated months of mid-summer, is the grave in which "Light Horse Harry" Lee long rested. It was formerly marked by a plain marble headstone, on which the following brief inscription was chiseled :


Sacred to the Memory of General Henry Lee, of Virginia. Obit, 25 March, 1818. Aetat 63.


During a recent session of the Virginia Legislature a bill was passed appropriating the sum of $500 from the State treasury to defray the expenses incident to remov- ing General Lee's body from Dungeness to Lexington. At the same time a committee was appointed to whom the oversight of this sacred task was entrusted. It is most likely that the ashes of the Revolutionary patriot


3


DUNGENESS


will occupy a crypt in the chapel of Washington and Lee University, beside the remains of his renowned son, General Robert E. Lee, the South's great military chief- tain. The patriotic societies of Georgia have entered a vigorous protest against the proposed removal. But, the consent of Mrs. Lucy Carnegie having been obtained, the Commonwealth of Virginia cannot well be estopped from claiming the dust of an illustrious son to whom she now offers a receptacle in her own bosom. As this work goes to press, the transfer of General Lee's remains to Virginia is still an unaccomplished fact; but hope of keeping them in Georgia has been finally relinquished. It is not unlikely that the Daughters of the Revolution will mark the empty tomb with an appropriate memorial of some kind which, briefly reciting the facts, together with the date of disinterment, will serve to keep the hallowed spot perpetually sacred.


General Henry Lee was easily the foremost officer of cavalry in the first war for independence; and to his gallant blade Georgia owes a debt of gratitude which two centuries have not extinguished. At the head of an independent legion he took part in the siege of Augusta and became an important factor, under General Greene, in the final expulsion of the British from Georgia soil. Later he wrote an exhaustive account of his operations in the Southern Department, a work of great value to historians, comprised in two rich volumes. He also became Governor of the State of Virginia; and, on the death of Washington, pronounced upon his silent Com- mander-in-Chief the famous eulogium in which he characterized him in the often-quoted words: "First in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen."*


While taking the part of a friend, whom he was visiting at the time, in Baltimore, General Lee received


*"To the memory of the man, first in war, first in peace, and first in the hearts of his countrymen." Eulogy on Washington, December 26, 1799.


4


GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS


injuries from the effects of which he never recovered. The circumstances which culminated in this tragic affair were as follows :* "In the stirring times of 1812, Alex- ander Contee Hanson, editor of the Federal Republican, strongly opposed the declaration of war against England. Feeling ran so high among the war party that the news- paper office was attacked and the editors driven to Georgetown. Later Hanson determined to return, and was accompanied by General Lee and other friends who volunteered to defend him. The residence leased by him in Baltimore was attacked, and to save the occupants from murder the authorities placed them in the old city jail for protection. But the rioters forced themselves into the jail, attacking Hanson, General Lee, and seven others in the party. They were beaten, mutilated, and according to an account in Scharf's history, were thrown down the steps of the jail, where they lay in a heap for three hours. General Lee's constitution was wrecked." In the hope of regaining his health, the old soldier embarked for the West Indies, where he remained for something over four years; and it was while enroute back to his home in Virginia that he was put ashore at Cumberland Island.


General Lee did not expect to find here his old com- rade-in-arms. The latter died at Mulberry Grove, near Savannah, more than thirty years prior to the time of General Lee's visit. The widow Greene, who afterwards married Phineas Miller, was likewise in her grave. But there was living at Dungeness a daughter, Mrs. Louisa Shaw, by whom the old invalid was most graciously and gladly received; and here he remained until the death angel released him from his sufferings. For the account which follows of the last moments of the old hero, we are indebted in the main to Colonel Charles C. Jones, Jr., of Augusta, who obtained from an eye-witness, Mr. Phineas M. Nightingale, a recital of the facts. Mr. Nightingale was a grandson of General Greene and a


*From a Baltimore newspaper.


5


DUNGENESS


member of the household at the time of General Lee's sojourn on the island. The story, with additional par- ticulars gathered from other sources, is as follows:


When the second war with England began, "Light Horse Harry" Lee-though the foremost survivor of the first struggle for independence-found himself an invalid, nursing an old wound. Thus prevented by physical disabilities from assuming an active command in the renewed contest, his disappointment only served to aggravate his condition. He chafed under this restraint; and, in the hope that a change of climate might restore his failing health he sailed in 1813 for the West Indies. It was the cherished purpose of the old soldier, while in retirement, to revise his "Memoirs of the War in the Southern Department" and to prepare biographies of his two beloved commanders-Greene and Washington. Says Colonel Jones :* "It will ever be a matter of regret that he failed to compass the execution of this plan. To his Memoirs he would doubtless have imparted additional value and interest but in their present form they possess the highest merit and constitute the best military record we possess of the heroic memories embraced within their scope. Lives of Washington and Greene have been carefully studied and well written; but for one I freely confess to the firm conviction that biographies of these heroes by their gifted and eloquent compatriot and friend would have far surpassed all others." More than four years were spent by General Lee in the mild climate of the sub-tropics. But the benefit which he derived from his long sojourn was only temporary; and he could do no writing while he here lingered among the ocean breezes. At length it became evident to the wan sufferer that the end was near at hand. 'Accordingly, toward the close of the month of January, 1818, he took passage in a schooner bound from Nassau to Boston, the Captain-




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