USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. I > Part 15
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7 Gentleman's Magazine, 1742, 696.
Woolf I.
Egg I. Inlet
atamaho
River
Egg I.
Hampton P.O
Cannons P.o
Little St. Simo
Lys River
o Pikes Bluff
River
Oatlands
Frederica
irm
· Harrington
B
Gen. Oglethorpes Villa
South
Abbott, 0
Long I.
Gould
0
0
0
Hamilton
Cascoins Bluff
Cater o A
ST SIMONS ISL?
Bloody Bend Battle 7Th July 1742.
Retreat 0
Light Ht
St.Simons Sound
JEKYL, 1.
1
2
3
4
Scale of Miles.
Sound
Buttermilk
Carterets
Point
Alatamaha
Ly 1712.
Long I.Inlet
670
187
FIRST BATTLE WITH SPANIARDS.
ately advanced with a party of Indians, rangers, and the Highland company, that were then on parade, ordering the regiment to follow, being resolved to engage them in the defiles of the wood, before they could get out and deploy in the open savannah. He charged at the head of his force with such effect that nearly all of the party, consisting of one hundred and twenty-five of their best woodsmen, and forty-five Indians, were either killed, wounded, or taken pris- oners. The commander of the detachment, Captain Sebastian Sanchez, was captured. Captain Mageleto was shot dead by an Indian chief, and Oglethorpe took two prisoners with his own hand. The pursuit was continued several miles, to an open meadow or savannah, upon the edge of which he posted three platoons of the regiment and a company of Highland foot, so as to be covered by the woods from the enemy, who were obliged to pass through the meadow under the English fire. Hastening back to Frederica, he got in readiness the rangers and marines ; but scarcely were they in marching order when he heard firing in the direction of his ambushed troops, and speeding thither, met two of the platoons, who, in the smoke and drifting rain, had retreated before the advance of Don Antonio Barba, who, with one hundred grenadiers and two hundred infantry, consisting of Indians and negroes, had pushed into the meadow and drove out the ambuscade with loud huzzas and rolling drums. The soldiers informed Oglethorpe that all his force was routed; but find- ing one platoon and a company of rangers missing, and still hearing firing in the direction of the woods, he ordered the officers to rally their men and follow him.
188
BATTLE OF BLOODY MARSH.
In the meantime this platoon and company of ran- gers, under the command of Lieutenants Sutherland and Mackay, instead of retreating with their com- rades, no sooner reached the wood than by a skilfully executed detour they gained the rear of the pursuing enemy, and at a point where the road passed from the forest to the open marsh across a small semicircular cove, placed themselves in ambuscade in the thick palmettoes by which this narrow pass was nearly sur- rounded.
Scarcely had they secreted themselves near this defile, when the Spaniards, on their return, marched out of the wood; and, supposing themselves secure from attack, protected as they were, on the one side, by an open morass, and on the other by the cres- cent-shaped hedge of palmettoes and underwood, they stacked their arms and yielded themselves to repose. Sutherland and Mackay, who from their hiding place had anxiously watched all their movements, now raised the signal of attack-a Highland cap upon a sword- and the soldiers poured in upon the unsuspecting enemy a well-delivered and most deadly fire. Volley succeeded volley, and the sand was strewed with the dead and the dying. A few of the Spanish officers attempted, though in vain, to re-form their broken ranks ; discipline was gone, orders were unheeded ; safety alone was sought, and when, with a Highland shout of triumph, the platoon burst among them with levelled bayonet and flashing claymore, the panic- stricken foe fled in every direction-some to the marsh, where they mired, and were taken-some along the defile, where they were met by the toma- hawk and the broad-sword-and some into the thicket, where they became entangled and lost; and a few
189
OGLETHORPE PURSUES THE ENEMY.
only escaped to their camp. Their defeat was com- plete. Barba was taken, after being mortally wound- ed ; another captain, a lieutenant, two sergeants, two drummers, and one hundred and sixty privates, were killed, and a captain and nineteen men were taken prisoners. This was a feat of arms as brilliant as it was successful, and won for the gallant troops the highest praise.8 Oglethorpe, with the two platoons, did not reach the scene of this action, which has ever since borne the appropriate name of "Bloody Marsh," until the victory was achieved ; and to show his sense of their services, he promoted the brave young officers who had gained it, on the very field of their valour. Here they rested a few minutes, until they were joined by the marines and the reserve of the regiment, under Lieutenant-Colonel Heron, when they pursued the retreating foe to within a mile and a half of the Spanish camp. They passed the night there, sleeping upon their arms, and at break of day the general ad- vanced a party of Indians to observe their position; who reported that they had all retreated within the ruins of the fort, and under the protection of their cannon.
On the 8th of July the commander-in-chief, with the soldiers, returned to Frederica; and the two fol- lowing days were employed in strengthening the works at Frederica, while the Indians were kept out as scouts to watch the motions and cut off strag- glers from the enemy's camp. In discharge of this service, they brought in some scalps and several pris- oners.
On the 11th of July some of the gallies advanced
8 Spalding's Memoir of Oglethorpe, lection of Voyages, (Navigantium at- in Geo. Hist. Col., i. 284. Harris's Col- que Itinerantium Bibliotheca,) ii. 341.
190
DISSENSION BETWEEN CUBA AND FLORIDA TROOPS.
towards the town, but were driven off and pursued by the general, in his boats, until they were covered by the cannon of the fleet. The ill success which had attended the Spaniards thus far; the unfavourable nature of the ground, on which they could neither deploy nor manœuvre large bodies of troops ; the peculiar intricacies of the channel impeding the ascent of the vessels; and the impatience and ill feeling consequent on the reverses of the seventh, led to a council of war, which resulted in divisions between the attacking body of such bitterness that the commodore ordered the marines on board the ships, De Rodondo refused to encamp with the Augustinians, and the regiment of dragoons sepa- rated from both. Learning the existence of this dissension, Oglethorpe resolved to surprise them in their divided state, and by a judicious night attack drive them from the island. For this purpose he marched down, on the twelfth July, five hundred men, and leaving them within a mile of the Spanish quarters, went forward at night with a small party to reconnoitre, intending to surprise them, but was pre- vented by the treachery of a Frenchman among Cap- tain Carr's marines, who, firing his musket, sounded the alarm, and, favoured by the darkness, deserted to the enemy. Finding himself thus discovered, the general distributed the drums about the woods, to represent a large force, and ordered them to beat the grenadier's march, which they did for half an hour; and then all being still, they noiselessly returned to Frederica.
Aware of his weakness, and fearing that the dis- closures which the Frenchman might make would embolden them to surround and destroy him, which
191
STRATAGEM WITH A FRENCH DESERTER.
their superior force by land and sea easily enabled them to do, he devised an ingenious stratagem to de- feat his information and retrieve the effects of his desertion. The next day he prevailed with a pris- oner,9 and gave him a sum of money, to carry a letter privately and deliver it to that Frenchman who had deserted. This letter was written in French, as if from a friend of his, telling him he had received the money ; that he should strive to make the Spaniards believe the English were weak ; that he should under- take to pilot up their boats and gallies, and then bring them under the woods where he knew the hidden batteries were ; and that if he could bring that about, he should have double the reward he had already received ; but if he failed in thus decoying them under the guns of the water battery, to use all his influence to keep them at least three days more at Fort St. Simons, as within that time, according to advices just received, he should be reinforced by two thousand infantry and six men-of-war, which had already sailed from Charleston ; and by way of postscript, he was cautioned against mentioning that Admiral Vernon was about to make a descent on St. Augustine. The Spanish prisoner got into the camp, and was immediately carried before the General Don Manuel de Montiano. He was asked how he escaped, and whether he had any letters ; but denying his having any, was strictly searched, and the letter found in his possession. Under a promise of pardon, he confessed that he had received money to deliver it to the French- man, for the letter was not directed. The Frenchman denied his knowing anything of its contents, or having received any money, or having had any correspondence
9 Letter of Oglethorpe in State Paper Office, ii. 97.
192
SPANIARDS PRECIPITATELY RETIRE.
with Oglethorpe, and vehemently protested that he was not a spy.
The commander of the Spanish forces was much perplexed by the contents of this letter, and called a council of war to consider the subject. The French- man, who, it seems, had been employed by Montiano as a secret agent among the English, was now looked upon as a double spy, and would have been immediately executed but for the intervention of that officer, who, with several members of the council, was of opinion that it was intended to deceive and to ward off the threat- ened attack upon Frederica. The majority, however, took a different view; and looking upon the French- man as a real spy, believed in the information which the letter contained. These urged an immediate abandoning of a place in which they had already suf- fered so much, and a return to Florida, as the only chance of reaching St. Augustine before Vernon should arrive. The parties thus at issue in the council, grew warm in their debates, neither willing to yield to the other, when the report was brought to the commander that three vessels were descried off the bar. Supposing these to form part of the fleet mentioned in the letter, the council no longer doubted the truth of all its con- tents, and resolved to fly before they should be hemmed in by sea and by land. They immediately set fire to the fort, and precipitately embarked their troops, aban- doning, in their hurry and confusion, several cannon, a quantity of military stores, and even leaving unburied some of the men who had just died of their wounds.
When Oglethorpe withdrew from St. Augustine, Montiano wrote10 to the Governor of Cuba, that "he could not comprehend the conduct nor rules of this
10 MS. Letters of Montiano, fol. 55.
193
OGLETHORPE PURSUES THEM.
general ; and that he was surprised above measure that he should have retreated so precipitately.". But what shall we now say of the precipitate retreat of Mon- tiano ? Oglethorpe had not one-third the men, was left without ships, and had for a month invested and besieged the well-defended garrison and castle of St. Augustine, marching away within cannon range of the fort, with drums beating and colours flying ; but Mon- tiano had a large squadron of vessels, and ample land forces, yet never even reached Frederica, weak and undefended as it was, but hastily retreated at the sight of three topsail schooners, to reap the contumely which such a lack of generalship deserved.
The Cuba squadron, to the number of twenty sail, stood out to sea. General Montiano, with the St. Augus- tine fleet, returned to Cumberland sound, having burnt Captain Horton's dwelling and out-houses, on Jekyll. Oglethorpe, with his boats, followed him, and discov- ered a great many sail under Fort St. Andrew's, of which eight appeared plain ; but being too strong for him to attack, he sent the scout-boats back, and went in his own cutter to Cumberland, whence he sent a letter to Lieutenant Stuart, at Fort William, with orders to defend himself to the last extremity. The enemy discovered his boats, and believing they had landed Indians in the night, set sail with great haste, insomuch, that not having time to embark them, they killed forty horses which they had taken there, and burnt the houses. The gallies and small craft, to the number of fifteen, went through the inland water pas- sages. The men from several of these attempted to land near Fort William, but were repulsed by the rangers. They then attacked it with cannon and small arms, from the water, for three hours; but the
13
194
THE FORCE EMPLOYED BY THE SPANIARDS.
place was so bravely defended by Lieutenant Alexan- der Stuart, that they were driven off, and ran out to sea, to join the twelve other sail of Spanish vessels which had lain at anchor outside the bar during the attack without stirring; but the gallies being chased out, they all set sail, and stood to the southward. Ogle- thorpe followed them, with the boats, to Fort William, and thence sent out the rangers, and some boats, who followed them to St. John's; but they went off, rowing and sailing, to St. Augustine.
Thus, the vigilance of Oglethorpe, the skilfulness of his plans, the activity of his operations, the determined spirit of resistance, the carnage of Bloody Marsh, the havoc done to the enemy's ships, and his ingenious stratagem to defeat the designs of the French deserter, saved Georgia and Carolina from falling into the hands of the Spaniards.
The force employed by the Spaniards in this invasion comprised one regiment of dismounted dragoons, a Havana battalion, consisting of ten companies of fifty men each, ten companies of one hundred men each, of Havana militia, one regiment of artillery, one of St. Augustine militia, one of negroes, officered by negroes, one battalion of mulattoes, ninety Indians, six hundred marines, and one thousand seamen; making in all a force of over five thousand men, commanded by Mon- tiano, Governor of St. Augustine, and brought to Geor- gia in fifty-six vessels. The command of Oglethorpe consisted of only six hundred and fifty-two men, includ- ing Indians and militia.
The triumph of Oglethorpe was complete. For fif- teen days, with only two ships and six hundred men he had baffled the Spanish general, with fifty-six vessels and five thousand men, and at last compelled him to
195
OGLETHORPE APPOINTS A DAY OF THANKSGIVING.
retreat, with the loss of several sail, scores of his best troops, and much of his provisions, munitions, and artil- lery. The repulse of such a formidable invasion by such a handful of troops is unparalleled in colonial his- tory. Here at least the "race" was not "to the swift," nor the "battle" to the "strong;" for a little band chased a thousand, and a small one overcame a large people. The news of his success filled the whole North American continent with joy ; and the Governors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Vir- ginia, North Carolina, and the Bahama Islands,11 sent him letters, congratulating him on his victory, and as- suring him of the interest they felt in the honour he had acquired " by his indefatigable exertions, constant exposure, extraordinary courage, and unequalled mili- tary conduct ;" and offering their thanks to the Supreme Governor of nations, "for placing the fate of the south- ern colony under the direction of a general so well qualified for the important trust." Flushed as Ogle- thorpe was with his glorious victory, he did not forget that he owed his success to the God of battles; but immediately on the defeat of the enemy issued a pro- clamation12 appointing a day for a public thanksgiving to Almighty God, "for his great deliverance, and the end that is put to this Spanish invasion."
The succours, both naval and military, which he had pleaded for from South Carolina, only arrived in time to share the joy of his victory, or chase into the port of St. Augustine the few straggling vessels of their Amer-
12 For a copy of this proclamation, vide Whitefield's Works, ii. 7, edition of 8 vols., London, 1771. There is a
11 Harris's Voyages, ii. 343. copy of it also in Harris's Memorials of Oglethorpe, 367 ; but this is an English translation from a German translation of the original, by the Rev. Mr. Bolzius
196
INEFFICIENCY OF THE SPANISH GENERAL
ican Armada which yet hovered about the islands of Georgia.
Such an expedition as this was peculiarly disgrace- ful to the Spanish arms. The commander of the forces seemed to lack energy, and even common military quali- fications ; for such was the weakness of the fortifications on the islands, and such the smallness of the force to defend them, that one-third of the invading army, under a courageous and daring general, would have taken the island in almost as many hours as Montiano spent days ; and yet, though he was on the island over two weeks, he never once approached Frederica, nor fired a gun at its works, nor gained a single advantage in any encounter in which even his veteran troops were engaged. Severely was he censured by military men for his want of skill, tactics, and energy; while Rodondo, the engineer-general, was thrown into prison in Havana, and left there as a disgraced man, by the justly-offended Governor of Cuba. The Spaniards gave as a reason for their retreat, that Oglethorpe had sheltered himself, with one thousand men, in an inaccessible wood; that he was daily expecting four English men-of-war, two gallies, and four transports of soldiers; that they were in want of provisions, and apprehended the usual bad weather at this season of the year; thus covering their disgraceful flight by the falsehoods of cowardice and the assumptions of a fear-stricken imagination.
Oglethorpe was not satisfied with the mere repulse of the Spaniards. The following month, joined by Capt. Frankland, of His Majesty's ship Rose, and with seve- ral small government and provincial vessels, he cruized off St. Augustine for several days, but gained no other advantage than that of showing the large naval force
197
ADVANCE OF OGLETHORPE TO ST. AUGUSTINE.
at his command, and the unintimidated spirit of the English officers.
Rumours of a new invasion, by the joint co-operation of the French and Spanish, were now rife ; and an offer from the Governor of Cuba to invade Georgia and Caro- lina with ten thousand men, most of whom were already at Havana, was intercepted by an English frigate. Ogle- thorpe, with his bills protested, Carolina disaffected, and his force reduced, was left to bear alone the oner- ous labours of preparing for a new defence of Georgia, and new efforts for the preservation of the North American colonies. Finding the Spaniards resolved to extend their territories, he determined to oppose their incipient measures, and dispute with them the field before their garrison was reinforced from Cuba. Accordingly, on Saturday, February 26th, 1743,13 the detachment destined for Florida, consisting of a portion of the Highlanders, rangers, and regulars, appeared under arms at Frederica, and on the 9th of March they landed in Florida ; and the Indians attacked a party of Spaniards with such success, that they killed over forty of them. Advancing towards St. Augustine, the gene- ral posted his troops in a most advantageous position near that city, and endeavoured, by going personally with a few men near the walls, to decoy them into the ambush so felicitously planned; "but they were so meek, there was no provoking them, and they kept close within their walls." As the general had no can- non nor entrenching tools, and his only purpose by these strategic operations being to cut off detachments and lay waste the country, he countermarched to the St. John's; and after a short cruise off the bar of St.
13 State Paper Office, ii. 127. Most of the despatches of Oglethorpe may
be found in these documents from the State Paper Office.
198
UNPROTECTED CONDITION OF GEORGIA.
Augustine and Matanzas Inlet, returned to Frederica, without the loss of a man.14 This expedition was at- tended with vast toil, fatigue, and privation ; but they were borne with cheerfulness, and the duties of the camp were performed with alacrity, because their general shared their labours, "partaking the same fatigue as the meanest soldiers."
A few slight eruptive efforts were subsequently made ; but each party kept its own borders ; and the war with Spain, which now, in spite of the pacific counsels of Fleury, drew in France also, was trans- ferred to other fields, of greater carnage. " The little conflicts in America were lost in the universal confla- gration of Europe." Oglethorpe still felt the impor- tance of keeping up the defences of Georgia, and main- taining an interest with the friendly Indians ; especially, as the Yamassees on the south, and the Florida Indians on the borders of the Gulf, might otherwise descend upon the unprotected colonists, and burn their villages, lay waste their fields, and massacre their inhabitants. He therefore continued to press upon the Trustees and Parliament the necessity of protecting Georgia, as the key of the southern provinces, and the bulwark be- tween them and the Florida and Spanish powers on its borders. In this respect, Georgia, the weakest of the thirteen colonies, was the least protected, and the most exposed, having an extensive line of undefended sea-
14 " A Relation or Journal of a late Expedition to the gates of St. Augus- tine in Florida, conducted by the Hon. General Oglethorpe, with a detach- ment of his regiment, &c., from Geor- gia, &c., by a Gentleman Volunteer in said Expedition," (G. L. Campbell,) London, 8vo, 1744. I am indebted to
the kindness of Professor Mackenzie of Edinburgh for a manuscript copy of this rare work, transcribed from the one in the British Museum. From this Journal and Oglethorpe's Letters in State Paper Office, ii., the narrative of the text is drawn.
199
PRAISE DUE TO OGLETHORPE.
board, a larger number of Indians in its borders than any other province, an unprotected frontier of several hundred miles, and hostile Indians, and inimical French, and threatening Spaniards, all around. And though we may not be enabled to point out any brilliant achieve- ment which shall give prominence to the prowess, or stamp the generalship of Oglethorpe, yet the single fact, that he preserved a province thus situated, amidst re- peated invasions, with such small forces, and under such vast discouragements, so that its integrity was preserv- ed, its colonization advanced, and its border rights sus- tained, is proof sufficient that the blended talents of the warrior and statesman met in his character, giving to him, not that applause which is mutable as the fickle wind, and as vanishing as the breath which proclaims it, but rather that steady praise which outlives the boisterous huzzas, and that quenchless light of honour, which burns brighter and clearer with advancing years.
CHAPTER VI.
SKETCH OF OGLETHORPE AFTER LEAVING GEORGIA.
FROM the period of the unfortunate siege of St. Augustine, misunderstanding and disputes had arisen between Oglethorpe and the province of South Caro- lina.1 The charges preferred against that colony by Oglethorpe, were of a grave character, such as evinced unskilful advisers, impolitic measures, and deep ingrat- itude, as well as want of military discipline and cour- age; while they, on the other hand, retaliated against him charges of incapacity, weakness, and lack of mili- tary abilities highly disadvantageous to Georgia. But these were the sentiments of only a portion of the Car- olinians, and the sentiments themselves changed with the passing away of the irritating causes which evoked them ; so that all came to regard him at last as the de- liverer of the southern provinces of America.
The views of Oglethorpe's enemies in Carolina gave
1 These controversies were carried on with much acrimony and bitterness. A number of pamphlets were pub- lished on each side, the most impor- tant of which were, " An Impartial Account of the late Expedition against St. Augustine, under General Ogle- thorpe," 8vo, 1742 ; " The Spanish Hireling Detected, being a Refutation
of the Several Calumnies and False- hoods" in the above, " by George Cad- ogan, Lieutenant in General Ogle- thorpe's Regiment," London, 8vo, p. 68, 1743, (I quote from the second edition ;) " A Full Reply to Lieutenant Cadogan's 'Spanish Hireling Detect- ed,' &c.," 8vo, 1743.
201
TROUBLES IN THE REGIMENT.
him but little concern, as he knew their unjustness, and busied himself in altering them by his wise and heroic deeds, rather than by loud and boastful preten- sions. But there were other enemies whom he could not thus easily forgive-enemies springing from his own military family, into whose charges himself, as well as the public, demanded an investigation. The regiment which Oglethorpe raised in England for. Georgia, had in it elements of peculiar discord. Among the privates some of them were discovered before they left the waters of England, and others were developed soon after their arrival in Georgia ; but these were soon put down by the strong arm of. military power. Other dissatisfaction soon evinced. itself among the officers. Charges and criminations were mutually preferred against several of them ; many and fatal duels were fought;2 and several courts-martial were held to try and adjudge the cases.
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