USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. II > Part 10
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Washington, it is true, said of General Lee, " He is the first officer in military knowledge and experience we have in the whole army;" but, judging from this display of his abilities as a general officer, he is not entitled to this encomium of the commander-in-chief. The consequences of the failure of this expedition were seen not only in the disheartening influence it had upon the troops, but it gave strength to the disaffected, and furnished matter of taunting exultation to the loyal Floridians.
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While Georgia was thus deeply solicitous for her defence, Congress was not unmindful of her necessities, and, on the 15th June, appointed a committee, consist- ing of Messrs. Hopkins of Rhode Island, Harrison of Virginia, and Samuel Adams of Massachusetts, to take into consideration the state of Georgia. Their report was made on the 5th July, whereupon it was resolved5 to raise two additional battalions (one of them to con- sist of riflemen) to serve in Georgia; that blank com- missions be sent to the Convention of Georgia, to be filled up with the names of such persons as the said Convention shall think proper; also that the Legisla- tures or Assemblies of Virginia, North Carolina, and South Carolina be recommended to allow recruits for these battalions to be enlisted in their several States. It was furthermore ordered to build four gal- leys for the defence of the sea-coast, and to raise two artillery companies of fifty men each, to garrison two forts which the State was to erect at Savannah and Sunbury.
On the 8th, Congress appropriated $60,000 to pay the battalions thus ordered to be raised.
The Declaration of Independence was not received in Savannah until the 8th of August; when a copy of it, together with a letter from John Hancock, was laid before the Council of Safety, who directed that it should be proclaimed at the Assembly House, Liberty Pole, and Battery with military honors, on Saturday at 11 o'clock. This was accordingly done, and after the Declaration had been publicly read in the square front- ing the Government House, a procession, composed of
5 Journal of Congress, i, 375.
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the military and civil officers, soldiers, and citizens, proceeded to the Liberty Pole, where the 1st battalion of the Georgia Continentals saluted them with thirteen volleys; thence the procession marched to the Bat- tery, where another national salute was fired. After a public dinner, the procession was again formed, in reversed order; and with muffled drums and trailed arms, they solemnly buried the Royal Government of Georgia. At night they celebrated their joy by bon- fires and a general illumination. Thus were severed the ties which bound Georgia to the mother country ; thus was established the liberty and independence of this youngest of the thirteen colonies.
The importance of having a provincial marine early impressed itself on the minds of the Council, and they accordingly accredited Captain Bowen to the Governor of Cape François for the purpose of obtaining armed vessels, arms, and warlike stores; to procure articles for the building and fitting out of vessels, and also an assortment of medicines suitable to the climate. Cap- tain Pray was also directed by the Council of Safety, October 18th, 1776, to proceed to St. Thomas, and to procure as many seamen, arms, ammunition, and swivels as he possibly could, with permission to mount as many carriage-guns as the vessel can bear on his return hither.
At this early period there were no national vessels ; and each State was left to defend its own seaboard, and protect its own harbors. Georgia offered such good harbors, so near to the Province of Florida; and was so unprotected, that she was frequently visited by the English cruisers, who committed many depreda-
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tions on the islands, and largely supplied themselves with cattle and other provisions.
To secure these as much as possible, Colonel McIn- tosh was ordered to station troops along the points likely to be assailed, and an express was sent to Gene- ral Howe to send back that portion of the Georgia battalion doing duty in South Carolina, as also the boats and ammunition forwarded from Georgia. The militia of the State were also drafted into three divi- sions; one of which was required to be in readiness at a moment's warning; for danger menaced the State, not merely from the seaboard, but also from the Indian and Floridian borders.
For a long time, a sort of predatory warfare had been carried on by both parties on the southern boun- daries of Georgia; but the incursions on the part of the British now assumed a more formidable shape. A large body of troops, consisting of about five hundred regulars, loyalists, and Indians, with several pieces of artillery, under the command of Colonel Fuser, with whom were associated the noted refugee officers, Colo- nels Brown, McGirth, and Cunningham, marched from St. Augustine, and invested Fort McIntosh, on the northeast side of the St. Illa River. This was a mere stockade fort, about one hundred feet square, situated on a rising ground near the banks of the river, and was garrisoned by seventy men, under the command of Captain Richard Winn. An attempt to surprise the fort, on the morning of the 17th of February, 1777, having failed, through the vigilance of its young commander, it was regularly invested; and all hopes of a reinforcement being cut off, the provisions being reduced to one day's supply, and the rage of the in-
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vading force rising with delay, Captain Winn surren- dered himself and party as prisoners of war; after evincing as much skill and firmness in obtaining proper articles of capitulation, as he had done in bravely defending his little fort against such an over- whelming force. The main point of this capitulation required, that the Americans should return to Fort Howe, and not serve until regularly exchanged; two of their officers, Lieutenant Milton, of the Georgia brigade, and Lieutenant Caldwell, of the Carolina regiment, being sent to St. Augustine, as hostages for the fulfilment of these stipulations.
The news of the capture of Fort McIntosh, and of the faithlessness of the British commander to carry out all the terms of surrender, roused the whole pro- vince, and, with a unanimity and enthusiasm never before known,6 the inhabitants prepared to repel the invaders. Notice was immediately sent to General Howe, then at Charleston, acquainting him with the threatened invasion, and he at once set off for Savan- nah, directing General Moultrie to send on a strong detachment to his assistance. Accordingly, Lieutenant- Colonel Marion, with six hundred men, four field-pieces, and ample ammunition, stores, and provisions, sailed through the inland passages; but did not reach Sa- vannah until the 28th of February, a few days after General McIntosh, with the remains of the first bat- talion of his brigade, had driven the invaders back from the Alatamaha.
So great was the alarm, and so imminent the danger, that a large part of the militia of the State were or-
6 MS. letter of Joseph Clay. 1
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DEATH OF PRESIDENT BULLOCH.
dered into service, and a camp was formed at Medway Meeting-house. The rest of the militia were com- manded to hold themselves ready to turn out with arms at a moment's warning; while the President, finding it sometimes impossible to collect the Council of Safety, was desired, by a resolution of the Council, passed on the 22d February, 1777, "to take upon himself the whole executive powers of government, calling to his assistance not less than five persons of his own choosing, to consult and advise with on every urgent occasion, when a sufficient number of council- lors cannot be convened to make a board."
This was giving to the President extraordinary powers; but the Council knew the prudence and reli- ability of the man to whom they intrusted them, and hence confided fully in his wisdom and patriotism. Mr. Bulloch did not long hold these dictator-like powers; for, before the close of the month, he died, and Button Gwinnett was elected to succeed him as President of the Council of Safety.
Mr. Bulloch seemed to be just the man for the critical time in which he lived, and for the responsible station which he held. He was one of the foremost to assert and maintain the liberties of his country, even before the rupture with Great Britain, and when the friends of American rights in Georgia were few and fearful. When Bryan had been ejected from the Go- vernor's Council; and Wylly from the clerkship; and Jones from the Speaker's chair; for their freedom of thought and speech; when it was hazardous to come in collision with the royal power, and provoke the wrath of a King's Governor; when it was almost treason to talk the honest sentiments of a freeman,
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Archibald Bulloch and three others came out, over their own signatures, with a call for a meeting of those opposed to the unjust acts of England, and anxious for a redress of their grievances.
His death was a heavy loss to Georgia, at a moment when it could hardly be borne ;- for all parties of Liberty men were united on him, and on him alone; and when he was called hence, by the fiat of God, divi- sions and discord rent the ranks of the Americans, and it was not until blood had flowed, and years of animosity passed, that harmony again pervaded our councils. Had not Mr. Bulloch been so deeply en- gaged in provincial affairs, as to prevent his attendance at Philadelphia in the Congress of 1776, to which he was elected, his name would have gone down to pos- terity as one of the signers of the Declaration of In- dependence. If he failed, however, of securing this distinction, he gained the honor of being the first republican Governor of Georgia-the people's first choice to their highest office-one who sacrificed his private views for the public good, and who died in the very harness of executive authority, revered and che- rished by his native province.
Scarcely had Button Gwinnett seated himself in the executive chair, before he became anxious of military as well as civil renown; and, desirous of signalizing his administration by some brilliant stroke of arms, he planned an expedition against Florida, in order to return upon St. Augustine the attack lately made upon our southern forts. But it was an expedition ill-judged, ill-planned, ill-executed; resulting in dis- aster to the troops, evil to the province, and death to its projector.
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It was ill-judged, to think of attacking with a few half-disciplined Continentals and militia a stronghold like St. Augustine, which had recently been reinforced by a thousand British troops; while the whole military force in Georgia, numbering some seven or eight hun- dred men, was not sufficient to man its own forts and frontier posts.
It was ill-planned, as being resolved upon by a civilian, without consulting the commanding officer of the Georgia Brigade, or even asking his assistance, as the President determined to rely solely on the militia and State Continentals.
It was an ill-executed measure, as only one portion of the troops, the militia, under Colonel Baker, reached Saw-pit Bluff, near the mouth of the St. John's, the appointed place of rendezvous, Colonel Sumter, with the Carolina troops by land, and Colonel Elbert, with his Continentals and little armament by water, being unable to join their forces at the appointed time and place.
It was disastrous to the troops, as they suffered much in this fruitless campaign, and acquired for the service an almost unconquerable distaste.
It was disastrous to the province, as it originated crimination and recrimination, splitting up the State into feuds and parties ; dividing, and consequently weakening, their power ; perilling the great interest of liberty in the bickerings of party strife and personal jealousies ; seeking to cover the mortification of defeat and the odium of ill-judged schemes, by criminations as foolish as they were unjust.
It was disastrous to the President, because his highly improper conduct involved him in contro-
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versies with General McIntosh, then commanding the Georgia Brigade. A duel resulted from their mis- understanding, in which both were wounded at the first fire ; but, while General McIntosh recovered, Gwinnett, after lingering twelve days, expired on the 19th May, 1777.
The death of Gwinnett roused the malevolence of his party : irritated at the loss of their leader, they threw so many obstacles in the way of General McIntosh, and so retarded all his efforts, that, feeling he could do but little good in a State and among a people so unjustly arrayed against him, he applied, through the President of Congress, to be transferred to a northern command. His request was granted ; and, taking with him his son, Captain Lachlan McIntosh, and Captain John Berrien, of his staff, he repaired to Pittsburg, to take command of the western army, to which important post he had been appointed by Congress, on the recommendation of Washington. The removal of this excellent officer, who, more than any other, was fitted to command in a State with whose inhabitants, resources, and localities, he was so intimately acquainted, was a very serious loss to the State ; not only by taking away from it so valuable a citizen, and a general, but also, as it was the means of having it placed under the command of a weak, unmilitary, and inefficient officer, General Robert Howe.
Painful, however, as was the removal of General McIntosh to his own feelings, and unfortunate as it was for Georgia, no other course was left open to him. The petty persecutions, the contemptible jealousies, the open opposition, and the secret undermining at
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work in reference to him, were sources of such constant annoyance that his abilities were cramped for want of scope ; his power weakened by the usurpation of civil officers ; his energy fettered by executive restric- tions, and his life was exposed not to the fire of the enemy, but to the jealousy of hating and murderous rivals.
CHAPTER IV.
SOUTHERN INVASIONS-CAPTURE OF SAVANNAH.
IN the beginning of 1778, the State was very much disturbed by the irruption into its northern portion of a band of insurgents, who, from being under the com- mand of a fuming and illiterate partisan, Colonel Sco- phal, were named " Scophalites." This band, number- ing five or six hundred men, came from the upper part of Carolina, crossed the Savannah River just below Augusta, and captured a number of well-laden trading- boats as they passed. On their route they were joined by the disaffected of the district through which they passed, and committed great depredations, before they reached Florida, whither they hastened, to swell the garrison of St. Augustine, and aid the British in their projected conquest of Georgia.
The movements of these loyalists, combined with the many rumors concerning the operations of Colonel Prevost, induced a resolution on the part of General Howe to anticipate their meditated attack on Georgia by an invasion of the Floridian capital.
Yet, how little prepared Georgia was to make such an invasion may be known from General Howe's own statement, wherein he declares:1 "That the country
Moultrie, i, 204.
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was assailable on every side, and nowhere prepared for defence ; many of the people disaffected to the cause, and those who wish it well not united among them- selves, exceedingly weak in numbers as to militia, and these ill armed ; and it is a melancholy truth that our regulars do not exceed 550 effectives."
Notwithstanding these adverse circumstances, which should have counselled more prudent measures, General Howe ordered to Savannah 200 men from the brigade of General Moultrie, who detached 150 from Thomp- son's, and 50 from Sumter's regiment. These were subsequently increased to 600 Continentals, in addition to a force of several hundred militia under Colonel Williamson, who marched down to his assistance from Ninety-six in Carolina. Fort Howe was the place ap- pointed for the rendezvous of the several detachments.
Colonel Elbert, who commanded here, had recently signalized himself by a brilliant exploit, which he thus narrates in a letter to General Howe :-
" FREDERICA, April 19th, 1778.
" DEAR GENERAL :-
" I have the happiness to inform you, that about 10 o'clock this forenoon, the brigantine Hinchinbrooke, the sloop Rebecca, and a prize brig, all struck the Bri- tish tyrant's colors, and surrendered to the American arms.
" Having received intelligence that the above vessels were at this place, I put about three hundred men by detachment from the troops under my command at Fort Howe, on board the three galleys, the Washing- ton, Captain Hardy; the Lee, Captain Braddock; and the Bulloch, Captain Hutcher; and a detachment of VOL. II.
11
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artillery, with two field-pieces, under Captain Young, I put on board a boat. With this little army, we em- barked at Darien, and last evening effected a landing at a bluff about a mile below the town ; leaving Colonel White on board the Lee, Captain Melvin on board the Washington, and Lieutenant Petty on board the Bul- loch, each with a sufficient party of troops. Immedi- ately on landing, I despatched Lieutenant-Colonel Ray and Major Roberts, with about one hundred men ; who marched directly up to the town, and made prisoners three marines and two sailors belonging to the Hin- chinbrooke.
" It being late, the galleys did not engage until this morning. You must imagine what my feelings were to see our three little men-of-war going on to the attack of these three vessels, who have spread terror on our coast, and who were drawn up in order of battle; but the weight of our metal soon damped the courage of these heroes, who soon took to their boats; and as many as could, abandoned the vessel with everything on board, of which we immediately took possession. What is extraordinary, we have not one man hurt. Captain Ellis, of the Hinchinbrooke, is drowned, and Captain Mowbray, of the Rebecca, made his escape. As soon as I see Colonel White, who has not yet come to us with his prizes, I shall consult with him, the three other officers, and the commanding officers of the galleys, on the expediency of attacking the Galatea, now lying at Jekyl."
The contemplated attack on the Galatea was thwarted by the departure of that vessel, just as Colonel Elbert was completing his preparations for its seizure or de-
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SOUTHERN INVASIONS-CAPTURE OF SAVANNAH. 163
struction. General Howe reached Fort Howe on the 20th May, and on the 25th, he crossed the Alatamaha and encamped at Reid's Bluff. Here he was kept waiting nearly two weeks by the sickness of his troops, the tardiness of the militia, and the non-arrival of those supplies which were to come round by water from South Carolina.
These supplies were greatly needed, as tents were so scarce that ten and twelve were often crowded into one, or else they slept in the heavy dews. One camp kettle sufficed for twelve or fifteen, one small canteen was distributed to six or eight, and though many were sick, they had but few and inferior medicines. It was not until the 7th June, that General Howe was enabled to march off the Georgia brigade from Reid's Bluff, as the van of his little army destined for the conquest of Florida. This brigade, under Colonel Elbert, was ad- vanced to the Satilla River, to collect boats for the passage of the troops ; and the main body of the army under Howe, finding no interruption of a serious nature, was enabled to reach the St. Mary's River, where a junction was formed with Commodore Bowen, who had gone round by sea.
Fort Tonyn, which they had expected to have found fully manned, was evacuated and demolished, and the enemy had made a stand at Alligator Creek, fourteen miles to the south. To dislodge them, General Howe ordered three hundred men to reconnoitre their posi- tion, and if it seemed practicable, to give them battle.
The camp of the enemy was only surrounded by a ditch, while a number of recently felled trees con- stituted a simple abatis. Satisfied that a camp thus slightly entrenched could be easily captured, the com-
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manding officer ordered a body of cavalry, under Colo- nel Elijah Clarke, to attack them on one side, while the main body, seizing the opportunity of the confu- sion created among the enemy by the onset of Clarke, would rush upon them in front, and gain the day. Clarke, after great difficulty, penetrated the outward barrier of trees and brush; but found, when about to leap the ditch, that it was too wide, and his horses, being made fractious by the fire and huzzas which greeted their arrival at the ditch, he was unable to effect his design, and being wounded in the thigh, or- dered a retreat, losing three killed and nine wounded. Owing to this failure, no attack was made in front, and the whole force returned to the main army.
The failure of this plan was the natural result of the peculiar and unmilitary state of affairs in the American forces. Some of these are thus hinted at by General Howe :-
" I have been waiting for the galleys first, and, after their arrival, a tedious time for the militia of this State, and for the long-expected coming of Colonel Williamson and our countrymen with him. In short, if I am ever again to depend upon operations I have no right to guide, and men I have no right to com- mand, I shall deem it then, as I now do, one of the most unfortunate incidents of my life. Had we been able to move at once, and those I expected would have been foremost had only been as ready as we were, a blow might have been given to our enemies which would have put it out of their power to have disturbed us, at least not hastily ; and perhaps have been attended with consequences more important than the most sanguine could have expected ; but delayed
SOUTHERN INVASIONS-CAPTURE OF SAVANNAH. 165
beyond all possible supposition, embarrassed, disap- pointed, perplexed, and distressed beyond expression, the utmost we could now achieve, will be a poor com- pensation for the trouble and fatigue we have under- gone ; excepting we may be allowed to suppose (what I truly think has been effected) that the movements we have made have drove back the enemy, and pre- vented an impending invasion of the State of Georgia, which would otherwise inevitably have overwhelmed it, and also a dangerous defection of both States. This good, I am persuaded, has resulted from it, and this is our consolation. The enemy were, two or three days since, at Alligator Creek, fourteen miles from this place; their forces, by all accounts, are at least equal to either the Governor's troops or mine, and we are on contrary sides of the river, and not within eight miles of each other. Ask me not how this happened, but rest assured that it has not been my fault. I be- lieve, however, that the Governor will encamp near me to-night, and if the enemy are still where they were, which I hope to know to-night or to-morrow morning, we shall probably beat up their quarters."
Though the 12th of June was the time appointed for the junction of troops at St. Mary's, Governor Houstoun, with the State militia, did not reach there until the 4th July, and Colonel Williamson on the 11th; and when the four portions, severally com- manded by General Howe, Commodore Bowen, Go- vernor John Houstoun, and Colonel Williamson, reached their destination, so far from amalgamating into one command, under the general officer; Commo- dore Bowen insisted on his exclusive right to control the galleys; Governor Houstoun refused to surrender
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his right as commander-in-chief of the militia; and Colonel Williamson's troops refused to obey any orders but such as emanated from him.
It was an army cursed with four heads, each jealous of the other; and an army without unity, like "a house divided against itself," cannot stand. Sickness also came into camp, and struck down one half of the troops. Their horses were so reduced in number, that they had scarcely enough to drag the artillery, ammu- nition, and baggage, so that had their retreat been cut off by water, they could scarcely have effected it by land, " and if we do not retreat soon," said a distin- guished officer of the expedition, "we shall not be able to retreat at all, and may crown this expedition with another Saratoga affair in reverse."
It now became very evident that the enemy, while they were in large force at St. Augustine, designed waiting for the Americans on the south side of the St. John's, and concentrated there a force of twelve hun- dred ; consisting of regulars, royalists, and Scophalites, besides Indians, to dispute the passage to St. Augus- tine. The middle of summer had arrived, and two months and a half had been consumed in getting the troops to the St. Mary's, under disadvantages, arising in part from the roads and climate; but mostly, from the tardiness of the militia, the sickness of the soldiers, the want of co-operation among the commanders, and the lack of those military stores, which common pru- dence and military foresight should have anticipated and provided. In the perplexing emergency in which General Howe was now placed, he called a council of war of the principal officers on the 11th of July. He stated to the board the reasons which induced the
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