USA > Georgia > A history of Georgia : from its first discovery by Europeans to the adoption of the present constitution in MDCCXCVIII. Vol. II > Part 15
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1 " Pulaski Vindicated," &c. Baltimore, 1824.
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him, as has been basely and falsely asserted by parti- sans of Russia, but with the view to make him a rallying point for the nobles, and all the patriots of Poland; and, by means of this union of the monarch with the nation, to crush, or, at least, to drive away from the territory of the republic, the satellites of that unprincipled and perfidious power, by whose haughty mandates it had too long been governed. The enter- prise, confided to forty brave patriots, succeeded only so far as to seize on the monarch in the very bosom of his capital, and to carry him away some distance from it, in spite of every obstacle and danger. The dark- ness of the night, and other unforeseen casualties, prevented the final execution of a plan, which might eventually have saved Poland from that political anni- hilation which has since become her lot.
" When, from nearly the same motives as induce robbers to disguise or suspend, for a time, their jeal- ousies and animosities, and to unite their efforts and their strength, the more easily to secure a common prey, Russia, Prussia, and Austria jointly invaded Poland, in 1772, and at a 'fell swoop' seized upon the fairest portion of her territory, which they divided among themselves, by that right which only kings and freebooters dare to claim, the right of superior physical force, the Polish confederates were compelled either to acquiesce in the degradation of their enslaved, plundered, partitioned country, or to flee from the be- loved and hallowed land which had given them birth -from the land which they had disputed, inch by inch, with the lawless potentates who have since entirely erased it from the map of independent nations. Very few submitted; many fell into the hands of the Rus-
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sians or their adherents, and died martyrs to that noble cause which they had so strenuously supported ; others escaped to foreign climes. Pulaski was the last to retire from the noble contest. In a desperate and bloody engagement with the Russians, his army, vastly inferior in numbers, was routed, annihilated; but his courage still remained. To rush furiously on to death would have been useless to his country ; he chose to live, in the hope of again serving it, should Heaven and time favor his wishes.
" Through countless fatigues, difficulties, and perils, and after a variety of singular disguises, wonderful adventures, and hairbreadth escapes, he reached Tur- key, whose hostilities against Russia accorded with his hatred of that power, and at the same time flattered the patriotic schemes which his ardent spirit had not ceased to cherish. On that side, however, his hopes were frustrated by the peace concluded between Rus- sia and the Porte, 1774.
"In the meantime the situation of Poland had become more deplorable than ever; her king, her senate, her people, yielding to foreign oppression, had sunk into the torpor and apathy of the most abject servitude. Envoys, from the Courts of St. Petersburg, Vienna, and Berlin, swayed her destinies; and, far from as- suming a brighter aspect, her horizon daily portended more violent and more tremendous tempests. By the Russian faction, Pulaski had long since been deprived of his estates, degraded from his rank, condemned to lose his head-in short, outlawed. Unable to rouse Turkey to any measure auspicious to his country, he passed into France about the time when the declara- tion of American independence kindled in every gene-
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rous breast a holy enthusiasm. The native land of Pulaski had lost her liberties; he resolved to fight for the liberties of America. With him to resolve and to execute were almost simultaneous. In 1777, Phila- delphia beheld him tendering his services to the Ame- rican Congress. The inherent ardor of his warlike spirit, his habits of activity, and the desire of efficiently serving the cause which he had so warmly embraced, did not permit him to wait for the decision of that body on his application, but he immediately joined the army. He was at Brandywine on the day of the battle with the Marquis De La Fayette, and other distin- guished foreign officers in the suite of General Wash- ington. At the time when our right wing was turned by the victorious enemy pressing upon us, and the rapid retreat of the right and centre of our army be- came the natural consequence, Count Pulaski proposed to General Washington to give him command of his body-guard, consisting of about thirty horsemen. This was readily granted, and Pulaski, with his usual intre- pidity and judgment, led them to the charge, and suc- ceeded in retarding the advance of the enemy-a delay which was of the highest importance to our retreating army. Moreover, the penetrating military coup d'œil of Pulaski soon perceived that the enemy were manœu- vreing to take possession of the road leading to Ches- ter, with a view of cutting off our retreat, or, at least, the column of our baggage. He hastened to General Washington to communicate the information, and was immediately authorized by the Commander-in-chief to collect as many of the scattered troops as he could find at hand and make the best of them. This was most fortunately executed by Pulaski, who, by an oblique
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advance upon the enemy's front and right flank, de- feated their object, and effectually protected our bag- gage, and the retreat of the army. This important service was justly appreciated by General Washington, who did not fail to recommend Pulaski to Congress, and that body passed the following resolution on the 15th of September, 1777 :-
" ' Resolved, That a commander of the horse be ap- pointed, with the rank of a Brigadier.'
" The ballots being taken, Count Pulaski was elected."
In 1778, Pulaski was authorized by Congress to raise an independent corps, to consist of three com- panies of cavalry, armed with lances, and three of foot, equipped as light infantry. This corps was called " Pulaski's Legion ;" and, such was his known bravery and popularity, that he soon reported his legion as full and ready for service. While engaged on this recruit- ing duty he was stationed for a time at Bethlehem, Pennsylvania, and some of the choir houses of the Moravians were converted into barracks, hospitals, &c. To protect the single sisters of this religious commu- nity from rapine and violence, a guard was posted by Pulaski around their house, and himself in person often shared the duties of the sentinel.
Grateful for this protection from a rough and un- couth soldiery, Susan Von Gersdorf, the spiritual super- intendent of the establishment, suggested1 that the sisters should present Pulaski with a banner for his new legion, as a tribute of respect for his guardianship of their persons, and of sympathy with the cause in which he was engaged.
1 Bethlehem Seminary Souvenir, 1858, by Wm. C. Reichel, pp. 38-9.
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Her suggestion was approved and adopted. The design of the work was intrusted to the sisters Becky Langly and Julia Bader, who planned a banner of double crimson silk, twenty inches square, on one side of which was embroidered, in yellow silk, shaded with green, the All-seeing Eye, inclosed in a triangle, sur- rounded by thirteen stars, as if God had said to the United States, in the words of the Psalmist, "I will guide thee with Mine eye ;" and, above it, the legend, " Non alius regit." No other reigns. On the other side were the initial letters U. S. and the surrounding motto, " Unitas virtus potior." United valor stronger. The silk was heavily fringed with bullion and tassels, and affixed to a handsome lance.
The embroidery was executed with taste and ele- gance by Anna Bean, Anna Hussy, and Erdmuth Langly, with other associates. The banner was re- ceived by Pulaski with expressions of grateful acknow- ledgment, and it became thenceforth the ensign of the legion.
It was the consecration of this banner which gave occasion for one of those earlier poems of Longfellow, in which, with somewhat indeed of poetic license, he portrayed the scene, and sung the "Hymn of the Mora- vian Nuns" as they took from the altar
" The blood-red banner that with prayer Had been consecrated there ;"
and, presenting it to the gallant Pole, exclaimed-
" Take thy banner! May it wave Proudly o'er the good and brave. *
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Guard it ! till our homes are free,
Guard it ! God will prosper thee. Take thy banner ! and if e'er
Thou shouldst press the soldier's bier, And the muffled drum should beat
To the tread of mournful feet, Then this crimson flag shall be Martial cloak and shroud for thee."
In February, 1779, Pulaski, with his legion, was ordered to the South, to form part of the Southern army under General Lincoln in South Carolina. Here he did good service, until he was removed to Georgia, to operate with the combined army in the attempt to retake Savannah. How he behaved at this memorable siege has been told. Cool, resolute, daring, vigilant ; he entered upon the contest with all the ardor of mili- tary fervor, panting to distinguish himself on a field where three nations would witness his bravery, and acknowledge his heroism. When he fell before the lines of Savannah, he was carried back a little dis- tance; and there, on the field, Dr. James Lynah, of Charleston, extracted the ball, an iron grape-shot (now in the possession of the Lynah family), from his groin ; an operation which, though exceedingly painful, was borne by Pulaski "with inconceivable fortitude." He was then with Captain Bentalou (who was also wounded) taken on board the U. S. brig " Wasp," where he had the best surgical attendance ; but gangrene soon made its appearance, and death speedily followed. " Just as the Wasp got out of the river, Pulaski breathed his last; and the corpse immediately became so offensive, that this officer was compelled, though re- luctantly, to consign to a watery grave all that was now left on earth of his beloved and honored com-
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mander. The Wasp entered the harbor of Charleston with her flag half hoisted. The mournful signal was repeated by all the shipping in the port; and all the forts and batteries responded to it in the manner usual on such occasions of deep and universal sorrow. The Governor and Council of South Carolina, and the muni- cipal authorities of Charleston, jointly adopted resolu- tions to pay to the memory of General Pulaski the most respectful and the most splendid funeral honors. A day was set apart for the obsequies, and the Quarter- Master-General of the United States at Charleston, directed to make and to defray all the preparations for the melancholy solemnity. The procession was grand, and suited to the occasion. The pall was carried by three American, and three French officers of the highest rank, followed by the beautiful horse which Pulaski rode when he received his death-wound, with all the armor, accoutrements, and dress, which he then wore. So very large was the mournful procession, that it was found necessary to make a cir- cuit of the whole city to the church, where an eloquent and impressive discourse was delivered by the chap- lain of the army."1
The banner wrought by the Moravian nuns was saved at the battle of Savannah by one of Pulaski's lieutenants ; and delivered by him to Captain Bentalou, who, on retiring from the army, took it with him to Baltimore, his place of residence. In 1824, however, it was used by the young ladies of Philadelphia, on the occasion of welcoming La Fayette to the city ; and then deposited in Peale's Museum, where it remained until
1 " Pulaski Vindicated," &c.
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1844, when it was given to the Maryland Historical Society ; and now adorns, not with its beauty, for it is faded and tattered, but with its glory, the hall of that institution.
It is a strange, yet remarkable fact, that much controversy has been occasioned concerning the place where Pulaski was buried. The narrative of Cap- tain Bentalou, quoted above, states that he was buried at sea, and others declare that he was buried on land. When the City of Savannah carried into execu- tion a resolution, which, for nearly seventy-five years had been a dead letter on the books of Congress, and erected Launitz's noble monument to Pulaski in Mon- terey Square; there was placed within the plinth, alongside of the corner-stone, a metallic case, hermeti- cally sealed, containing "what were supposed to be the remains of Pulaski, exhumed on the - of De- cember, 1853, at Greenwich, on Augustine Creek, dis- tant from the City of Savannah five miles."
As, however, all contemporary evidence, so far as it goes, corroborates the statement of Pulaski's friend and fellow-officer, that he died on board the Wasp, and was buried under the water,-as no contemporary record mentions his death or burial at Greenwich ; and as all the evidence offered to support the latter theory is parole, circumstantial, and conjectural, so must we still believe the reports of the time, and say, with a probability amounting almost to certainty, that this brave soldier lies under the tide-waters of the Atlantic, and not beneath the majestic column which bears his name, and is consecrated to his memory, in the City of Savannah.
During the siege of Savannah, occurred one of those
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strategic episodes which vary the usual bloodiness of war. So soon as General Prevost heard of the arrival of the French fleet, he ordered in all the outposts; and a portion of Colonel Cruger's command, stationed at Sun- bury, under Captain French, attempted to obey the order by passing in vessels through the inland channels. Intercepted in their course up the Ogeechee, they were compelled to land, and entrench themselves for safety; and there they remained in their fortified camp, about twenty-five miles south of Savannah, until the night of the 1st October; when Colonel John White, of the Georgia line, with Captains Melvin and Elholm (an officer of Pulaski's legion), a sergeant, and three privates, having reconnoitered his position, withdrew a little distance, kindled many fires to represent a large encampment, gave loud commands as if guiding the marching of troops, and so simulated by their move- ments the hurry and bustle of staff-officers, that Captain French, on being boldly summoned by Colonel White to surrender, was convinced that a large force was close beside him. While parleying with Colonel White, Captain Elholm hastily rode up, and abruptly asked of Colonel White where he should place the artillery. Captain French having expressed his wonder that he saw no troops, was told that they were purposely kept back, because they were quite exasperated at an out- rage on some prisoners, said to have been committed in Savannah, which they were determined to revenge at the first opportunity.
Captain French being convinced, from what he saw and heard, that it was only by an immediate surrender that he could preserve the lives of his men,
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capitulated, and one hundred and eleven troops, and five vessels,-some of which were armed,-with their crews and munitions, were delivered up to Colonel White. "The deception," says Ramsey, " was carried on with so much address, that the whole of the prisoners were safely conducted, by three of the captors, for twenty-five miles through the country to the American post at Sunbury."
Rejoining the army before Savannah, Colonel White was severely wounded, eight days after, in the assault on the Spring Hill redoubt, and was taken prisoner by the British. He succeeded, however, in escaping' from the enemy, and made his way to Virginia; where, it is said, he shortly after died, from a pulmonary attack produced by fatigue and exposure.
CHAPTER VII.
SIEGE OF AUGUSTA.
THE departure of the French fleet, and the repulse of the combined army by the English, opened the way for Sir Henry Clinton, to make further and more im- portant movements.
Leaving the garrison of New York under the com- mand of Lieutenant-General Knyphausen, Sir Henry Clinton, on the 26th of December, 1779, sailed for the South, with an army of three thousand British, Hessian, and loyalist troops, escorted by Admiral Arbuthnot, with an adequate naval force.
The severity of the weather was such, that it was not until the end of January, that the fleet reached Tybee, the place of rendezvous. Here they waited a short time to refit the damaged vessels, and then pro- ceeded to North Edisto Sound, in South Carolina, to carry out the plan of Sir Henry Clinton of besieging Charleston.
Into this city General Lincoln had drawn most of the troops at his disposal, and thus Georgia was left in a most unprotected condition.
Against this step, the Executive Council of Georgia strongly protested, by a series of resolutions, passed on the 3d of February, 1780. The disastrous result
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of the siege of Charleston, confirmed the judgment of the Council : Augusta, the seat of the republican government, was abandoned, and Heard's Fort (now Washington), in Wilkes County, was the last strong- hold of liberty in Georgia. Here the Executive Council sat, and, during the darkest period in Geor- gia's history, governed the almost deserted State. At this time, there were two distinct governments within the boundaries of Georgia : the lower part of the State, from Hudson's Ferry, just below Brier Creek, to the seaboard, being under the civil government of Sir James Wright; while the upper part of the State, from the same ferry to the mountains, was nominally in the hands of the Republicans.
On the withdrawal of the troops by General Lin- coln, many had abandoned their homes, anticipating the re-extension of royal authority over the whole State, and fearing the vengeance of the British regu- lars, and the more dreaded royalists. The distresses of the inhabitants of what may be termed republican Georgia, were greatly heightened by the plundering parties of Tories, which infested and wasted the farms and dwellings of the citizens. The General Assembly ordered the Governor to take proper measures to pre- vent, as much as possible, this practice, and annexed a clause to the act, declaring it felony for any person or persons, under any pretence whatever, to plunder or take away from any of the inhabitants of this State, within a line from " Hudson's Ferry to the Ogeechee, any property;" and also ordered "all such as were not well affected to the confederate alliance to remain without the same."
On the 3d March, 1780, Richard Howley, the Go- VOL. II.
16
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vernor, issued a proclamation, reciting the above act, and " forbidding all and every person from such illegal and shameful practices, which reflect a disgrace on the sacred cause of America, and assimilate it to the ini- quity of that of our enemies;" and he further ordered and required, "that every person well affected to the cause of the United States, should repair, without loss of time, to proper places, within a line from Hudson's Ferry to the Ogeechee, and there remain quiet, de- meaning themselves as good citizens of the State."
Many of the best republicans of Georgia had, how- ever, much property in the low country, the removal of which was important, as a means of their future subsistence, as well as to prevent its falling into the hands of the British, and thus adding to the supplies of the enemy. In order to collect these various stores, and to facilitate their removal to the north of the designated line, Colonel Pickens, with a part of his South Carolina regiment, formed a junction, on the 20th March, with a few militia under Colonel Twiggs, and a troop of horse commanded by Captain Inman, the whole force amounting to about three hundred men. Their first aim was to surprise McGirth, who had been laying waste the southeastern part of the State ; but in this they failed, owing to the flight of the marauders, when they heard that the Americans were on their track; though several of McGirth's party were killed and taken prisoners. Colonels Pickens and Twiggs formed a post on the Ogeechee, which constituted a rallying point for the Americans ; and a point from which incursions could be made into lower Georgia, to the great annoyance of the Governor and the loyalists, who had gathered near the seaboard.
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To disperse this body, the British general ordered out a portion of Delancy's corps, under Captain Conklin, which, leaving Savannah before daylight on the 4th April, reached the Ogeechee River by ten o'clock. They were soon engaged in battle with the troops under Pickens and Twiggs, and were completely routed. Captain Conklin died of his wounds the next day, and the discomfited party returned in confusion to the garrison in Savannah.
The fall of Charleston, in May, 1780, was a disas- trous event for Georgia. As soon as it was communi- cated to Governor Howley, he resolved to comply with the resolutions of the General Assembly and the Execu- tive Council, by leaving the State and proceeding to Philadelphia, to take his seat there as a member of Con- gress, to which he had been previously elected ; and it is recorded, as an evidence of the depreciation of the paper currency, that it cost the State nearly half a million of dollars Continental currency, to pay the expenses of the Governor in Congress. Most of the civil and military officers of the republican party ac- companied the Governor as far as North Carolina; and Georgia was left with only the name of a government, and with scarcely a regiment of soldiers to defend its territory.
As soon as Augusta was deserted by the Americans, it was taken possession of by Colonels Brown and Grierson, two notorious partisan officers in the English service. Thomas Brown had been a resident of Au- gusta, before the breaking out of the war, and had so offended the friends of liberty in that town, by his censures and ridicule, that he was at last taken by the Parish Committee, tried, and sentenced to be tarred
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and feathered, and to be publicly exposed in a cart drawn by three mules. After this ignominious punish- ment, he escaped to the British, distinguished himself by his bitterness and hatred towards the Liberty men; and, by his address and daring, was soon entrusted with the command of the town in which he had en- dured such gross indignities.
He was now in a position to gratify his revenge, and pay back upon the inhabitants of Augusta the ill usage which he had received at their hands, and he did it with no stinted measure. The first plan adopted by him in conjunction with Colonel Grierson, was to seques- trate the property of the whigs, that they might thus possess themselves of all that they owned. The next step was to order all their families beyond the State, under pretence that they held correspondence with the refugees. These wretched families, stripped of nearly all they had, were driven from their homes and their fields, and with a few scanty personal effects, were obliged to travel, under great privations, exposed to gross insults, nearly two hundred miles to the borders of North Carolina, whither they arrived "nearly famished from the want of food, and worn down with the fatigue of so long a way ; and the health of many was so much shattered that they could never recover from the effect of such privation."1
Induced by the promises of succor held out by General Andrew Williamson,-that southern Arnold,-the pa- triots of Georgia had somewhat rallied in Wilkes County, in the hope of keeping possession of the upper part of the State; but when his defection was known, Colonel
I Jackson's MS. notes on Ramsay.
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Elijah Clarke, with about one hundred and fifty men, gathered at Freeman's Fort, in Elbert County, with the view of opposing the British forces in front, on the South Carolina side of the river. This place was called Freeman's Fort from two brothers, Colonel Holman Freeman and John Freeman, who had made a settle- ment near the place where Lord George Gordon had pre- viously planted a colony of Scotch people, brought over from Scotland under indentures to serve his Lordship for five years, in consideration of his advancing their passage-money and support. At the beginning of the colonial disputes, Lord George returned to England, and his colony was broken up.
The attempt, however, of Colonel Clarke to make anything like a determined stand, at Freeman's Fort, was unsuccessful; and most of his men, being dis- couraged, were dispersed to their homes, to await a more favorable time. A party of thirty-five, however, under Colonel John Jones, of Burke County, and Stephen Heard, President of the Executive Council, determined to brave every difficulty and make their way to the army in South Carolina.
On their march through the loyalist regions, they represented themselves as loyalists, and under this guise, by boldness and stratagem, captured a party of thirty tories, whom they disarmed, and put upon their parole of honor not to serve again against the Americans. After various other adventures, they reached the Paco- lette River; and, on the 16th July, effected a junction with Colonel McDowell and a body of three hundred North Carolina militia.
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