USA > Georgia > Georgia's landmarks, memorials and legends, Volume I > Part 6
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It is to the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America that the credit belongs for the rescue of this historic ruin on the Georgia coast. Occasional visits to the upper part of the island disclosed the sad plight in which the old fortifications were left and emphasized the importance of immediate action if anything were done to rescue the ancient land-mark from utter extinction. At one time there stood upon the ruins of the old fort an occupied building. Just how long ago it stood here is uncertain, but in removing the debris some of the work- men chanced to discover the walls. Thus after the lapse of long years was the existence of the old fort brought to the attention of the public. In 1902 a resolution was adopted by the Colonial Dames looking toward the restoration of the ancient stronghold. This was possible
*Mrs. J. J. Wilder, of Savannah, President of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America.
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only in part; but without losing a moment's time these patriotic women took the initiative, raised the funds which were needed for making the proper repairs, and in due time completed the task. Embedded in one of the outer walls of the old fort is an elegant tablet of bronze, eighteen by twenty-four inches, on which may be read the following inscription :
OGLETHORPE
. This remnant is all that time has spared of the Citadel of the Town of Frederica, built by General Oglethorpe, A. D., 1735, as an outpost against the Spaniards in Florida. Presented by the Georgia Soci- ety of Colonial Dames of America, 1904.
With impressive exercises, the above mentioned tablet was unveiled on April 22, 1904. There were a number of distinguished visitors present, including representatives from the various patriotic orders. The fort on this occasion was profusely decorated with flowers. The tablet was covered with the British flag, while the American colors floated from the parapet. Mrs. J. J. Wilder, President of the Georgia Society of Colonial Dames of America, unveiled the tablet. The prayer of invocation was offered by Rev. D. W. Winn, rector of Christ Church at Frederica, after which the anthem "America" was sung by a choir of children. Then followed an address by Mrs. Wilder, at the conclusion of which, Captain C. S. Wylly, of Brunswick, introduced the orator of the day, Hon. Pleasant A. Stovall, of Savannah, who, in eloquent language, told the brave story of the old fort. Some few paragraphs from this address are herewith reproduced.
Said Mr. Stovall, in substance: "Those who would have a glimpse of the real James Oglethorpe must come to Frederica, for he was above everything else a soldier. When he had finished his earlier task at Savannah, his
RUINS OF THE OLD FORT AT FREDERICA ON ST. SIMON'S ISLAND.
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FORT FREDERICA
face by some mysterious fascination was turned to the southward. He thereupon set out for St. Simon's where, true to his military instincts, he built his forts and assem- bled his regiment, and where, for the first time, yielding to the domestic spirit, he reared his roof-tree and established the beginning of his home. Until he left the Colony never again to return he resided at his cottage on St. Simon's Island, and of all the places planted and nurtured by him, none so warmly enlisted his energies or engaged his constant solicitude as this fortified town at the mouth of the river.
"The men who sailed with Francis Drake and who ravaged the Spanish main in the sixteenth century did not lead a more venturesome or heroic existence than did Oglethorpe at Frederica, yet according to Colonel Jones, 'the only hours of leisure he ever enjoyed were in sight and sound of his military works on the southern frontier.' Weary of the outcries and intrigues of the settlers at Savannah, stung by their evidences of ingratitude and discouraged by their protests against his benign super- vision, he found rest at Frederica, where he stationed his regiment and revived a military regime. Here he mounted guard under the spreading oaks and watched the sentinels as they paced the lonely shades. Now and then he conversed genially with the cadets of the old families who had enlisted here, while ever and anon he heard the bugles ring out in the silver moonlight and saw his guard sloop patrol the estuaries of the Altamaha.
"Oglethorpe proved to be a sea-fighter as well as an infantry commander. He seemed to be at home in every branch of the service. Napoleon, when he heard that the English had vanquished the French fleet in the battle of the Nile, held up his hands in helplessness and exclaimed : 'I cannot be everywhere.' But Oglethorpe seemed to have the faculty of being everywhere and of covering every foot of ground and every sheet of water, from the mouth of the St. John's to St. Simon's Island. He served the guns on shipboard and on the land batteries, and even
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acted as engineer. He had the power of initiative. He possessed the aggressive genius of attack."
"Walpole called him a 'bully.' He was not that; but he was a military man every inch of him, strict and severe in discipline, better suited to the scenes of war than to the patient civic administration of the council board. After the Spanish had been driven from the limits of Georgia and the peace of Europe had been accomplished, leaving Frederica free from the fear of further invasion, Oglethorpe sailed away to the old country and left the work of rehabilitating the Colony to other hands. It is fortunate, perhaps, for his fame that he did so. The rules of the trustees were much modified. The charter was surrendered to the Crown and the dras- tic lines upon which the paternal government of Ogle- thorpe had been projected were partially changed. But conditions had shifted. A Colony environed by an implacable foe, subject to spoliation at any time, must be governed, perhaps, by the rules of the ramparts and of the quarterdeck. A people basking in peace and develop- ing under the arts need vastly different regulations. But fortunate for all of us it was that the first period of Georgia's existence was shaped by a master hand and its destinies guided by one of the noblest men and one of the knightliest soldiers in Europe.
"If, however, he was lacking in any of the elements of statesmanship, he was still possessed of a consummate diplomacy. He penetrated the wilds of Georgia and treated with the Indians in such a way that they became his friends for life. The land grabbing of some of the early settlers in this country was conspicuously absent in the dealings of James Oglethorpe. Even the punctil- ious grandees of Spain were charmed with the accomp- lished English courtier.
"Fortunate it is for the civilization of the world that Oglethorpe was not assassinated by his soldiers, who rose
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in mutiny and fired upon him in his tent, or that he did not perish by the shot which came so near ending his career at St. Augustine. France and Spain had both set prices upon his head and had incited the Indians to way- lay him during some of his journeys through the lonely forest; but happily for mankind he bore a charmed life and saved for all time the American Colonies from spolia- tion and ruin."
"After the departure of Oglethorpe and the con- clusion of peace Frederica began to retrograde. The troops were finally removed and the fortifications fell into decay. Houses commenced to tumble down, and there were 'barracks without soldiers, guns without carriages, and streets overgrown with weeds.' Even in 1774, two years before the Declaration of Independence, Frederica was a ruin; from the crumbling walls of the deserted houses, figs and pomegranites were growing; and the brave town soon dwindled into nothingness. During the Revolution the British troops well-nigh con- pleted the spoliation of time. The mission of Frederica, according to Col. Jones, was accomplished when the Spaniards no longer threatened. Its doom was pro- nounced in the hour of its victory. Fannie Kemble, who visited the ruins in 1839 saw 'the wilderness of crumbling gray walls compassionately cloaked with a thousand graceful creepers'."
CHAPTER XI
The Wesley Oak
T O the west of the main highway and in less than half a mile of Fort Frederica, on St. Simon's Island, looms an ancient oak, gnarled and twisted. It rises to ạ height of some two hundred feet, while, over an area of several acres, its cool shade rests like a benediction. It stands at the gateway to the churchyard of Christ Church; and, according to local tradition, it marks the exact spot on which the Wesleys preached during the infant days of the settlement. At first, Charles Wesley was employed in secular work. He engaged himself to Oglethorpe in the capacity of private secretary, before leaving England, but he afterwards took orders and devoted much of his time to preaching in the neighbor- hood of Frederica. From time to time he was also joined by his brother John, who came down from Savannah. Even if the oak in question is not the identical forest monarch under which the Wesleys preached, its antiquity, from outward appearances at least, is sufficiently great to embrace the period of Georgia's early settlement, and several generations sleep within the quiet enclosure over which it stands sentinel. From the outstretched limbs of the old oak trail the pendant mosses, giving it an appear- ance of great solemnity and beauty and making it the picturesque embodiment of the austere memories which cluster about the sacred spot. The present chapel is comparatively new and thoroughly modern in every appointment, but it occupies the site of one which was
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THE WESLEY OAK, NEAR FREDERICA, ON ST. SIMON'S ISLAND.
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THE WESLEY OAK
quite old, and on the parish register are the names of the earliest residents of St. Simon's Island.
When Charles Wesley accompanied Oglethorpe to this place, opposite the mouth of the Altamaha, it was an infant settlement and the walls of Fort Frederica were just beginning to rise as a bulwark against the powerful encroachments of the Spaniards. Says Dr. Lee :* "Of this settlement, Charles Wesley, now in holy orders, took the spiritual charge. But he failed to make a success of his work. Benjamin Ingham was with him, a man of sincere piety but of doubtful judgment. Even before the close of the first month he had come to logger- heads with the people and was finding his duties as secretary an intolerable burden. His congregation had 'shrunk to two Presbyterians and a Papist,' and the physical discomforts of the place nearly drove him wild. Nor was he pleased with the manner in which Oglethorpe treated him. The good man, who had to attend to every- body's claims all over the Colony, and, in addition, was providing against threatened attacks from without, grew impatient with the incessant complaints made against Charles Wesley, who seemed to be always in hot water. Moreover, in the ecclesiastical attempts of the latter to set everything on a basis of thorough propriety, there was present a distinct element of insubordination to civil authority, which was beginning to show disintegrating effects in the attitude of the community at large. Being a thorough disciplinarian Oglethorpe keenly resented the injudicious meddling; and he visited his wrath upon his secretary in some acts of petty tyranny for which he afterwards expressed regret.
"In the beginning of April, John Wesley came to Frederica and preached in the new store-house. He had hoped to set matters right by his presence but was unsuc-
*Illustrated History of Methodism, by Rev. James W. Lee, D. D., St. Louis, 1900, pp. 69-70.
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cessful. We can picture the two brothers, sitting together under the broad oak, which is still pointed out on the island as having afforded them shelter and can be seen by tourists on board the vessels which pass through the channel. Under it they no doubt discussed the worries and trials of Colonial life. John Wesley decided to change places for a time with his brother; and Charles seems to have been much happier in Savannah. But he found that Georgia was no place for him; and, on July 26, 1736, at noon, he took his final leave of Savannah, surprised that he 'felt no more joy in leaving such a scene of sorrow.' In the friendly parting with Ogle- thorpe, the latter advised him to take a wife, as it would be likely to increase his usefulness."
CHAPTER XII
Coweta Town: Where a Treaty was Signed the Effect of Which was a Death-Blow to France on the Mississippi
O PPOSITE the great bend in the Chattahoochee River, just below the site of the present city of Columbus, on the Alabama side of the stream, there stood an old Indian settlement called Coweta Town. It was here, on an eminence overlooking the river, that Fort Mitchell was built in after years. The locality was also long famous as a duelling ground and the tragic duel between Governor George W. Crawford and Colonel Thomas E. Burnside occurred in the neighborhood of the old fort. But, going back to the time of the red- skins, Coweta Town was the principal village of the great Muscogee or Creek Confederacy of Indians, a seat of government at which council fires were held annually by the various component tribes. It was from one of these -the Coweta or Lower Creeks-that the name of the town was derived. There was also living in this neighbor- hood at the time of which we speak a subordinate band of Indians who called themselves Uchees and who gave alle- giance to the Muscogees. Here, on Aug. 21, 1739, occurred an event of transcendant interest not only to the State of Georgia but to the entire English-speaking race, for there was here signed and sealed a treaty of friendship the ultimate effect of which was to give an Anglo-Saxon character to the whole subsequent history of North America.
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The least reflection will suffice to make the truth of this statement plain.
It will be remembered that the French, at this time, by reason of the explorations of LaSalle, claimed the entire Mississippi basin of the continent, reaching from the Great lakes on the north to the Gulf of Mexico on the south. They were already securely entrenched upon the ice-bound heights of the great St. Lawrence; but they sought to strengthen the hold of France upon the vast and fertile region which bordered upon the warm tropics. For thirty-five years, Bienville had governed with far- sighted statecraft the Province of Louisiana. His great aim was to give reality to the old dreams of LaSalle, viz .- to bring the native tribes under French control, to foster trade relations. to discover mines, to establish missions, and to unite Louisiana to Canada by means of a chain of forts planted at strategic points along the great Father of Waters.
In furtherance of this grand design, he had not only fortified the Mississippi delta but had planted the standard of King Louis upon the bluffs at Mobile.
As a sequel to this latter exploit, he claimed for France two-thirds of the land ceded to Georgia by the Crown of England. Had Oglethorpe failed, therefore, at this critical moment to enlist the friendship of the powerful Muscogee or Creek Confederacy of Indians and to confirm by treaty agreement the English right of ownership to the land described in Georgia's charter, there would have been an altogether different story for the future historian to tell. It is quite certain that the Indians would have come under the spell of the French diplomacy, for the Jesuits, a noble band of mis- sionaries, were not slow in finding the key to the savage heart; and, in such an event, not only would the territory today embraced within Alabama and Mississippi have been lost to England but, from the additional strength gained by this alliance, another result might have been given to the French and Indian wars. In the light of
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COWETA TOWN
this somewhat rapid survey, therefore, it is not difficult to trace an intimate logical connection between the treaty of friendship concluded at Coweta Town on the Chatta- hoochee and the final overthrow of the French power in North America on the heights of Abraham!
The masterful mind of Oglethorpe, with almost prophetic ken, foresaw at once the danger which con- fronted the Colony of Georgia; and, in good season, he struck a blow for England, which was destined to echo down the centuries. The great philanthropist and soldier had already in the fall of 1738 met at Savannah the chiefs of four of the Creek towns with whom he had sealed a pact of friendship. But Georgia was begirt by enemies. To the south were the Spaniards in Florida and to the west were the French in Louisiana; and, in order to circumvent any covert designs on the part of these powers to seize the territory of Georgia, he sought by means of larger co-operation with the Indians to confirm the English right of occupation to the Georgia lands and to bind the savage tribes more securely to him, in the event of an outbreak of hostilities.
He, therefore, resolved to attend the next great annual conclave or council-fire of the Muscogee Indians, on the Chattahoochee River, at Coweta Town.
In pursuance of this purpose, he accordingly left Savannah, on July 17, 1739, accompanied on the perilous expedition by a few chosen companions, among them, Lieutenant Dunbar, Ensign Leman, and Cadet Eyre, besides a small retinue of servants. The journey from Savannah to Coweta Town lay through a trackless forest, three hundred miles in extent; and, taken in the heat of midsummer, there was added to the likelihood of attack from savage Indians the risk of exposure to the pesti- lential air of the swamps. We can thus form some idea of the sturdy mold of character in which this stalwart and heroic Englishman was cast. The wonderful
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GEORGIA'S LANDMARKS, MEMORIALS AND LEGENDS
influence of his strong personality upon the savage tribes of the wilderness again bore fruit in the success of his mission to Coweta Town, where, in due time, a treaty of alliance was concluded with the Creeks, by virtue of which he obtained the good-will of twenty thousand war- riors and sealed the future welfare and happiness of the Colony of Georgia.
En route back to Savannah, on the return trip, the splendid constitution of Oglethorpe gave way, and, for weeks, at Augusta, he lingered in the uncertain balances of fate, equipoised between life and death-the victim of a malignant fever. But at length he came successfully through the severe ordeal of illness. His great work, under divine providence, was still unfinished for, besides thwarting the designs of France, there was still reserved for him the supreme and final task of sounding the death- knell of the power of Spain in the decisive battle of Bloody Marsh ..
CHAPTER XIII
Bloody Marsh: Where a Battle was Fought in which Spain Lost a Continent
B ETWEEN the light-house at St. Simon's and the old citadel of Frederica there stretches a low plain on which was staged a war drama, the far-reaching effect of which upon the subsequent fortunes of America hardly admits of a parallel in the history of the New World. Here, on July 7, 1742, was fought the historic battle of Bloody Marsh. To quote an authority whose opinion is universally respected, Thomas Carlyle, "half the world was hidden in embryo under it"; and this wisest seer and clearest thinker of the Nineteenth Cen- tury further adds: "The Yankee nation itself was in- volved, the greatest phenomenon of these ages." The renowned Whitefield declared that Georgia's deliverance from the Spaniards at this time was to be parallelled "only by some instances out of the Old Testament."2 Said he :3 "Certain it is that this battle, though well nigh forgotten, is one of the most glorious and decisive in the
1Judge Emory Speer, in a speech delivered at the annual banquet of the Georgia Society of Sons of the Revolution, at Savannah, on February 5, 1894, and incorporated in a volume entitled "Lincoln, Lee, Grant, and Other Biographical Addresses," pp. 130-131, New York and Washington, 1909. In this same work, Judge Speer reproduces the "Official Report of Don Manuel Montiano, Spanish Commander of the Expedition against Georgia," a docu- ment of very great value to historians.
2McCall, Stephens, Jones.
8Judge Speer in the work above mentioned, pp. 130-131. Also an address delivered by Judge Walter G. Charlton, at the unveiling of the Oglethorpe monument in Savannah, November 23, 1910.
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annals of our country. It determined that North America should be left to the exploitation of the Anglo-Saxon, the Celtic and the Teutonic races. Had success attended the Spaniards, they would have advanced upon the more northern settlements." To quote an eminent jurist of this State,* "General Oglethorpe received from the Gov- ernors of New York, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Mary- land, Virginia, and North Carolina special letters, con- gratulating him on his success and expressing gratitude to the Supreme Governor of Nations for placing the affairs of the Colonies under the direction of a General, so well qualified for the important trust." In the ancient Spanish burial ground near Frederica lie the remains of some of the hapless victims who fell in this engagement, but the sacred area is choked with briars and brambles while, amid the damp undergrowth, hisses the vengeful snake. It is the announced plan of the Brunswick chap- ter, of the D. A. R., at an early date, to place appropriate markers on the historic field; and, in view of the ultimate significance of the battle here fought, it is more than likely that the hearty co-operation of the organiza- tion at large will be given them in this patriotic work. The disappearance of the Spanish flag, on January 1, 1899, from the whole upper half of the Western Hemis- phere, when the independence of Cuba was recognized by the government at Madrid, merely served to record the final issues of the great victory achieved by Ogle- thorpe when, with a force of six hundred men, he inau- gurated the era of Spain's downfall and gave the whole continent of North America to English civilization.
At the unveiling of the bronze tablet, placed by the Colonial Dames, on April 22, 1904, in the walls of the old fort at Frederica, Hon. Pleasant A. Stovall, of Savannah, delivered the address of the occasion. His portrayal of the battle of Bloody Marsh was peculiarly graphic, coin-
*Ibid, pp. 130-131.
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BLOODY MARSH
ciding in the main with the accounts given by the accred- ited historians. Said he, in speaking of the miraculous feat of arms by which Oglethorpe broke the tide of the Spanish invasion :
"It was at this time that, with six hundred men, assisted by a few weak vessels, he put to flight an army of five thousand Spanish troops, supported by a powerful fleet. Oglethorpe did not, like the Florida governor, shut himself up in his fortress and await the issue behind barred gates. He put himself fearlessly in his frail guard schooner, sailed out in the face of the thirty-six Spanish ships of the line, darted in and out among them, fighting his way through them in his cutters or beating them back in his barges.
"Finally he was convinced that he could not prevent the Spanish from landing. He spiked his guns on St. Simon's, sent his fleet to sea, and marched up to the citadel at Frederica, where he rallied the Highlanders and rangers. The rest of his work on that eventful day taxes the credulity of modern times and goes to make up one of the most decisive victories in English history. The Colony of Georgia was saved by a miracle and Oglethorpe acknowledged his thanks to Providence, who gave him the victory. He routs the first party of Spaniards, which landed upon the lower end of the island, takes prisoners himself, pursues the enemy to an open meadow and posts his platoons in such a position that they commanded the plain entirely. The soul of energy, and anxious to cover every part of the island at once, he returned to Frederica to see if the enemy had approached the works by water. Convinced that everything was quiet here, he flew back to his platoons and the sight which met him was enough to appall the stoutest heart. His trusted soldiers had broken in disorder. Stonewall Jackson, when he reached the plain of Manassas, found the Con- federate lines badly broken. Oglethorpe, when he re- turned to Bloody Marsh, encountered similar scenes of disorder. The work of rallying the troops only occupied
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a moment. Under his trusted leadership they went to the fray and found to their surprise, that a portion of Oglethorpe's men had stood their ground and had already routed the Spaniards with heavy slaughter. They had concealed themselves in the thicket and had fired upon the Spaniards with deadly effect, forcing them back to the seashore and lining the marsh with the dead and dying. The day is memorable in the history of the new world.
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