USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > History of Savannah, Ga.; from its settlement to the close of the eighteenth century > Part 4
Note: The text from this book was generated using artificial intelligence so there may be some errors. The full pages can be found on Archive.org (link on the Part 1 page).
Part 1 | Part 2 | Part 3 | Part 4 | Part 5 | Part 6 | Part 7 | Part 8 | Part 9 | Part 10 | Part 11 | Part 12 | Part 13 | Part 14 | Part 15 | Part 16 | Part 17 | Part 18 | Part 19 | Part 20 | Part 21 | Part 22 | Part 23 | Part 24 | Part 25 | Part 26 | Part 27 | Part 28 | Part 29 | Part 30 | Part 31
"You will further arrange with Captain Claghorn a series of day and night signals for communicating with the city of Savannah, for the pur- pose of calling for reinforcements, or for other necessary purposes. And you will arrange with Mr. John Cunningham, military purveyor for the time being, for the employment of one or more steamboats, or other means of transportation by land or by water that may be necessary, and for other supplies (except for ordnance stores, for which you will call up- on Captain Claghorn) as may be required.
"If circumstances should require it the telegraph will be placed under surveillance. I think from our conversations you fully understand my views, and, relying upon your patriotism, energy, and sound discretion in the execution of this important and delicate trust, I am sir, very re- spectfully, Your obedient servant,
" JOSEPH E. BROWN, " Governor and Commander-in-Chief."
" Upon the issue of this order," says Colonel Charles H. Olmstead in his history of the First Georgia Regiment, published in the Savannah News of May 5, 1886, "the city was in a fever of excitement. Here at last was the first step in actual war-a step that placed State and central gov- ernment in open antagonism, the beginning whose ending no man could foretell. There may have been faint hearts that trembled in view of re- sulting possibilities, but among the military of Savannah the order was received with unbounded enthusiasm Dissatisfied ones there were, but only because they were not among the chosen few who were to carry out the orders of the governor.
"At an early hour on January 3, 1861, detachments from the Chat-
360
HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
ham Artillery, Captain Joseph S. Claghorn, the Savannah Volunteer Guards, Captain John Screven, and the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, Cap- tain Francis S. Bartow, marched to the wharf at the foot of West Broad street and embarked on board the steamer Ida to take possession of Fort Pulaski.
"Truth compels the statement that the expeditionary force carried enough baggage to have served for a division later in the war. Every soldier had his trunk or valise, his cot and his roll of bedding, while to every three or four there was a huge mess chest large enough for the cooking outfit of a full regiment. The recollection of all these things brings a smile now, but there is only proud exultation as those who took part in the stirring event recall the generous enthusiasm, the fervid pa- triotism, that glowed in every heart. Alas! how many of those noble young hearts were soon to beat no more; how many gallant youths who on that bright morning gloried in the honor of serving our mother, Georgia, were soon to 'illustrate' her by their death. Some led the way in the first shock of arms upon the plains of Manassas ; some in the fierce seven days' grapple around Richmond ; some at Sharpsburg, at Freder- icksburg, at Gettysburg, at the Wilderness, at Murfreesboro, at Chicka- mauga, at Kenesaw, at Atlanta, at Franklin, at Nashville, and some at the last fatal struggle at Sailor's Creek.
"In due time Fort Pulaski was reached; its garrison, one elderly United States sergeant, made no defense, and the three companies of the first volunteer regiment marched in with drums beating and colors fly- ing, and so for them a soldier's life began.
"The armament of the fort at that time consisted of but twenty old- fashioned long 32-pounders mounted upon cast-iron carriages, rusty from age and lack of care, the magazines were nearly empty, a few solid shot were all the projectiles that could be found. And yet the little gar- rison felt ready to meet the entire navy of the United States, for which, by the way, we looked for at every high tide. The duty of the hour called for hard, vigorous work, and it was refreshing to note the alacrity with which this citizen soldiery turned their hands to everything, from scrap- ing the rust from gun carriages to polishing the casemates. There was an individuality in each man, that marked characteristic of the Southern soldier that afterwards, upon so many battlefields held grimly to posi-
361
THE WAR PERIOD.
tions, from which, by all the rules of warfare, the Confederates should have been swept. All the routine of garrison duties was promptly inau- gurated by Colonel Lawton, whose West Point training and army life here served him in good stead. Guards were regularly mounted, drills at the heavy guns began at once, and a rigid system of military discipline maintained.
"In course of time the first three companies were relieved from this duty and others took their places, until every command in the city, in- cluding the Georgia Hussars and Savannah Artillery, had again and again served at this excellent school of military instruction. True, it was long ere an enemy appeared before the walls of Pulaski, but the les- sons learned in garrison life there were fit preparation for active service on other fields. Meanwhile military spirit ran high in the city, and dur- ing the first part of 1861 several new companies were formed and added to the regiment under the provisions of the act above quoted. Among these were the Pulaski Guards, the Irish Volunteers, Company B Irish Jasper Greens, the Forest City Rangers, the City Light Guard, the Wash- ington Volunteers, the Coast Rifles, the Montgomery Guards. Each and all were full companies, and did valiant service throughout the war."
In the meantime the people in Savannah were kept in a state of ex- cited feeling. The adoption of the ordinance of secession by South Car- olina caused a spontaneous feeling among the people of Georgia that they should take the same stand with their sister State. A large gath- ering of the citizens of Savannah was held at the Masonic Hall, on the corner of Bull and Broughton streets, at which eloquent speeches were made in favor of secession, and a series of resolutions advocating such a course were adopted, and when a short time thereafter in January. 1861, the ordinance of secession was adopted by the State of Georgia in no quarter of the State was it hailed with more delight than in Savannah. All now prepared for the conflict which they saw was inevitable. The State convention reassembled in Savannah on the 7th of March, 1861, and after adopting a constitution for the State adjourned. The day fol- lowing this assembling the flag of the Confederate States was thrown to the breeze from the custom- house by Major W. J. McIntosh, and a salute of seven guns-one for each State in the Confederacy-was fired in honor of the occasion.
46
362
HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
After the Confederacy had been brought into existence, orders were rapidly issued from its capitol at Montgomery in reference to the mar- shaling of the forces of the South. One of the first orders appointed Colonel A. R. Lawton to a brigadier-generalship, and his connection with the first regiment was severed. Under his orders Fort Jackson and Oglethorpe Barracks were seized and occupied by Savannah soldiers. The vacancy occasioned by the promotion of General Lawton was filled by the election of Hugh W. Mercer to the colonelcy of the First Regi- ment. At the same time Lieutenant-Colonel Stiles having resigned to enter the service with the Savannah Volunteer Guards, of which corps he was also an officer, Major W. S. Rockwell was elected lieutenant- colonel, and Charles H. Olmstead, major. Edward Lawton succeeded to the adjutantcy.
The Oglethorpe Light Infantry of Savannah, under command of Captain Francis S. Bartow, was the first of the Savannah companies to respond to President Davis's call for troops. They departed from the city on May 21, 1861, for Richmond, being escorted to the cars by the volunteer companies of the city and a large concourse of citizens, who little dreamed that in a few short weeks they would be mourning the death of the company's gallant captain. Such, however, was the case, for the same dispatch which told of the victory at Manassas on the 22d of July, 1861; brought the sad news of General Bartow's death. His re- mains were brought to the city on the 27th of July, and his funeral was one of most solemn and imposing spectacles ever witnessed in Savannah. General Bartow's 1 remains lie buried in Laurel Grove Cemetery.
' General Bartow was born in Savannah on the 6th of September, 1816. After grad- uating at Franklin College, at Athens, Ga., in 1835 he began the study of law in the office of Berrien & Law of Savannah, and afterwards attended the law school at New Haven, Conn. After his admission to the bar he became a member of the law firm of Law, Bartow & Lovell of Savannah. He was elected to the State Senate and served several times in the House of Representatives. In 1860 he took a decided stand in favor of secession. He'represented Chatham county in the State convention which carried Georgia out of the Union, and was selected by the convention to represent his native State in the Confederate Congress which met in Montgomery, Ala., and was chosen chair- man of the military committee. Soon after his arrival in Virginia with the Oglethorpe Light Infantry, of which he had been captain from 1857, he was appointed colonel of the Eighth Georgia Regiment, and at the first battle of Manassas was commanding a brigade composed of the Seventh, Eighth, Ninth, and Eleventh Georgia and the First
-
363
THE WAR PERIOD.
During the summer of 1861 the First Regiment was scattered to various points along the Georgia coast. They helped to build and equip the numerous fortifications with which the coast was lined. They were stationed at Forts Pulaski and Jackson and at other points on the Savan- nah River, on Tybee Island, at Causton's Bluff, Thunderbolt, Green Island, and St. Catherine's Island. During the war there were three lines of defense adopted to protect Savannah, and a fourth begun but aban- doned after an inconsiderable amount of work had been done. The first or exterior line of defense was constructed early in the war, to protect the coast from attack by the Federal navy, and to prevent the landing of troops. This line extended from Causton's Bluff, four miles east of Savannah, to the Ogeechee River, and embraced the following points, at which works were erected : Greenwich, Thunderbolt, Isle of Hope, Beaulieu, and Rosedew. Detached works were also constructed on
Whitmarsh, Skidaway, and Green Islands, but these latter works were only occupied a portion of the time, and towards the close of the war were mostly abandoned. The general' character of the works at the points mentioned were water batteries, constructed of earth and reveted with sand-bags, sods, and facines, with traverses, bomb-proofs, etc. The armament of these works generally consisted of heavy ordnance en bar- bette. Where rifle guns and columbiads could not be procured smooth bore 42 and 60-pounders were employed. The river batteries, located
Kentucky Regiments. During the forepart of the battle his command suffered heavily, and at noon when it became necessary for the left of the Confederate army to fall back to its original position occupied early in the morning his regiments also retired. During this movement General Bartow rode up to General Beauregard, the general command- ing and said : " What shall now be done ? Tell me, and, if human efforts can avail, I will do it." General Beauregard pointing to a battery at Stone Bridge, replied : "That bat- tery should be silenced." Seizing the standard of the Seventh Georgia Regiment and calling upon the remnants of his command to follow him, he led the van in the charge. A ball wounded him slightly and killed his horse under him. Still grasping the stand- ard, and rising again, he mounted another horse, and waving his cap around his head cheered his troops to come on. They followed. Another ball pierced his heart and he fell to the ground, exclaiming to those who gathered around him, " they have killed me, but never give up the field," and expired. His dying injunction was obeyed. His command proceeded on the charge and silenced the battery under the protection of which the enemy had hurled the missile of death into the heart of one whose fall plunged a struggling nation into mourning .- Abridged from a sketch in the " Historical Record of Savannah."
364
HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
at and around Fort Jackson, were intended for the protection of the main water approach and to constitute the extreme left of the above men- tioned line. Prominent among the works referred to was Fort Bartow at Causton's Bluff. This was the largest and most complete work on the entire coast, and the character of the work and labor expended in its construction attested the importance attached to this position as a salient point on this line, and, so to speak, the key to Savannah. This was a bastioned work inclosing an area of seventeen acres, with glacis, moat, curtains, and in fact every appointment complete, bomb-proofs and sur- geon-rooms under ground, with advanced batteries and rifle pits in front near the water line. The other works on this line were not from this character deserving of special notice. Fort Bartow was pronounced by some of the ablest Southern officers a splendid work and recognized by all as the most important in the defenses of Savannah. This work was constructed by Captain M. B. Grant, of the Engineer Corps, who also had immediate charge of a considerable portion of the work around the city.
Fort McAllister, located on the south side of the Ogeechee River at Genesis Point, was an inclosed work, of about one acre, detached and iso- lated, irregular in form, but compactly built, and adapted to its isolated condition and surroundings. The armament of this work was heavy, and the gallant and successful defense repeatedly made here against the en- emy's ironclads, and at the last against one of Sherman's corps from the land side, have given it a name and place in the history of Savannah's defenses, that is imperishable and preeminently grand. Though a little and insignificant earthwork it was by location and circumstances called upon to act a giant's part. On this exterior line there were no other points deserving special notice.
The second line constructed was what was known as the interior line of defense. This line was almost semi-circular in contour, and distant from the city on an average of three-fourths of a mile, its left resting at Fort Boggs, next to the rice lands on the Savannah River, its right rest- ing at a point a little south of Laurel Grove Cemetery, and on the low lands of the Springfield Plantation. This line, as the term interior signi- fies, was to resist any direct assault upon the city should a force succeed in passing the exterior line. This line consisted of detached lunettes at regular intervals, constructed with mutual flank defense, and having sec-
365
THE WAR PERIOD.
tors of fire, covering the entire space in front of the line, all growth hav- ing been cut away for a half mile in advance. The curtains were not of the same heavy character as the lunettes, but consisted of rifle pits and covered ways for direct communication. Abatis were constructed in front of many of the lunettes. No portion of this line was ever subjected to an attack, and there was nothing to create or give distinction to any special lunettes. There were, however, on this line certain works which should be mentioned, viz :
Fort Boggs, on the left of the line, was a bastioned work, inclosed (commonly known as a Star Fort), about an acre and a half in area. It was situated on the bluff, in a commanding position, and would have proved a very strong and important work had it been attacked.
Fort Brown, near the Catholic Cemetery, was a point of somne im- portance on this line, more, however, from its early location and con- struction than any special merit.
The bombardment and capture of Port Royal in November of 1861 occasioned great alarm in Savannah as it was feared that the large Fed- eral fleet employed there would next attack the city, yet the people did not despair of successfully combating the enemy. But with the Federals intrenched in Port Royal it was deemed impracticable with the resources at command to defend all the outlying islands of the Georgia coast. Among others Tybee Island was evacuated and Fort Pulaski became the outwork of the line of defense. About this time Colonel Mercer was promoted to a brigadier-generalship and the following changes were made in the field officers of the First Regiment: Major Charles H. Olm- stead was made colonel, W. S. Rockwell retained the lieutenant-col- onelcy, and Captain John Foley, of the Irish Jasper Greens, was promoted major, H. M. Hopkins was appointed in place of Edward Lawton pro- moted.
General Robert E. Lee, then commanding the military district of South Carolina, Georgia and Florida arrived in Savannah on the 11th of November, 1861, and remained until the February following. During his stay he visited Fort Pulaski and gave minute instructions for protect- ing the garrison from the fire of shells from Tybee Island. At this time rifled cannon of large caliber had not been tested and their penetrative power was of course unknown, and even General Lee did not think the
366
HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
walls of Fort Pulaski could be broken at the distance the Federals were stationed, saying one day to Colonel Olmstead, while looking at the near- est point on Tybee Island occupied by the Federals, some 1700 yards distant, " Colonel, they will make it pretty hot for you here with shells, but they cannot breach your walls at that distance."
"The garrison," says Colonel Olmstead in the article previously quoted from, " went vigorously to work to carry out the orders of Gen- eral Lee. Pitts and trenches were dug on the parade to catch rolling shells, huge traverses were built between the guns en barbette, and all the casemate doors in the entire circuit of the fort were protected by heavy blindages of ranging timber."
" In the month of January, 1862, there were signs of great activity among the enemy, who succeeded in establishing a battery upon the banks of the Savannah upon the north, between the fort and the city, and also in commanding the channel of the river on the south by gunboats from Wilmington River and St. Augustine Creek. After this but one expedition from the city reached the fort. Commodore Tattnall, with his little fleet of river steamers, fought his way down bringing two barge loads of provisions for the garrison, and then fought his way back again in the style that came so naturally to that single-hearted brave old gen- tleman. From that time the isolation of the fort was complete.
"The garrison thus invested consisted of about four hundred men and officers, comprising the German Volunteers, Captain Stegin; Oglethorpe Light Infantry (Company B), Captain Sims; Washington Volunteers, Captain McMahon; Montgomery Guards, Captain Guilmartin, of the First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia ; and the Wise Guards, Captain McMullen ..
"This latter command was from the vicinity of Oglethorpe, Ga. They were unused to heavy artillery service, but when it became apparent that the fort would be attacked and needed reinforcements, they had volunteered to come to our aid. Captain McMullen was just such a man as might have been expected to perform such an action, and he was well seconded by his Lieutenants Montfort, Blow and Sutton. The memory of this service should be treasured by the First Regiment. All during the months of February and March the isolation of the fort continued, and during these months it was made plain that the enemy were hard at
Eng.by F GHerman & CONY
367
THE WAR PERIOD.
work behind the ridge of sand hills that border the shore of Tybee Is- land. There was no sign of working parties during the day time, but at night a faint hum would come across the waters of the south channel nearly a mile away, telling of activity and preparation."
Early in April the Federals had erected eleven sand batteries upon Tybee Island, these batteries distributed along a front of 2,550 yards, mounted by thirty-six heavy guns-ten heavy rifle cannon among them -and a number of mortars. These guns were well protected. The farthest was 3,400, and the nearest 1,650 yards from the fort.
Early on the morning of the 10th of April General David Hunter, commanding the besieging force, sent, under a flag of truce, an order " for the immediate surrender of Fort Pulaski to the authority and pos- session of the United States," to which Colonel Charles H. Olmstead, commandant of the fort, sent the following laconic and brave response :
" HEADQUARTERS, FORT PULASKI, April 10, 1862.
" Major-General David Hunter, Commanding on Tybee Island :
"SIR,-I have to acknowledge receipt of your communication of this date, demanding the unconditional surrender of Fort Pulaski.
"In reply I can only say that I am here to defend not to surrender it. "Your obedient servant, .
" CHARLES H. OLMSTEAD.
"Colonel First Volunteer Regiment of Georgia Commanding Post."
"Upon the receipt of this reply by the Federal commander, orders were immediately issued for the commencement of the bombardment. The first shell was fired from Battery Halleck at a quarter past eight o'clock, and soon all the Federal batteries, including Stanton, Grant, Lyon, Lincoln, Burnside, Sherman, Scott, Sigel, McClellan and Totten, were en- gaged. " The garrison," says Colonel Olmstead in an admirable account of the bombardment, " went to their work with enthusiasm, and in a few minutes the roar of artillery, the screaming of shot and bursting of shells made hideous that lovely April morning. All day long the firing con- tinued with damage to the fort that was painfully apparent to its defend- ers. Indeed it was noticed early in the morning that one rifle shot strik- ing the wall under an embrasure while still intact, had bulged the bricks inward in the interior. A sample of the power of the new projectile that we were unprepared for.
368
HISTORY OF SAVANNAH.
"A few men were wounded, but, thanks to the labor that had been be- stowed upon the defenses and shelters, they were very few. At night- fall the firing slackened and opportunity was had for examining into the injury received by the fort. It was appalling, nearly all of the barbette, guns and mortars bearing upon the position of the enemy had been dis- mounted, and the traverse badly torn, many of the casemate guns were in a similar plight and the line of officer's quarters and kitchen were wrecked, but most serious of all was the condition of the southeast angle of the fort.
"There the fire of the enemy had been concentrated with a view to making a breach, and it needed but one look to convince that an hour or two longer of such pounding would most certainly accomplish what was intended. The whole outer surface of the wall had been battered away and nearly filled the moat, and what was left standing between the piers of three casemates was shaken and trembling. The danger of the posi- tion was that this wall once down the same projectiles that had done the mischief there would have free sweep across the parade against the wall of the main service magazine on the opposite angle of the fort. During the night the firing continued at short intervals, and in the early morning was commenced with great rapidity again.
"One by one the guns of the fort were disabled, until there were only two or three that could be brought to bear at all upon the batteries that were doing us most injury. The walls of the injured casemates were soon shot away entirely, and now solid shot and shell were pounding up- on the traverses that protected the entrance to the magazine. About two o'clock in the day an officer reported that a shell had penetrated through the traverse and exploded in the alley-way of the magazine.
" Then it appeared to the commanding officer that longer resistance would be useless, and the signal of surrender was given.
"General Gillmore came to treat for the surrender, and the following terms were agreed upon :
" ARTICLE 1. The fort, armament and garrison to be surrendered at once to the forces of the United States
" ARTICLE 2. The officers and men of the garrison to be allowed to take with them all their private effects, such as clothing, bedding, books, etc. This not to include private weapons.
369
THE WAR PERIOD.
"ARTICLE 3. The sick and wounded under charge of the hospital steward of the garrison to be sent up under a flag of truce to the Con- federate lines; and, at the same time the men to be allowed to send up any letters they may desire, subject to the inspection of a Federal officer. "Signed the eleventh day of April, 1862, at Fort Pulaski, Cockspur Island, Ga.
CHARLES H. OLMSTEAD,
" Col. First Vol. Reg't of Ga. Comd'g Fort Pulaski. "Q. A. GILLMORE,
"Brig. Gen. Vols. Comd'g U. S. Forces, Tybee Island.
" Among the wounded was one of two brothers from Berrien, Ga. He was badly mangled, it was plain that he could not live, and the dis- tress of his brother at the prospect of leaving him was pitiful. Adjutant Matthew H. Hopkins had received a wound in the eye, and, in accord- ance with the terms of surrender, was entitled to be sent to Savannah. With a magnanimity which did not surprise those who knew his true heart, he relinquished his right to release, and chose the lot of a prisoner of war in order that the brothers might not be separated."
Need help finding more records? Try our genealogical records directory which has more than 1 million sources to help you more easily locate the available records.