USA > Georgia > Chatham County > Savannah > History of Savannah, Ga.; from its settlement to the close of the eighteenth century > Part 9
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" The regiment's first severe loss was in a hot skirmish just before the army retired to the line of Kenesaw Mountain. On that day the killed, wounded and missing amounted to about seventy, among whom was that gallant gentleman, Lieutenant Cyrus Carter of Company G, who received a mortal wound while encouraging his men. Much of the loss on that occasion was due to the inexperience of our men in bush fighting. Every one familiar with the history of that summer, 1864, remembers how by continued reaching out of his flanks (an opera- tion which his superior numbers gave him power to repeat again and again) Sherman gradually pushed Johnston back to the lines around At- lanta. At Smyrna Church, midway between Marietta and the Chattahoo- chee River, the First Regiment suffered severely in holding an isolated position on a little barren hill top some distance out in front of the main line, without supports on either right or left. Why it was sent there we never knew, for when the enemy did get possession of this hill and planted their artillery upon it, the position was so commanded from our lines that the guns were abandoned by the gunners so long as daylight lasted.
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" The regiment took part in the battle of Peachtree Creek, but was very lightly engaged on that day. On July 22, however, in Hardee's flank attack upon Sherman (when the Federals lost McPherson, and the State of Georgia had to mourn the loss of the chivalrous Walker) Mercer's brigade was hotly engaged, and lost many noble officers and men. Cap- . tain Screven Turner, of Company F, was among the killed, and Captain Umbach, of Company I, received a wound that disabled him for the re- mainder of the war.
"Upon the death of General Walker his division was scattered. Mercer's brigade was assigned to the division of General Pat Cleburne. At the same time, General Mercer having been assigned to duty else- where, the command of the brigade devolved for a time upon the Senior Colonel. All during the closing days of July and in the month of Au- gust the lines of Atlanta were firmly held, but little by little the Confed- erate left was extended to meet a corresponding extension of the Federal right down the line of the Macon and Western Railroad.
"The movement terminated in the two days' fight at Jonesboro, where the fate of Atlanta was sealed. On the first day the corps of Hardee and Lee fought side by side, but on that night Lee's corps was withdrawn by General Hood towards Atlanta, leaving Hardee alone to breast the storm on the second day. He was fearfully overmatched, and nightfall found the corps almost encircled by the enemy, and our lines, to the ex- tent of one brigade front, in their possession. With great skill General Hardee extricated himself from this hazardous position, leaving behind the desperately wounded who could not be moved. In the immediate front of the First Regiment the enemy were so near that we could hear them conversing as we moved off silently in the darkness. It was a sad march, the men were exhausted from the two days' struggle, but physi- cal fatigue was nothing compared to the mental depression that came upon us as the lurid glare in the northern sky, and the dull, distant rum- ble of explosions of powder, as Hood burned the supplies he could not take away, told the story of Atlanta's fall and the defeat of the Confed- erate campaign.
" After a short season of rest and recuperation the army was again in motion. Our brigade being placed in command- of General J. Argyle Smith, a brave officer but an exceedingly unfortunate one, in a matter of
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wounds. It was said that he rarely was thoroughly recovered from one before he received another.
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" Northward our line of march took its way, constantly threatening Sherman's line of communications. The post of Rome was captured ; then a further march, still to the north, then a square turn to the west, and we swept across the northern part of Alabama until the town of Tus- cumbia was reached. Then it became known that a winter campaign in- to Tennessee was ahead of us.
" The army crossed the Tennessee River upon a long pontoon bridge at Florence, Ala., on a bright, frosty Sunday morning, and a brilliant, inspiring scene it was.
" Resting for a short time at Florence the order for the advance was again given, but here Smith's brigade was detached and sent to a point about thirteen miles distant, known as Cheatham's Ferry, to help a supply train over the river and convey it to the army.
" The operations around Murfreesboro were marked with much suffer- ing among the troops. The weather was intensely cold, the ground rigid with frost and covered with sleet and snow. While the men were poorly clad, without overcoats, and many of them barefooted.
"Smith's and one other small brigade, constituted the whole of Gen- eral Forrest's infantry force, the rest being cavalry, with one section of light rifled guns.
" When Hood was defeated at Nashville this little force was in a preca- rious position, as General Thomas' army was between it and the Confed- erate army.
" We were saved, however, by the skill of General Forrest, who knew every inch of the country, and who conducted his command by a forced march in a detour around Thomas's left, reaching Hood at Columbia, where he had made a stand. .
"No member of the First Regiment, who was on that march will ever forget its hardships. Bloody tracks of bare feet upon the snowy ground, shivering bodies, exhausting fatigue; these are some of the memories evoked, but with them comes also the recollection of manly endurance and a patient courage that no suffering could subdue, no danger appall.
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" At Columbia General Hood organized a rear-guard under General Forrest composed of his cavalry and eight small brigades of infantry, un- der the immediate command of General Walthall, of Mississippi. Smith's brigade had the honor to be chosen for this hazardous service. It was intended that the infantry portion of this rear-guard should be at least three thousand men, but after the sick, the wounded and the barefooted had been sent to the rear the effectives of the entire eight brigades num- bered but 1,601 men-skeleton brigades, indeed. Few in numbers, yet with brave hearts and, as the event proved " enough" for the duty re- quired of them.
"Surely every man who was there has a right to be proud of the rec- ord. The rear-guard was formed on the morning of December 20, 1864, and it at once held the line of Duck River, while the main army pressed . southward toward Bainbridge, near which point the pontoons were laid for the passage of the Tennessee.
" At an early hour on December 22 the enemy crossed Duck River at some distance above Columbia. General Forrest then slowly retired, making a bold front from time to time.
" There was considerable skirmishing and fighting during December 22, 23 and 24. At midnight on Christmas eve the exhausted troops en- camped upon a bleak hill-top in front of Pulaski, Tenn. At early dawn on the day of " peace and good will to men," we were in motion again, and on our way through the town.
" Seven miles south of Pulaski, at Anthony's Hill, the pursuit of the enemy being vigorously pressed, General Forrest decided to make a stand. Four of the small brigades, including Smith's, were placed in line on the crest of the hill, or just beyond it, so as to form a partial ambus- cade, cavalry being upon each flank. The enemy pushed boldly up the hill, but were received by a destructive fire followed by a charge of our entire line. They retired in confusion, leaving a number of prisoners in our hands, a good many horses and one piece of artillery.
"The attack was not repeated that day. The Confederates again re- sumed the line of march, a cold winter's rain having set in which added immeasurably to the discomfort of the men.
"On the night of December 27 we arrived in the vicinity of the River (Tennessee) and early on the morning of December 28, the rear-guard crossed the bridge and joined the army on the south side.
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" After a necessary period of rest at Corinth and other points in Miss- issippi, the army was called to the East. Passing rapidly through Ala- bama, Georgia and South Carolina, Smith's brigade once more found it- self under its old leader, General Joseph E. Johnston, in North Carolina. It was closely engaged at the battle of Bentonville, where many of the men were killed, and where the fourth color-bearer of the First Regi- ment received his death wound.
" At Smithville, N. C., a general consolidation of the army was made. New regiments were formed from the fragments of old ones. Under this arrangement what was left of the First, Fifty-seventh and Sixty-third regiments was brought together under the colors of the First Regiment, and once more our ranks were full. Of the rejuvenated regiment C. H. Olmstead was colonel, C. S. Guyton, of the Fifty-seventh, lieutenant- colonel, and J. V. H. Allen, of the Sixty-third, major.
" The men were veterans who had literally borne the 'heat and bur- den of the day.' Tough, elastic and hopeful, even in that dark hour, be- cause of the brave hearts within them, they formed a magnificent con- mand, of which any soldier would have been proud. But the war was practically over, and the regiment did not fire another gun. The army was surrendered by General Johnston at Greensboro'. N. C., and in a few days the troops were upon the homeward march.
" An attempt was made to keep the various commands together as much as possible until their respective States were reached. This failed ' in most instances, but the First Georgia carried its colors and its organi- zation to the city of Augusta, where its service ended and officers and men separated."
It was not until the reconstruction era was passed that the First Reg- iment was permanently reorganized. It is now in a most flourishing condition and an honor to the city and State. The members of the field and staff are as follows : George A. Mercer, colonel ; Peter Reilly lieutenant- colonel ; J. Schwarz, major ; R. G. Gaillard, adjutant ; M. A. O'Byrne, quartermaster; John T. Ronan, commissary ; S. B. Adams, judge advocate ; E. Karow, paymaster; W. W. Owens, surgeon.
Savannah Cadets .- H. M. Branch, captain ; J. F. Brooks, first lieu- tenant ; R. S. Mell, second lieutenant ; E. H. Nichols, surgeon ; R. P. Lovell, first sergeant.
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Oglethorpe Light Infantry .- R. Falligant, captain ; W. S. Rockwell, first lieutenant ; C. F. Law, sergeant ; J. T. Ronan, quartermaster.
Irish Jasper Greens .- J. Flannery, captain ; J. McGrath, first lieu- tenant ; P. F. Gleason, second lieutenant ; J. T. McMahon, first sergeant; J. M. Reynolds, quartermarter.
German Volunteers .- John Derst, captain ; H. C. Harms, first lieu- tenant ; H. Kolshorn, second lieutenant ; M. G. Helmken, orderly ser- geant.
Republican Blues .- W. D. Dixon, captain ; F. P. Haupt, first lieu- tenant ; J. J. Gaudry, second lieutenant ; G. Gregor, first sergeant.
The Georgia Hussars is the oldest cavalry company in Savannah. They were organized in 1785. In September, 1861, under Captain J. F. Waring, they entered the service of the Confederate States government and served throughout the war with the army of Northern Virginia. Cap- tain Waring was promoted to colonel of the Jefferson Davis Legion. ' The other officers of the company at the time of enlistment were lieutenants, ranking in the order named, David Waldhauer, W. W. Gordon, A. McC. Duncan. Waldhauer was promoted to captain, Gordon to captain on General Mercer's staff and Duncan to the rank of first lieutenant. At the time these latter promotions were made J. L. McTurner was chosen second lieutenant, and Robert Saussy third lieutenant.
A second company (known as Company B) was organized in Novem- ber, 1861, under Captain W. H. Wiltberger, (promoted to major of the Fifth Georgia Cavalry); Lieutenants R. J. Davant, (promoted to lieuten- ant-colonel of the same regiment); M. E. Williams and F. Williams. In 1862 the company was reorganized under Captain Wiltberger, Lieuten- ants James A. Zittrouer, E. P. Hill, and Phillip Yonge. Lieutenant Hill resigned and Fred. H. Blois was elected lieutenant. At the promotion of Captain Wiltberger Lieutenant Zittrouer became captain. The com- pany was with the Fifth Georgia Cavalry and served with distinguished credit around Savannah, on the South Carolina coast, in Florida, and with the Western Army.
Since the war the Hussars has been thoroughly reorganized and are now in excellent condition, both as to numbers and efficiency of drill. The total strength is one hundred men armed with sabers and pistols. The uniform consists of blue jackets trimmed with silver stripe and regu-
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lation helmet. The present officers are W. W. Gordon, captain ; G. B. Pritchard, first lieutenant ; G. C. Gaillard, and P. W. Meldrim, second lieutenants, and F. A. Habersham, first sergeant.
The colored citizens of Savannah are represented by the First Bat- talion Georgia Volunteer Regiment, which was organized in 1878. Its officers are John H. Deveaux, lieutenant-colonel ; A. K. Desverney, ad- jutant; A. Bowen, quartermaster ; T. J. Davis, surgeon; T. Sanders, paymaster. This regiment is composed of the Chatham Light Infantry Company, the Savannah Light Infantry, Lone Star Cadets, Colquitt Blues, Forest City Light Infantry, and the Union Lincoln Guards.
There is also one colored cavalry company known as the Savannah Hussars, and an artillery company known as the Georgia Artillery.
CHAPTER XXVIII.
THE BENCH AND BAR.
T HOSE bright and able intellects which, for a round century, have ornamented Savannah's, bench and bar, make lustrous every page of even their unabridged history.
Meagre and vague indeed, are the annals of juridical practice in Georgia prior to the period which began with the close of the Revolu- tionary war. The oldest records of Chatham county's courts to be found in the record vault, date back only to 1782. What evidence is extant and available, tends to show that for the first half century of Savannah's. life, litigation was not a weakness of the people. They were just getting a foothold in this part of the New World, and were too intent on plant- ing securely their homes and laying the basis of fortunes to settle differ- ences in the courts. But, during the last two decades of the eighteenth century the dockets were burdened with causes. This lieavy practice de- veloped and trained the legal minds of the practitioners and gave to thiem a marked depth and scholarly finish. To this day, the traces thereof are broad and clear. How much for instance, of the credit is due to Savan-
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nah's bar for the Judicial Act of 1799 is a subject which, in the absence of special research in that direction one hesitates to speak positively upon, but that it is no little can be safely held. That Act will stand for all time as a monument of the wisdom and to the wisdom of its framers -a judiciary system which the great Lord Brougham ranked above all others in the world. It was just about this time that the bar of Savan- nah began to shine with those members who carried it to the fore by their eloquence, profound knowledge of the law and high code of ethics.
Berrien and Wayne and Law and the Charltons are but a few of the names caught as the memory runs down the list. These were truly great lawyers. Since their day other sections of the State have boasted, and with reason, of eloquent and brilliant lawyers and judges, but the standard of ethics observed by Savannah's bar is the highest of all, and in every respect as applicable to the bar of to-day as they were to that of eighty years ago, are those words of the elder Charlton : "The fidelity, integrity and I may add the talents of our bar will bear a parallel with that of any other country."
The date of the establishment of Savannah's first court is fixed to a nicety. This took place July 7, 1733, "after dinner." All the forenoon General Oglethorpe had been busy naming wards, dividing them into tithings, and assigning lots to a shipload of new settlers who had just arrived. At this time Savannah was five months old. With the influx of so many new settlers, it occurred to the founder that there might soon be need for a court and in the afternoon of the day above named, a town court of record was established. Three bailiffs and a recorder were in- ducted into office, twelve freeholders, good men and true, were sworn as jurors and the first court ever opened in Georgia was held.
As marks of office, the bailiffs were required to wear magisterial gowns of purple edged with fur, and the recorder donned a black robe tufted. The members of Georgia's first grand jury were: Messrs. Samuel Parker, Thomas Young, Joseph Cole, John Wright, John West, Timothy Bow- ling, John Milledge, Henry Close, Walter Fox, John Grady, James Car- well and Richard Cannon. On an old map giving a view of Savannah in the latter part of March 1734, is represented a building which was used for a tabernacle and court house. This was a rude little building, 12 by 30 feet, which stood on a spot now covered by the rear of the custom- house at Bull street and Bay lane.
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Justice as administered in courts did not get an auspicious start in Georgia. Before departing for England in the spring of 1734, Oglethorpe entrusted the care of the infant colony to the three cailiffs. He was barely out of sight of land when one of the bailiffs, John Causton, under- took to play the usurper. He assumed all authority and made his two associates yield to him and agree with him. So intolerant did he be- come that the colonists went to work to have him removed. One charge which they preferred against him was, that he had threatened jurors who did not find verdicts which pleased him. Again, he had compelled eight freeholders, with an officer, to attend at the door of the court-house while the court was in session, with their guns and bayonets, and they had orders to rest their fire-locks as soon as he appeared. Jurors were act- ually afraid to act according to their consciences the arraignment stated, and it further set forth "that the British nation was deceived (by Caus- ton) with the fame of a happy, flourishing colony, and of its being free from that pest and scourge of mankind called lawyers, for the want of whose legal assistance the poor, miserable inhabitants are exposed to a more arbitrary government than ever was exercised in Turkey and Mus- covy." Upon receiving this complaint, the trustees removed Causton and Mr. Gordon was sent over commissioned to assume the power and duties of chief magistrate. The deposed justice like many modern office holders, objected to being put out. So he took a novel way to force his successor to resign. Causton was keeper of the public store and it was his duty to sell provisions to all applicants. When Mr. Gordon tried to buy, he was refused. He could not stand that and in six weeks gave up his position, left the bench and sailed for England. Causton lost no time in putting on the purple and returning to his old seat.
The first notable trial in the colony was held shortly afterwards, Causton sat as chief judge. In truth he did more than preside, for he was a witness and advocate too, against the defendant, Captain Joseph Watson. The latter had taken an active hand in having his honor re- moved. Causton wanted revenge and he trumped up charges against the militia officer, accusing him of having aroused a bad feeling in the minds of the Indians. The jury's verdict was to the effect that Watson was not guilty of any crime save that of having made some thoughtless and unguarded remarks. This verdict was not what the judge wanted
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and he charged the jury to go out and agree on another. The jurors re- fused to change their opinion and they returned with the same verdict. Causton charged the jurors again, telling them distinctly that they should find that Watson was guilty and a lunatic, and recommend him to the mercy of the court. This time the accused was found " guilty of lunacy." Captain Watson was thereupon sent to prison by his enemy, and was there kept for nearly three years without having sentence pronounced upon him.
Francis Moore, who visited the colony in 1736, wrote an interesting account of what he saw, and mentioned that " the town is governed by three bailiffs, and has a recorder, register, and town court, which is holden every six weeks, where all matters civil and criminal are decided by grand and petit juries as in England." And this chronicler adds : "But there are no lawyers allowed to plead for him ; nor no attorneys to take money, but (as in old times in England) every man pleads his own cause. In case it should be an orphan, or one that can not speak for themselves, there are persons of the best substance in the town appointed by the trustees to take care of the orphans and to defend the helpless, and that without fee or reward, it being a service that each that is capable must perform in his term." Continuing, Mr. Moore wrote : "They have some laws and customs that are peculiar to Georgia ; one is that all bran- dies and distilled liquors are prohibited under severe penalties ; another is, that no slavery is allowed, nor negroes; a third, that all persons who go among the Indians must give security for their good behavior. No victualler or ale-house keeper can give any credit, so consequently cannot recover any deb -. "
In an account of the public buildings in 1738, this appears: " The public works in this town are, I. A court house, being one handsome room, with a piache on three sides." This likewise served as a church for divine service. No place for religious worship had been built, al- though the trustees in their public acts acknowledged the receipt of about seven hundred pounds sterling from charitable persons for that express purpose. Opposite the court-house stood the log-house or prison (which was the only one remaining of five or six that had been successively built.)
A memorial presented to the General Assembly in 1751 notes that
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the court-house needed repairs, and three years later one end of it fell down while Governor John Reynolds and the council were sitting in it. The history of the bar prior to the federation of States at the close of the Revolutionary War is, unhappily, fragmentary and unsatisfactory. When the stamp act troubles began, early in 1766, all judicial business was sus- pended, and the courts were closed. The new court-house erected about this time had " in addition to a court-room, a jury-room with other con- veniences."
The Revolutionary War was followed by a great deal of litigation. The Superior Court bench consisted of a chief justice and two associate judges. Richard Hawley was the first chief justice under the new judi- ciary system, 1782, and his associates were Joseph Clay and William O'Bryan. An appeal could be taken from this court to the Continental Congress, and the first murder case was appealed by John Houstoun, esq., counsel for the convicted defendant, Sampson Wall. So heavy did the litigation become that the grand jury at the March term of the Supe- rior Court, 1785, called attention to it in this strong language : "We present as a Grievance replete with distress the enormous Docquet of the Civil actions now before the Court, and it is much to be lamented that the Legislature did not adopt some mode to prevent the ruin of our citizens."
In 1784, the judges of the Superior Court observing several causes on the docket, brought by and in behalf of British subjects, ordered that the attorneys who brought them should discontinue them, or the court would dismiss them agreeable to a former determination that no British subject should be permitted to sue or implead a citizen of the State, until regulations in that regard should be made by an act of the Legislature.
Between 1780 and the end of the century the leading attorneys were Samuel Stirk, James Whitfield, William Stephens, Nathanael Pendleton, Abraham Jackson, Messrs. Hawley, Houstoun and Matthew Hall Mc- Allister, the father of the famous Ward.
The judge was dependent upon fees for his compensation just as the clerk was. Collections were poor at times, and in November, 1782, Judge O'Bryan passed an order to the effect that all fees due the judge and clerk should be paid into the hands of the clerk before any action, suit or condemnation should be deemed complete.
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About this time a jury in a certain case brought in a verdict, but re- fused to announce it until paid for their attendance. When the payment of the jurors' fees was arranged the foreman announced that their verdict was in favor of the plaintiff for £326.
In October, 1789, there was no provision for a motion for a new trial in case either party to a suit was dissatisfied. This was only temporary.
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